My friends are all becoming Born Again Christians

[caterpillar-girl]

I'm Catholic. Always have been, and, I suspect, always will be. Now, it seems like a lot of my friends are slowly becoming Christians. CCF, New Life, Victory, what have you. It would be all right but now they're so goddarn wholesome! And perky! I don't know which bothers me more. They don't even drink anymore! And we don't even talk about the usual stuff, like men, or, heaven forbid, sex. And always I feel bad, like I'm the spiritually stunted, ungrateful person just because I don't say "God is AMAZING!!!!" every so often.

Is there no other way to get around this than by making new friends? Just chuck it up to, "Well sometimes you outgrow people and people outgrow you, so deal with it. " I realize I just maybe want to vent also. Haha. Hay Lord.

[glamorosa_09]

Hmmm... it's up to you sis if you want to remain in your status quo.

But if you want to spiritually grow without converting in another religion, there are a lot of active catholic charismatic communities out there to try.

[rheagirl]

funny natawa ako sa reaction or sa feeling mo sis. but this is really happening..

[mooncake and leaves]

haven't gone through this so i may be wrong. but i say, give it a few months. it's a big change so they're naturally very excited and conscious about it. after a while, that glow of the transformation will wear off. no one can sustain that level of enthusiasm.

[Mr.Punch]

Ay hindi pala Christians ang Catholics?   

[caterpillar-girl]

^Well they're not Catholics, to be sure.  Not anymore at least.

^^It's been a while. They're very good at keeping up the level of enthusiasm. And I'm happy for their newfound faith, really I am. Sometimes I even wish I were that gung ho but well, to each his own, I guess.   I'm still not used to it though.

[bestfriendnijerome]

^Sis, same here. These (Born again) Christians are inspiring and annoying at the same time. I've also noticed when they convert, they only listen to Christian songs, read Christian books, attend Christian concerts, etc. Frankly, I feel I am spiritual (not religious!) enough but I can only take so much God, hehe (no blasphemy intended). 

[glamorosa_09]

@Mr. Punch

As I understand, any person who believes in Jesus Christ as God is a Christian. It's like Christians are divided into Catholics, Born Again Christians, Protestants etc.

So I guess what the TS is referring to when she said Christians is Born Again Christians.

[Mr.Punch]

^ I know.  I was just reacting to the fact that even Catholics such as the threadstarter are unknowingly perpetuating the propaganda by the so-called "born again"s that they are the only ones who have the right to be called Christians.

[moonie]

Well, go out more often with your friends who are still Catholic.  You can't do anything about your friends who have converted to another christian faith.  Seeing them less will make their enthusiasm easier to bear.

[pretty_in_victorian]

TS: i share the same sentiments with you..sometimes.. i can't even say oh my g** when i'm with some of them.. nagagalit sila! or sing Lady ga** songs or Rihanna when we go Karaoke-ing because they say that it's the work of the Illuminati.. ayoko lang ng pinipilit nila faith nila sakin.. kasi i have my own beliefs too!

[moonie]

nagagalit sila! or sing Lady ga** songs or Rihanna when we go Karaoke-ing because they say that it's the work of the Illuminati

Wow!

[pretty_in_victorian]

IKR!! 

[Mr.Punch]

^For the record, I am a Catholic and I hate Lady ga** and haven't listened to a single Rihanna song. 

What I'm saying is, sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with the particular sect.  I know a lot of "Born Again"s who say "Oh my God" all the time and sing Lady ga** songs and dance to hiphop music where booties and b!tches are mentioned.  There are always those who will take their beliefs a little bit more seriously than the others.

[pretty_in_victorian]

^ yeah but i don't think that they should interfere with my music preference and push their faith in my face which is the reason i've steered away from those people.. there are 2 in my clique..

[chefron]

TS, its their renewed faith that's keeping them from "enjoying" the earthy stuff they used to do. Realization kumbaga.

There are also devout catholics if I may say na walang pinagkaiba on how they express their faith too.
Nashock ka lang thats why you feel this way.

