Posted by:
peacelovemoana
(
)
Date: May 31, 2016 12:10AM
I was having a discussion about faith and religion and whatnot with my mom the other day. She expressed the concern that because I left the church then that means I no longer have any beliefs or spirituality. I explained to her that when I was in the church, I didn't CHOOSE to believe any of it - I just did what was expected because I was living in such a Mormon bubble. Now that I'm out, I am taking this time to expand my horizons and learn about all different kinds of religions and philosophies. This is my personal search for truth, and the more I learn, the more I am able to better myself by either taking in new ideas, or by at least learning to respect the viewpoints of others. So my beliefs come from a variety of places, and I try to always be open to the possibility that I will learn new things that change what i currently believe - I don't want myself to become stagnant because i refuse to let myself grow.
Anyways, my mom wasn't exactly receptive to this approach to life, and she said that I was just being stubborn and cherry picking things to believe because they "validated my lifestyle" or something. She said that I could search the whole world and never find the same truth that I had grown up with, and that I would eventually find my way back to the gospel.
I wish she could understand where I'm coming from. I want to respect her beliefs, but when she uses them to invalidate my own experiences, it's just a little frustrating.