Don't cry for me Adventistas!

Maybe things would have been different if my church schools had been more willing to address real spiritual questions, rather than trying to keep me and my classmates from sex, drugs and rock n roll. I wasn't really interested in drugs anyways, was to shy to get a boyfriend, and I liked Musicals!

I remember one teacher asking us to write down the lyrics from our favorite song and bring it in. I thinking she was hoping to point out how ungodly our taste in Rock n Roll was. I must have confused her when I brought in the lyrics to "Don't cry for me Argentina"

I don't recall any place were there was real opportunity to dialogue about doubt. Sabbath School was only for believers, so my doubts just festered in silence and grew.

I still don't use drugs, I waited till marriage, and I like indie folk music.

Chalk one up for Adventist Education.

Oh wait, did I mention I am thinking of converting to Buddhism?

Comments

laurettabear said…
Amen sister! It seems often those in Adventist education are happy if the "works" are solid. What ever happened to the heart?
October 12, 2008 at 6:35 AM
Ann said…
I wonder what a school where hearts are taken seriously would look like?
October 12, 2008 at 8:27 PM
farmerswife said…
Fearless, I am sorry that you had a poor experience in the Adventist system. I went through the system also. I had a teacher who got excited about Jesus. This was so encouraging to me. I started looking at Jesus as someone who really loved me and wanted me to experience his love. I wish all the teachers were excited about Jesus. The problem is there are only a few who are. If you take Jesus out of the picture you have only painful rules. Some of them make sense to keep us safe and some are just there to keep control.
October 17, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Anonymous said…
SDA to Buddhism? That's an awfully big leap, one that might not be entirely necessary. Certainly, you should seek to find the beliefs that seem closest to the truth for you, but how much would a wholesale conversion really solve in the long run? I guarantee you, there are problems and conflicts in Buddhism as well, probably no less than SDA or any other belief system. I'm sure you're aware of that already, though.

The way I see it, rather than treating religions like political parties, deciding one day to simply change one's label from "Christian" to "Buddhist," it would be more beneficial and conducive to spiritual growth to tread one's own path. Take what is beneficial from SDA and what is beneficial from Buddhism, and discard that which holds you back or makes no sense to you.

They say that religion isn't like a buffet, that you can't just pick and choose what to believe and what not to believe. I beg to differ. On the contrary, that's what it means to choose a religion in the first place, isn't it? In any case, I hope that whichever path you end up following proves to be a fulfilling one.
October 24, 2008 at 3:01 PM
Ann said…
famerswife and sam:

Haven't checked the old blog in a while here and I didn't realize you'd left comments. Thanks.

Farmerswife,
I haven't given up on Jesus yet, but so far he seems fine with me exploring Buddhism. Jesus still poses a problem for me though. I will have to write more on that.

Sam, If you read some of my other posts you'll see I am well aware there are flaws in every religion. I am probably more in the buffet mode right now but I have thought about taking refuge as a Buddhist. Buddhist conversion is a little more open than other faiths. You can take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha while still bringing some Christian beliefs along with you.
October 28, 2008 at 3:30 PM
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