- Date posted
- 1y
Religion.
I was raised Mormon and was very unhappy. I'm 17 and believe in God etc. but I don't want to be affiliated with a religion. And I feel like there's something wrong with that. I need advice.
I was raised Mormon and was very unhappy. I'm 17 and believe in God etc. but I don't want to be affiliated with a religion. And I feel like there's something wrong with that. I need advice.
I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We would love to have you back. We need all types of people. Even those who doubt. I think we all have doubts from time to time.
There’s nothing wrong with not being affiliated with a religion. You have to do whatever is best for your self-care. If it is bringing you more stress than happiness, then it makes sense you would want to leave. Whatever you decide, don’t feel like you should stay just because it’s wrong not to have a religion - tons of people don’t, and live happy, fulfilling lives!
I too was raised Mormon and left the church around age 15. There will always be a part of me that wonders if I’m missing out on blessings/privileges/salvation in my current life or in the afterlife, as a consequence of leaving the church. A part of me will always wonder if I need to be apart of a religion to save myself. I understand however that that’s not something I personally can ever be certain of so I’ve let go of the need to figure that out. Maybe I need religion, maybe I don’t. I sit with those bouts of anxiety until they pass
I’m Christian, and I suddenly had a loss of faith. I’m praying constantly and as anxious and scared that God hasn’t chosen me for this religion, even though I believe in it whole heartedly. My brain is telling me these things, and saying how I would be fit for Islam or something else, even though I am perfectly happy being a Christian. I keep getting intrusive thoughts and feelings about not believing in my religion, and whenever I confess how I do believe, my brain tells me I’m lying or I feel otherwise. It makes me feel guilty and abandoned and alone. I still read my Bible and pray CONSTANTLY. Please help (sorry if this is hard to understand I am ranting)
Im not religious or anything I do believe in God I guess that would be Christianity but I don’t call myself a Christian due to me in life seeing a lot of Christians are such hypocrites and something regarding to this on TikTok has been very triggering for me I don’t know has anyone seen those people inducing fear by basically telling people that they will be going to hell if they don’t give their life to Jesus Christ because of the end times ? Like I don’t understand if our religion is about love and etc why are most Christians hateful and just bad… and what is the end times it seems like they say it’s the end times every year and how would you even know if it was the end times your not God like I think a lot of Christians think they know everything because who even gave you the right to start telling everyone the end times are coming … and like now I’ve been scared I’m go to hell so now my thoughts has me freaking out on me going to hell
Backstory: I was raised heavily Christian on my dad's side up until about middle school but then was sort of transitioned away from it and was atheist/didn't think about it. Then towards the end of middle school and through high school I was pushed heavily by my mother's side (and by the internet) into more spiritual practices. Both of which triggered my OCD a lot. After realizing how much they affected my mental health I tried to get as far away from both as possible for a while. But now I'm receiving a LOT of signs to turn back to religion but this time Islam???? I don't know it's hard to describe but I feel very conflicted. There's a lot I don't agree with in the religion. It has a lot of the same contradictions and stuff that Christianity had that I can't get behind but also like... What if I'm wrong. I also keep doing these mental gymnastics to try and make everything I disagree with make sense and look at things in different perspectives than other people. There's a lot about the religion that compels me too, much more than Christianity. But now I'm scared to do anything sinful, even things that I used to feel no guilt for. The guilt is the WORST. I feel bad for things I shouldn't feel bad for. The other thing is I'm very queer, and trans masculine. I know that makes me sound crazy. That part of me is screaming not to do this. But the part of me that's compelling me back to religion is telling me that I would actually feel okay being straight and a woman if I accepted Islam. It's the ONLY thing that's made me feel like that would be comfortable and okay for myself. Maybe that in of itself is a sign that it's the truth. It's insane that I would actually feel that way. I would even be okay wearing hijab and everything, dressing modest and feminine. But on the other hand I will ALWAYS be a science first person. That directly contradicts one of the key ideas of Islam, that the Quran is the exact word of God and that it is unchanged. My particular issue being that I will never believe in creationism. At the same time I know that my dad would have been extremely proud of me for finding God. While he did renounce organized religion towards the end of his life (he was also very sick and on a lot of medication) he still very much believed in God and wished that for his children. Part of me feels that even though I cannot find God in Christianity he would still be proud of me for finding God in Islam. But I also feel a lot of my identity has been formed around the spiritual practices of my mom's side of the family. That is also what I'm constantly surrounded by and what is largely expected of my. I do fear falling too deep into those beliefs was the worst for my OCD though. I was constantly worried about all the things I "needed" to do or else I would have bad consequences. I even believed I was the reason of my father's death at some point. I might still believe that to a degree. I'm afraid I can't really talk about this with anyone because Im afraid I would come off as someone who just wants to parade around Islamic culture while cherry picking what I want from it. That might even be the case idk. I could just be randomly finding something to build an identity around because of some narcissistic need for attention. Idk someone tell me what I should do.
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