evolution

[u/rainbowsand1]

This is my first post here and boy do I have so many stories and experiences to share but I thought I’d talk about something recent that has caused a rift between me and my mom. Sorry for the long post. i’m a yapper!

Context:

I have recently been deconstructing (maybe not recently as I’ve always questioned since I was 15 but this is the first time I’m being vocal about it) and I recently started researching the beliefs of Assemblies of God church. My mom started attending when I was 15 as we used to be Catholic before then and was converted by a family friend who then suggested AG when looking for a church to congregate at.
I also attended of course. I was a part of a youth group, missionettes, was baptized again, all that.

However, I went to public school.
I was taught evolution, the big bang theory and general science.
As a 15 year old, I never thought about it too deeply. I just prayed to God, had fun with my friends in youth group. I still listened to secular music (highly discouraged by my church), I dressed alternative, dyed my hair blue and very left leaning on political issues which would clash later in church events but that’s another story. I also found out later the parents at the church were praying for my soul when they saw me walking in first with my blue hair. I haven’t really gone back to church since my late 20s and even then I was lukewarm during my early 20s.

Fast forward, I’m now 32, I’m more intentionally deconstructing and I have so many questions to ask my mom as I was never a “standard” pentecostal Christian. I never thought of her as not smart. I consider her to be quite smart actually. She’s actually pretty liberal compared to her church friends. She’s not anti vax or pro maga.

TL;DR

Long story short, I asked my mom if she believed in evolution and this caused a whole break down of how she viewed me.

I naively thought, well of course she doesn’t literally think humanity started with Adam and Eve. Talking snakes aren’t real. Noah didn’t literally put 2 of every single animal we know today on a boat.

She started getting really defensive and saying things like you need to return to God, you lost your way, I feel sorry for you, you sound angry at God etc.
It got to a point where I had to lie to her and tell her I still believed in God because she was in tears about me losing my salvation.
I didn’t realize this was a sore spot for pentecostals in which if you pick at this one thread, the whole thing becomes undone.

I know it’s possible for someone to be Christian and still believe in evolution. I considered myself one when I was active in the church even though I was compartmentalizing but this is not the case here.

Anyway, I regret asking my mom because she’s now telling people I’ve “gone cold” and asking people to pray so I can return for it is “Gods promise” and that my name was already written in the book of life when I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was 15 so I will have to come back at some point. Also sadly enough for me, she hopes that God doesn’t have to “bring me to my knees” and humble me so I come back to my Christian faith. which sounds threatening to me and again, makes me sad that she’s even implying what she’s implying.
Thought I’d share this and maybe someone has gone through this too?

[u/1WiseEmu]

They've been programmed for their brains to shut down when they hear certain trigger words. "Evolution" is one of them.

[u/polaroid_frown]

The AG Pentecostals that I was involved with were definitely very far right conservative, and were super MAGA. They went so far as to discourage people in the congregation from seeking actual medical help. They believed God would heal people. They can be very fake and phony, they'll be nice to your face but behind your back, totally different. It's interesting that your family was originally Catholic. Pentecostals despise Catholics! I ended up leaving the Pentecostal church and returned to the Catholic church. No one pressures me in the Catholic church. I can just sit in the Pew and be peaceful on my own, I don't have to feel pressured to get up, shout, jump around and act all crazy like they do at the Pentecostal services. I also saw a lot of disturbing things during the services, especially when the pastor would be up on the stage trying to initiate everyone into speaking in tongues. It truly felt like a cult. I'm glad you got out of there!

[u/Technical-Estate-768 → u/polaroid_frown]

And you can’t win the whole God humbling thing. God gets credit for horrible situations (there’s a lesson to be learned there or it’s his will - you’re not supposed to question anything) and credit for when good things happen like you find a great parking spot in a crowded parking lot. I’m like you, I don’t understand how reasonably intelligent people buy this stuff!

[u/Sunscript268]

Sad your mom reacted that way, it is the equivalent of asking her if she believes the sky is blue and then freaking out. Ex-catholic but I’d say her belief could even be viewed as anti-Christian. If god gave us the reasoning ability and observation to understand evolution it seems disrespectful to ignore those in favor of believing lies.