Fearless Wonder

I left the church for a number of reasons, but I think the strongest reason I left was the realization that religious thinking was only fueling my problems with depression and anxiety. I'm not blaming the church for causing my depression and anxiety. I know now that the chemicals in my brain just work a little strangely which leads to bouts of depression, panic attacks and self-hatred. I found some relief in Buddhist meditation, which showed me that the SDA church did not have all the answers. Later therapy and medication helped me gain more ground against these messed up feelings. I applaud the SDA church for spreading the health message, because exercise and healthy eating are two important tools in combating depression. I also applaud a pastor in the church who encouraged me too seek the help of a mental health specialist. However, overall the message I got from the church was that I was a miserable sinner, and only prayer and God's grace would save me. For a long tim...

I know the feeling stick man...I know the feeling. It's an irresistible urge to correct certain opinions that I strongly disagree with. The urge be to snarky in combating said opinions is especially tempting. Having seen many internet debates devolve into mudslinging and anger I've tried to refrain from engaging (or starting) internet debates. However, I think the real problem is their aren't a lot of safe spaces in our society for people of differing opinions to converse. The media gets people all hyped up into an us versus them frenzy (both sides are guilty of this). People get very protective of their opinions as well. Rather than recognize that we all have a lot to learn, we build up bulwarks of anger and self-righteousness to protect our opinions and then refuse to hear what anyone else has to say. Our opinions must be very fragile things indeed if they need so much protection. I like to refer to this phenomenon and invincible ignorance. The fact is that...