I don't understand this forum

[ExChurchKid]

Hey everyone,

I joined this forum expecting a safe place to express my discontent with being raised in the Recovery. I've posted a couple of threads, and skimmed through a few others I found interesting and wanted to comment on. But I...just can't get past the assumption that this forum seems to have that everyone is a Christian. In many cases, people's words sound like they're coming from someone in the LC. The terminology, tone, etc., are all so similar to me. And assertions that God loves you, and we're all winners in Christ or whatever, get inserted at uncalled for times when they do not contribute to the discussion, which is exactly what happens in the Recovery. In addition, why does leaving the LC mean we have to be Christian? Why can't we be agnostic, or even atheist? Or perhaps just be private about our own private faith that doesn't really fit into a category? I actually do have questions about God that I'd like to ask, but I'm afraid to. Part of me wants to go to all of these threads that have a poster who seems to assume everyone believes in the same loving Christian God, and tell them to stop! But I don't want to start a flame war. So what do I do? Do I just bow out of this forum? I found a couple of friends here, so I don't think it would be all for nothing. And the mods seem great. I honestly think they're the only reason this forum hasn't completely fallen apart. But the underlying religiousness...I just can't. Not that there's anything wrong with religion. But there's nothing wrong with no religion either! Knowing that most people on here are Christian, I've tried to be respectful of things they might not like. As in, although I cuss in normal life, I don't do it here. I try not to write things that might be controversial to someone who very much believes in God, unless it's relevant to the conversation. But it just seems like the very religious people on here don't extend the same courtesy. I don't understand it. Am I, as an agnostic, in the minority, and I should just go elsewhere? Or should religious people learn to not assume that just because someone was in the Recovery, they believe the same things as the religious person? Personally, I think it's the latter, but that's what I struggle with in regards to very religious people. There have been some very reasonable comments about faith on here that I'd like to explore further, but on the other hand, there have been many comments that make me think being Christian in general is no different from being in the LCs. Why do I often feel like I'm being treated like there's something wrong with me, or my ideas are less true and more vitriolic, because I'm not certain in my faith, or I don't want to talk about it, or have other people's faith shoved in my face? The Recovery is very hypocritical because they claim love and kindness, but instead give judgment and shame. Although I haven't been on this forum long, I've felt the same thing here in certain cases. Many of the very people who preach love and kindness are the ones who refuse to stop inserting their religious beliefs into my non-religious conversations. That is not loving, nor kind. I do not go around this forum declaring God isn't real, or God is spiteful, or many of the other things I sometimes feel, but other posters go around declaring that Christ is in all of us and God led us all out of the LCs. Why can they not be respectful of my beliefs, as I am of theirs?

I'm not sure where I was going with this. Mostly just a rant I guess, and perhaps a litmus test to see if the help on this forum is worth the hurt and frustration. Thanks for reading. Please be sensitive in your responses.