One of the reasons behind the staggering number of Christian sects is the pronounced tendency of Christians to shop around until they find a church that tells them what they want to hear. Few things anger conservative Christians more than having someone urge them to actually live up to the moral principles their faith supposedly mandates. They never stop demonstrating the disconnect between religion and morality. All in all, they make a compelling case for atheism.
If anybody tells you they voted for Trampy, you know they're a nazi. It's no longer time to mince words about the repugnants, they have openly embraced a wannabe Hitler, because he gives them rein to openly express their hate.
Indeed, it has ever been so, even *within* denominations. If you think, say, Roman Catholic churches are all the same, you've got another think coming. When I was a kid, my parents had the choice of no fewer than 5 RCC churches within a mile of their home, and another several within four more miles. They chose the most conservative and repressive. Also close by was the parish where the diocese dumped abusive priests for decades. A little further away--about 5 miles--was the supposedly-progressive Newman center at UC Berkeley, and a Berkeley church that preached an early version of liberation theology. When my siblings and I left the RCC, all by our late teens, we could have just switched parishes. None of us did. We gave the whole thing the heave-ho, which it richly deserved.
It's also AFAIK, people who get pissed off with a particular pastor and then go shopping around for another one. When I was studying that sort of thing we used to call it "churn". Apparently there are quite a number of people who are never satisfied no matter who they get. Pretty much permanently churning.
They'd like to believe of themselves that they are good and kind and caring and welcoming, without any of the burden of actually being good and kind and caring and welcoming.
I have some good friends and associates who are total Trumpers. They love his agenda, not him. And they detested old man Biden and his old fogey garbled messaging ("malarkey") who shot himself and his party in the foot by staying in so long and not addressing obvious swing voter concerns. Republicans swallowed the Trump Kool-aid, did a great job vilifying him and Harris (not the best candidate), and weak Democrats failed to counter effectively. Election decided by low information voters. And here we are.
I don't know that it's fair to blame Biden or Harris. The Democratic party is actually a fragile coalition of at least two parties. The *only* thing they have in common is that they are not Republicans. It is not possible to please both sides. I'm not convinced Biden's age was as big a liability as Harris' sex. I think misogyny and transphobia is what drove the "undecided" and the deep-seated conviction that "It Can't Happen Here."
Racism is an issue, but we have elected a man of color President, yet even a white woman lost to Trump. I really believe misogyny had more to do with it than racism, though being a woman of color certainly didn’t help. I’m not sure we shouldn’t have run with the old white guy even if was coming across as a bit daft.
I'm an atheist and I didn't vote for Trump, but I still believe "diversity" is nothing but a toy that spoiled brats choose to play with, and can become a dysfunctional vice for the left.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren't toys. They are at minimum an acknowledgement by those of us who can think outside of ourselves that the white cis-het and mostly male history that has dominated the history of the US was problematic at best and restrictive, bigoted, and discriminatory at worst. Implementation of DEI is an attempt to rectify that error.
It may be a long distance from perfect, but, to my mind, it is a far better concept than what Trump and company are currently attempting to accomplish.
I think Trump's executive orders are trying to correct what mature people can reasonably identify as an abusive focus on diversity. I detect no reasonable rebuttal to the "absolute meritocracy" argument. If you qualify for the job, you get hired. If you don't qualify for the job, you don't get hired. Democracy is so concerned with requiring diversity within unity that we never stop think about the benefits of requiring diverse groups to live in different states. The world would be a much better place if all the trannys, gays and mentally disabled were forced to move to one of the four bluest states in the nation. Let the ACLU hire a gender-dysphoric to sort paperclips, so that the construction guys can guffaw at each other without worrying about "offending" some powder-puff. Amen? There is no better way to ensure that employees are happy. Forcing straights to work alongside gays simply will not work, as not all straights find homosexuality to be morally acceptable. Yet keeping employees happy is what tends to that long-term retention goal that all businesses fantasize about.
Then you could use some diversity yourself. Listening to different viewpoints is essential to successfully navigating a diverse society. Studies have shown it to build more effective teams for businesses. Know your market and the market is diverse.
Blame the WHITE democrats who hide their racism and mysogeny, they don't want tRump, but can't support a black female,,, so they didn't Vote. Guess no one told them that a non vote helps the " other guy".
