Sunday, February 12, 2012

My blogs

There has been a lot of drama over my blogs this past year since I started writing about my experience of studying my way out of the SDA Church. I think I've gone out of my way to avoid drama. First, I took all my religious blogs off my personal Facebook page and limited the religious comments that I posted - although I shouldn't even have to do that since it's my personal site and I'm not posting this on individual people's walls. But I guess the fact that it popped up in the newsfeed made people think I was trying to shove my beliefs on them. So then I opened a separate Facebook Page (My studies out of Adventism). I made it clear by the title and description what the site was about. I warned people that if they came to my site it's possible they would be offended. I wanted to set it up so that only those who WANTED to see my beliefs, studies, etc. would "be exposed". But then I had several people come to my site, get offended and tell me I'm just being negative and bashing the Adventist Church. My point has never been to "bash" anybody or anything - I simply point out things I've learned involving Adventist "truth" vs. Biblical "truth". So finally I opened this page. This is the replacement place for "My studies out of Adventism" but this allows me to control who see's it so people can't "accidentally" come to my site and be offended. We'll see how it works.

A lot of people think I'm trying to shove my beliefs down other people's throats, and I'm really not - I've gone out of my way to avoid the appearance of that. But by simply stating my beliefs and backing it up with Biblical evidence, that's viewed as "attacking" or being antagonistic by some people. The way I process things is by writing them down. It helps me sort out my thoughts and solidify my beliefs. I have been told by some people that they are encouraged by my blogs and can relate to them. This is who my "target audience" is, you might say.

When I first started learning that Adventist doctrine wasn't Biblically sound, I felt alone. Just about everyone I know is an Adventist. And based on past history - I can't discuss doctrine or even anything remotely religious with my Adventist friends/relatives. Several people have told me they want to stay friends but just avoid talking about religion/beliefs (although of course they still talk about their beliefs, they just don't let me talk about it). And even when my Adventist friends are the ones to initiate the conversation on beliefs, inevitably it ends up with someone feeling attacked or like I'm shoving my beliefs of them. You know what? I feel attacked, too, but I try to put aside my feelings and stick to the Biblical evidence.

So yes, here on this site I am free to post my beliefs. I'm sure they probably do still offend a few people since I do have some SDA friends/relatives on here (although they are here by choice - and are more than welcome to be here). And I'll say it again - I'm sorry! I really don't mean to offend anyone. I'm tired of feeling like the bad guy for having different beliefs and voicing them. The attitude I've gotten is basically this - it's ok for you to believe differently, but don't even talk about it.

Christianity is a HUGE part of my life. It's ridiculous that I'm not "allowed" to talk about that with my "friends". I'm not asking everyone to believe the same way as me. The only reason I bring up my beliefs with Adventists is so that they can see both sides and choose for themselves. That's all. I am so thankful for the "offensive" sites out there that forced me to study for myself and learn the truth.

I am so happy in my new faith. Yes, I do get frustrated and upset at times - but that comes from conversations I have with people who judge me and don't have a clue what my beliefs are. I do talk about that on my blog, so if all you see is those then I can see why you think I am negative. But I really am filled with joy! I have this hunger now to read the Bible. It's like I'm reading it for the first time. Even though I may have read the passages before, I never understood them because I was coming to them from the understanding that Ellen White presents. I am happy to finally understand what the Gospel is. It's a beautiful and simply thing! The Bible doesn't talk about any "right arm of the Gospel" or doesn't tell us we need to be proclaiming the Gospel in light of the 3 Angels Message. That is adding to the Gospel. To borrow something one of my friends said - While we may appear to you to be Anti-Adventist, we are really Pro-Gospel. We are defending the Gospel in it's simplicity against anyone who tries to add to it.

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