Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Why young people are leaving the church.
Perhaps that explains why the millennials are leaving the church in droves.
I don't think any of these are the reason why Bristol Palin doesn't go to church. She's a CINO, a Christian in Name Only, for political right-wing brownie points for not actually having to do anything but tout God's Will as a qualifying factor for their ability to grift.
Bristol, with her limited brain power, can't always remember to shout out Christian non sequitur's the way her mom does, but I'll bet she'll sure try in this patchwork 'reality' show.
I left the religion I was born in - Mormonism - when I became aware that our "prophet" (Gordon B. Hinkley at the time) had no problem lying his ass off, if it spun Public Relations for the church in a positive way. (See his interview on YouTube with Larry King. Everything he says about polygamy in the early church was factually untrue.)
(P.S. I see this same casual lying going on with Romney. All distortion and untruths are okay as long as it advances their cause.)
Once I walked out, and got some emotional distance from the church (I believed 110% as a youth) I saw to my disgust how racist and sexist the leadership was.
Their furious, active opposition to both the Equal Rights Amendment and Prop H8 in California shows how much they really "love and support" women and gay youth - - - NOT MUCH!!!
Right on! I remember when the backlash against the Mormons' racism reached fever pitch, and then a couple years later the leader had a "great revelation" and finally black males could become elders.
[Bristol] doesn't understand why people continue to make her life so miserable by paying attention to her, apparently oblivious to how easy it would be for her to turn the spotlight off.
The most interesting aspect of Bristol Palin's new reality show on Lifetime is how much padding the producers had to do to fill the time between an hour's worth of commercials Tuesday night.
I love the review, but noticed a common mistake on many of the reviews, and it's evident in this one as well. They're basically confused by the pregnancies and the timeline, but it's easily overlooked
"The Tripp, of course, refers to her 2-year-old son, the one she was pregnant with when her mother was announced as John McCain's August surprise in 2008 as the GOP vice presidential candidate." Uhm, we're in 2012, how can Tripp be two years old? The godchild might be two ish, but not Tripp.
At any rate, it's worth reading in full, this man skewers the show and nails the frauds.
Well, Bristol's sure teaching Willow the consequences of having a child at 17. . .
"And then it's back to Bristol shopping, eating, going to the bar, talking on the telephone and crying some more about how hard her life is -- while Willow is mostly cooped up with the kid who isn't hers back at the mansion."
What is this monolith "THE CHURCH" of which you speak? Your argument collapses if but a single example is cited. I can think of several denominations that value secular education, the contributions of science, and the absolute separation of church and state.
It is no more defensible that stating that "all Jews are..." or "all Muslims are..." as if such simplistic over generalizations are ever appropriate.
If you would review your European history you would find that it was Muslim scholars - people of deep religious faith - who helped rescue Europeans from their own self imposed ignorance by reintroducing many of the the ancient Greek and Roman classical texts that zealous Christians of a previous age had sought to destroy. Not exactly the uniform behavior by religious people that you portray.
It seems rather fashionable of late to paint all churches - or even all who take part in any religion - with VERY broad brushstrokes. How is prejudicial intolerance in the service of atheism any more noble orintellectually defensible than the same traits in service to any religion?
Such polemic dualism serves no purpose other than to denigrate and alienate.
Of course, I guess it all depends on which of the myriad of churches you're talking about. The church I go to values every one of those traits on the poster up above. individuality, creativity, diversity, acceptance, etc. The whole list of beautiful traits is welcomed with open arms at our church.
I love the sentiment the graphic conveys, not all of them apply to all churches, but they do to the Roman Catholic Church. On a personal note, a dear friend of my family recently committed suicide after a long, tormented battle with clinical depression. She attended Mass five days a week and was deeply involved for over 30 years. (My brain is reeling, and I wish there was someway to wrap my mind around this because I'm no longer a believer.)
The church refuses to have a mass of Christian Burial nor burial in a Catholic cemetery. It's a mortal sin to take one's own life. She's allowed the sacrament of last rites and a priest will say prayers at the funeral parlor. Unless they can prove she made an act of contrition, which they can't, or that she was legally "in her right mind" (she wasn't), they're not budging.
What happened to Forgiveness? Compassion? Inclusion? Doesn't "Last Rites" include forgiveness of sin? Did her life of devotion and contribution matter?
Her family is inconsolable, guilt ridden, and spiritually broken.
Sorry if it's tmi, and please excuse the rant, but what "God" could be so vengeful?
I saw a little of the show on National Geographic channel Meet the Hutterites.
It seemed to me that they are nothing but a cult.
With 59 people in their "colony" most of them looked related to a scary degree. Like many of the cults, the woman had the same hair style and clothing style.
The men had their jobs of fixing fences, killing the chickens, checking to see if the cows were pregnant etc. Outside work.
The woman did the cooking and cleaning the chickens that the men folk had just killed. Even working in the vegetable garden is "Woman's work." And they are not even allowed to use the tractor or utility vehicle to carry their produce and tools.
I know that their traditions go back hundreds of years but it's disturbing that the young girls put up with it. I didn't see any boys on this episode but I wonder how they are treated.
I don't think any of these are the reason why Bristol Palin doesn't go to church. She's a CINO, a Christian in Name Only, for political right-wing brownie points for not actually having to do anything but tout God's Will as a qualifying factor for their ability to grift.
ReplyDeleteBristol, with her limited brain power, can't always remember to shout out Christian non sequitur's the way her mom does, but I'll bet she'll sure try in this patchwork 'reality' show.
