𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗕𝘆: 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀 #BarbaraSymons - http://barbarasymons.com/
This message is for a Christian that is concerned that I am deceived:
"Sir, I see your heart and appreciate your concern - however, your concern is more for you than it is for me.
Feel that for a moment.
My beliefs are not “newfound” as you say. I left organized religion at the age of 43, back in 1999. I have been walking this path for over two decades.
I was once where you are, complete with labeling others that did not believe like me as backslidden, lost, in rebellion or deceived. I was afraid of these people because deep down inside, I feared that they knew something I didn’t. They had peace instead of fear - fear of being left behind, fear of being deceived, fear of separation and damnation and fear of being burned alive or tortured forever.
I am no longer there and there is nothing that you can say that would ever bring me back into that way of life. I lived like you for 43 years and I will never go back. I have found what my soul longs for - acceptance and love without conditions.
So, the concern you feel is that deep down inside the folds of your heart, I might know something you don’t. This makes you feel like your footing is precarious or unstable – and it is. People like me challenge your indoctrination. The discomfort that you feel is your ego trying to protect you. It is a very human condition.
This adds to your disequilibrium and the unspoken questions that you have had over a loving father that will torture you if you get this wrong. I understand because I suffered from that sort of disequilibrium as well, where I was afraid of simply following my heart and asking the hard questions of my faith.
When people are being threatened with death or destruction a chemical called norepinephrine is released into the body. It is what causes the fight of flight response. Norepinephrine causes adrenaline to be dumped from the adrenals into the blood.
This is what happens to you when you read what I write. Your eternal reward is threatened because you have been indoctrinated by those that you love and trust, and you now believe that a loving and benevolent Father would cast you off like a soiled cloth if you stopped believing... the lies.
Sir, that is not love. That is a tyrant formed in a systemic belief structure designed to keep you in a state of fear and compliance. You cannot hear these things because at this very moment, the fight or flight mechanism has been activated within your brain and adrenalin is coursing through your bloodstream. Not only do you not want to hear, but you can’t hear – you would rather attack.
You are thinking of Bible verses to cite, fear-laced threats and condemning repertoire. Citing Bible verses will not work on a mind that has been freed from the indoctrination-brainwashing process and so you feel frustration and anxiety set in. Every cell in your body readies for fight or flight.
There is good news – and that is that peace may be found when one surrenders to love without conditions. When we finally overcome the fear that many religions enforce and begin to see the massive effort to proselytize for the sake of gain and money to upkeep the institution - the “rest” is easy.
We begin to suspend the role of the ego to self-protect and for the first time to breathe easy in the knowledge that we are loved and accepted just as we are and that we cannot get this wrong.
Thank you for caring for me."
Barbara Symons is The Author of:
Escaping Christianity ~ Finding Christ
https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Christianity-Mrs-Barbara-Symons/dp/061597208X
and
Musings From an Ex Christian Fundamentalist
https://www.amazon.com/Musings-Christian-Fundamentalist-Barbara-Symons/dp/0578664313
This message is for a Christian that is concerned that I am deceived:
"Sir, I see your heart and appreciate your concern - however, your concern is more for you than it is for me.
Feel that for a moment.
My beliefs are not “newfound” as you say. I left organized religion at the age of 43, back in 1999. I have been walking this path for over two decades.
I was once where you are, complete with labeling others that did not believe like me as backslidden, lost, in rebellion or deceived. I was afraid of these people because deep down inside, I feared that they knew something I didn’t. They had peace instead of fear - fear of being left behind, fear of being deceived, fear of separation and damnation and fear of being burned alive or tortured forever.
I am no longer there and there is nothing that you can say that would ever bring me back into that way of life. I lived like you for 43 years and I will never go back. I have found what my soul longs for - acceptance and love without conditions.
So, the concern you feel is that deep down inside the folds of your heart, I might know something you don’t. This makes you feel like your footing is precarious or unstable – and it is. People like me challenge your indoctrination. The discomfort that you feel is your ego trying to protect you. It is a very human condition.
This adds to your disequilibrium and the unspoken questions that you have had over a loving father that will torture you if you get this wrong. I understand because I suffered from that sort of disequilibrium as well, where I was afraid of simply following my heart and asking the hard questions of my faith.
When people are being threatened with death or destruction a chemical called norepinephrine is released into the body. It is what causes the fight of flight response. Norepinephrine causes adrenaline to be dumped from the adrenals into the blood.
This is what happens to you when you read what I write. Your eternal reward is threatened because you have been indoctrinated by those that you love and trust, and you now believe that a loving and benevolent Father would cast you off like a soiled cloth if you stopped believing... the lies.
Sir, that is not love. That is a tyrant formed in a systemic belief structure designed to keep you in a state of fear and compliance. You cannot hear these things because at this very moment, the fight or flight mechanism has been activated within your brain and adrenalin is coursing through your bloodstream. Not only do you not want to hear, but you can’t hear – you would rather attack.
You are thinking of Bible verses to cite, fear-laced threats and condemning repertoire. Citing Bible verses will not work on a mind that has been freed from the indoctrination-brainwashing process and so you feel frustration and anxiety set in. Every cell in your body readies for fight or flight.
There is good news – and that is that peace may be found when one surrenders to love without conditions. When we finally overcome the fear that many religions enforce and begin to see the massive effort to proselytize for the sake of gain and money to upkeep the institution - the “rest” is easy.
We begin to suspend the role of the ego to self-protect and for the first time to breathe easy in the knowledge that we are loved and accepted just as we are and that we cannot get this wrong.
Thank you for caring for me."
Barbara Symons is The Author of:
Escaping Christianity ~ Finding Christ
https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Christianity-Mrs-Barbara-Symons/dp/061597208X
and
Musings From an Ex Christian Fundamentalist
https://www.amazon.com/Musings-Christian-Fundamentalist-Barbara-Symons/dp/0578664313
//////
No comments:
Post a Comment