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| Open Forums for ExChristian.Net > Rants and Replies > Community Involvement |
| Posted by: Clergicide Feb 7 2005, 06:05 AM |
| I've been given the excuse 'I do it for a sense of community involvement' uncountable times from fair-weather xtians when by no other means can they justify a rational reason for affiliating with their respective cult. The view is often held that these people aren't as dangerous as fundies... I would say where they inflate the statistical averages that shows xtianity as a majority, and giving church leaders a sense of empowerment with the "we are the majority, resistance is futile" outlook, they are very much responsible for contributing to the problem. What is this sense of community that is so wonderful that they can't bear to break away from the religion, even though they may have concurred that the religion is essentially shash? As a psuedo-Catholic I used to attend church frequently in my youth, aside from exchanging 'peace be with yous' it was rare for parishoners to exchange more than a few words with each other. So what are these people clinging to? I would think attending other functions in the community would satisfy that impulse far more effectively. If it's not about Jesus, why would attending another function, to which Jesus was not invited, be a problem? Or is that somewhere deep down inside they secretly know they don't want to be in a social situation with the dipshits in their congregation for more than five minutes? I just don't get it :/ |
| Posted by: Valgeir Feb 7 2005, 01:15 PM |
| They do seem to have an emboldened attitude because of their "majority" standing, don't they? Oh well, believe me, they may outnumber us, but one of us with an automatic (made legal thanks to the neo-con belief system of "Your rights mean shit, except for the second amendment, that one's special") can take down many of them. |
| Posted by: Amethyst_Moonstar Feb 7 2005, 06:10 PM | ||
I think it comes from being in the same church you've been in for years and having friends there that you don't want to lose. My thinking is, if your friends won't respect you if you have different beliefs, they aren't real friends. But most Christians don't care about that, they'd rather keep their old friends than go through the work of finding new ones with similar beliefs. Also, most churches have things like prayer groups, groups for people of certain ages that do activities, etc. So many people do interact with other church members. Churches are basically outdated social clubs. 100 years ago, going to church was one of the few acceptable ways to meet somebody. I wish people would just find clubs to join where people with similar views meet. If charity work is important to you, then volunteer. Don't just give an offering on Sunday, where you don't know for sure where it's going. Sure, the church *says* it's going to poor children or something, but how do you know that it's not going into someone else's pocket? There have been a number of scams in the Midwest lately where people worked in financial positions in the church and stole the money. Donate to the Red Cross or something instead, if you must donate it. But giving your time is more valuable, and you could make friends, too. |
| Posted by: Clergicide Feb 7 2005, 06:33 PM | ||||
So they're spineless twits is what you're telling me. I understand that in some areas your acceptance in the community depends on how active you are in church and how loud you can scream 'PRAISE JESUS!!' (which is why I could never live in the south), and that I understand. It just seems like for some of them it's a habit they can't and won't break for no readily apparent reason. Kinda like the person that checks the 'Christian' box on a survey even if they haven't been to church since they were a kid, and in no shape or form practice thier religion.
This kind of thing starts to move away from my definition. Anyone that does prayer study probably has a real interest....my deepest sympathies to anyone stuck in a prayer study that knows better. |
| Posted by: Amethyst_Moonstar Feb 8 2005, 03:39 PM | ||
It's also in the Midwest, especially in the 'burbs and smaller towns. |
| Posted by: Lokmer Feb 8 2005, 04:47 PM |
| It can be more than just being spineless and not wanting to lose one's friends. In the eighties, when I lived in Dallas, belonging to/attending a church was the key to society. It didn't really even matter if you believed or not, or what the church was, it mattered that you went to church. A businessman, for example, had to have an answer to "Where do you go to church," or he could expect to lose business. This is, I think, why Dallas is home to the North Texas Church of Freethought. In most other areas of the country, no one would bother. But in some areas, the church is a vital social institution, even if they do nothing more than the equivalent of the neighborhood pub in a British hamlet. And, if you take someone who has grown up in the church, you have a social venu whose format you know. As one's beliefs change one may change churches, moving from Evangelical to Unitarian, but there is something valuable to be said for a familiar social venue, particularly when an intimate part of your life is in upheaval. Now, I don't go to church. I stopped years before I deconverted, because I was on a spiritual quest to remove unneccesary accoutraments from my worship life, so when I deconverted it was natural just to continue as I was. But I might have tried for a Unitarian Church had I been in the habit of still going to church. There's also the aesthetic angle. I know several atheists, agnostics, and materialists who attend High Church services (Episcopalian, Catholic, Orthodox) for the aesthetic and sensualism of the ritual, but don't believe a word of the theology and don't really care for it. So, there are good reasons, other than weakness or half-commitment that can lead to an ex-Christian attending church after deconversion. -Lokmer |