Thread by @RussiaEnemy1

This used to be me. I had the balls and determination to throw aside the shackles of a horrible religion.

‘God Is Going to Have to Forgive Me’: Young Evangelicals Speak Out nyti.ms/2yKRqgZ

I grew up surrounded by religion. My paternal grandfather and two uncles were protestant ministers: 2 Wesleyan (Methodist) and 1 Baptist. Followed the Wesleyan (an evangelical church) as best I could. Went to a Wesleyan college for 2 years where I met my wife-to-be...

She too was surrounded by evangelical religions, her father, his brother, his brother-in-law were Nazarene ministers. Her maternal grandfather and uncle were independent evangelical ministers. Her brother became a Nazarene minister and district superintendent...

All but one were/are wonderful people; the lone exception proved to be a shyster, squeezing money from his parents and anyone else he could bamboozle.

Evangelicalism sounds fine on the surface, seems to warmly accept all people, and preaches the New Testament gospels of Jesus..

After graduating with an elementary ed teaching degree, we set about raising a family within the Wesleyan community. I was ultra-active in the church: choir member, lay leader, church board member, ran a church bus ministry, taught adult Sunday School.
My fracture with the church

...began with two alarming changes in the church. The Sunday worship service moved from a reverent atmosphere to one of a circus: clapping, walking around for five minutes greeting and hugging each other in the middle of the program, singing "gospel songs" instead of hymns...

In other words, the services moved toward a pentecostal, experiential "amen, hallelujah, lord be praised" service. All that was missing was speaking in tongues and being slain in the spirit. Everywhere I looked I saw worship of each other and NO worship of God, ...

... a "me-ism" and "us-ism." The only way anyone could worship God was if you were deaf and blind to the circus around you.
The second change at my church involved greed and self-promotion. Three church leaders came back from a conference on "Church Growth" with the lustful...

...enthusiasm of a thirteen year old boy in onset-puberty.
Turns out "Church Growth" was the forerunner of the "Prosperity Gospel" (aka "God wants you rich"). God had nothing to do with desiring ever bigger and bigger congregations. Just pure HUMAN greed to look successful...

...and important, a VIP!!

Now 67, I threw off the chains of that me-first religion. Believe me, the next years that followed tore at my guts and conscience and produced the most difficult journey of my entire life. Still, I was determined that I would be a "Truth Seeker,"...

...above all else, I would find TRUTH and no more Bullshit. Lost my church, lost close contact with many close friends... no matter, truth became my sole pursuit.

Eventually, threw aside ALL religion, and I am a much stronger and happier person today...

SO, I can completely empathize with these young adults and their struggles to accommodate their personal beliefs with their religion. Their struggle ain't for the fainthearted. All my thoughts and cares, but never my prayers, kids.

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