I’d also be interested in hearing about how you changed your views.
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Caffeinated_Sloth@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Just for some perspective: in 2009 I was a Christian nationalist and I thought Obama was going to use FEMA to imprison conservative dissenters and would turn the US into a communist dictatorship. I hoped and prayed for an explicitly Christian government and an end to most federal programs. If I had the same worldview now, I would be orgasmically happy with the way things are going.
Lemminary@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
madsjchic@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Not even trying to be mean but probably themself or someone they know personally got hurt.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Not necessarily. In my case, psychedelics played a huge role in finally making everything click.
Machinist@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
Oh, hey. That whole mind expanding thing really isn’t a joke. I look back, sometimes, on who I used to be.
Caffeinated_Sloth@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
This is very common, but was not the reason for my worldview change.
callouscomic@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Yep. That crowd never changes until they are directly impacted somehow.
Caffeinated_Sloth@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
You do see that quite a bit in “ex” subreddits. Personal experience can shake anyone’s views, not just “that crowd.” Spiritual abuse played a role in pushing me away from religious fundamentalism, but there were other factors that laid the groundwork. The process took years and key elements involved a mind-expanding book, two compassionate friends, a podcast, and a local news story that showed me God was quite a bit different than I thought he was. I’ll write the book about it under another comment.
Caffeinated_Sloth@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I wrote a novel in reply to HarkMahlberg above.
Machinist@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
What denomination, primarily, were you? Did you manage to get anyone out with you? (I was unable.)
Caffeinated_Sloth@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I’ve been part of several denominations: fundie baptist, charismatic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox. I’m now a bit of a free agent, but I attend a UMC when I’m feeling up to it.
rice@lemmy.org 3 weeks ago
well your prayers came true
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
How in the name of sweet baby imaginary white Jesus did you get out of that mindset!?
AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee 4 weeks ago
Not the person you replied to but I also used to be a hardcore Christian convertitive.
Honestly just talking to people with different viewpoints than me. Back when Reddit was decent I would troll with conservative BS to get a rise out of commenters, but occasionally people would reply with points I couldn’t refute. Making IRL friends helped a lot too. I realized people actually have nuance in their opinions and there’s a lot more gray area than I realized. Leaving relgion was the last step for me. Once my identity was no longer my beliefs I was able to change them.
Its part of what scares me about the internet now, we all get locked in little echo chambers. Nobody’s viewpoints get challanged and there’s no honest debate any more. Defederated social media will only make it worse as there will be 10,000 different Lemmys, each one for an exactly specific set of beliefs that will never be questioned.
Caffeinated_Sloth@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I wrote a novel in reply to the same question asked by HarkMahlberg above.