Telling the preacher he should modify his message in order to put more butts in the seats reminds me of several pundits I've heard recently saying Democrats should make their message more conservative to get more votes. What's the point of getting more votes (or butts) if you abandon your principles?
All this proves that despite their protestations, religions are businesses first and foremost. I'm sure most here have come to that conclusion on their own.
It’s funny that when I was a teen, my super religious pastor’s daughter friend told me that Christianity is about changing your thoughts and behavior, when I brought up the fact that most of the biblical rules don’t really make any sense in the modern era. Plus, all the churches I attended (when I was attending church) all told me I was supposed to be uncomfortable and change to what the church was telling me - otherwise known as god’s will. For the church to give in to the congregation about how they’re supposed to feel while worshipping is conceding that god isn’t really real and wont send you to hell for your sins. The rules aren’t really eternal. And there’s no objective morality (there really isn’t anyway but they claim their Bible is).
I have seen a number of high profile writers lately mention that the Venn Diagram for 'Christian Right', 'White Nationalist', and 'Republican' is nearly a circle... They have auto-propagandized themselves into a cult. The need to only hear what makes them satisfied is powerful. It/they are ripping our country apart.
I don't know whether to conclude that Pastor Boswell didn't know his audience or the board of the church, the applause he gained during his sermon notwithstanding. That possibility of some of his congregants being "performatively liberal" strikes me as being very near the mark, if not center-bull. Then, too, this IS North Carolina, which seems to have a confused political identity: sometimes progressive, sometimes MAGA, and as it comes to the Myers Park Baptist Church, badly conflicted.
I suspect that Pastor Bill will find a more receptive audience elsewhere, and he deserves it. The man dared to speak truth to clueless, and that can be sometimes more trying and potentially dangerous than speaking truth to stupid. Still, I wonder if the congregants of Myers Park Baptist or at least some of them will dare to ask themselves WHY Boswell was forced out ... and be willing to look in a mirror when they do so.
They won't ask why. They know. And the self-reflection? Not gonna happen. Pastor Boswell thought he knew his audience, they all listened to him every Sunday. He pastored a progressive church. He forgot the insidiousness of the indoctrination. His congregants don't live in a vacuum where his sermons are the only christian messageing they get. All of their neighbors, whom they viewed as also "good christians", were fully on board with the MAGA hate, and it infected them to the point where they were only giving lip service to inclusivity. Pastor Boswell did not see that, he only saw the lip service and believed it was real.
Yeah, the question was more rhetorical than serious. The average American isn't much for self-reflection or thought past the surface, which is a goodly portion of why we're in this current pickle. Too many have simply become either lazy or overloaded with the media streams and tune it out.
I'll admit to moderating my intake a bit, but even with that, at a very visceral level, I don't feel as though I can afford to tune out the news, because I know that there can be a pretty severe penalty for that. It's not fun ... but it is necessary.
I think that's what I miss most about living in this current time frame. I miss being able to NOT WORRY EVERY SINGLE DAY about what shitty thing is going to happen next. Being able to skip the news for a few days, go on vacation, whatever, and not worry about what the hell is going to blow up next.
I have had to take breaks from the news these past few years just to stay sane, but in the back of my mind was always the fear that I would miss something catastrophic and be caught unprepared.
As someone who finally said "fuck all this noise" and abandoned the religion this past year, I totally get it. I was raised in the religion and spent 43 years occasionally attending church. I was by no means a devout believer, as there have always been parts of the Bible I just didn't buy, but I ultimately valued what I thought to be the most foundational principles. You know, like love, kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, humility, generosity, and honesty.
Unfortunately, as I traveled from church to church to church throughout my life, I had long come to notice that for most "Christians", Jesus' words and values meant nothing. Rather, Church is just a place that they go to feel superior to everyone they hate. It's a 1 hour a week chore that they perform just so they can pat themselves on the back and be told that they're forgiven fully for being the most bigoted, racist, self absorbed, hypocritical fucks imaginable. In short, it's all a disgusting joke, and I'm finally done being a part of it.
When the most hateful, thoughtless, cruel, and hypocritical people I know all proudly call themselves Christians, the organized practice of that religion is broken and a poison in society. Over just the last 5 years, Christian nationalism has rapidly spread to even the most "liberal" churches in our country and corrupted them. I've told myself for years that if I ever believed the overall, organized practice of the religion accomplished more evil than it does good in society, that would be my breaking point. Sadly, I believe we far surpassed that point in this country years ago. It now just appears to be a cancer that is simply being used to indoctrinate fools and bigots into the MAGA cult.
