I can't help sometimes thinking that the automatically said words and wishes are an unconscious press gang
Thank you so much. This is exactly how it feels for me, and it makes me so sad that I can't express this to the very nice, very kind folks who don't realize the implications of some otherwise well-intentioned wishes.
The pressure to become "normal " here is almost suffocating, again (as I mentioned elsewhere in this conversation) assuming that Christian is the default spiritual state.
I also find it difficult to fully accept proselytizing as a well-intentioned part of another person's faith when the often-unstated consequence is that they believe I am doomed to an eternity of divine punishment for failure to comply. That doesn't feel like love or respect to me, it feels like coercion. From the perspective of those who genuinely wish to share The Word, it must be very difficult to understand how it feels to be told almost continually that I am not as good as they are.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-10 02:35 pm (UTC)Thank you so much. This is exactly how it feels for me, and it makes me so sad that I can't express this to the very nice, very kind folks who don't realize the implications of some otherwise well-intentioned wishes.
The pressure to become "normal " here is almost suffocating, again (as I mentioned elsewhere in this conversation) assuming that Christian is the default spiritual state.
I also find it difficult to fully accept proselytizing as a well-intentioned part of another person's faith when the often-unstated consequence is that they believe I am doomed to an eternity of divine punishment for failure to comply. That doesn't feel like love or respect to me, it feels like coercion. From the perspective of those who genuinely wish to share The Word, it must be very difficult to understand how it feels to be told almost continually that I am not as good as they are.