Apostasy

I have recently stopped participating in the church I have been a part of since childhood.

This likely means nothing to a lot of people, but it’s a big deal for me.

It is a very close, very caring fellowship. It has meant everything to the rest of my family. It produces people with wonderful qualities, and has been a tremendous source of comfort, peace, and strength to many people I know. In fact, it used to do the same thing for me, but I find myself without the necessary faith to accept its well-defined and exacting picture of the nature of God and the universe.

To get a sense of what this means, think of the scene in Fiddler On The Roof when Chava tells her father that she wants to marry Fyedka, who is a gentile.
Think of telling your Southern Baptist parents that you’re gay.
Think of telling your gay parents that you’re going to work for the Christian Coalition.

None of those things is really what it’s like, but they may give a sense of the seriousness of the family feelings that accompany this. My family & friends have been very loving and will not shun or reject me, but they feel a tremendous amount of concern and sadness. While it’s easy to *say* that I have to let them own that, it’s not necessarily so easy to do…