I wrote the email below to a Christian friend who is facing some personal struggles right now. I thought that it might clarify for others a little of where I stand. As I finished in the email, there's WAY more to say, but the email wasn't for debates or explanations, it was just to say, "I'm here for you."
I was thinking about some of your struggles, and realized that trying
to mix me in with your religious life might be one of them. So, I'm
writing to explicitly say that I'm open and supportive of whatever you
want to share about your faith and how it's helping you through
your treatment. You might not know much about Unitarian Universalism (http://www.uua.org/beliefs),
my faith community, but it's all about people finding their own
spiritual path, so a basic foundation is openness and welcoming others
and their beliefs. Although we're mostly humanists, there are Christian
UUs (and Jewish, Buddhist, pagan, and atheist UUs; probably Muslim,
too, but I've never met a UU Muslim...).
I can imagine that my uber-progressive activism and opinions might make
it seem like I can't or won't see the benefits of Christianity (or
conservatism, for that matter), but I know that there are different
kinds of congregations and different types of Christians. And I want you to know that my social or political beliefs aren't relevant in your recovery journey; I want to support your beliefs and how your faith helps you.
But
really, my point is that you don't have to silence yourself about your
faith, especially how it is helping you or how you are trying to
leverage it to help you now. I'm completely supportive of any belief or
community that helps you.
There's so much more
to say, but that's the basics, I think. I might've been able to say
things better, but I hope that the feelings come across.
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