Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
that's one aspect of church life that I miss.. the feeling of having an extended family; a pre-built social and support network.
To what degree it was manipulative and to what degree it was honest people trying to be good to each other and support each other likely varies from person to person, but there was good there at least in the churches I went to.
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That was definitely a beautiful thing with a dark side to it, unfortunately, the benefits of that support network when based on illogical fallacies and fabrications was not a cognitive dissonance I could live with.
In many respects, I have never replaced that community and feeling of family again but I am still much happier for it knowing where I stand and not questioning every Sunday.
Manipulations or "awful things" are likely more the exception than the rule in most religious organizations - of which most folks are kind-hearted and earnest in their devotion and selflessness to each other. The horror stories from religion are not what drove me out - living with innocuous daily lies and fairy tales that made no sense is what did it.