Can religion cause problems for the literal Aspie?

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Why is it necessary that we question and doubt in perpetual uncertainty? Some of us actually do find answers.

Doubting and questioning are good things. We want to be assured that our beliefs are justified and correct. But I take issue with the "seeker" mentality in that the goal, if we're being honest, is to NOT find anything with any degree of certainty. I'm perfectly comfortable with a large number of unknowns in my life, and I enjoy exploring new ideas and perspectives. The ultimate destiny of my soul is not one of those questions I wish to leave unanswered.


Why? Sure, I've held the same viewpoint on one certain thing since I was 5 years old. But that doesn't mean that I accepted that everything I was taught about it was true. For example, I used to have nightmares over the false idea that if you don't tell someone about Jesus and they die, you're going to hell, too. Someone actually told me that in church. How do you reconcile that with not being prepared to share about your faith? It doesn't make sense. I thought as long as you put your faith in Jesus and accept the gift of God's grace everything will turn out alright in the end. So, over time (it didn't take long), I came to the realization that this person didn't know what she was talking about. But as a young child--I mean, you can see how scary things like this can be, right? And as I got through high school and college, I was inevitably exposed to the basic beliefs of other religions and had every opportunity to learn more. But the thing is, you don't have to be a scholar in one or more religions/philosophies to be able to make up your mind about them. I never got any preferential treatment in any church; I'm not popular, and I can be difficult to get along with at times. I make people uncomfortable (without meaning to), and I have few friends and family. So I have nothing materially to lose in abandoning my faith. So why do I still hold to it after nearly 30 years? Because I find the basic tenets of my faith (despite whatever anyone else might say about it) to still hold true. Sure, there are some things I don't understand, and I still experience doubt about some things. But those are things that are more wrapped up in the details of my spiritual journey and are ultimately inconsequential to the metanarrative.


I agree. But at the same time, we are only human. Our knowledge is limited, and we do have to accept that. I don't think God is unknowable, though. From my experience, the starting point is knowing that there even is a God at all. If you can accept just that much--which would put you at the same Square 1 as the deists--then you can begin to understand and accept other truths.

I'm glad that it works for you and that you have this certainty of faith in a way that actually comforts you.

But with my social communication challenges, I trust that someone can appreciate how much harder it is to communicate with a God who isn't even a concrete being in the humanly understandable sense of the word.

Maybe the best thing for some of us others is to aim for certainty in what we can reasonably know, and then faith that that which we don't know or can't know (yet) will end up on the balance of good, rather than evil. To think this way is surely more reassuring than to believe in all the gloomy and sometimes psychologically coercive torments spouted by certain pastors.

That's where I'm at anyway. Hope you wish me some serenity and understanding on my journey.

I think I heard of an Aspie who castrated himself partly because of the "eunuchs entering the kingdom of heaven" and "if thy hand offends you cut it off" lines in the Bible, but he almost certainly had a lot more going on besides mere Aspergers. He had psychotic episodes that he blamed on his mother's pre natal DES usage.

The literal take on the verses troubled me greatly, until I realized that in the entire Bible, there is not one verse in praise of Intelligence (Knowledge and wisdom, yes, but not intelligence); and that nowhere in the Bible is there any verse denouncing slavery, segregation, and the subjugation of women.

PUH-LEEZ prove me wrong!

I rejected the cognitive dissonance called christianity.
As far as the book of Job is concerned, I certainly hope none of it is true, and it most likely isn't. It's a cruel, boring book. A devout man that god took away his possessions and killed his children only wants to appeal to god. God does appear, but rants to Job just how great he is.
I simply cannot accept a collection of ancient writings that feature a talking snake, a talking donkey, talking bushes. genocide. allows slavery, treats women as property, maneating fish, magical fruit trees, a capricious god. unicorns, an earth centered universe, a flat earth. demon possessions, demon possessed pigs. It's like The Exorcist created by Disney.
I don't find religion comforting or any truth in it's holy books.

I've had the same problems with this stuff ever since I was a kid. It's easy to look at all that, wave one's hand and go, "meh - fiction". It's unfortunately impossible to go back in time and see what really happened so that we could know for sure who wrote all that stuff, and whether there was anything divine involved at all in its creation - or whether indeed it was all thought up by people, and then used by other people later on for coercive purposes.

Personally I feel that asking this doesn't imply disrespect for any person who believes it at face value; it's simply trying to gather knowledge for the sake of peace of mind on the matter.

Gideon is praised for his intelligent military tactics. His attack on the Midian camp at night is positively brilliant. Joshua is also praised for his military acumen. In an age where warfare and violence was a central fact of life, military acumen has to be weight heavily.

Moses is praised for his field-craft. His trick of sweetening brackish water is a classic. Also teaching the Israelites to dig good latrines far away from the water supply will stand through the ages. Yithro, Moses' father in law is praised for teaching Moses how to delegate authority and run a hieirarchic system of management. In fact, the portion of the Torah where Yithro so advises Moses is named Parshat Yithro (Yithor's portion) and is the only portion of Exodus named after a non-Jew.

ruveyn

Indeed.

Actually, segregation IN GENERAL is not a bad thing...I feel a strong sense of desire to keep my wife and kids away from influences I perceive as negatively impacting our particular dynamic. That need not be read as "race," but ethnic segregation in the Bible (OT) arose from a need to preserve ethnic, cultural, and religious identity. Perhaps this remains for Jews, but I would say it is a matter of conscience for Christians. I would say that it is generally inadvisable for Christians to marry non-Christians, and I would even say that couples of differing denominations need to sort out how to reconcile those differences prior to marriage. As long as two people are unified in their faith, segregation based on other factors is a personal choice. I chose to marry within my race/culture. That doesn't mean it is wrong for others to look outside their race/ethnicity.

Now, as to slavery and subjugation of women: The problem here is that slavery and women's rights have been troublesome issues probably since the beginning of recorded history. When Jesus was asked about divorce, the argument was presented regarding Moses prescribing divorce in under certain circumstances. Jesus responded by saying that divorce was instituted because God knew the wickedness of men's hearts, NOT because writing divorce papers was the right thing to do. You can apply the same principle to slavery and women's rights--laws concerning slaves and women as property were given BECAUSE of the wickedness of humankind and because those things had become institutionalized that an overnight change would largely spell disaster in primitive society. The laws that were given sought to regulate those institutions to make them livable for as long as they existed. As an example, the treatment of slaves in Israelite society was radically different from the same conditions under Egyptian rule, and slaves really were granted a wide berth of freedom.

Assuming, of course, the Israelites actually FOLLOWED the law.

The early Christian writers emphasized the importance of freedom within church communities. Again, because slavery had become such an integral part of Roman society, Christian activists pushing for its abolition would have been viewed as troublemakers seeking to destroy society--a perception that would have been contrary to the actual goals of the early church. Persecution is bad enough when you've done nothing wrong; it's even worse when you give persecutors good reasons for it.

The value of freedom in Christian practice has led to the abolition of slavery pretty much everywhere Christians have had a substantial influence. The Bible doesn't HAVE to say "Thou shalt have no slaves" for Christians to get the message. But even the OT says that the Israelites are not to force their own people to become slaves. The institution does have some benefits, though, such as repaying debts and "paying" for crimes. There are also those who are skilled laborers or domestic servants who benefit from pledging lifelong service to their masters. So it is unnecessary to demonize Christianity because the Bible doesn't prohibit certain activities explicitly (though the Bible does carefully delineate exceptional cases in which someone might become a slave while otherwise discouraging it, and Christians are urged to gain their freedom if they at all can).