Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

The Mosaic Law seemed to me like the iron fist in the velvet glove. It had good and comforting things about it, but it was never ever ending in all the details.

I think this writer gets close to the concern I used to have for those who were holding on to old systems.
h**p://www.thevillagechurch.net/sermon/ ... osaic-law/

I see the Amish and Mennonite and Dunkards and others as having to carry a heavy burden with their religion which is now so much of a tradition they are locked into. Yes, I know some claim to be happy and are willing to take on the burden, but I just always thought about how the training wheels are supposed to come off some day. And so the same way with those that choose to follow some portion or version of the Mosaic Law. It has good things, but Christianity has those things too. It always seemed to me that people could still get the things they wanted like a connection to God, strong faithful families, work ethic, etc...the good culture things that people are wanting with out the additional burdensome aspects. I mean can't one get the good things in life and not have to endure the cultural baggage and abuse that comes from being members of these groups? Does dealing with the cultural baggage and downside provide the "good aspects" or are they always wanting those aspects to be lessened? So I always felt the need to demonstrate that the positive aspects people are wanting can be found in other systems which do not have the down side.

It wasn't like I felt sorry for them since I know for the most part people choose what they want and kids that are raised to think that way are not really aware of how much burden they are enduring...they just know it as normal. Much like kids in the CofC...it is just normal. I just do not see the actual value in staying or justifying the burden and downside in order to get the good stuff of a system. And that used to really bother me a lot and I wondered what could be done about it or what people would say once their life is over and looking back on it all. I wonder what I will say when I look back on it all.

There was a man that wanted to live it to the letter of the law and if my memory about his interview is correct he enjoyed the experience but that it was difficult and time consuming.

On the one hand the rules in the old law are a little more specific and spelled out and relatively easy to comprehend but can be quite burdensome. Unlike the interpreting and debating found in christianity. However, if you are smart enough and are well connected with the temple leaders things can go nicely for you. The Pharisees took the law and was able to create for themselves a whole system within a system where they are the top. Not unlike fundamentalist religions today. I know that as a member of the CoC, I heard outsiders and insiders alike talk about the church as being like the pharisees. I think in general man likes rules, it provides a comfort zone for most people and a sense of right and wrong or "tell me what to do so I can be right". So whether it is strict mosaic laws or strict legalistic laws of Christianity people find comfort in those systems even if the burden is heavy and arbitrarily imposed by the leaders of those groups. That to them is the good life or the best connection to God. Maybe the act of "doing" all those things and following all those rules gives them that connection to God they want. The problem for me was that I saw many problems and contradictions and slowly began to feel very little connection to God and a feeling of resentment to those within the CoC. (I don't have any resentment anymore)

The religion becomes the culture and once the two are firmly cemented together in the life of families, cities and countries deviation from those in any way can have deep effects on those that just want to be good and enjoy life but not participate or feel compelled to participate in those practices. At the same time those practices help to identify who you are and where you came from and so maybe it is their identity that keeps them there and unwilling to leave or rock the boat.

I was like you in that I constantly asked why about practices and beliefs in the CoC. I didn't understand why someone was so bad if they didn't make every service. Why did I have to wear a tie, did Jesus really turn water into grape juice? I could go on but all of those things were tools to put constraints on people and created a false sense of doing something wrong if a person did not follow the group's rigid rules. Yes, I have some good memories and currently view them as good people and friends and some I consider sincere but I just can't seem to live in such a constricted and contradictory religion. It was like I had to walk with my head down anytime I did something or said something I knew would give them ammunition to label me uncommitted or unfaithful. Of course, now I have been labeled that and worse since I am going to the Orthodox Church. I am not worried if someone from my new Church sees me and my wife at dinner drinking wine, because I know and they know it is not bad. But in my former life the rigid rules and cultural attitudes in the CoC made life uneasy at times because I knew not only would I have to deal with it, but my family would as well. There is that cultural identity I mentioned above, that one either believes and complies or recognizes that it is not for them and leaves. Oddly enough Orthodoxy is not nearly as constricting and legalistic as the CoC since most only see the all the pomp and gestures, I have come to learn quite the contrary.

Keep on thinking and writing klp, I really enjoy your posts and like the others that post on here I have come to enjoy the mental exercise the posts provide.

I read both of your posts & I'm fascinated by your perceptions. Isn't it interesting that people can detect the flaws, inconsistencies, contradictions, burdensome laws, rules, & commands of "other" religions. I possessed that same skill when I was a Christian. I was thankful that "my religion" got it right & I felt sorry for those folks stuck in a false man made religion & the fact they had been deceived. I counted myself wise enough not to be deceived by those false prophets like others who were part of "my" religion.

I knew God had blessed me because, of the estimated 40,000 active versions of Christianity, I was devinely led to the one true Church of the one true living God.I was sad that the rest of mankind would be lost but rejoiced that I was saved. Isn't is great to be one of God's chosen few?!

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs. He's made a career about writing about reading something or other and trying to stick with it.

h**ps://smile.amazon.com/Year-Living-Biblically-Literally-Possible/dp/0743291484/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Also Rachel Held Evans did something really similar and wrote about that, too:

A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband 'Master'

h**ps://smile.amazon.com/Year-Biblical-Womanhood-Liberated-Covering-ebook/dp/B0078FA8TS/ref=la_B002YUME2G_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478364360&sr=1-2