We're Just Rebelling, Apparently

To some extent, I will elaborate on a topic I brought up in my previous entry. In that entry, I talked about former Christians. Frequently, former Christians are accused of rebelling against their Christians families. I will not sit here and try to convince you that this is not always true. There probably are some people out there who wander away from their childhood faiths simply to buck the authority of the people who raised them. In lieu of this, it is not fair to assume this about all people who once bore the label of Christian.

If you live under the assumption that every former Christian is merely a rebel, then I would like to ask you something. Do you agree with your parents on everything? Are your political views identical to theirs? Do you share all of their opinions regarding child-rearing, home decor, relationships, etc.? If not, then why is that? Do your views differ with theirs simply because you want to go against them? Or is it because you have considered the issues and you honestly think your parents have missed the mark on them? Would it be fair for me to assume that you are simply a misguided rebel because you differ with them on certain issues? It wouldn't.

Additionally, why is deviating from your predecessors seen in such a bad light? It really isn't that bad. In fact, in many cases, it's a good thing. It has resulted in much of the progress that our species has made over the ages. If no one ever questioned the ideas of those who came before them, then we would still think the sun orbits a flat Earth and that diseases should be cured with blood-letting and exorcisms. Questioning leads to development, so it would be wise to stop deriding it so much.

Finally, what about Christians who did not grow up with Christian parents? Are they a bunch of rebels? Just like the former Christians, they are going against the views of the ones who came before them. Do they deserve to be stereotyped in the same manner as former Christians? Regardless of how some people may try to present this, these two scenarios are pretty much the same, even though they do hail from different angles.

I will leave you with these thoughts.