Starting to become sick of Religion..

Well, since you are stuck, about the only thing you can do is take it one Sunday at a time. Two years seems like forever, but a single Sunday by itself is survivable.

And, yes, you might look into getting your boss to schedule you for Sunday here and there. It will at least be an occasional break. Sometimes occasional breaks are needed to keep one from hitting the breaking point.

You might try keeping yourself detached. They can force your body to attend. It's a lot harder to force your mind to be there.

Finally, you might use this as a chance to learn and observe this church from the inside. If, for example, this church is not LGBT friendly, you could have a better chance of understanding that perspective (even if you don't agree) than someone like me who's never done more than a single service in a conservative church.

Going further on this theme, I recall having heard Joseph Campbell (who wrote books on mythology) was Catholic, but, as I recall, eventually left the church. But before he did, he spent something like a like a year attending it, just to understand the church, and try to understand the deeper truths behind various ceremonies and teachings.

---------- Post added 21st Apr 2013 at 01:24 PM ----------

If you are really brave, you might use "exercises" in Sunday school to present your own alternative view on various topics. I can't really recommend that--at least not without lots of thought--because there is a real chance of irritating the teacher, who in turn will get in touch with your parents, who in turn could make your life miserable. But some might get away with this. Some might also be able subtly rock the boat without coming close to capsizing.

Another thought: have you thought of making a countdown calendar showing the number of Sundays left? Two years is a long time, but there might be something satisfying about ticking each Sunday off. Warning: this is one calendar you don't want your mom to find!

 

A few thoughts on this:

First of all, though you didn't say so specifically, I'm assuming your grandpa is your mom's father? If so, then constantly attributing things to him (the penny from heaven) is in all likelihood just her going through the grieving process. Even two years later, she's learning to live in a world without her father, which is no small task, and probably one she'll continue to adjust to for several years, pennies or no. The process might be frustrating for you since you're getting dragged into the details, but it might make it easier just to realize that she's probably doing it to cope with a lot of emotions.

Also, not to convince you of anything, but it bears repeating - not all churches and religions preach intolerance about lgbt people (or any other group). There are several accepting denominations in Christianity, as well as in Judaism, Islam (yes, Islam), Buddhism, Hinduism, native and folk traditions of North America and East Asia, etc. etc. (and those are just the ones that come to mind). The point, though, is that the problem isn't the religion - it's the people involved. So, if you can, try talking to those people. I don't know how out or comfortable you are doing so, but if someone says something disparaging, say something in response. You never know who might be in ear's reach, and you just might make their day just by saying something supportive.

 

Minus the situation with your mom, this reminds me a lot of what I felt like before I got out of my old church.

My advice is to just try to keep your mind off of the service during the service (if that makes since). I would be the kid that was looking at the archtecture of the church instead of paying attention to the sermon. I also sat in the very,very back so I wouldn't get yelled at by others.

Another thing that I did was that I helped out with other things that were going on during the service. Sometimes I ran the tech booth, sometimes I played handbells. There were even sometimes where I helped set up tables for the after church lunch. So, you could always look into those sort of things too.

I also agree with talking about getting scheduled for work on Sundays. It would at least give you a bit of a break. Also, have you talked with your mom about Sunday school? You could always just tell her that you feel that you are too old to benefit from the class that you are in. Maybe you could help set up a class for teens in the church?

Also, if you ever just need to rant, feel free to PM me... I've been in the closed minded church situation before and it's just nice to have a person to rant to sometimes.

 

Believe what you wanna believe, just don't let others change that. For example, I'm gay AND christian. I wouldn't leave Christianity because others give me crap for being gay. I go to church for God, me, and no one else. Same thing applies to every other religion.

 

Ahh, then maybe you could talk to your teacher and tell him/her that you are uncomfortable doing the activities. At the sunday school that I attended for years, we would just talk about our feelings and stuff like that. We never did anything like that.

 

I completely agree with you religion is annoying as heck!! I Believe in god, But all the Christian people are putting words in his mouth the bible Doesn't say anything about judging or hurting LGBTQ people it says Love thy Neighbor and Like Only God Is supposed to do the judging, what ever happened to "Love the sinner and the sin"? like everyone sins.. people need to get over people being gay, bi or trans.. that's why I stopped going to church because I know when I do come out to everyone one that's when the heavy judging will begin..

 

Aaaand this is where I come in! Yay me! See, I used to be Catholic. So that was all before I found I liked girls. I've not gone to church for two years(which is about the time that I found I liked girls and about the time other pivotal events happened...), and my parents were accepting on the fact that I just didn't get religion. I tried, yeah, but being adopted and being raised for the first 8 years of your life as generally nondenominational...at any rate, maybe try talking to your parents? It most likely won't work the first time--keep trying! Persistence is key. And, of course, just looking around at other beliefs and whatnot might be helpful too. Like me? I'm now considering myself Pagan. I've always been interested in the ancient gods and goddesses, and I have Pagan/Wiccan friends, so it just seems to click more for me, I guess. But here I am, rambling. So, uh, yeah....find yourself? XD (Sorry if I'm not being helpful, I'm tired and obviously kinda rambley.)

 

Yes, UCC is supposed to be quite liberal. But churches do vary place to place.

I remember a minister at a Unity church telling a story about a trip he took to a conservative area. And while there, he attended services. He said he was shocked to see how behind the times they were--20 years or more. They did things that he had not seen done anywhere else in recent memory. And to cap it off, they were searching for a new minister, and had some mission statement talking about how liberal and progressive they were. When, of course, they were neither--except by the standards of the area.

---------- Post added 21st Apr 2013 at 05:55 PM ----------

I remember a college professor talking about church attendance. I can't remember exactly what he said, or even say it as intelligently as he could... But his basic line was the important thing wasn't parking your butt on a pew. It's what happens inside of you.

Which may (I'd think) be a million miles away.