Does anyone feel like they took the red pill?

[Barbarbarann]

DH and I are active Christians. I was having an interesting conversation with DH the other day and we were talking about how being saved and following Jesus feels like we took the red pill from the Matrix. It feels like our eyes are opened to how evil is operating in the world and you can't unsee it. I feel like we are in an age where evil is deemed good and good is deemed evil and we are the only ones that can see it and others are mostly blasé, heads in the sand or mislead.

I wonder if anyone else out there feels that too? When I mentioned it to some ladies at a Bible study yesterday - I was met with blank looks. I am not some militant, Bible-thumping conspiracy theorist either, just someone who quietly reads their bible daily and prays.

It's funny I was thinking about this early.

I am quite a few years (decades?) into leaning into my faith in a more purposed way. Initially, yes, it can be like you 'see demons everywhere!' And I think that's good in terms of protecting yourself from distractions, protecting the clarity of a new and sometimes vulnerable faith. However God is everywhere too. Look at this quote from Merlin Sheldrake about fungi,

"Someone got up to talk about a group of plants that produced a certain group of chemicals in their leaves. Until then, the chemicals had been thought as a defining characteristic of that group of plants. However, it transpired that the chemicals were actually made by the fungi that Iived in the leaves of the plant. Our idea of the plant had to be redrawn. Another researcher interjected, suggesting that it may not be the fungi living in the leaf that produced these chemicals, but the bacteria living inside the fungus." (P18&19 Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake).

I quoted this in another thread about, 'lack of spirituality' under a different user name. I also said this is my post,

When symbiotic connections run so deeply that our very understanding of where the boundaries lie between one organism and another it is very helpful to me in terms of understanding themes of love and complete harmonious unity within my own Christian faith. Yet this is a very tangible example of unity within the natural physical world.

I think when unity with God is the ultimate aim you have to be careful not to alienate other people in them coming closer to God. Another thing that came to me recently was that we have to be careful not to attempt to hog all God's light for ourselves and in the process cast shadows onto others. That doesn't mean not sharing (that would be hogging) but it also means not claiming (that would be hogging).

People's backgrounds, language, experiences, expressions, strengths and weaknesses are all different. Sometimes we might not even realise it when we are in agreement!

So yes, it can be easy to see where things are wrong in others easier than observing wrong yourselves really. But you need to grow, tackle the log in your own eyes) before you can begin to reach out and say where others are going wrong. In order to engage with people you have to live them first!

I I like this song and find it challenging:

Love them first!😂 although live would be an interesting alternative...

It sounds like you have a god complex yourselves. Delusions of grandiosity. Why on earth do you believe you’re superior to everyone else?

Define good and evil?

You're looking at life in very black and white terms.

I have been in the faith a few decades. You are not alone in feeling this and you are not alone in your observations about how the world is at the moment. You been given a gift of discernment. With spiritual gifts, you need to stay prayerful.

In what way do you mean you can see evil in the world in a way that other’s can’t or don’t? I think many of us, religious or not, see the many evils taking place in the world with great sadness.

I feel the exact opposite. I was raised Catholic and blindly followed and believed everything until about 10 years ago. Some of things I believed were wrong I now see them very differently and I'm amazed I hadn't realised this earlier.

Why do so many Christians bang on about evil all the time? Is it because it is a bit of a death cult?

Try to do and be good and spread some goodness in the world. what else can you do? Most people aren’t ‘blind’ to evil, they just try the best they can to live in the light.

I feel like we are in an age where evil is deemed good and good is deemed evil and we are the only ones that can see it and others are mostly blasé, heads in the sand or mislead.

Can you expand on what you mean by this?

No, being religious doesn't give you some kind of magic third eye.

We all see the bad stuff going on in the world and most of us (even us heathens) care about it. Many of us actively try and make a difference where we can.

At the end of the day though most folk are busy battling their way through their own lives.

You are not better than anyone else just because you believe in a god.

