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Trapped · 11-22-2020, 05:25 PM

Holy smokes everyone.

ExChurchKid has been pretty clear about where she is right now related to God. Let her be there.

If she wants to ask questions about God, she can do so, just like I did numerous times when I came on the forum. If she wants to express her frustrations about God, let her do so. I did that plenty of times on the forum and to my recollection got understanding in return. If she doesn't want to be preached at, or hear about God in a certain way, it's pretty easy to honor that request. Learn a person first.

We have no idea what she's been through, do we? To use an extreme example, a young kid molested by a pedophile priest who did evil things to that kid while praying at the same time (yes, that happens) means that kid absolutely will not want to hear about God. I think we can all understand why in that scenario. And that kid would receive a lot more sensitivity from us because of it.

So there's a spectrum of what people go through in life, and that spectrum still involves sensitivity from us even if it's not as extreme as the example I gave.

If I grew up knowing that God was someone who condemned me, blamed me, wanted to crush me, took pleasure in ripping things I enjoyed out of my hands.....then anyone trying to talk up God to me would get some fangs and claws from me in return, because I would be sick of having someone who has always been represented as out to get me shoved in my face. I can say that because I've been precisely there. Enjoyment of Christ, pressuring to feel differently, threats about choices and discretion? Come on people. You wouldn't do that to someone you had had all of 15 minutes of conversation with in real life.....why do that here?

For those who believe in God, our job is to welcome, walk alongside, listen, hear, mirror, understand, empathize, and allow them to have a voice maybe for the first time ever. No new members are going to trust anyone here to have a real conversation about where they are at with God if we don't start with that.

ExChurchKid, and many, many church kids, are not the enemy. They are the wounded and the collateral damage from a sick system that's been allowed to roll on crushing people for far too long.

11-22-2020, 05:25 PM	#72
Trapped Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 1,523	Re: Thoughts On The Libel Suit? Holy smokes everyone. ExChurchKid has been pretty clear about where she is right now related to God. Let her be there. If she wants to ask questions about God, she can do so, just like I did numerous times when I came on the forum. If she wants to express her frustrations about God, let her do so. I did that plenty of times on the forum and to my recollection got understanding in return. If she doesn't want to be preached at, or hear about God in a certain way, it's pretty easy to honor that request. Learn a person first. We have no idea what she's been through, do we? To use an extreme example, a young kid molested by a pedophile priest who did evil things to that kid while praying at the same time (yes, that happens) means that kid absolutely will not want to hear about God. I think we can all understand why in that scenario. And that kid would receive a lot more sensitivity from us because of it. So there's a spectrum of what people go through in life, and that spectrum still involves sensitivity from us even if it's not as extreme as the example I gave. If I grew up knowing that God was someone who condemned me, blamed me, wanted to crush me, took pleasure in ripping things I enjoyed out of my hands.....then anyone trying to talk up God to me would get some fangs and claws from me in return, because I would be sick of having someone who has always been represented as out to get me shoved in my face. I can say that because I've been precisely there. Enjoyment of Christ, pressuring to feel differently, threats about choices and discretion? Come on people. You wouldn't do that to someone you had had all of 15 minutes of conversation with in real life.....why do that here? For those who believe in God, our job is to welcome, walk alongside, listen, hear, mirror, understand, empathize, and allow them to have a voice maybe for the first time ever. No new members are going to trust anyone here to have a real conversation about where they are at with God if we don't start with that. ExChurchKid, and many, many church kids, are not the enemy. They are the wounded and the collateral damage from a sick system that's been allowed to roll on crushing people for far too long.