Hello (again)!
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 9:54 pm
Hi! I was a lurker here about 9 years ago. I couldn't remember my username, or if I ever posted anything, so I'll start over again.
I'm Rabia. My dad's side of the family is all CoC in Tennessee. My mom is Catholic. She converted from Baptist when she was a teen, before she met my dad. Yes, they're still together, 46 years and counting. When I was growing up, my parents felt I should decide my own path (thanks, mom and dad). I later learned that some of my relatives weren't too happy about that. To this day, my mom gets a little pressure to reconsider Catholicism. It's not happening.
I was baptized by my uncle when I was 13. When I was 17, I attended Juma at a local mosque in Memphis and fell in love with Islam. I didn't tell anyone. Like many of my cousins, my heart left the Church when I left for college and kept that really quiet. My parents were pretty liberal about religion, much more so than my cousins' parents in West Tennessee. I saw enough religious abuse with them to be soured on CoC. We lived near New York City until I was a teenager and attended CoC in NYC. It had a much different flavor from the ones my relatives in Western Tennessee attended. I actually have mostly good memories of going to church. We moved to Memphis when I was 15, but my dad and I never quite found a church home (see next paragraph. Dad does not put up with religious bull crap!). That was fine with me.
I got a bachelor's degree in religion, which became a good excuse to learn about Islam. Still, I was afraid to convert. I have relatives who love to say ignorant things about every other religion, especially Islam. Whenever I would visit my parents, I would find some excuse not to attend church with my dad. As he's gotten older, church has become a really important social outlet and part of his life, although in the past few years, he's left 3 different CoC congregations due to differences with the preacher, deacons, because he thought someone was stealing money, because he disagreed with hardline doctrine, and most recently, all of the above.
I married a non-practicing Quaker. We were married in a local Baptist church. My dad never asked why I didn't want to get married in his church (couldn't marry in a Catholic church), but my husband and my line was that a Baptist church was neutral ground. We (I) attended UU services for a couple of years until church politics annoyed me, and like my dad, I left.
When my kids were little, I started attending Sufi dhikr with a UU/Dances of Universal Peace friend of mine, and after a few months, I finally took shahadah about 10 years ago.
Conservatism in religion still makes me shudder. I've been lucky to find a small decidedly non-conservative Muslim prayer group. However, I rarely go to a "proper" mosque, mostly because the closest one is 40 minutes away and under construction, and the next closest one is a bit too conservative for my hippie Muslim comfort, but the food is good and I never regret going to pray with other people.
My daughters, 11 and 16, have little interest in religion, much to my family's chagrin (in-laws could care less). I've given them an academic education on the major religions and allow them to find their own path. My husband is still a non-practicing Quaker.
I'm a grad student soccer mom working on my masters in education and teaching license for special ed and high school English. I was a freelance writer for many years, and a human resources manager before I started grad school. My younger daughter and I play violin, I sing in the local symphony and chamber choirs (second soprano). Life is good.
I'm Rabia. My dad's side of the family is all CoC in Tennessee. My mom is Catholic. She converted from Baptist when she was a teen, before she met my dad. Yes, they're still together, 46 years and counting. When I was growing up, my parents felt I should decide my own path (thanks, mom and dad). I later learned that some of my relatives weren't too happy about that. To this day, my mom gets a little pressure to reconsider Catholicism. It's not happening.
I was baptized by my uncle when I was 13. When I was 17, I attended Juma at a local mosque in Memphis and fell in love with Islam. I didn't tell anyone. Like many of my cousins, my heart left the Church when I left for college and kept that really quiet. My parents were pretty liberal about religion, much more so than my cousins' parents in West Tennessee. I saw enough religious abuse with them to be soured on CoC. We lived near New York City until I was a teenager and attended CoC in NYC. It had a much different flavor from the ones my relatives in Western Tennessee attended. I actually have mostly good memories of going to church. We moved to Memphis when I was 15, but my dad and I never quite found a church home (see next paragraph. Dad does not put up with religious bull crap!). That was fine with me.
I got a bachelor's degree in religion, which became a good excuse to learn about Islam. Still, I was afraid to convert. I have relatives who love to say ignorant things about every other religion, especially Islam. Whenever I would visit my parents, I would find some excuse not to attend church with my dad. As he's gotten older, church has become a really important social outlet and part of his life, although in the past few years, he's left 3 different CoC congregations due to differences with the preacher, deacons, because he thought someone was stealing money, because he disagreed with hardline doctrine, and most recently, all of the above.
I married a non-practicing Quaker. We were married in a local Baptist church. My dad never asked why I didn't want to get married in his church (couldn't marry in a Catholic church), but my husband and my line was that a Baptist church was neutral ground. We (I) attended UU services for a couple of years until church politics annoyed me, and like my dad, I left.
When my kids were little, I started attending Sufi dhikr with a UU/Dances of Universal Peace friend of mine, and after a few months, I finally took shahadah about 10 years ago.
Conservatism in religion still makes me shudder. I've been lucky to find a small decidedly non-conservative Muslim prayer group. However, I rarely go to a "proper" mosque, mostly because the closest one is 40 minutes away and under construction, and the next closest one is a bit too conservative for my hippie Muslim comfort, but the food is good and I never regret going to pray with other people.
My daughters, 11 and 16, have little interest in religion, much to my family's chagrin (in-laws could care less). I've given them an academic education on the major religions and allow them to find their own path. My husband is still a non-practicing Quaker.
I'm a grad student soccer mom working on my masters in education and teaching license for special ed and high school English. I was a freelance writer for many years, and a human resources manager before I started grad school. My younger daughter and I play violin, I sing in the local symphony and chamber choirs (second soprano). Life is good.