boogiepopdoesntlaugh replied to your post “Why is it so impossible to talk to conservative Christian parents...”
okay thank god i thought i was just me. i tried talking to someone and they said "the devil is within that guy" okay yeah maybe but when the same thing is happening through a whole damn system maybe that system needs dismantling, or at least reform, and acting like people pushing for that reform are being unecessarily loud is so fucking stupid
It’s because any critical thinking requires that they accept that “sin” isn’t something that only exists in regards to an individual, some “sins” only exist as a failure of society, not individual morality. By throwing all the blame on some evil otherworldly entity, they can displace any accountability from society, and by extension, from themselves. If they admit that they are part of this system, even in a non-direct way, they have to admit that they’re actively sinning. But they have this notion of that if they aren’t living as their best self, they’re going to hell, so they avoid thinking too hard about it. Christians are constantly haunted by guilt and shame, so they avoid that guilt by following their rituals, listening to what they want to hear, and taking comfort in the status quo. That and also some Christians are just bigots who actually are morally deficient and don’t see their hypocrisy at all, or just use religion as a cover up for being a detestable human being.
The thing is there is no way to ever be 100% morally pure. You just gotta be able to change for the better every second of your life, but that requires challenging old ways of thought, which is something that conservative christians struggle with or just outright dig their heels in and refuse to do at all.
I was active in the church up until I was about 14, and I’ve definitely met people who genuinely want to do good, and want a kinder world, but there’s still that constant fear of being a sinner going to hell that makes them afraid to challenge their old ways of thought.
I’m saying this as someone who had to wrestle with that special brand of Christian shame until I couldn’t do it anymore. Part of that was me being a scared and confused queer kid told I’m going to hell, and the other half was not being able to develop any conviction in a faith when my only examples of people in that faith were hypocrites.