u/joplin_surveyor

Sorry for just dropping this, but I felt I needed to express it. I'm 19 and I've been unemployed for over a year. Being honest, I have dozens of excuses why I haven't found a job yet (some more valid than others), but a couple days ago, I got an opportunity that really appeals to me. An opportunity I've been waiting for.

This would involve moving to a different state, pretty far from where I live now. But with genuinely fantastic benefits — aside from being in a new environment with no friends. It would be very helpful because living in the city I live in now feels like it's draining me of my life.

I'm also an ex-christian who has not told my family about it yet. In fact, I really don't want to because I feel the reaction would be catastrophic. That was one of the benefits of me leaving. The pressure of living a lie would be lifted.

However, now it's seeming like that isn't the case. I mentioned one of my biggest concerns is not having any friends where I'd be relocating to (it's pretty tough for me to make friends), and my mom immediately mentioned finding a church would help. Which I shouldn't have been surprised about, and is a natural reaction from her, considering she believes I'm still a christian.

But the amount of dread I felt in my stomach when she said that was kind of a "wake-up call," for lack of a less extreme phrase. When / if I move, there is no doubt she'll be hounding me about why I'm not going to church, and inevitably conclude that I'm done with christianity, or get mad at me for not maintaining my "relationship with christ."

I'm pretty familiar with how Reddit works, and I know people will be like, "you just have to rip off the bandaid and tell her." Which is a completely valid thought process! But it kind of changes when I state that I'm not so much worried on my behalf, I'm worried on hers.

I find that her faith is deeply tied to her mental health and emotional ecosystem. It's not just a principle to her, it's deeply important. To learn that her son is, how she perceives it, no longer safe would do a number on her. I've seen tons of proof about this as well, which is a whole other can of worms 😭

Anyway, the point of this post was just to get my worries out in the world. To know people are seeing this (and to possibly see people relate in the comments) may help with my clarity and validation. Thanks for reading, if you got this far! And sorry for anything I may have left out or forgotten context. Sometimes I'm more thorough than others, but I have a lot on my mind as you could imagine lol

So I was part of the christian church for almost all of my life and left it about 2 years ago. Recently, I realized Jesus' death doesn't make any sense at all. The mythology says he took on all of human sin, present and future, and endured the punishment for our chance at salvation, right? But what he got doesn't reflect at ALL what our punishment is stated to be.

The wages of sin is death, and (without repentance) then eternity burning in hell. So why was Jesus not condemned to hell for eternity if he was REALLY taking our punishment? He got off so easy compared to what's stated in the bible to be the fate of non-believers. And never in my 17 years in the church have I heard this mentioned or explained away.

Do yall know if christians/the bible have stated ways to justify this? Have you guys thought about this before? I'm curious to hear! Thanks

I've been heavily considering relocating to San Marcos, seeing as it's a college town and I'm college-age (though, not enrolled). I've been a few times, specifically to the river, and adore it! But I was just curious if there's any specific things it would help to be aware of? It can be anything at all, but...

For more specific questions, I would also like to know: Is there a decent amount of stuff to do there? Is the crime-rate reasonable? Is it relatively lgbt friendly?

Thanks in advance!