Despite not believing and not going to church for several years, I did plan to go to a Christmas service this year. The draw was a handbell choir performing several numbers.
But when I pulled into the parking lot and saw all the Trump-Vance bumper stickers, I felt sick with disappointment. I suppose I could have stayed just long enough to hear the handbell choir and then nipped out, but as I drove the length of the parking lot toward the exit, I saw more and more Trumpy bumper stickers. These are people who knowingly voted to inflict misery and harm on others. I left.
I'm of a similar mind. I went from RCC to Protestantism to Fuck This Shit over about 25 years. We had lived in a few areas where Christian Nationalism was first brewing. That was the final straw.
They don’t want to follow Jesus, they want Jesus to follow them and tell them what good boys and girls they are.
Their concerns about his sermons not pertaining to them will be short lived anyway, the political environment will engulf them soon enough. The Social Security breach will start affecting the little old ladies in the pews right quick. The social Justice has already stomped on white women’s rights, and they’re still attacking. I mean, how petty can you get when federal organizations are being forced to cover up all the photos of past and present women leaders, paint over the names of people who died in service of the organizations and the websites are being scrubbed of any mention of women and people of color. You weren’t being guilt tripped, you were being warned.
Does hate put more "butts in the seats" than love? If yes, parishioners should take a good look at themselves and what kind of christians they think they are. And these people should ask themselves, "WWJCD?"
No, not Jesus Christ, you silly billies! Jimmy Carter. He was a shining beacon of what christians can and should be. Now, I wouldn't enjoy being berated every Sunday for all the wrongs and horrible things christian churches support. Maybe it was too much of that sort of thing for these seat-butts to tolerate, but they at least cannot say they're unaware of what's roiling in the halls. And deep down, they probably have a glimmer that something ain't right with their religion.
Maybe he'll be replaced by your standard, spittle-spewing right wing pedophile, who knows? Choices have consequences.
The same old same old puts butt's in the seats. And yup church is a business you don't care about the poorest person there who doesn't pay any I'm assuming tithes or puts money in the collection plate you care about the 5% with the big bucks who makes sure your business is still up and running next Sunday
In Denver we don't need a church. We have ethics. Nearly 500 members of the Secular Hub own a building that is very busy, in Denver plus all of the other Secular groups around town such as the FFRF and Jefferson Humanists and Boulder Atheists. I estimate that 6000 people were at the protest at our state capital yesterday. Major roads were blocked as the streets were filled with protesters marching by. It took 9 minutes 45 seconds ( I filmed it) for all of them to walk by. That amounts to about half a mile of people filling 6 lanes The local new tried to minimize the numbers saying hundred of people instead of many thousands. White Christian Nationalists are the same kinds people that that took over Germany in the 1930's.
A Japanese gay friend of mine was in a very gay-hating church. It took 3 years of gentle persuasion and reading Hemant Mehta's site to get him to leave.
I told him, 'First ask the church leader, or imam or rabbi if they accept LGBTQ people, or try to use conversion therapy (torture) on LGBTQ people. If they say no to accepting them or say yes to conversion therapy, never, ever join.
Interesting, but not surprising, that when the actual teachings of Jesus hit too close to home, the whining begins and the messenger is 'crucified.' The problem isn't with the teachings, it's with the people who don't want a mirror held up to them, who don't want to acknowledge their role in our problems, and who, in their hearts, really don't give a damn about their fellow man or woman. In fact, they find 'loving their neighbor as themselves' to be too much trouble. Their problem isn't with Rev. Boswell; it's with their own Jesus. All well and good to claim to be a christian, but when they're asked to walk the walk? Oh hell no!
I hope Rev. Boswell lands on his feet in a church that actually practices what it preaches. Many of us, I'm sure, remember all the right-wing calls about 'where are all the 'good muslims' who should be standing up against the jihadist hate mongers.' Well, here we are: 'Where are all the good christians who actually follow the teachings of the Jesus they claim to love.'
Pastor Boswell should have remembered one major rule when one want to be supported by his church. Rape someone and confess you have sinned because of the Devil.
