Bonifratz

u/Bonifratz@piefed.zip
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I was raised pretty conservative evangelical. At 25, I still mostly held those views (although with more and more cracks). Since then, a lot of my views have changed. I'm still a believing Christian and an active member of a church, but much more progressive, open to different perspectives and questioning my own (and my church's) views.

Over the decades, I've been a member of many churches and have seen and experienced many, many forms of Christianity - the good, the bad and the ugly. For me personally, my faith and the community of church is a clear net positive I want to hold on to, even more so in a time where it feels that many of our old securities are falling apart. My church family recently had my back when I went through a very challenging phase in my life. I've also had a couple of experiences that I would ascribe to the supernatural (God, in my case). At the same time, I empathise a lot with the thoughtful skepticism of many atheists and agnostics.

I would personally advocate for a lot more openness and generosity on all sides, particularly around the age you mentioned which is a time in life where a lot of people question the views they've been brought up with and mature in their thinking. I've seen people who were staunch agnostics at 25 come to faith at a later point, and people who experienced the exact opposite. I cringe at both those who think atheists or agnostics "just want to follow their immoral desires", as well as those who think religious folks are all brainwashed or uneducated. Once you get to know people better, you'll find they often have good reasons for why they believe what they believe and act like they do, even if you don't personally agree.

It's a bit more complex than this though. Left-leaning/progressive Turks are more likely to be integrated in German society, gain citizenship or even give up Turkish citizenship. Whereas conservative/nationalistic Turks are more likely to be interested in Turkish affairs and vote in Turkish elections. So it's not purely "expats are more rightwing", it's more that those expats who bother/are eligible to vote in their country of origin tend to be more nationalistic.

Paradoxically, this kind of stuff makes me kind of glad I'm a terrible swimmer. Like, I would never jump into a river to save a drowning person but at the same time I don't have to feel bad about it because I know that I wouldn't be able to help that way, and instead of one casualty you'd just have two.

(I would of course try to call for help, look for ways/tools to pull them out etc.)