BRILLIANT - Perhaps there is a future.
ReplyDeleteI left the religion I was born in - Mormonism - when I became aware that our "prophet" (Gordon B. Hinkley at the time) had no problem lying his ass off, if it spun Public Relations for the church in a positive way. (See his interview on YouTube with Larry King. Everything he says about polygamy in the early church was factually untrue.)
ReplyDelete(P.S. I see this same casual lying going on with Romney. All distortion and untruths are okay as long as it advances their cause.)
Once I walked out, and got some emotional distance from the church (I believed 110% as a youth) I saw to my disgust how racist and sexist the leadership was.
Their furious, active opposition to both the Equal Rights Amendment and Prop H8 in California shows how much they really "love and support" women and gay youth - - - NOT MUCH!!!
Right on! I remember when the backlash against the Mormons' racism reached fever pitch, and then a couple years later the leader had a "great revelation" and finally black males could become elders.
DeleteAtheism is a religion like off is a TV channel
[Bristol] doesn't understand why people continue to make her life so miserable by paying attention to her, apparently oblivious to how easy it would be for her to turn the spotlight off.
ReplyDeletehttp://entertainment.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981415451
The most interesting aspect of Bristol Palin's new reality show on Lifetime is how much padding the producers had to do to fill the time between an hour's worth of commercials Tuesday night.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-bristol-palin-lifes-a-tripp-lfetime-20120619,0,5086997.story
THANKS!! This review is NOT to be missed. He hits it out of the park.
DeleteI love the review, but noticed a common mistake on many of the reviews, and it's evident in this one as well. They're basically confused by the pregnancies and the timeline, but it's easily overlooked
Delete"The Tripp, of course, refers to her 2-year-old son, the one she was pregnant with when her mother was announced as John McCain's August surprise in 2008 as the GOP vice presidential candidate." Uhm, we're in 2012, how can Tripp be two years old? The godchild might be two ish, but not Tripp.
At any rate, it's worth reading in full, this man skewers the show and nails the frauds.
Well, Bristol's sure teaching Willow the consequences of having a child at 17. . .
ReplyDelete"And then it's back to Bristol shopping, eating, going to the bar, talking on the telephone and crying some more about how hard her life is -- while Willow is mostly cooped up with the kid who isn't hers back at the mansion."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-bristol-palin-lifes-a-tripp-lfetime-20120619,0,5086997.story
it's certainly true of some churches, but it isn't true of all of them. Like anything else, it has to be evaluated on a church by church basis.
ReplyDeleteWhich companies ran ads? I'm going to boycott them.
ReplyDeleteThe only one I recall was Purina dog chow (the reason for the dog posts in her "blog" - sooo transparent).
DeleteThe Church values mindless adherence to dogma
ReplyDelete...rather than EDUCATION
(see: The Dark Ages)
What is this monolith "THE CHURCH" of which you speak? Your argument collapses if but a single example is cited. I can think of several denominations that value secular education, the contributions of science, and the absolute separation of church and state.
DeleteIt is no more defensible that stating that "all Jews are..." or "all Muslims are..." as if such simplistic over generalizations are ever appropriate.
If you would review your European history you would find that it was Muslim scholars - people of deep religious faith - who helped rescue Europeans from their own self imposed ignorance by reintroducing many of the the ancient Greek and Roman classical texts that zealous Christians of a previous age had sought to destroy. Not exactly the uniform behavior by religious people that you portray.
It seems rather fashionable of late to paint all churches - or even all who take part in any religion - with VERY broad brushstrokes. How is prejudicial intolerance in the service of atheism any more noble orintellectually defensible than the same traits in service to any religion?
Such polemic dualism serves no purpose other than to denigrate and alienate.
Of course, I guess it all depends on which of the myriad of churches you're talking about. The church I go to values every one of those traits on the poster up above. individuality, creativity, diversity, acceptance, etc. The whole list of beautiful traits is welcomed with open arms at our church.
ReplyDeleteI love the sentiment the graphic conveys, not all of them apply to all churches, but they do to the Roman Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteOn a personal note, a dear friend of my family recently committed suicide after a long, tormented battle with clinical depression. She attended Mass five days a week and was deeply involved for over 30 years. (My brain is reeling, and I wish there was someway to wrap my mind around this because I'm no longer a believer.)
The church refuses to have a mass of Christian Burial nor burial in a Catholic cemetery. It's a mortal sin to take one's own life. She's allowed the sacrament of last rites and a priest will say prayers at the funeral parlor. Unless they can prove she made an act of contrition, which they can't, or that she was legally "in her right mind" (she wasn't), they're not budging.
What happened to Forgiveness? Compassion? Inclusion? Doesn't "Last Rites" include forgiveness of sin? Did her life of devotion and contribution matter?
Her family is inconsolable, guilt ridden, and spiritually broken.
Sorry if it's tmi, and please excuse the rant, but what "God" could be so vengeful?
I saw a little of the show on National Geographic channel Meet the Hutterites.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed to me that they are nothing but a cult.
With 59 people in their "colony" most of them looked related to a scary degree. Like many of the cults, the woman had the same hair style and clothing style.
The men had their jobs of fixing fences, killing the chickens, checking to see if the cows were pregnant etc. Outside work.
The woman did the cooking and cleaning the chickens that the men folk had just killed. Even working in the vegetable garden is "Woman's work." And they are not even allowed to use the tractor or utility vehicle to carry their produce and tools.
I know that their traditions go back hundreds of years but it's disturbing that the young girls put up with it. I didn't see any boys on this episode but I wonder how they are treated.