Free will's a bitch, innit. And then, they blame the Devil because blaming themselves would just make them realize what hateful pieces of shit they truly are. "The Devil made me do it!"
Only nope, it was just you and your broken moral compass.
One of the reasons behind the staggering number of Christian sects is the pronounced tendency of Christians to shop around until they find a church that tells them what they want to hear. Few things anger conservative Christians more than having someone urge them to actually live up to the moral principles their faith supposedly mandates. They never stop demonstrating the disconnect between religion and morality. All in all, they make a compelling case for atheism.
I was recently told that a second vote for Trump didn’t mean that person was political.
If your vote is an endorsement of a candidate and you know that candidate is an actual criminal, but votes your way then his way IS your way.
His morals and standards are yours. Trump isn’t Jesus!
Way to go MAGA giving you freedom away to a FELON 🤦♀️
I will be wearing this "A convicted felon will NEVER be my president" shirt the next four years 👇
https://libtees-2.creator-spring.com/listing/cfelon
If anybody tells you they voted for Trampy, you know they're a nazi. It's no longer time to mince words about the repugnants, they have openly embraced a wannabe Hitler, because he gives them rein to openly express their hate.
I'm looking forward to the season opener on Nazis..... zero bag limit and no restrictions on method of taking. 😉
The first thing a demagogue does is fascinate the mob, and then he goes after his critics. That's how fascists roll.
Trump is the reason for the treason.
Dictator for a Day. A hit off-Broadway, and coming very soon to streaming! Dictatorforadayshow.com.
Watch the trailer and sign up to get a free view of the opening act, Trump vs. God.
Shopping around... damn so true. That's what mine did till they found a church that had the message they wanted to hear.
Indeed, it has ever been so, even *within* denominations. If you think, say, Roman Catholic churches are all the same, you've got another think coming. When I was a kid, my parents had the choice of no fewer than 5 RCC churches within a mile of their home, and another several within four more miles. They chose the most conservative and repressive. Also close by was the parish where the diocese dumped abusive priests for decades. A little further away--about 5 miles--was the supposedly-progressive Newman center at UC Berkeley, and a Berkeley church that preached an early version of liberation theology. When my siblings and I left the RCC, all by our late teens, we could have just switched parishes. None of us did. We gave the whole thing the heave-ho, which it richly deserved.
It's also AFAIK, people who get pissed off with a particular pastor and then go shopping around for another one. When I was studying that sort of thing we used to call it "churn". Apparently there are quite a number of people who are never satisfied no matter who they get. Pretty much permanently churning.
Kind of like bile in an ulcer.
Should have clarified my reply: Oracle, so we’ll put!
So we’ll put!
They'd like to believe of themselves that they are good and kind and caring and welcoming, without any of the burden of actually being good and kind and caring and welcoming.
They think that talking the talk is equivalent to walking the walk. They're wrong.
I have some good friends and associates who are total Trumpers. They love his agenda, not him. And they detested old man Biden and his old fogey garbled messaging ("malarkey") who shot himself and his party in the foot by staying in so long and not addressing obvious swing voter concerns. Republicans swallowed the Trump Kool-aid, did a great job vilifying him and Harris (not the best candidate), and weak Democrats failed to counter effectively. Election decided by low information voters. And here we are.
I don't know that it's fair to blame Biden or Harris. The Democratic party is actually a fragile coalition of at least two parties. The *only* thing they have in common is that they are not Republicans. It is not possible to please both sides. I'm not convinced Biden's age was as big a liability as Harris' sex. I think misogyny and transphobia is what drove the "undecided" and the deep-seated conviction that "It Can't Happen Here."
Don't forget racism. Always a winner.
Racism is an issue, but we have elected a man of color President, yet even a white woman lost to Trump. I really believe misogyny had more to do with it than racism, though being a woman of color certainly didn’t help. I’m not sure we shouldn’t have run with the old white guy even if was coming across as a bit daft.
Thank you! You have nailed it!
I'm an atheist and I didn't vote for Trump, but I still believe "diversity" is nothing but a toy that spoiled brats choose to play with, and can become a dysfunctional vice for the left.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion aren't toys. They are at minimum an acknowledgement by those of us who can think outside of ourselves that the white cis-het and mostly male history that has dominated the history of the US was problematic at best and restrictive, bigoted, and discriminatory at worst. Implementation of DEI is an attempt to rectify that error.
