Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi everyone. A little bit about me is that my parents raised me Catholic. I went to church for about the first 18 or 19 years of my life. I went to CCD classes and even received the sacraments.

I no longer go to church. My religion was something that changed along with my transition. This even resulted in one of my aunts and I no longer speaking. My religion now goes against what my church teaches. I have gone to church for a funeral but I no longer go on a weekly basis.

Has anyone else's religion changed along with their transition like mine has? Have you stopped going and found it no longer conducive to your lifestyle like I have?

I stopped going long before transition. I tried various denominations, even a cult or two, but none provided me with the spiritual answers I was seeking.

I have found my way now and understand my place in the universe. My spirituality has nothing to do with church or religion any more. And none of that changed before or after transition.

My answer is NO, I did not stop going to church, either before or after I transitioned
and went Full Time.

Obviously not all churches will accept or reject your attendance... 
      (really it is more about the local church pastor and the congregational members) 

The important thing is that when going to a new church, dress appropriately and conservatively, and
don't shove your transgender status in anyone's faces.  As always in all of our life endeavors as
a transgender woman or a transgender man... try to blend in.  Look at how other members dress and
particularly as it relates to being a trans-woman.... hair, make up, grooming, nails and how one is
dressed and appears can almost immediately result in either acceptance, or cause rejection. 

When I relocated to my small town, I found an accepting church, regularly going to Sunday services
including Sunday School.  My Sunday school attendance is where it was easier to get involved and
be accepted mainly because the class attendance is much less that the main church service, and by
selecting a class where there are more people about my age I found other members that I became
friends with... 

After church on most Sundays, I regularly go out to lunch with 3 or 4 gals from the church... a couple
of us have developed a friendship and bond with each other as a result. HUGS, Danielle
                I am at the bottom right of the photo:
                  (https://i.imgur.com/z2UhaeAt.jpg)

Same here, as I was raised by Christian parents. But my beliefs changed as a young adult, a long time  ago before transitioning. I am of the opinion that Church attendance is not a requirement for my Christian faith. These days I worship privately, and I believe that after Christ went to the cross, there's no need for intermediary to connect with God.

I was baptized in the presbyterian church and in secondary school I was confirmed in the united church but I left the church shortly before going to college. Now I am vehemently anti organized religion. I believe in the rights of peoples personal beliefs as long as they don't hurt others but I find organized religion inherently evil.

Quote from: CosmicJoke on October 14, 2024, 10:01:18 AMHas anyone else's religion changed along with their transition like mine has? Have you stopped going and found it no longer conducive to your lifestyle like I have?

I have. I too was raised a Catholic, but had asked so many questions about the basis of faith that by the time I was in my teens was only allowed in religion classes because I did so well in exams :-) Then came the realisation I was trans, then came medical school and that was it, I just couldn't reconcile what I was being told I must believe through faith and the chaos those beliefs were causing in my and other people's lives. So out went my faith along with a lot of other scripts I had been brought up with.

For a while I felt guilty about abandoning something I'd grown up with, but that was trumped by feeling a lot easier in my skin because there wasn't a nagging voice saying what I was doing was somehow a sin. I know someone who was put through church conversion therapy at the insistence of their parents and what they told me about it contributed to my decision. I still cannot believe that the practice is still legal in many countries, or that any religion is allowed to defend it.

Quote from: Athena on October 14, 2024, 09:31:05 PMI believe in the rights of peoples personal beliefs as long as they don't hurt others but I find organized religion inherently evil.

My view is short of that, although there is no getting away from how religious beliefs have been used to justify genocide going back from the present day to as long ago as religions have existed. A lot of good people believe in gods and take comfort in doing so, but like every organisation humankind creates, religions can veer off course and end up violating human rights in the name of 'saving' folk who don't want to be saved. Sometimes by killing them.

Plus, followers of monotheistic religions are by definition prejudiced against followers of all other religions, which was one of my arguments against religion at school. I forget how much time I wasted on 'detentions' for that one, but I kind of enjoyed the rebel aspect of it all.

One thing I objected to very strongly as a child was being told that religions were the source of goodness. Goodness is rooted within people and religions that rely on the concepts like original sin deny that. In doing so they undermine people by making them feel bad because of a story? I failed to accept that either.

Believe it or not, I was confirmed a catholic, but I only agreed because if I did, I could quit Sunday school and spent more time doing stuff I enjoyed. I told one of my teachers and he said I would go to hell, but I shot back it looked to me that he was already there, so at worst, if I was proven wrong, I had decades before I had to suffer what he was putting himself through.

I always resonated deeply with this brief scene in Kingdom Of Heaven... David Thewlis plays a Hospitaller Knight whom, although it is never stated... is an angel... He tells Orlando Bloom's character, Balien, his view on religion and what God wants of him... Simply his head and his heart... and by what he decides to do each day, he will be a good man... or not!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yikvGQdvEDs

I think, to some degree... religion can be divisive and spirituality can unite... but, it is not always so...the opposite of that... as well as all points in between, can also be true... I like the notion that the "correct" religion is the one that brings you closer to God but,  the path to that "closer to God" place is a personal thing to each of us and doesn't have to reside within the confines of any religion's doctrines.

Blessings To All

Ashley 💕