#deconstructing christianity

[alienbycomics]

Content Warning: religion and transphobia⚠️

Happy Trans Day of Visibility 🏳️‍⚧️ I made a comic reflecting on my church upbringing as an eXvangelical trans person. The Jesus conservative Christians claim to represent looked lot more like many of the LGBTQ+ friends I know and love. Just some food for thought 💖

[seraphimfall]

i’ve read so much tradcath bullshit the last two years. i can confidently say tradcath men fit into one of two categories:

“protestant-raised and converted to catholicism because of his crippling porn addiction and racist tendencies. reposts crusader and conquistador memes. is hated in his local parish.” tradcath

“catholic-raised band kid who ate his lunches with the religion teacher. smells like mildew. cut off all his friends that came out as gay after high school. now larps as an aquinian scholar and cries after jerking off.” tradcath

[durnesque-esque]

Images on my mind tonight... the first: the Nativity scene in Bethlehem's Church this year. The second: José y Maria by Everett Patterson (2014).. almost 10 years ago, still relevant.

Christmas has been a weird time for me for a long time. I'm pretty unreligious these days. But the imagery still haunts. Especially when I think about how I got to where I'm at and wonder how my Christian friends and family can be - sometimes- so far away ideologically.

How did I grow up in a church that worshiped a little baby born in an occupied state to parents who became immigrants and learn, therefore, to love the stranger, the oppressed, the unhoused? And why do so many of the people who were churched around me fail to learn to love radically?

The entrenched hypocrisy of American Christianity is why I left. But I am still embedded in the traditions of this holiday, looking at a Christmas tree and thinking of all the suffering not only half a world away, but also right down the street.

[dirtyheathencommie]

DEAR EDUCATIONALLY NEGLECTED HOMESCHOOLERS

I’ve gathered some resources and tips and tricks on self-educating after educational neglect. This is only what I did and what I know helped me. I’m about to graduate college with honors after having no education past the age of 9. I wouldn’t be here without the following. Everything is free, and at/well above the standard for education in the US.

The holy grail: Khan Academy. Nearly every course you could take is available here, in order and by grade level. Their open-source free courses rival some of the college classes I’ve taken. This is your most solid resource.

For inattentive types: Crash Course offers a variety of courses that are snappy, entertaining, and extremely rewarding. They work for my ADHD brain. They also have college prep advice, which is essential if you’re looking to go to higher education with no classroom experience.

To catch up on your reading: There are certain books that you may have read had you gone to school that you’ve missed out on. This list is the most well-rounded and can fill you in on both children’s books and classic novels that are essential or at least extremely helpful to be familiar with. You can find a majority of these easily at a local library (and some for free in PDF form online low key). There are a few higher level classics in here that I’d highly recommend. If it doesn’t work for you, I’d always recommend asking your local librarian.

*BE AWARE* The book list I recommend suggests you read Harry Potter books, and given their transphobic author you may or may not want to read them. If you choose to, I’d highly recommend buying the books secondhand or borrowing from a library to avoid financially supporting a living author with dangerous and damaging views.

TEST, TEST, TEST: Again, Khan Academy is your go-to for this. I don’t personally like standardized testing, but going through SAT and ACT courses was the best way I found to really reveal my gaps so that I could supplement.

Finally: As much as you can, enjoy the process. Education can be thrilling and teach you so much about yourself, and help shape your view of the world. It can get frustrating, but I’d like to encourage you that everyone can learn. No pace is the perfect pace, and your learning style is the right learning style for you. In teaching yourself, be patient, be kind, and indulge in the subjects you really enjoy without neglecting others. You are your teacher. Give yourself what others chose not to.

[pretentious-librarian]

i dont want god’s forgiveness. i want HIM to apologize to ME.