It may be a long distance from perfect, but, to my mind, it is a far better concept than what Trump and company are currently attempting to accomplish.
👆👏👏👏👏👏👏
I think Trump's executive orders are trying to correct what mature people can reasonably identify as an abusive focus on diversity. I detect no reasonable rebuttal to the "absolute meritocracy" argument. If you qualify for the job, you get hired. If you don't qualify for the job, you don't get hired. Democracy is so concerned with requiring diversity within unity that we never stop think about the benefits of requiring diverse groups to live in different states. The world would be a much better place if all the trannys, gays and mentally disabled were forced to move to one of the four bluest states in the nation. Let the ACLU hire a gender-dysphoric to sort paperclips, so that the construction guys can guffaw at each other without worrying about "offending" some powder-puff. Amen? There is no better way to ensure that employees are happy. Forcing straights to work alongside gays simply will not work, as not all straights find homosexuality to be morally acceptable. Yet keeping employees happy is what tends to that long-term retention goal that all businesses fantasize about.
You do know the POC they are hiring ARE qualified, they just would never get the job under a racist trumplini regime. And Nothing trump does is good.
Bigot much.
I don't know ...I rather appreciated the diverse folks I served with in the Army. Guess we don't have to worry about that anymore.
I'm sure your Kleagle is pleased.
Then you could use some diversity yourself. Listening to different viewpoints is essential to successfully navigating a diverse society. Studies have shown it to build more effective teams for businesses. Know your market and the market is diverse.
Being discriminated against for who you are is no fun, I can assure you.
Yes, that is some old white guy privilege talking from the cis-het guy.
Blame the WHITE democrats who hide their racism and mysogeny, they don't want tRump, but can't support a black female,,, so they didn't Vote. Guess no one told them that a non vote helps the " other guy".
𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝐵𝑜𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙'𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑚𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒, 𝐺𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑑𝑎𝑦.
𝐺𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑀𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑘.
As a cis-het white man, I am part of the demographic this church would really like to have. I'm with Mr Griffin.
Yeah, and I'm an old white, er, lady, obviously their real target demographic. And they wouldn't get my BIP (butt in pew).
Bet your sweet bippy they wouldn't!
Sock it to me! 😉
Hi
Telling the preacher he should modify his message in order to put more butts in the seats reminds me of several pundits I've heard recently saying Democrats should make their message more conservative to get more votes. What's the point of getting more votes (or butts) if you abandon your principles?
Haha, the point is, filled butt-seats= $$$$. Who cares about principles when there's money to be had?
All this proves that despite their protestations, religions are businesses first and foremost. I'm sure most here have come to that conclusion on their own.
It’s funny that when I was a teen, my super religious pastor’s daughter friend told me that Christianity is about changing your thoughts and behavior, when I brought up the fact that most of the biblical rules don’t really make any sense in the modern era. Plus, all the churches I attended (when I was attending church) all told me I was supposed to be uncomfortable and change to what the church was telling me - otherwise known as god’s will. For the church to give in to the congregation about how they’re supposed to feel while worshipping is conceding that god isn’t really real and wont send you to hell for your sins. The rules aren’t really eternal. And there’s no objective morality (there really isn’t anyway but they claim their Bible is).
Oh well, I figured all that out years ago.
I have seen a number of high profile writers lately mention that the Venn Diagram for 'Christian Right', 'White Nationalist', and 'Republican' is nearly a circle... They have auto-propagandized themselves into a cult. The need to only hear what makes them satisfied is powerful. It/they are ripping our country apart.
PRRI just put out a survey on white christian nationalism that backs up that premise with real evidence.
https://www.prri.org/research/christian-nationalism-across-all-50-states-insights-from-prris-2024-american-values-atlas/
Thanks, Joe. I forgot to include the link. Need more caffeine!
Hi
I don't know whether to conclude that Pastor Boswell didn't know his audience or the board of the church, the applause he gained during his sermon notwithstanding. That possibility of some of his congregants being "performatively liberal" strikes me as being very near the mark, if not center-bull. Then, too, this IS North Carolina, which seems to have a confused political identity: sometimes progressive, sometimes MAGA, and as it comes to the Myers Park Baptist Church, badly conflicted.
