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theliberalchristian-blog · 13 years ago

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The Liberal Christian - Why I renounced my Anglicanism

As mentioned in my last post, I recently rejected the Anglican denomination in which I was brought up in. My parents, thankfully, understood and welcomed it; it was, perhaps, the first time I'd ever made a massive decision about religion quite openly. About two months ago, I'd have said in reply to "Are you religious?", and I'd reply "Yes, I'm an Anglican". But now, if asked that very same question, I'd reply "Yes, I'm a liberal Christian". Now many of my more conservative readers may be questioning this decision; I can assure you that it has not, in any way, made me a worse Christian, if anything, it's made me a better Christian. I've felt free ever since admitting it to my family, and am very glad I've done so. But what was the main reason for me to openly come out as saying that I don't agree with what I was told to believe?

I guess the first time I ever really began to question what is commonly known as the Anglican faith when I was younger, perhaps about 5 years old. I hated going to church. I despised it. I (well I say I, I actually mean my parents) had already read pretty much all of the Bible, and felt no need to go to church. This hatred of going to mass was perpetuated with the fact that each time I went to church, the parents of other children took me away from my ones, and made me attend a weekly Sunday school. And let me tell you, I hated it. I didn't know anybody there, and found it hard to truly understand what was being taught. Another reason that made me not want to go was because the service was always very confusing, and perhaps a bit too ahead of its time; each Sunday a band played music, while the sermons were always hyper-interactive, and had so much participation that nobody knew what to do - the church never actually had a set schedule, so there was holy communion at different times, and nobody knew what hymns to sing, so it was complete and utter chaos.

Now, although I disliked going to church, I don't think that this had any real affect on my faith... After a few years my parents stopped taking my sister and I to church, and began to let us live the 'normal' life for a child of under 10 (unfortunately, though, my sister seems to have been very badly impacted by the shambles that we called 'service', and now is uncertain of what to believe in, and is almost entirely allergic to the mention of religion).

And so, slowly but surely, I became disassociated from the Church and did not think about religion; I even stopped praying, which, as any believer will know, can have a detrimental effect on one's outlook of life. It wasn't until about a year ago when I decided to go back to church for the first time. But instead of going to the church I so hated, I started attending a different one slightly further away. The effects were noticeable. I was happy, spiritual, and was closer to God than ever before. The first really bad depressive episode I'd ever had was finished by the trip. But why? Well, some might say that it was just that I was rejoined with God, which is slightly true. The main reason I think, is that it was an Anglo-Catholic church that encouraged denominational mixing, and the ending of inner-Church separation. The Priests (who hated to be called 'Vicars', or at least one did) here taught a much more liberal, down to Earth, and understandable version of Christianity. They told us that one should not take the Bible literally. This made me think: what if they're right? I was a man of science, somebody that agreed with evolution and the big bang theory, but still believed in God. So then, after numerous nights of reading through the Bible, I discovered that I couldn't believe some of stories in the Bible. Genesis was completely reformed and changed in my mind, the tales of Moses and Aaron were just, well, tales in my mind. This was the second great rift for me, and it took only one more thing for me to decide that I was a Christian, not an Anglican.

That one thing came in the form of a book, controversial though it is, called 'The God Delusion' by the notorious critic of religion, Richard Dawkins. I started reading this book around last Christmas time, during my most recent depressive episode (looking back I know that it wasn't the best thing to read, if I'm perfectly honest, for the way I was feeling at the time). At first I was convinced by Dawkins' writing; I saw the flaws in religion and began to grow a dislike for religion, especially the one I was brought up in, due to his interesting comments on the Old Testament and how religions come about (although I completely rejected the preposterous notion he created that religion might just be the effects of a parasite that replicates certain genes). But when I read about 60% of the book, I realised an important thing: religion isn't evil, the segregation caused by denominations and inter-faith fighting was. It was an epiphany to me - I'd never been so astonished. Gobsmacked. Astounded. Amazed. And most of all, relieved. So, after much pondering, I decided to tell my parents once during dinner. Unsure of what they'd say, I was very nervous. Fortunately their reaction was positive - my mother, too, said that she didn't put herself in a denomination, just in Christianity. My father, despite being an Anglican, just acted as if nothing really important had happened by simply saying "yeah". They've not treated me different ever since. I feel much more free, happy, and comfortable. I understood that Christianity had to facilitate new ideas in order to spread peace, such as allowing contraception, permitting pre-marital sex, and homosexuality (I know these views are controversial, but please do not be put off; one of the things I learned from my renouncing of Anglicanism was that everybody has their own views, and it's not my place to tell anybody that there views are wrong, and mine are right).

By reading stories of different denominations attacking each other, I grew a disgust of forming denominations - we are all Christian, so why do we have to form sub-groups? As nice as it would be, it's impossible. People do it naturally. This is one of the many things I've learned, but I still try my best to encourage people to become Christians, rather than Denominational Christians, so if there are people out there unsure, just think about it: you're still a Christian, the only difference is that you have slightly different views.

