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Well, I would like to take a sec to talk about my faith. I became a Christian at the age of 13, thanks to a Chritian summer camp. That came as a shock to my folks, as my mom was a lapsed Catholic and my stepfather was a atheist. But thanks in part to my brother's support, I made the plunge. Not having a "home church", I went to whatever church I could get to. For the first few years, that was a baptist church, and I was officialy baptised at age 18. Unfortunatly, my gender confusion created a big hurdle with my faith, and I would swing wildly between embracing my church's understanding and trying to find some inner peace by embracing my feminine side. But, 2 years ago I found a web site called whosoeverprays, and found other christians, some of whom deal with transgender struggles as well. But I will cover more of that next time.
Comments
Curious
Why would a lapsed Catholic and an athiest send their child to Christian summer camp? looking forward to hearing more about your experience.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
I Struggled With The Same Thing
I struggled with the same thing for a lot of years. I was raised Baptist and my inner conflict were at war with much of the Church doctrine. I got to a point where I figured out that God is so much more than what they were saying every Sunday. I felt like that they wanted to put God in a box and say that he couldn't have made me Transsexual or made someone Gay or Lesbian. They are a bit egotistic to claim to know the mind of God. I learned to separate my own beliefs from what the church teaches. I believe in God on my own terms and I believe I was made this way for a very special reason.
The interesting thing about
The interesting thing about religion is the church is trying to claim they speak the words of God. If you ask them how they know the words of God they'll tell you it's written in the Bible. But the Bible is just one big interpretation written by men who passed tales down to their children and, most often, written down years after the actual events occurred. The author's own biases obviously changing the message to suit their own needs.
It's one of the reasons I'm an anti-theist. Following the religion of others is just following someone else's interpretation of a message passed down through many people before finally being written down. It was translated and re-translated. Who's to say what the actual message was? In my opinion, any god that doesn't love all their creations is not worthy of respect or love themselves.
Still this is a sticky subject to comment on. I was raised by an atheist/anti-theist and an agnostic. So I was lucky enough to escape all religious dogma. I lived in blissful ignorance about homophobia until I was in grade 11 when a fellow classmate said "it's disgusting and unnatural". I mean I knew it was around at that age I just didn't expect to hear that from someone living in my town. Being the argumentative type I had to argue with them. Needless to say they just backed in to the typical argument you hear of those types of people. It went something like: "nah nah nah I can't hear you over my faith!"
If I can help, just ask
Dorothy,
I just started transition last month. For me that has become an incredible blessing. You see, I'm a pastor/chaplain in a church in Southern Calif., and a chaplain with the American Red Cross.
I went through a period of questioning and doubt. I am very fortunate. One of my mentors is one of the top conservative evangelical theologians alive today. Bottom line, his affirmation was if God made you that way then accept it and move into who you truly are. He had no reprimands, no problems with it, He felt it was between my God and I. There's nothing in the Bible about being transgendered but there is plenty about being who you were created to be. What anyone else thinks is irrelevant.
Yes, I'll be moving to a different congregation, there's too many people I love in my current church who just don't have a clue. I choose to be who God made me, and I choose to not put people I love in distress. Yes, it could be a teaching moment, but it's my judgement it would be counter productive.
Sooo... Embrace yourself for who you truly are. Never let someone tell you "God Said" ... they're probably delusional or speaking from ignorance.
If you have any questions, I'll try to find an answer.
I pray you find peace.
Blessings,
Beth
Excellent advice...
...no compromise on faith while still being true to yourself, dear heart. She needed this as I expect many of us do? Thanks, even it you wrote to her.
Dio benedica la mia bella amici
Love, Andrea Lena