How to Break Up With Anyone by Jamye Waxman

Author:Jamye Waxman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781580055987
Publisher: Seal Press
Published: 2015-08-27T16:00:00+00:00

Real-Life Break Ups

“My mother grew up Southern Baptist in a small town. It was the kind of town that had two or three churches for denomination differences.

I did not grow up in that town, but on major holidays and random visits I was obligated to attend service at that church. I attended Bible school regularly, and I even went to Summer Bible Camp. At one point—around the age of twelve or thirteen—I had thoughts of becoming a minister, but I could never wrap my mind around it because my denomination believed that women could not lead a congregation.

What I loved about my religion was the absolute conviction that all suffering and pain was for a reason and reward was simply around the corner. And I loved how amazing the world sounded through a Southern Baptist sermon. Hellfire and brimstone was often followed by celebration and gratitude for the grace of God.

But I left Christianity, Southern Baptist specifically, because of sex. After I had my first orgasm with a partner, I spent two hours crying because I had broken some sort of vow to God. I tend to dislike anything that makes me dislike me. So I decided I needed to figure out if I was really willing to abstain or if I needed to rethink my beliefs. For a while I continued with my sexual escapades, convinced that the Old Testament was just outdated, and that this was fine. But then, I made my first friend who was homosexual. And my religion said that was not acceptable. My mom said that homosexuality is natural (as all things are created by God, including sin); however, it is our job as moral and Christian people to abstain from ‘sins of the flesh.’ And that was that for me. The concept that people should just walk around abstaining from their natural urges didn’t seem right to me. So I could not reconcile all of this in my head. Add that to the fact that my youth minister apparently cheated on his wife and had to make a public announcement during Sunday service as an apology to the church for false ministry, and I was gone.

I left quietly. I was a teenager, and most teenagers didn’t go to church often. About two years after that, I decided I was done with the religion completely, and then I told my mom. My mom cried and said, ‘It makes me sad that when I die and meet my savior, none of my family will be there.’ My father is not a religious man. He was disfellowshipped from the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Throughout this process, I learned to acknowledge that true acceptance means accepting beliefs that are both more conservative and less. I still find faith beautiful and have very good friends who are also devout ones. I occasionally envy them.” —April

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.