A small worry

For a while now I've been having a small crisis in faith. I converted to the Norse path only about three years ago after being a southern baptist pretty much my entire life up to that point. In the back of my mind it seems like there's a voice and its telling me "You're wrong, how dare you turn away from what you were raised on? You sinner."

And I can't get it to go away completely. Any advice my fellow pagans can give me? What can I do to cement my faith in the gods, I'm at my wits end..

Faith is all about following what you believe in your heart...not in your head. You need to ask yourself why you chose the path you follow, and see if those reasons still apply. Some people never really settle on one path or religion, but incorperate ideas from many. It all comes down to what YOU feel is right.

Well, I was an Evangelical Christian until I was 16, a progressive Christian until I was 22, and an atheist until some time in the last 9 months.

Each time, I found myself at the same point asking the same question: Why do I believe what I do?

I was a Christian because I felt obligated, but not because I felt compelled. When I finally came around to that realization, I became a reluctant atheist.

I say "reluctant" because even though I didn't want to believe there was no god, I felt nothing to compel me to believe any differently for a very long time, and I got more comfortable with that.

I had to experience something that compelled me to believe otherwise, and over the span of about a year some things really piled on hard that made me question my non-belief; I had a "crisis of unfaith," which is really no different from a crisis of faith, if you look at it plainly.

I think the question to ask yourself when you think about your beliefs is why? What has called you this far? What prompts you to keep going? What has it done in your life? And when you find yourself in a place to answer all those questions fairly and honestly to yourself, you will find your path easier.

Guh... i know this is an old post but still - I know how you feel Doc. Been raised Christian, and nearly every day, certainly every sunday, they drag me through it without really knowing i'm pagan, or maybe they do and this is their "cleansing" . I get dragged to church every sunday, and i have to sit and take it.

So there's that. But it's very important to keep your faith, no matter what's been ingrained into your head. With faith you need to follow your heart in the matter, it's your choice. Even in the Christian faith - it's supposed to be a choice.