Posted by:
Amellifera
(
)
Date: February 19, 2012 09:55PM
I realize this isn’t a space created for me, and I hope I’m not intruding. I’ve spent the past 3 days reading this forum. My husband doesn’t understand why I’m so fascinated. He thinks it has something to do with the fact that we live in Utah. It doesn’t, really, though I found this forum because I was curious. The major reason I’ve been reading your discussions (in all of my free time for the past 3 days) is because I was born into “The Truth” as well. Though they call themselves Christadelphians. The similarities with Mormon doctrine are vanishingly small. Christadelphians are a tiny group, who will never have a candidate for president. I think Christadelphians might be more overtly sexist, but I don’t know. But there are similarities: The insidious ways people police each other’s behavior. The fact that you have to be prepared to give up all of your friends (and sometimes family) if you leave. The difficulty in convincing your friends that you have left (my home address was just listed in the publication sent to all North American Christadelphians; I have no idea how they found me). The anger and grief you feel, even as you also find a greater happiness and freedom.
I guess I just want to thank you all. I’ve never been able to articulate how much Christadelphianism informed who I am today (both the original belief and the rejection of it). I’ve been fairly successful in my life, post-Christadelphia. I don’t think my husband can understand my continued fascination with scriptural interpretation, my easily provoked anger at “small” trespasses into my privacy by current Christadelphians, etc. I left over a decade ago, before I met my husband. It’s still a daily issue in my life – mainly because my parents are still “Brethren in Christ.” Reading the posts here has allowed me to undergo a catharsis that I was unable to complete in my isolation. You are a pretty wonderful group. So thank you. For the amount of humor I have found on here. The fact that you don’t shy away from anger. For strategies on how to deal with Christadelphians when they inevitably invade my boundaries. It's been really healthy for me.
Thank you for speaking. It has helped.