Dear John,

There’s a stereotype that autistic people aren’t religious. At your age, I certainly wouldn’t have described myself as religious, though I would have said I was a committed Christian. 

Now I’d say that I am religious – that’s partly because the goalposts in public perception have shifted – now any kind of church involvement counts because it’s much rarer. It’s also because it’s kind of my job to be religious.

But the reason I mention that distinction is that I think it’s important for understanding what’s going on. What does it mean to be religious?

Some people would say that being religious or being spiritual is about having a sense of the transcendent rather than just the day-to-day. In that sense, you aren’t especially religious at all. I’m a bit more so, largely because I’ve had so much practice while doing this as a job! But I still don’t get that sense often while taking part in organised religious activities; I’m much more likely to get that sense on a walk in the countryside, which would probably class me as spiritual but not religious… I’d probably class you as not spiritual, not religious, but thoroughly Christian anyway!

Some people would say that it’s about specific emotional experiences in worship services – that’s more common in certain types of service than others. And we’d both class as “occasional” there!

For many people, it’s about group allegiance or community belonging. They go to church because they feel part of the community, and they believe because that’s what the community do. Not my style. I love the church, and I love the local church I’m a part of. But I don’t think that being part of a community greatly influences what I believe – it certainly hasn’t with some of the details.

And I think all of those would be common answers for autistic people.

So why am I religious? Why are you a Christian? For perhaps the most autistic reason there is – because we’re convinced that historic, Biblical Christianity is true – specifically that there was a real person called Jesus of Nazareth, who lived a life and taught truths like no-one else, who claimed to be God in human flesh, who was crucified and was raised to life again, and who is the rightful ruler of the entire universe. I believe that on the basis of the evidence, which I have looked at on multiple occasions and which I still come back to from time to time.

I’m not a Christian because of how it makes me feel. I’m not a Christian because I fit in. I’m not a Christian because I necessarily get along with other Christians. I’m a Christian often in spite of those things because I know it’s true.

All the best,

Future John