Interesting, @Barbarbarann . The Bible tells us how the end of this world is going to pan out and so we are bound to see an increase in Godlessness. However my experience was different to yours in that when I came to faith in Christ, my eyes were opened to how much good there is in the world. I know we are in a spiritual war, and must use the power of God's wisdom and discernment to guide us.

I think you've got your red and blue pills the wrong way round.

I'm interested to know what you mean by evil as well. I am not religious but I am very aware of many evils in the world. Violence, war, abuse, marginalisation of certain groups of people, the list goes on.

Are you referring to things that Christianity regards as evil but perhaps people who don't believe in God wouldn't consider evil.

I know some Christians who think that homosexuality is evil. If that's what you're talking about I'm very happy not to have taken the red pill.

What we see in the outer world is a mirror of our inner world. Try to focus on what you perceive as "good", because if you're constantly on the look out for "evil", then you'll surely find it.

I'd also be interested in what you see as evil that others do not see, and what evil things are considered good.

Cripes, bit radical

As someone who follows Hindu teachings but also believes in Jesus, my belief is that it is a world of duality. There is a balance of good and evil, dark and light, joy and sorrow - pairs of opposites. 'I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these' Isaiah 45.

The responses will be put down to ‘evil.’

I do think you need some help. This sounds unhinged

To be fair if, someone is beginning a journey of spiritual reflection it is not uncommon to see not only what is wrong with oneself but also within society at large.

However, it's not going to effectively, as a Christian, help you to love and be merciful towards people if you only see the wrong in them and blame them. People don't generally warm to others being judgemental with them from the get go. Equally attempting to help someone, if it feels futile because you only see bad in them, would be pretty soul destroying. Hope over others is a good thing to have. And that means it is necessary to see good and do what you can to encourage it.

I had the opposite experience. I came to Jesus and saw God’s love everywhere.

I know some Christians emphasise spiritual warfare and the like, but the notion that we are living in a particularly Godless era is an example of what my psychotherapist calls pathological omnipotence: an overestimation of one’s importance in the world. Since time immemorial people have proclaimed the current era to be the worst one, and since Christianity began people have used this to claim it indicates Christ’s imminent return.

The experience you describe reminds me of when I discovered feminism in my twenties. That was a scales falling from my eyes period and for some years I was distressed and angry, sometimes in an alienating way. The feeling did settle over time. I am still angry over gender-based violence and discrimination but I do not get so demonstrative which was kinda exhausting.

I hope you find some peace as it is tiring seeing the bad in everything.

To be honest it sounds like you have a mental health issue. I genuinely don't mean to offend you but it is not typical or healthy to think like that or feel you're in the matrix. Hope everything is ok and I wish you well.

What examples can you give of 'evil is deemed good and good is deemed evil and we are the only ones that can see it'? When you say 'we' do you mean saved Christians or just you and your husband?

@Scottishshortbread1187 I wouldn't be so quick pathologise! It's ironic but it's the medical equivalent of the spiritual issue that is going on here!

Spiritual awakenings can affect someone's whole world view which can be somewhat disorientating however everything that is challenging to a previously held world view is not indicative of something that causes mental illness. Otherwise every single education facility would have a health warning!

If it is detrimentally affecting your lives op and you have too much stress with this that you find it difficult to cope then yes it might be helpful for you to seek help in terms of mental health. But it is certainly not a wholly unusual thought to have as others on this thread have been able to emphasise with this feeling. 😉

I used to have a favourite (very coarse!) saying:

So far up one's own ar## all one can see is sh##e! 😂

There are many people who agree with you, and many who have seen this for a long time. It’s a deliberately gradual process, a slow and steady wake up call. Everything will be fine.
As for people wanting examples of evil being painted as good, prostitution is one example. As an old school feminist I believe prostitution is damaging for women and society should work to end it. Modern society says prostitution is legitimate sex work which is empowering for women and should be destigmatised. It’s not difficult to see other examples, but this was the most glaring for me.