Your encounters with those people show that there are many reasons not to believe, and lots of people to blame for a person not believing. I have met plenty of people whom I felt did not put the Church in a good light. But raising your children in the Church ensures that they have a choice whether to believe.
One can choose not to believe from a foundation of belief, as is anybody's right, but it is so much more difficult to choose to believe without a foundation of belief, as you have.
I am hardly a fanatic, and I confess I have doubts and reservations like many thinking Christians, but my experience in the Church--particularly since we had kids--has been enormously rewarding and enriching. I started regularly going to Church again when my first son was born, for his sake really, out of a sense of obligation, but it turns out that it was as much for my sake.
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branchandroot
Re: that made me smile
Date: 2001-08-19 02:25 pm (UTC)One can choose not to believe from a foundation of belief, as is anybody's right, but it is so much more difficult to choose to believe without a foundation of belief, as you have.
I am hardly a fanatic, and I confess I have doubts and reservations like many thinking Christians, but my experience in the Church--particularly since we had kids--has been enormously rewarding and enriching. I started regularly going to Church again when my first son was born, for his sake really, out of a sense of obligation, but it turns out that it was as much for my sake.