I came out to my old pastor on Christmas, and not just as an atheist.

I renounced Christianity about a year and a half ago. I realized, thanks to a Redditor friend, that I'm basically atheist. I don't deny all possibility of a god, but I live my life as if there is no god.

I'm also queer. My former church explicitly lists in its church constitution that the only form of sexual expression is between a man and a woman, within the context of a marriage. (Missionary position and "for procreation only" are implied.) I distinctly remember him giving a sermon about how gays were teh ebil the week after he gave a sermon about Mormons not being "real Christians." (The hypocrisy burns, even in distant memories.)

Anyway, I told him about both of these things (amongst other tl;drs) and his response was this:

"Short response: midnightorpheus I love you and I would love having you in my church any time. More later. But I will say this: I don't look at you with disgust nor malice. I love you. Whether I agree w you or not"

This, in the same response as "homosexuality is equivalent to drug addiction." This, from the same guy that basically said "we're all wretched sinners, but gays and Mormons and Muslims and everyone else who doesn't believe what I believe are just a little more wretched than everyone else."

And he's confused as to why I left the church.

Anyway, thanks Reddit (and internet in general) for helping me to think. And thanks, former pastor, for being one of the first to say that I was doing a good thing in thinking critically about religion.

Side note: what sucks about all of this is that otherwise, he's a pretty cool guy. He just can't see the plank in his eye for the splinters in everyone else's.