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Originally Posted by saturnfire16
I agree with Joanne. I HAD to get to a place of rejecting pretty much everything I was taught before I could come back to believing in God and trusting him because of *my own* experiences instead of "that's how I was raised." It was a vital part of my journey. I probably could have stayed "in the faith" in a very shallow, superficial, just go to church on Sundays way if I had not had that experience. It would have looked ok on the outside, but would have been nothing compared to the relationship I have with God now.
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I agree in so far as it is one response and part of some people's journey. I disagree that it is an 'expected developmental stage'.
I think what forty-two describes
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I too had a crisis of belief in high school (which I pretty much worked through in my head, that being how I deal with things - I was very fortunate to be in a church that welcomed questions and did not cause me to equate my doubts about my faith with my faith being in actual jeopardy - things could have gone ever so badly otherwise), but though I doubted all over the place, I never left the faith - and in fact it never changed a whit - God was right there the whole time . And it was a beneficial, if angsty , experience
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Is probably what I would see as a developmetal stage - a point of true decision based on enough cognative and emotional maturity to be able to decide for one's self - a point of discernment, not necesssarily whole rejection. In a healthy system this decision is made with the support of information and discussion. In an unhealthy system it is based on fear.