system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
Everyone's got their own path to find, but the brazen bigotry of some "christians" in the US makes me want to ignore all of you, period. Just do your own thing and leave other people alone to make their own choices. But noooooo... God told you to save the heathens I guess?
gpt
Yeah, anyone who chooses to use their faith as a vehicle for bigotry is not understandable to me either.

After being raised in a fundamentalist cult I didn't attend church for years because of how angry so many of the hateful judgmental sermons were.

After a while I was able to start attending church again once I found a place that was fully affirming of LGBTQ+ and did not preach hate against anyone or use the pulpit for political gain. Getting involved in church was really good for my mental health for several reasons, but I definitely understand that wouldn't be the case for everyone.

I was also able to reflect on the theology I'd been taught and think about what my personal beliefs/theological thoughts are. Basically I determined that the Great Commandment from Jesus to Love God with your heart, soul and mind and to your Neighbor as Yourself - and that all the law and prophets hang on there two were my guiding philosophy for interpreting everything else. And that I need to love myself.

Basically, the idea of loving God with my mind means to me that I should apply critical thinking to my faith and that I shouldn't feel that questioning it or questioning God was a bad thing. Likewise, if "all the law and prophets" hang on this and the principle of loving your neighbor as yourself then it makes sense to me that if any part of the Bible, any sermon or any statement by any person makes me think judging or hateful thoughts then I need to seriously question that.

I'm not saying this is the "right way" to be a Christian or saying that anyone else needs to do this. It's just my personal philosophy for keeping my thoughts and beliefs in check so that I can make sure I never end up back in the fundamentalism I started out life in.

As a person who has been through a lot of trauma I really think it's up to each person to determine what the best path for their life is as long as it does not bring harm to other people.

I don't think my way of thinking is very common, but it's where I've arrived on my quest for improved mental health.