He began this post by talking about how he was a Christian when he started his blog two years ago, but since then he has left the faith. He said that, looking back at his previous Christianity, he felt like he had been a "religious puppet." He went on to say that he had based many of his decisions about life and morality on his faith, and in this way became its puppet. He believes now that people should decide for themselves what they believe to be right or wrong and live their lives accordingly.
I both agree and disagree with this post. Let me tell you why.
I agree that thinking for yourself and not following something blindly is super important. College has been a great place for me to do this.
When I was a senior in high school and deciding which university to go to, my top two choices were Western Washington University and Whitworth University. Western is a medium sized, state university while Whitworth is a small, private Christian college. They both had good Music and Elementary Education programs (the two things I was interested in), and both were a couple hours away from my home (far enough away for me to feel independent but close enough to make going home not too difficult).
I went back and forth in my mind, struggling to make a decision. Finally, the time came to make up my mind. As you may know, I picked Western, but the reason might surprise you.
It wasn't to be with friends, or to save money, or because I liked Bellingham better than Spokane. The main reason I chose to go to Western was because it wasn't a Christian environment.
I wanted my faith to be challenged.
And it has been.
I'll probably talk about this more fully in a later post, but my time away at university has involved a lot of doubt about my beliefs. My freshman year especially, but throughout all my years here, my faith has been challenged -- I've had to ask myself a lot of tough questions.
Classes like History, Psychology, and Anthropology as well as simply living on my own and meeting new people have led me to think a lot about why I believe what I believe. I have been forced to find out if my beliefs hold water, so to speak. I have had to see if what I thought in theory has a place in reality.
As a Christian, I believe God created everything, and everything has a purpose. So, I don't see why He would make humans with a brain capable of great analytic thinking, but ask us to check it at the door when we think about Him.
One of the pastors at CCF, my college church group, once said that God is big enough to take your questions and doubts. If you earnestly seek answers and He falls short, He isn't worth your time.
But here's where I disagree with that video: I don't think that there is anything wrong with your moral thinking being based on your faith.
Every good parent sets boundaries for their children. Does following those rules make us their puppets?
Perhaps... if we follow them blindly or if we follow when we honestly believe they don't have our best interest at heart.
However, I believe that God not only has my best interest at heart, but he, being the creator of all things, knows what's good for me much better than I.
Just like a parent who tells a young child that they shouldn't have ice cream and jelly beans for dinner, we may feel like God is denying us something we want when He is really just looking out for us because we can't fully understand yet. We can choose to obey, or we can go to bed with a tummy ache.I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. - God (Jeremiah 29:11)
So, when a teaching of the Bible confuses me, I will never stop trying to understand it, but I will also not consider myself a puppet because I follow it. I trust that God sees things more clearly than I do.
I have a lot more thoughts on the subject, but I think I'll stop here and maybe hear some thoughts from you. I love honesty and I invite disagreement. I your opinion differs from mine, I'd still love to hear from you. But be respectful, please! So, here are some questions to ponder:
- When was a time in your life that you had to question your beliefs?
- Do you think it makes you a puppet if you believe in something you don't always understand?
Hey Becky I really enjoyed reading this post. I came to Western with no faith in anything really. I had the surprising experience of finding God my freshman year through the people I was surrounded by in my dorm and the Fellowships and churches that they were a part of. As you know, the fact that I was even introduced to that in this community is a bit surprising. But ever since then I have been challenged in my faith and not known what to believe. Especially since I had such little background or firm foundation in Christianity, I've been grasping for knowledge while being conflicted with such contradictory outside ideas. Anyways, its still a struggle. Still meddling, but thanks for your honest thoughts
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Bailey! I appreciate your openness. Keep asking those questions!
DeleteAre there any topics (nagging questions, lingering doubts) that you'd be interested in me possibly writing a post about?
oh good- here is a place to post my comments too!
ReplyDeleteAs you may remember, Becky, I had the surprising experience of finding God right before my Junior year at UPS - (similar to Bailey) and part of it was all the questioning and close-up examination that was happening in the college environment. I think told you that it was in a class on "World Religions" taught by a Buddist professor that I first an inkling about what it meant to "have faith" (in anything!) I am absolutely sure that God is big enough for all our questions- including the ??? brought up through exploration in SPACE, and learning more about genetics, and checking out other world religions.
Deuteronomy 4:29
The Message
29 But even there, if you seek God, your God, you’ll be able to find him if you’re serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul.
This is such a good question, Becky, and you express it well. Faith is such a deep and complex issue, and it's clear you've pondered it with an authentic desire to learn.
ReplyDeleteI always appreciate when someone DOES connect the loving parent towards child aspect of life to the questions we have towards the "big stuff" of life and our relationship to God, OUR Father.
ReplyDeleteLack of a full understanding of certain loving and/or protecting guidelines and principles, during our own childhoods doesn't mean that those principles aren't true, right, and for our own good - particularly when we have good parents.
Similarly, there will ALWAYS be an aspect of faith in something we can't always fathom in our walks with God - unless, of course, we try to shrink an infinite, all-knowing, all-loving universe-creating God down into finite, fallible, limited, "unless I can fully understand it, it isn't true" human dimensions.
For me - and you know the kind of man I am - I have never felt as if I could EVER have a full and complete understanding about every aspect of God and of his creation - or of the specific ways I was to live and conduct my life - but the things that I HAVE understood, (I'll call them the "basics" of my faith) I have rarely, if ever felt any doubt.
Creation? Don't understand the "hows" of it, but don't doubt that it was, SOMEHOW, by God's hand.
The resurrection, the virgin birth, Jesus's miracles, man's inner sin nature and our need for a "savior," etc... Totally don't understand everything behind those or know how those happened, and don't expect that I ever will, at least this side of heaven, but again, have no doubts of their truth.
Good blog entry, Becky. Very interesting!
Thanks for your comment! I love to hear your point of view on my posts. You and mom gave me a good model for understanding faith in a loving authority!
DeleteEvery year at Western I have had a Christian roommate and that has definitely introduced me to a new way of thinking about religion, but I'm afraid I don't have the gumption that my suitemate did when they had long philosophical discussions at 1 o'clock in the morning. My parents are both atheists from religious families and my one experience in a church was scary. Why would I want to believe in something that tells me that my parents and I will end up in a lake of fire, we are good people, do we deserve to suffer because we don't feel God's presence or protection?
ReplyDeleteThat is such a good question! Thanks so much for you honesty. I know that in an attempt to be non-confrontational, we sometimes avoid saying the things or asking the questions that we really want to.
DeleteI kinda based my next blog post on this question. I hope it doesn't sound preachy. I tried to treat it as if we were sitting down, having a philosophical conversation in red square, and you asked me how I could believe in Hell.
Give it a read. I hope it helps you better understand what I believe and why!