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.

@Horrace I struggling to see how we, as Christians, define our own life experiences is insulting to you.

It's like me saying I don't like eating fish and you being insulted because it's your favourite food. What can I do, I still don't like the taste...🤷‍♀️ You have to let people make sense of their own lives in their own way.

Sadly it's "Christians" with a superior attitude (but with no real emotional intelligence or empathy) that completely turned me off church communities a few years ago.

@Gangshow tbh I think that's the same across lots of sectors. The Primary School PTA was rife with that sort of thing!!!

Definitely! 😂

The superior feeling I had was felt by my entire group/cult I belonged to. We had the truth. Everyone else was worldly.

I'm not saying all religious people are this way. I apologise if I have come across that way. Not intended to.

The insults are from the OP and some posters here.
Although I'm not offended in the slightest.

@Horrace

Although I'm not offended in the slightest

Good. Sorted then. 🙂🥳

🤣🤣🤣

Yeah, this sounds very cult-like. I don't think it's that reflective of mainstream Christianity, is it?

Or the 'superior' type of Christians.

The only 'type' of Christians that really rubbed me up the wrong way in the past were the fake-friendly Christian Union types at university, but you know...they were young and earnest I guess.

At the end of the day it comes down to personal beliefs and your own relationship with God (if you have one), not judging whole communities. I think that goes both ways though. People are quick to label a whole group with being...whatever is seen as a negative characteristic by the 'in group'. So then they distance themselves from that and project it onto the other group. It just fuels division, you're going to find people not to your liking in any community.

What puts me off, within Christian circles, is arguing over how Sacraments should be administered/ received / to whom and church hierarchy in general. What should be expected of newcomers..etc etc

That's all a bit daunting. Hence I love my online church which does Communion too. No barriers. No pressure. No politics.

Wimpy of me I know but I am really thankful there's still a church for me.

That's all a bit daunting. Hence I love my online church which does Communion too. No barriers. No pressure. No politics.

That's interesting. How does that work? I'm Anglican so I'm a bit more traditional but I like the idea of less a hierarchical approach too.

@Mustardseed86 there's a church service. We share prayers and worship and Communion is given at the end (supply own bread and wine / substitute). Can email in prayer requests. They give details of charities and the work they do you might be interested in supporting.

Oh and there's a different sermon and teachings every week. 🙂

I like the sound of it! 😊

@Mustardseed86, thanks, I have found it to be a very positive experience. 🙂

My mother was a baptist in the Netherlands. I should point out that Dutch Baptists have nothing in common with their US counterparts but the name!

She used to love going to her meetings and discussing anything and everything within a group of people who interacted as equals. Then their minister left and was replaced by one who imposed a hierarchy, and she never went back. It's this thing of people using organised religion as a way to take power that I object to. They may be doing it with the best of intentions, but it's still wrong.

I go away for the weekend and see so many responses! I am not sure what to make of the intense feelings of people here and the tangents and insinuations. I am quite new to mumsnet and I just wanted to know if I was alone in feeling something I couldn't quite describe fully. I am not here to judge anyone or be judged. I wasn't trying to be incendiary - I was looking for a little support and not to feel alone. All I have learned is mumsnet is not the right place to ask.

@Barbarbarann Yes, things got a little out of hand while you were away! Your seeming silence allowed people to fill in the gaps according to their fancies. Any online discussion can be a bit unforgiving - please don't feel you're not supported

Barbarbarann
Welcome aboard but best you stick around for discussions in future.
And don't stress. No one knows you so don't take anything personally 😁

@Barbarbarann

I was looking for a little support and not to feel alone

Welcome back and hope you had a lovely weekend. No you are not alone but to cut a long story short seeing only bad things in the world is only half the story! There is good (God) there too!

Looking for the good in people really helps you engage with them and feel it is all worthwhile. But you are not alone. It is not unusual for you to question things and we need to question things as they are currently in order to start making improvements and help others. However, only seeing bad is overwhelming. And blaming people for the bad is disheartening, far better to forgive quickly and see what you can do to help situations.

All I have learned is mumsnet is not the right place to ask.

@Barbarbarann, nothing else? Give yourself time and re read this thread if you can stomach it. Sometimes it takes a while to absorb things. Pray about it.

She used to love going to her meetings and discussing anything and everything within a group of people who interacted as equals. Then their minister left and was replaced by one who imposed a hierarchy, and she never went back. It's this thing of people using organised religion as a way to take power that I object to. They may be doing it with the best of intentions, but it's still wrong

@pointythings, yes, that's where it all starts to go wrong. Sounds like she had a lovely church before that though. I don't think hierarchy is necessarily inherently bad, though, just when people, unfortunately, exploit it for power.

You wrote “I am not sure what to make of the intense feelings of people here” - well they are just that, other people’s feelings. The tangents are what happens in online discussions everywhere.

If you read the discussion quite a lot of the more heated parts are other posters discussing with each other, and that is not aimed at you. I agree that you not replying allows other posters to imagine or assume what you might be thinking or feeling, and respond to their imaginings rather than allowing you to explain yourself.

Maybe what you can learn from this thread is that becoming a Christian does not have to involve the journey you are experiencing, which sounds somewhat distressing; it can be about the sensation of an inrushing of grace and discovering how to play your part in telling the story of His love.

@Barbarbarann now that you are back, would you be able to provide examples of what you consider evil being presented as good? Understanding where you are coming from would help.

@pointythings

Hierarchy that works well just allows people to specialise in stuff they are good at with people coordinating and overseeing all that.