In Reply to: Re: Punk Christian son of a Preacher Man posted by Rita on August 03, 2006 at 19:06:57:
If your relationship with Jesus Christ has been a real and living thing in the past, it is very hard to deny that truth about one's own experience, no matter how badly hurt you are by organized religion, false prophets & con artists, misguided parents, or pedophilic priests.
Many people I know who are agnostic never had a personal encounter with the risen Lord that rocked them to their core. Others don't report having a lifelong awareness from earliest childhood of a loving Presence that speaks to them in myriad ways.
I'm not sure that hanging onto vestiges of faith is such an accomplishment. It's more like a mental habit that I haven't been able to get rid of, largely because I've seen no need to completely jettison ways of coping and thinking that served me for more than half my life and helps me to stay sane & sober.