#i feel similarly about my pastor using psychology terms when he believes mental illness is a lack of faith in god

[deservedgrace]

something that i've been struggling to articulate but has been bothering me for a while is how some christians engage and interact with science and what i'm realizing is they have a like... almost love-bombing/discarding relationship with it. and i recognize science isn't a person and that's not literally happening but the christians that i grew up around have this relationship with science where it's real/valid/correct if it supports their side and fake/invalid/wrong if it doesn't. it's this like... engaging with science to get something from it when it can prove their point and condemning it when it doesn't. and this also ties into the belief that you, a layperson with no background in science, are more knowledgeable than actual scientists simply because you have god on your side, and therefore you can use science in whatever way you see fit, which means engaging with it in a way that is ultimately anti-science (but that also doesn't matter because god said it was okay). and it's exhausting engaging with these people for me because it's not that they believe all science bad, it's that they believe most science bad but some science good and they have the authority to determine what is bad and what is good, despite, again, not having a background in science (because what is a "background in science" to an all-knowing god that you have a personal relationship with?). the thing that is so frustrating to me is how these people recognize science is valued and use it to strengthen the validity of their points and to gain credibility while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge the validity of science as a field at all or put in any effort to understand/respect it.

#i know that they do this bc *i did this* because **i was taught to do this** #i would be reading a science thing and actively cherry pick if they said something about evolution or the age of the earth or climate chang #i would actively dismiss things in my brain while watching science shows or listening to lectures bc “that's not accurate bc the bible” #and like. i wouldn't have admitted i had a superiority complex when i was a christian bc i couldn't see it #but now that i'm out i *absolutely* had a superiority complex #i had an all knowing god on my side. i knew better than so called “science” and “experts” #this along with “humans are inherently evil/can't be trusted” is why i believe some xtians like #refuse to see you as the expert of your own life and experiences #“you weren't a Real Christian” “you don't have Real Happiness outside of xtianity” “you obviously didn't [xyz] while you were an xtian” #but that's another post lmao #i feel similarly about my pastor using psychology terms when he believes mental illness is a lack of faith in god #and some emotions are inherently evil #like you have no respect for this field!!!!! you are solely using it for your benefit to gain credibility and sound knowledgeable!!!!!! #i guess this is similar to appropriation conversations #they see that it is viewed as credible and want the appearance of credibility #without doing any of the work to make themselves credible #or even believing that the thing they are using is actually credible #it's so dishonest and they don't care #anyway #ex christian #ex cult