I suspect that Pastor Bill will find a more receptive audience elsewhere, and he deserves it. The man dared to speak truth to clueless, and that can be sometimes more trying and potentially dangerous than speaking truth to stupid. Still, I wonder if the congregants of Myers Park Baptist or at least some of them will dare to ask themselves WHY Boswell was forced out ... and be willing to look in a mirror when they do so.
They won't ask why. They know. And the self-reflection? Not gonna happen. Pastor Boswell thought he knew his audience, they all listened to him every Sunday. He pastored a progressive church. He forgot the insidiousness of the indoctrination. His congregants don't live in a vacuum where his sermons are the only christian messageing they get. All of their neighbors, whom they viewed as also "good christians", were fully on board with the MAGA hate, and it infected them to the point where they were only giving lip service to inclusivity. Pastor Boswell did not see that, he only saw the lip service and believed it was real.
Yeah, the question was more rhetorical than serious. The average American isn't much for self-reflection or thought past the surface, which is a goodly portion of why we're in this current pickle. Too many have simply become either lazy or overloaded with the media streams and tune it out.
I'll admit to moderating my intake a bit, but even with that, at a very visceral level, I don't feel as though I can afford to tune out the news, because I know that there can be a pretty severe penalty for that. It's not fun ... but it is necessary.
I think that's what I miss most about living in this current time frame. I miss being able to NOT WORRY EVERY SINGLE DAY about what shitty thing is going to happen next. Being able to skip the news for a few days, go on vacation, whatever, and not worry about what the hell is going to blow up next.
I have had to take breaks from the news these past few years just to stay sane, but in the back of my mind was always the fear that I would miss something catastrophic and be caught unprepared.
Have to say, I REALLY enjoyed the four years where I didn't hear any mention of a certain 45th president EVERY FUCKING DAY on the news.
I hope those days can come back, but I'm making no assumptions.
I hear ya. I have the same hope, but....
Didn’t we all.
As someone who finally said "fuck all this noise" and abandoned the religion this past year, I totally get it. I was raised in the religion and spent 43 years occasionally attending church. I was by no means a devout believer, as there have always been parts of the Bible I just didn't buy, but I ultimately valued what I thought to be the most foundational principles. You know, like love, kindness, acceptance, forgiveness, humility, generosity, and honesty.
Unfortunately, as I traveled from church to church to church throughout my life, I had long come to notice that for most "Christians", Jesus' words and values meant nothing. Rather, Church is just a place that they go to feel superior to everyone they hate. It's a 1 hour a week chore that they perform just so they can pat themselves on the back and be told that they're forgiven fully for being the most bigoted, racist, self absorbed, hypocritical fucks imaginable. In short, it's all a disgusting joke, and I'm finally done being a part of it.
When the most hateful, thoughtless, cruel, and hypocritical people I know all proudly call themselves Christians, the organized practice of that religion is broken and a poison in society. Over just the last 5 years, Christian nationalism has rapidly spread to even the most "liberal" churches in our country and corrupted them. I've told myself for years that if I ever believed the overall, organized practice of the religion accomplished more evil than it does good in society, that would be my breaking point. Sadly, I believe we far surpassed that point in this country years ago. It now just appears to be a cancer that is simply being used to indoctrinate fools and bigots into the MAGA cult.
Despite not believing and not going to church for several years, I did plan to go to a Christmas service this year. The draw was a handbell choir performing several numbers.
But when I pulled into the parking lot and saw all the Trump-Vance bumper stickers, I felt sick with disappointment. I suppose I could have stayed just long enough to hear the handbell choir and then nipped out, but as I drove the length of the parking lot toward the exit, I saw more and more Trumpy bumper stickers. These are people who knowingly voted to inflict misery and harm on others. I left.
There's no hate quite like Christian love.
I'm of a similar mind. I went from RCC to Protestantism to Fuck This Shit over about 25 years. We had lived in a few areas where Christian Nationalism was first brewing. That was the final straw.
Your message is very well stated, in my humble opinion.
These people are allergic to Matthew 25:31-46. They really hate being reminded that they aren't the righteous, but the cursed.
Trumps 1:1 Grab em by the pussy. They let you do that when you're famous.
That's the Republican gospel.
Hand meet knife.
Now, should I choose the bread knife or the Damas or the ceramic blade ?
The monofilament? They'll never see it coming.
J'ai pas ça en stock.
Sword of Damocles? 🤔
I used the thread for an embroidery.
They don’t want to follow Jesus, they want Jesus to follow them and tell them what good boys and girls they are.