[hulahoopsoupgroup]

the seven deadly sins are such bullshit fear tactics. if youve left the church, embrace them.

be proud of who you are. be happy when you look in the mirror and see how hot you are. yeah i see you flexing in the mirror after a workout. nice progress btw honey you look nice today.

dont worry about getting seconds, or thirds even, at dinner. dont worry about eating what society says is "too much" or "too little". eat until youre full. set aside what you cant finish for later so you dont waste food.

its okay to be greedy. its okay to want things for yourself. sometimes we see things that people have and we're like "dude i wish i had that." thats just human. envy and greed on that level are normal.

take a rest day. dont bother going to church this sunday. take a shower, read a book, drink some tea, eat some good food, pet a cat or dog. take care of yourself; its not lazy.

be angry with those who wronged you. punch a punching bag, write about how much you hate them, go work out aggressively and take care of your emotions in a way that doesnt hurt yourself or others. its okay to not forgive the people who hurt you. you arent doing anything wrong, babe.

embrace your sexuality (or, if it applies, asexuality, cause yall need love too). stop feeling shame for wanting pleasure. go read or watch something that turns you on. explore your body. ask your partner to try something new. if youre asexual, then fucking step on the people who say you need to have sexual attraction to be human. you dont. you dont need to be allosexual (or alloromantic) to "qualify as a human." we all experience life in different ways. find your way to experience it.

thought crime isnt real

do no harm but take no shit

[apostateoverrubies]

It's funny how certain religious people act like accepting LGBTQ rights will lead to paedophilia being normalized when they've already let that shit slide for centuries.

Then again, what else do you expect from people who value religion over the rights of children?

Don't let them trick you into thinking they care.

[apostatement]

Your body is not your enemy. It isn't a shell that you inhabit or an empty temple. Your mind is not a separate entity, your soul is not an inhabitant. Its desires and needs are not the devil trying to trick your soul. The 'natural man' is you. Your body is you. That's YOU.

It's okay to treat yourself with love and respect.

[jesusinstilettos]

Christians will demonize people who deconvert as just angry bitter atheists to discredit them. But remember it’s valid to be angry after leaving the church. Anger is often your body telling you your boundaries were crossed. Emotions serve a purpose, they aren’t bad.

[welcometogodly]

Heavenly Pleasures sign next to the verse we learned in church

[willowsees24]

Neon is my obsession.

[seraphimfall]

ex-christians with religious trauma picking their music taste be like:

[samwisethewitch]

One element of cultural Christianity that took me forever to move on from is the idea that you have to pick one spiritual path, or one set of spiritual beliefs, and stay on that path to the exclusion of everything else.

You do not.

Speaking from a pagan perspective, most pagan groups not only allow but encourage sharing space with/learning from other spiritual traditions, and I know the same is also true for a lot of other non-Christian religions. You can practice or believe multiple things, even if they seem to contradict each other! If it works for you, makes you feel connected to something greater than yourself, and doesn't cause discomfort or cognitive dissonance, there's no reason not to include it in your practice!

Fyi this post isn't just for ex-Christians who still want to have a spiritual practice. I absolutely see this same basic belief that you can only believe/do one thing show up in culturally Christian atheists who seem to think being atheist means they can't be open to spiritual or mystical experiences. There are many, many religions and spiritual traditions that do not require belief in a God, but culturally Christian atheists seem to mostly believe atheism and spirituality are mutually exclusive. They aren't.

[jessicalprice]

Today in truths culturally Christian atheists who get really angry when you point out that everyone who lives in Christian hegemony is shaped by it to some degree aren’t going to like:

To actually deconstruct the ways Christianity has shaped how you think, you need to study Christianity. From the outside. When you no longer believe it.

You can’t deconstruct what you can’t recognize, and recognizing ideology and worldviews usually requires studying them from an exterior perspective.

[dilliedallieallie]

if God wrote the Bible through humans, but by His law humans are inherently flawed and sinful….wouldnt that make the Bible also flawed???

[pretentious-librarian]

“lean not on your own understanding” fucked. me. up. yes, i understand the context in which it was written thousands of years ago but i’m not talking about that. i’m talking about how that verse has been weaponized by modern evangelical christianity to abuse and maintain control over people. to smother any critical thinking, resistance, independence, individualism, and more. this post doesn’t have a point. i am just pissed about my religious trauma and all the fighting i had to do just to trust my gut, my instincts, and my own critical thinking. i’m angry about all the years of loving, growing, and discovering myself that i lost to the spiritual abuse from the church.