I found a book by a young woman who is telling my story, Except mine began 50 years ago and is still ongoing.

She was the model Christian child/teenager/young adult until events caused her to question the religion, she grew up in. It began with the events following September 11. Questions no one could answer. Why did men yell “God is Great” while crashing airplanes into buildings and killing hundreds of innocent people? Why were innocent women in Iraq who were killed by Christian bombs (collateral damage it is called) going to Hell because they had the misfortune to be born in a Moslem country. Why are women still denied leadership positions in the church/religion she grew up in?

My story is similar. I was a happy college kid when my father died suddenly of a heart attack and left my housewife mother to raise my brother and sister. It’s God’s will I was told. A few years later, I was drafted into the Army and sent to the Vietnam war which by that time everyone knew was hopeless. Our leaders (including the chaplain) said we on a mission to kill “those god-less commies.” Once there I found most of the local population just wanted to be left alone. I didn’t find any “god-less commies” but did find a large number of Catholics – legacy of the French colonial system. But the worse affair was I had a very small part in the invasion of Cambodian which brought down a legitimate government and led eventually to one of worst mass killings of people in history. The religion of my youth could not explain any of this. I couldn’t find answers that made any sense so I dropped out. I don’t remember making a conscious decision. It just quit going to church. Biblical inerrancy seemed out of place in a world going mad.

It took me over forty years to begin to resolve these (and other) issues. As I continue to read her book, it will be interesting to see how she resolves her issues. Or if she does. I could still use some help in that area.