Cartoonist Lynn Johnston on why she left the church
For several years Lynn Johnston’s strip “For Better or For Worse” has been among the most popular in the world. In the following quote from her most recent book Something Old, Something New she reflects on why she stopped going to church at the age of eight:
“I was raised in the Anglican faith and went to church every Sunday until I was old enough to rebel. The day I stopped going was an Easter Sunday. It was a spectacular, clear, sunny morning. Daffodils and crocus were in bloom. I walked with my mother to St. John’s church in a blue and white outfit she’d made for me. In the cool interior of St. John’s, everyone looked forward to a message of hope and joy. Instead, we were told we were all sinners; we were all responsible for the torture and death of a holy man. I was eight years old. I hadn’t killed anyone. We went out into the sunshine and I vowed never to go back. That night, I prayed to God to let me marry a minister so I could write his sermons. I wanted to say positive things instead of negative. I wanted people to smile. I still attend services, but at the United Church–and only twice a year.” (Something Old, Something New, 145)
This passage prompts two observations. First, it is a pretty ineffective Easter sermon that comes away sounding like bad news. Second, it is a very independent eight year old that can make a decision that she’s not going to attend church anymore.
Tags: Christianity, faith, For Better or for Worse, Lynn Johnston
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beetle says:
Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 11:00am
From what you write, Lynn would NOT characterize herself as having “left the church”. She, like many in the C&E crowd, identifies as Christian. Do you agree that this is not uncommon? I guess both evangelicals and skeptics compete for this audience!
randal says:
Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 12:49pm
She did leave the church. Attending a church twice a year on special events is not being part of the church. But I didn’t say she repudiated Christianity. I have a friend who left a church because he’d been severely burnt by them. At that point he stopped attending any church. A few years later he ran into one of the deacons from that church. The guy made a comment about how my friend had left the church. My friend replied “I left the church but I didn’t stop following Jesus.”
You could look at it like this. A human person without legs is still a human person. But human persons in their fullest embodiment are meant to have legs. Likewise there could be a Christian who does not participate in a local community of believers but this, like the legless person, is non-normative, impoverished, and tragic.
beetle says:
Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 1:01am
So judgemental of you! Did Jesus empower you to say who has left the church or not? If I only see my doctor once a year, when I could see him weekly, have I left him?
You did not answer my question: Do you think it is really rare to find twice-a-year church goers who self-identify as Christians?
Stoo says:
Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 12:39pm
Well if Christianity (or at least some interpretations of) is true it’s bad news for me. I mean whatever happens to myself, some people I love are off to hell! For pretty bad reasons.
Thing is, that’s the bad news that has to be taken on board before the good news means anything. And the good news seems to be “fall on your knees and you’ll be spared”.
randal says:
Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 12:52pm
It is surely worth noting that Christianity is a very diverse faith and that there are a range of views on matters like atonement and final judgment. It would seem a rather big leap to renounce all Fords just because you don’t like the redesigned Focus.
Stoo says:
Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 3:28pm
Yeah, true. (I think I’ve spent too much time talking to Calvinists).