LOSING RELIGION
My Journey to Apostasy — Part I
It is over. Despite decades of indoctrination, the spell has been broken.
From as far back as I can remember, I have been a Christian. As a child, raised and confirmed in the Lutheran church, we were taught that the battle was Christians vs. everyone else and we should pray for those who didn’t believe. As a rebellious teen, while my peers were wearing the latest concert T-shirt, I wore one that simply said, “Try God”. Later in college, I connected with a group of holy rollers and my faith became more serious. I recommitted my life to the Lord and, despite being a generally horrible human being at that time, worked more consciously to live according to my stated beliefs.
Fast forward to adulthood, I became a worship leader in a couple of evangelical churches. While this should have strengthened my faith, it instead exposed cracks in the armor. Oh, in case you’re wondering, “armor” is a big thing in Christianity. From Ephesians 6:11:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities…
