JadedAtheist Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I went this morning with my mother to an Orthodox church (not making the same mistake twice) which for the most part was bearable. It was essentially 2hrs of reading text melodically, with the priest occasionally popping out of his closet to shake incense. What kept me sane was trying to discern who the figures were in all the artwork. I did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself It was highly ritualistic, with people crossing themselves every few minutes and saying specific phrases at certain times. Not something I am use to from my evangelical/fundamentalist background. One thing I noticed was that people didn't give a shit how long they stayed or what time they arrived. Most people came and left within an hour and others arrived later and left quite quickly. The only thing that got on my nerves was this whole thing to do with candles. Basically the church sells you candles to buy so you can light them up and that basically is a get out of jail free card for your dead relatives and for your living ones it acts as an indulgence. Seeing all these people buy them made my blood boil. All these people are being manipulated into giving their money for a non existent cause. It made me think of all the money Christians are wasting every year on Bibles, tracts and the like.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpheliaGinger Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 I went this morning with my mother to an Orthodox church (not making the same mistake twice) which for the most part was bearable. It was essentially 2hrs of reading text melodically, with the priest occasionally popping out of his closet to shake incense. What kept me sane was trying to discern who the figures were in all the artwork. I did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself It was highly ritualisticThe only thing that got on my nerves was this whole thing to do with candles. Basically the church sells you candles to buy so you can light them up and that basically is a get out of jail free card for your dead relatives and for your living ones it acts as an indulgence. Seeing all these people buy them made my blood boil. All these people are being manipulated into giving their money for a non existent cause. It made me think of all the money Christians are wasting every year on Bibles, tracts and the like.. What you could have done was to lick your fingers and snuffed a candle out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pratt Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 and leave the departed relatives in the imaginery purgatory? thats evil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted November 21, 2010 Share Posted November 21, 2010 Whenever I went to one of these ritualized services with all the garb, the standing, kneeling, and speaking at prescribed times, I was completely lost and it was so foreign to me. Had it not been about Jesus, I'd swear it was a completely different religion to what I had at the time (and, actually, it was). During these services when I wasn't in sync with the group, some nice parishioner would tap me on the shoulder and show me the order of service which contained all the instructions of when to stand, speak, what to say, kneel, etc. It was always quite a workout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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