These are great thoughts. I can imagine someone being steamed because the structure of hell has been changed. It goes along with releasing all those hapless boys who got caught with an ounce of Marijuana just because the law had changed and are still in jail on a 20 year sentence.
Before Martin Luther we didn't have the uneducated interpreting the bible. If they would just remove the passages that they don't like to talk about, the book would be much smaller.
We have gotten to the point where Churches are entertainment. It is something to do on Sunday. Sit in a pew and listen to some singing, sleep through the sermon, and pay what you want in the collection plate instead of a fixed admission price.
It is difficult to divine who are the believers and who are their for the wine and biscuits.
I was just reading an essay on Patheos by a Christian complaining of the very thing you note: it's all about performance now. Not even singing along with the rock band because the songs aren't meant for congregational singing and besides, the performers are so mic'ed and amped no one would ever know. It's all about comfortable movie-theater seating and feel-good sermons by some slick fast talker. It ought to be about Discipleship!
My own personal translation was "It's all about people enjoying themselves and not sitting still on a hard pew and listening to me condemn them as unworthy hell-bound sinners."
(Meanwhile, the Fire 'n' Brimstone Discipleship Church down the block is now the cornerstone of an attractive group of condominiums for wealthy young professionals. The aging and dwindling congregation couldn't keep up with the maintenance...)
Very true. I found out at a vigil this past week that my own First Parish Brewster was the very first UU church in the nation to be affirmed as a Welcoming Congregation. Two of our members were among the plaintiffs in the Massachusetts SJCt ruling that gave our Commonwealth same-sex marriage. The husband of one of the Democratic Party officials who spoke at the vigil was at Stonewall. Tomorrow's Boston Globe will feature a story about Father's Day for trans parents. The video was shot by her son, and I'm standing next to her - she's a dear friend, neighbor, and a great baritone in our choir.
If there was ever a church that an atheist like me should be a member of, this is it. I don't believe in gods, but I believe in people, and I'm fortunate to live in an area with so many wonderful folks.
Yeah. My congregation was marrying monogendered couples before it was strictly legal. It's the couple that determines if they're married, after all; all we do is witness and affirm.
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Before Martin Luther we didn't have the uneducated interpreting the bible. If they would just remove the passages that they don't like to talk about, the book would be much smaller.
We have gotten to the point where Churches are entertainment. It is something to do on Sunday. Sit in a pew and listen to some singing, sleep through the sermon, and pay what you want in the collection plate instead of a fixed admission price.
It is difficult to divine who are the believers and who are their for the wine and biscuits.
I always enjoy reading your sermonettes.
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I was just reading an essay on Patheos by a Christian complaining of the very thing you note: it's all about performance now. Not even singing along with the rock band because the songs aren't meant for congregational singing and besides, the performers are so mic'ed and amped no one would ever know. It's all about comfortable movie-theater seating and feel-good sermons by some slick fast talker. It ought to be about Discipleship!
My own personal translation was "It's all about people enjoying themselves and not sitting still on a hard pew and listening to me condemn them as unworthy hell-bound sinners."
(Meanwhile, the Fire 'n' Brimstone Discipleship Church down the block is now the cornerstone of an attractive group of condominiums for wealthy young professionals. The aging and dwindling congregation couldn't keep up with the maintenance...)
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Loved that movie. (I'd watch Ian McKellan read his laundry list.)
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If there was ever a church that an atheist like me should be a member of, this is it. I don't believe in gods, but I believe in people, and I'm fortunate to live in an area with so many wonderful folks.
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