So this is what led to me become who I am today. A very liberal, peaceful, and pacifistic but nonetheless religious Christian that takes an intellectual and spiritual interest in religion.

In my next post, I'll probably be talking about why we cannot take the Bible literally, or one of the other things mentioned in my last post. Thanks for reading, and I hope that I've informed and helped people out there.

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theliberalchristian-blog · 13 years ago

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The Liberal Christian - My Story

Born into a rather average-earning household in South-East London, I had a relatively comfortable life. I was Christened when only a few years old, and was brought up to be an Anglican Christian, although I later renounced my Anglicanism for a number of reasons (I'll talk about this later). My Mother, an Atheist-turned-Christian grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia, and then the Czech Republic, and then moved to London to marry my Father, an Englishman (who was an Anglican). Neither of my parents really shoved religion down my throat, although there was an overwhelming feeling that they felt that I should be a Christian (which, rather surprisingly, didn't make me believe that I was really doing evil if I left Christianity). I can remember my parents reading my younger self Bible stories in the evening, and explaining them to me (although I must admit I did not understand some of the stories) in a very liberal way. Perhaps, then, this is what first started my habit of criticizing some parts of the Bible for being extreme and barbaric, as well as (sometimes) contradictory. My parents share this view... As well as a dislike for those that feel the need to force-feed religion to others, especially to children.

Now I wouldn't say that I've always been a proper Christian, and even when I did start attending mass regularly, I had my ups and downs, as well as a crisis in which I pretty much lost my faith in God. Unfortunately, this problem will probably affect me again - I happen to have depression, and frequently while in these unhappy episodes, I become very nihilistic, and godless. About half a year ago, perhaps a little shorter, I became very confused, depressed, and almost entirely lost my faith in God. I still felt the need to pray, but often thought to myself "what if God just isn't there?" It was through this time in which I was unhappiest, and often though about suicide and death. I had nobody to talk to; my parents would probably be disappointed in me, my friends probably wouldn't have helped too much as I'm the only Christian in my little group of friends who I usually talk to (as in the group I'd go out with or chat to more than others) - a number are Muslim, two are Atheists, and one is a Sikh, and finally I was having a crisis to do with my sexuality, which, at the moment, I am still not even sure about. But that is something I'll cover another time. After a very unhappy Christmas, I finally became faithful again, and with the help of a psychiatrist, I got out of my depression; I was happier, felt more healthy and energetic, I was more outgoing, and actually had proper dreams, hopes, and ambitions to aim for. At least in my case, I got much happier once I was - as one might say - born-again. Unfortunately, these depressive episodes will almost certainly come back again, but that is part of me, and I think - hope - I've come to terms with it.

Once I became a Christian again, my outlook on life changed. Drastically. I actually sinned a little more often than I did before when I was a Christian, but am trying to change my ways. I don't want to come across as condescending, and would like to put this out now: I am not the 'perfect' Christian. Nobody is. We all sin. It's natural. It's part of being human. But my view on the Bible changed. Before my crisis I didn't take the Bible literally and had a very relaxed view about Christianity and life in general. I am still pretty laid-back when it comes to religion, and still do not take the Bible literally (I'll talk about this another time). I've learned two things: although God helps, it is up to you to work hard and do well. The second thing is that without achieving an aim, I don't think I can truly be happy. My dreams must be fulfilled for me to be happy. It's a dangerous all-or-nothing attitude, or so I've been told, but it's helped me to do better in school, and achieve more. Work hard, set your goals high, plan your path to happiness, pray for God to help you, and do well. That is how I perform to my best, or at least better than ever before. Everybody can go high as long as they find their right way of viewing life. As far as I know, for me, this is the best way.

So, enough about my story, here are the main things I'll be looking at on this blog:

Why I renounced my Anglican faith and am now a Christian, rather than a Protestant.

Why we cannot take the Bible literally.

What are the consequences of taking the Bible literally?

Why Atheism and Agnosticism just doesn't work for me.

Who do I think Jesus was?

How to treat people that aren't the same religion as yourself.

What is wrong with the way other religions and how Atheists treat and think about Christianity.

What are my thoughts on abortion/euthanasia?

What are my thoughts on pre-marital sex/contraception?

What are my thoughts on the death penalty/murder/law?

What are my political views, how are they influenced by religion, and how can Socialism exist peacefully and work with Christianity and religion?

Why the world we live in is full of evil, and it is up to mankind, rather than just God, to help the planet.

Why Christianity?

What is wrong with the way that critics of religion view Christianity?

So, without further ado, let's get cracking! (This programme for the blog is only rough, and I'll probably add to this in the future)

I'm currently 15, and hope to get into a grammar school for Sixth Form to do the IB course, and then go on to read history in a good university; I have my sights set on Cambridge.

#Christianity #Biography #What is right?#Morals #Story #Happiness #Religion

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