What I'm saying is, sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with the particular sect.   There are always those who will take their beliefs a little bit more seriously than the others.

isang malaking check.

[caterpillar-girl]

^ I know.  I was just reacting to the fact that even Catholics such as the threadstarter are unknowingly perpetuating the propaganda by the so-called "born again"s that they are the only ones who have the right to be called Christians.

Ho ho! Edited accordingly.

pretty in victorian: Wow, that's a little too extreme. My friends are conservative, but thankfully nowhere on that level. I've adjusted to the little things, like when they pray before meals and I'm already munching on my bread. I know that's not an exclusively BAC thing to do, but you get my drift.

It's the bigger things that are harder to get used to. Like not being able to discuss religion and faith like we used, not being able to share things. There are times I feel upset or frustrated and I feel like I need to censor myself around them just because I really do not want to hear any more of the "Just trust in the Lord! Believe God loves you!" spiel. It's fine and dandy, but there are times I just want to go grab a drink. And again, I feel like, o woe to me of little faith!!!

Maybe there IS something about being Christian that makes them feel so blessed and overflowing with happiness and cheer. It's gotten to the point I feel like I'm being judged for certain decisions or choices I make. They don't SAY it out loud but I can't help but feel it's there. Or maybe it's in my head din? I don't know. Haha. And it's not just that they're less fun. It's just that there's less of the roughness that made us all seem more imperfect, and therefore more human.  Something like that.

[chefron]

Maybe there IS something about being Christian that makes them feel so blessed and overflowing with happiness and cheer. It's gotten to the point I feel like I'm being judged for certain decisions or choices I make. They don't SAY it out loud but I can't help but feel it's there. Or maybe it's in my head din? I don't know. Haha. And it's not just that they're less fun. It's just that there's less of the roughness that made us all seem more imperfect, and therefore more human.  Something like that.

I don't think they will judge you cause in the first place they are like you before. Second, the mere fact that youre still hanging out together, means they still value as a friend.

like you said, maybe its all in your head.

[caterpillar-girl]

^Yeah yeah maybe. Hmm.

[Mr.Punch]

I'd stick to what I originally said.  It might only look like it has something to do with their conversion to a sect, but it really is everything to do with their increased sincerity and seriousness in their faith.

You think your problem is, "My friends are all becoming Born Again Christians."

...When in fact, your problem is, "My friends are taking their faith seriously."

(Of course, that's not really a problem at all.  An increased spirituality always helps.  It's just so unfortunate that they had to leave THE Church founded by Jesus Himself and one that has a 2,000-year track record of studying the Bible, in favor of a 20th century sect with no apostolic roots and no access to the most ancient biblical manuscripts.  But that's beside the point.)

I'm not certain as to whether the spiritual high your friends are experiencing is just temporary or if they will be able to sustain it forever.  I've seen both cases happen with equal frequency, so there's no general rule regarding that.  To be on the safe side, just assume that your friends will always have that spiritual high.  So as a result, you will always feel out of place.  To my mind, you have 3 options:

1.  Ditch your friends and find others who won't make you feel out of place;
2.  Convert to whatever sect they belong to just to relate to them;
3.  Take your Catholic faith seriously.  You might be surprised to find that you won't feel too disagreeable with them.

#2 is the worst choice, because it's always a bad idea to convert out of convenience or leisure.  I see a lot of young people who treat their new religion (particularly their praise sessions) as a drug rather than a personal conviction.  They sing praises and speak in tongues and raise their hands, and all that stuff but they don't really change.  So they end up as bigger hypocrites than when they weren't converted yet.

#1 is the most common choice.  It is also a choice of convenience, but fortunately does not require you to be a hypocrite.  The downside is the same as #2 - you don't grow at all.  You will only have a suspicion that there is more to life than what you see, but you will never really go beyond that.

#3 is obviously the best option, but also the most difficult one.  It requires an internal change, and it involves a lot of inconvenience on your part.  It will force you to deal with the things you don't really like or agree with your own faith.  But ultimately, if you do things right, you will grow.  And maybe, you will find that what your Born Again friends do now would make a lot of sense.