Autistic and Christian

For me the hardest part was always when they tea abd coffee afterwards and I was always the one left out.  This has happened in several different churches.  

There's also the issue of institutional ableism.  A lot of theology is based on the idea that humans are broken and God will fix them, but it also says that desease and siffering are a result of the Fall, and most Christians I know would include any kind of disability in this.  Churches often see disabled people as something for God to fix.  And then if they pray and you don't become miraculously healed then it's because you don't have enough faith, or the right kind of faith.  

Honestly, if people believe prayer really works, why don't they spend more time praying for things that really matter like equal rights or fixing the state of the NHS.

This is why I drifted to the pagan side of unitarianism.
I also don't attend congregations/meets.
I know what you mean. Although that born into sin and needing to be fixed is also applied to NT and able bodied people, it is definitely magnified when it comes to any of us who are the "other." And it never sat right with me that a loving omnipotent God would require anyone to change or "be fixed" to be worthy of love.
Also people praying for the "hand of God" to help is kinda silly*... I don't think people realise there are many hands of God, because the hand of God is you, it's me, and the man on the street. It's in the acts of everyday kindness we do for people. Everytime you put spare change in the guide dog collection box, etc.
*There's nothing wrong with prayer as a wish when the power to do is out of our own hands, but just wishing for something when you can actually put energy into enacting it instead is a waste of time imo.
Frankie Laine's "I Believe" is as much about human kindness as it is a metaphysical deity, we can all be that "someone" somewhere ready to help eachother. : )

p.s. I love your profile pic, "Fuschia is a dancer, dancing on her toes" I remember it from the book.

🐝 Bees 🐝 (they/them) Autism resources in bio #stoptheshock #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs said:

And it never sat right with me that a loving omnipotent God would require anyone to change or "be fixed" to be worthy of love.

But that is not what the Bible says. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8) and "greater love has nobody than this, that one lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). So God loves us before we change.

In fact, we are not able to change enough to be worthy of anything. Whatever we do is imperfect, and we know it. I know I get things wrong, and hurt people without meaning to, or maybe even deliberately in a bad mood! I don't love enough. I cannot live up to my own standards and this makes me feel bad. So God who loves us and wants a relationship with us has to help us.

Once we have accepted his help, he will begin to fix us. Both physically and spiritually, although not to perfection in this life. But not without our permission and co-operation, we can resist the process. That it takes time and that people resist is why churches are full or people who are still broken. But we know we are broken and we are in the process of mending.

Personally, I want to change and to be changed, because i am painfully aware of my own imperfections. I don't mean that I regard being autistic as an imperfection, but i am not even all that good at being autistic! I make lots of mistakes and gets stuff wrong and I don't like getting stuff wrong.

I'm sure an omnipotent God could have made people perfect to start with, so he must have a good reason for doing it this way. I don't know what it is, but I trust him that it is for the best somehow, even though it doesn't make sense to me and hurts. I know he loves me even though I fail, but he wants the best for me so will help me as I try to do better.

Four.  Years.  Studying.  Christian.  Theology.  

Not to mention all the years I spent in the church.  

And yet you're still talking as if you know better than me and can tell me all this as if I hadn't heard it before.  Your views on LGBT+ issues are a perfect example of how you have taken a few verses and used them to justify a prejudiced opinion based on an outside moral viewpoint, or influenced by an external philosophy as you put it.  There are all kinds of rules in the bible that many Christians choose to ignore, but they focus on the sexual ones as a core value. 

On the one hand you say you blame evil on everyone, but then you also say that there are supernatural evil entities influencing people. 

And yes, for the sake of clarity, you have offended me.  You're still insinuating that my choices are sinful.  You're saying it's wrong to judge others even as you judging the faith of others as "not true Christianity."

I could keep arguing this, but quite frankly I have other things to do.

Triker it wasn't just you per se, and it wasn't anything you said that was the "final straw", yes we exchanged words but I feel like we at least somewhat met in the end somewhere more amiable than it could have gone. And I'd rather leave it there. This doesn't seem to be something we will ever agree on so hammering away at it after this realisation would be a colossal waste of both our time and energy. As I said I'm used to being put on the defensive being a minority within a minority but my spoons for it is finite and there is a whole bad vibe that's built up since so I'd rather simply leave this thread now rather than continue further. 

Triker it wasn't just you per se, and it wasn't anything you said that was the "final straw", yes we exchanged words but I feel like we at least somewhat met in the end somewhere more amiable than it could have gone. And I'd rather leave it there. This doesn't seem to be something we will ever agree on so hammering away at it after this realisation would be a colossal waste of both our time and energy. As I said I'm used to being put on the defensive being a minority within a minority but my spoons for it is finite and there is a whole bad vibe that's built up since so I'd rather simply leave this thread now rather than continue further.