ONTD Original: Great Scandals of The Evangelical Church

[ladyjj]

Happy end of the year! Don't fear, I am still plodding away on research on some requests but I though this might be a good spot to slide in what a denomination actually IS as we move forward. Granted this is a very down and dirty explanation, because I am not really a theologian, I am just a poor history buff who reads hard-copy encyclopedias and

Comments

[originaru]

i never knew non-denominational churches were linked to the big extreme mega churches, very interesting post as usual op!

my parents are anglican and i grew up in the that denomination (thanks colonization? lol). i consider myself agnostic now, but with xmas around the corner i'm kind of looking forward to going to an evening/midnight service just for the vibes and christmas carols.

[magicpebble]

I haven't attended services in years but I do love Christmas carols.

[ladyjj]

OMG some carols are bangers, and I miss singing in church, especially during Christmas time.

[emofordino]

omg we are the same! i identify as pagan anymore but i used to love going to my family's small-town catholic church because it was so homey and singing the christmas carols was so fun. my actual town's church is wayyyy too clique-y so i would never go there as a kid if i could help it, and as an adult i will only go to the lil church my parents married in for christmas eve mass and that's it.

[hiimtish]

I’ve spoke about it a bit before on here but my in-laws are super evangelicals. Like, got invited to an event at the White House by Pence kind of evangelicals.

It’s honestly been a nightmare with a lot of their thinking…but weirdly the Pandemic kinda mellowed them out? They believe in vaccines, actually called January 6th an insurrection, and are now making an effort to get my kiddo’s pronouns correct. They’ve done a lot of damage with their bigotry so I still don’t really fuck with them but it’s been nice to see that there is an ability for these folks to step back & look at things rationally for once. I hope that keeps happening with the wider Southern Baptist community but will not be holding my breath.

[ladyjj]

Oh lawd gawd, I would be hiding from that mess...

But you know, I HAVE noticed that. Some of my family members have really toned down their overtly religious nonsense and I know exactly what you mean about not fucking with them but at least being glad to see them sort of swing back to sanity.

Then I have my MAGAt aunts who refused to be vaccinated, still spout off about the election being stolen and that T*ump was the greatest thing to happen at America. I wish nothing but terrible things for them both. We live on the Island. WE KNOW THE SHIT THAT DINGBAT DID.

[hiimtish]

Your aunts & my mom would loveeee each other lol. She’s one of those poor hillbillies that spends every last dollar she does have on weird MAGA merch and rallies, like he’d ever help her in any way. It’s so wild to watch the disconnect of people like her & your aunts!!

[ladyjj]

I do not understand this. As Black women, these people HATE YOU. They HATE YOU, and yet. YET. And you are immigrant women on top of that. You think these monsters will stop once they get rid of all the "undesirables"? They're coming for you next, you twats, then people don't want Black immigrant women in their precious country!

Gah. It's SO SO SO Frustrating.

[tifag]

I was someone that didn’t grow up going to church so it’s been fascinating reading all these posts and learning so much about religion. I had no idea most of the big mega churches were non-demonstration but it certainly makes sense.

[ladyjj]

Thank you for taking the time! I do appreciate it.

[syzygy09]

I "grew up" in a Southern Baptist church - a church where my grandparents married, my parents married, all of them buried.

But we left that church because my mom (dead) came to the realization it was nonsense and her breaking points were two things.

One she didn't like how the preacher started talking politics. I personally don't understand how hardcore liberals would ever be there, but history is a jerk. Two, she felt off that said preacher didn't speak to kids in "Sunday School" on their level, meaning he didn't crouch down or sit and just brushed them off. She hated that and I can still recall her telling me how impactful that was for her.

I thank the God I don't believe in that she got off that train of silly. I never got "Baptized" whatever that means, because I refused. And think kindly about her when teenage me decided I didn't believe in anything.

[readmymiind]

ohhh that was something on southern baptists churches, i went to the mexican branch and that's how they did it.

[ladyjj]

Oh my GOD, you just unlocked like, CORE MEMORIES, I had forgotten about, about the pastors I resonated with and the ones I hated...and it was how they dealt with the little kids. I had a few who couldn't be bothered and they were just asshats. Your mom was a smart lady, good for her

[syzygy09]

My parents are buried across the street from that church because my grandfather purchased graves - his wife died when my mom was 11, my father - who never actually went to that church aside from my parent's wedding - was a thing said grandfather purchased long before my mom was dying, as my father died when I was 9 and I guess plots were available. If I ever get the desire to visit them all at once, at least there's that. It'll be one I never met and another I kinda sorta remember. Once upon a time I went, but I am so removed - mostly because my mom told me to not be the person who visits a grave

[lurkurheartout]

I grew up in the Catholic Church in the 90s. Maybe it was the child naivety with everything, but I don’t remember a great push against questioning scripture growing up. My family and very strict Catholic grandparents welcomed a discussion. If something upset us we were allowed to speak on it. My family also never ever allowed a justification of hate via bible verse. My grandma would hit us if we tried to spew hate for gay people or something because “the bible said so” or some nonsense like that. The heads of my family very much were in the school of thought that the bible is flawed because it was written by man, who is also flawed, and hate is the opposite of the message of god/Jesus.

[ladyjj]

I know that the Catholic Church changed A LOT in the 90s, but in a lot of non-denomination churches, questioning the Bible is a BIG NO-NO. The Bible is taken as the literal Word of God. I even had pastors rail against newer translations of the Bible (like the New International) because the King James was the end all be all. And Bible is twisted into so many knows to justify all kinds of garbage behavior. It wasn't until I went to first Christian high school (The Stony Brook School) and then Christian COLLEGE (The King's College) where the idea that the Bible didn't fall from Heaven as is even got introduced and my Mom SPECIFICALLY forbade me to even mention that.

[sarah_m_millar]

I had a very similar experience and I appreciate it.