Guest riverrunner Posted October 31, 2010 Posted October 31, 2010 So I went to church with my fam as I had no valid excuse to skip. Today's sermon was on toxic religion. The pastor gave examples of when christians tell people they are going to hell, or what to wear, or how long their hair was, or flaunted money, piety, etc it gives christianity a bad name and doesn't help win people to your cause. I think if christians actually acted this way we could tolerate them. but then of course he brought it round to the 'good news' and all that matters is Jesus and what he did for you. This does imply that there is 'bad news' to go along with the good but it was not mentioned. i really got the impression that the whole thing is an emotional based sham with little to no evidence to back it up. for them its all about the premise of the bible being true. i don't accept the premise so the claims of good news/bad news just ring hollow to me. anyone else feel this way?
Betties Posted October 31, 2010 Posted October 31, 2010 I decided to go to a local non-denominational church for a field assignment for an anthropology class last Sunday. The sermon at that church was about how religious christians give the entire religion a bad name. And of course, this church interpreted the bible in the only true way! "It's all about Jesus" the pastor kept repeating while walking around with the bible in his hand. He said that in his church we only follow the Bible and let people smoke cigarettes, have tattoos or whatever as long as they still follow the Bible. Oh, you don't eat shellfish or pork then? I felt like asking. It's so funny when Christians discard the laws in the old testament because it's all about Jesus. It's a lot of BS if you ask me. The even funnier thing was how the pastor had asked people on facebook to comment on his status and tell him about all the crazy rules religious christians follow. The pastor actually read them to the congregation and everybody laughed and shook their heads at the stupidity of other blind christians not realizing they are fooled by their church as well. Apparently, it's okay to ridicule other christians for not interpreting the bible the same way you do. I don't accept the premise of the bible being true either, and so the sermon didn't do me any good. I just left feeling sad about how many people actually believed everything the pastor said. It's scary how easily manipulated people are. If I hadn't deconverted I would have bought into the whole thing too. My mom who's still a devout christian tells me that God never punishes people. Right. 'Cause it's all about Jesus. The reason why churches don't mention any bad news is they want as many new members. That way, they can show other churches how fruitful they are, and so they must have the only true faith. So yeah, just an emotional scam.
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 31, 2010 Posted October 31, 2010 the whole thing is an emotional based sham with little to no evidence to back it up. Christianity defined.
♦ Fuego ♦ Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 There is a ton of Pop-Christianity where people leave out what they don't like, but take it back to the foundation (the Bible) and there is no escaping what the real religion is about. Self-absorbed abusive god demands blood in order to "forgive", and there's hell to pay if he doesn't get his blood - because he LOVES you.
asanerman Posted November 1, 2010 Posted November 1, 2010 Riverrunner, As I read your post I was struck by a deep sadness, a sermon on "toxic religion" no doubt supernaturally inspired. What a total waste of a persons time--what an insult to a person's integrity. I'd rather take a long walk and reflect, breath the fresh air and marvel the comedy as well as the tragedy of being human. May the time come when you can spend your sun-days in peace. saner
Hungrydingo Posted November 2, 2010 Posted November 2, 2010 There is a ton of Pop-Christianity where people leave out what they don't like, but take it back to the foundation (the Bible) and there is no escaping what the real religion is about. Self-absorbed abusive god demands blood in order to "forgive", and there's hell to pay if he doesn't get his blood - because he LOVES you. Most people I know practice "pop Christianity". It's sad how preachy some of them can be too.
BrotherJosh Posted November 2, 2010 Posted November 2, 2010 In my own experience most non-denominational churches will be the usual "pop-Christians" in that it's all about Jesus. Though many of them are far more tolerable than say a Westboro church, arrogance is often rampant in these churches because, "only they interpret the bible right." The entire doctrine of the church often hinges on the personal beliefs of the current pastor, there's no doctrine or beliefs apart from his own interpretation of the bible. From what I've seen in my life non-denominational churches go through the most violent splits and civil wars I've ever seen. Pop-christianity is basically putting a new, modern, hip face on an archaic and violent religion in order to attract a far more literate and hopefully intelligent demographic. Rock music, tattoos, piercings, R-rated movies all of a sudden are allowed because it's all about Jesus apparently.
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