In reading the comments on the Extoots Blog, I marvel at the secrecy and how they hide their identities…while commenting freely about their religion; either why they stay or why they left.
It is like they are talking about a government that will harm them IF they are found to be in noncompliance…or plotting to leave is punishable.
How is this a free religion when fear is so instilled in grown adults…where they are able to vote, drive and drink…but God forbid they speak up about a religion, so they leave their names out.
It continues to shock me….but not surprise me.
Fear is what keeps them hiding their true identity….like criminals almost. Or folks on TV, who, out of fear, distort their images and voices.
Isn't it odd that fear is the overlying sentiment and not enthusiasm for finding a new pathway, a truer life for themselves…or being so happy within their religion.
I can respect their wishes, but if they only knew how self defeating it is to hide their truths.
By standing up and saying their names and standing with the truth of why they left or why they remain inside is very powerful.
It isn't about the religion itself, but the power of being proud of who you are.
I don't know if it is like this when you leave all churches, but it sure seems that there are many people who are not willing to openly admit that they are no longer members of the FALC church and why….let alone speak it using their real names.
However, I recall knowing I no longer matched the religion and wondered how I would tell my mother, how I would leave and what it would mean to my children to stop going. Funny, but sad…the reasons had nothing to do about me, but more to do about the folks around me.
Once the investigation about my father happened, the door swung open easily…I didn't stay for others, I left for me.
I didn't hesitate. I didn't hide. I left with the fullest of understanding, what I was leaving…even if I had no idea where I was going or where I would end up. It didn't matter what others thought or said. I followed my inner voice, my guts, my feelings and never, not once, have ever looked back with regret.
How can I regret being Me?
How can I regret my truth?
What I know for sure, is that you can't know what freedom is, until you have experienced being controlled.
You could say, that religion brought me to freedom.
Just as living in a dysfunctional family brought me to know what love and wholeness was…I had to first learn what it was not.
Loving that I don't have to live anonymously! I love that I get to live fully exposed as Me! There is no part of me I want to hide…