Their concerns about his sermons not pertaining to them will be short lived anyway, the political environment will engulf them soon enough. The Social Security breach will start affecting the little old ladies in the pews right quick. The social Justice has already stomped on white women’s rights, and they’re still attacking. I mean, how petty can you get when federal organizations are being forced to cover up all the photos of past and present women leaders, paint over the names of people who died in service of the organizations and the websites are being scrubbed of any mention of women and people of color. You weren’t being guilt tripped, you were being warned.
Does hate put more "butts in the seats" than love? If yes, parishioners should take a good look at themselves and what kind of christians they think they are. And these people should ask themselves, "WWJCD?"
No, not Jesus Christ, you silly billies! Jimmy Carter. He was a shining beacon of what christians can and should be. Now, I wouldn't enjoy being berated every Sunday for all the wrongs and horrible things christian churches support. Maybe it was too much of that sort of thing for these seat-butts to tolerate, but they at least cannot say they're unaware of what's roiling in the halls. And deep down, they probably have a glimmer that something ain't right with their religion.
Maybe he'll be replaced by your standard, spittle-spewing right wing pedophile, who knows? Choices have consequences.
The same old same old puts butt's in the seats. And yup church is a business you don't care about the poorest person there who doesn't pay any I'm assuming tithes or puts money in the collection plate you care about the 5% with the big bucks who makes sure your business is still up and running next Sunday
A joke I once heard.
I heard you got a new preacher. How's that working out?
He told us we're all going to hell.
Wasn't that what the last guy always said?
Yeah, but when he said it he sounded like he was looking forward to it. This guy at least sounds sad when he says it.
Churches doing what they do. Why is anyone surprised? Time for atheist meeting halls and congregations.
In Denver we don't need a church. We have ethics. Nearly 500 members of the Secular Hub own a building that is very busy, in Denver plus all of the other Secular groups around town such as the FFRF and Jefferson Humanists and Boulder Atheists. I estimate that 6000 people were at the protest at our state capital yesterday. Major roads were blocked as the streets were filled with protesters marching by. It took 9 minutes 45 seconds ( I filmed it) for all of them to walk by. That amounts to about half a mile of people filling 6 lanes The local new tried to minimize the numbers saying hundred of people instead of many thousands. White Christian Nationalists are the same kinds people that that took over Germany in the 1930's.
A Japanese gay friend of mine was in a very gay-hating church. It took 3 years of gentle persuasion and reading Hemant Mehta's site to get him to leave.
I told him, 'First ask the church leader, or imam or rabbi if they accept LGBTQ people, or try to use conversion therapy (torture) on LGBTQ people. If they say no to accepting them or say yes to conversion therapy, never, ever join.
Interesting, but not surprising, that when the actual teachings of Jesus hit too close to home, the whining begins and the messenger is 'crucified.' The problem isn't with the teachings, it's with the people who don't want a mirror held up to them, who don't want to acknowledge their role in our problems, and who, in their hearts, really don't give a damn about their fellow man or woman. In fact, they find 'loving their neighbor as themselves' to be too much trouble. Their problem isn't with Rev. Boswell; it's with their own Jesus. All well and good to claim to be a christian, but when they're asked to walk the walk? Oh hell no!
I hope Rev. Boswell lands on his feet in a church that actually practices what it preaches. Many of us, I'm sure, remember all the right-wing calls about 'where are all the 'good muslims' who should be standing up against the jihadist hate mongers.' Well, here we are: 'Where are all the good christians who actually follow the teachings of the Jesus they claim to love.'
"We have got to put more butts in the seats, butts in the seats,"
Perhaps the new pastor should wear jeans with a sport coat and high-end sneakers.
And maybe get a band.
Don’t forget the gold chain with a huge dangly cross.
I hate those. Incredibly tacky.
Ostentatious is often tacky. And ostentation has been "cool" for a couple of decades now.
Agreed.
Krazy Glue will keep em in the seats.
Ha!
And a huge multimedia auditorium.
Pastor Boswell should have remembered one major rule when one want to be supported by his church. Rape someone and confess you have sinned because of the Devil.
Free will's a bitch, innit. And then, they blame the Devil because blaming themselves would just make them realize what hateful pieces of shit they truly are. "The Devil made me do it!"
Only nope, it was just you and your broken moral compass.