Church
Lets talk about church.
This weekend I decided I would go home and visit my parents. My parents are very adamant Christians and attend church every Sunday morning. I personally haven't attended a church service since I got my first job at 16, as I finally was able to pull the I work on Sundays card.
I am extremely vocal about being agnostic and not having much interest in organized religion. My parents fully respect my opinion and aren't extremely pushy about me being more religious. Today, my mom invited me to tag along to church service with the family, and I reluctantly obliged.
The sermon that I sat through today was focused mainly on death and how Christian's shouldn't be afraid of death but should embrace death as an escape from the mortal world. The Preacher proclaimed that death is the gateway to heaven, where everyone will rejoice and be free of pain. A place where the streets are made of gold and it is always sunny, not because of the sun but because of God.
Sitting through the sermon reassured me that I am strongly against structured religion. Watching people burst into tears and wave their hands toward the sky made me feel extremely out of place and uncomfortable. Has anyone had a similar experience? How do you monkeys feel about organized religion and going to church?
TL;DR: Monkey makes mistake of returning home and attending church deep in the bible belt.
just out of curiosity, what denomination?
Baptist
Interesting, most Baptist churches I have been to (SBC) are pretty tame and not really charismatic at all. I guess it does take a distribution to make a bell curve though.
As a Christian that would make me cringe seeing people crying and acting charismatic throughout a Sermon. I think religion is very personal and I don't like how the big churches operate at it just completely losses its human feel
I actually enjoy church but not for religious reasons.
What are the reasons you enjoy church?
the free wine/blood.
Fellowship and I enjoy listening to the message of the morning. Doesn't mean I necessarily agree all the time but I do enjoy hearing how a pastor tries to reach the different generations in his audience.
Church is home, growing up gnostic and Catholic and now into Buddhism.
Church represents a lot of different, personal things, but I've found that by parsing them out, I can spend more time on the things that resonate with me and remove the parts that don't.
I grew up Catholic, so "church" to me meant "mass," and all of the very rigid structure that follows along with it. I'm not a huge fan of being told what to do, so I didn't get a lot out of the experience, and left childhood very disillusioned with organized religion.
But some people find comfort in the structure, and the community, and the steadiness of the rituals, and the reassurance of the sermons. It helps give direction to the internal compass that we use to navigate the world. I actually think that the catechism (the water into wine and whatnot) is relatively far down on the list of things that are important about church, an opinion that is pretty far in the minority.
Because I think my spiritual journey is private and personal, I conveniently choose to define my "churches" as places that facilitate those thoughts and feelings, because that's what seems to work for me. Nowadays, my church might be a national park, or a golf course at dawn, or backcountry powder, or a clear Montana river, and I can't wait to go.
I definitely agree with the "private and personal" part. That may be why I am so turned off to organized religion. I am not interested in being taught and pushed to feel the same thing as everyone else. I think it is an independent journey.
"Religion is the opium of the masses" K. Marx
"The Preacher proclaimed that death is the gateway to heaven, where everyone will rejoice and be free of pain. A place where the streets are made of gold and it is always sunny, not because of the sun but because of God."
"If religion is the opiate of the masses then communism is the methamphetamine"
That's probable. Just curious, Do you really believe that you will be walking on streets of gold and it will always be sunny?
Church is too complicated. Every one has its own culture, yet the idea is that it's 'the same spirit'. To me, Church is mostly just a social gathering, like enjoying a ballgame together. In fact, I was reading over some of the Declaration of Independence this weekend (because Trump is an idiot, but his economics is holding up the economy until he settles down) and I realized how spiritual Jefferson was. "The Laws of Nature and of Nature's God," he believed in God but he wasn't as rigid as today's Christians hoping for a pie in the sky. He was doing the work he felt was necessary to make this life better. He and the other founders accomplished some of the most miraculous events in human history. And from what I've read about him, he wasn't a religious believer. The whole organization of church seems to have fallen into the hands of a bunch of emotional, extroverted idiots, that need the attention for their own stupidity than anything else.
bro dont go to church thats a gay move literally bro so many little boy cocks been fondled up in that b I went to a synagogue once. My sister tricked me into going on a 4-day Jew trip. She said it was a snowboarding trip. We snowboarded once. I did do coke for the first time though with some fucking squirrely finance Jew who I was sharing a hotel room with. In retrospect, who asks a 16-year-old if they party. Fucking weirdo.
Oh I was also awaiting the results of an STD test at the time because I ate cheetos at a new years party and fingered my at-the-time GF and she got infected and thought she had herpes. And they called me like hey you gotta come in for the results. So I'm sweating fucking missiles the whole time doing coke thinking my dick is dying. Entire trip. Coke, Judaism, and Planned Parenthood suspense. That fucking trip. Then I get home, go in, and they tell me I'm fine. Fucking faggots. One perk of being married though: No more STD concerns. Like for real, married dudes, let's take a moment of fucking silent gratitude and breathe a sigh of relief that we made it through that fucking meat grinder STD-free. Fuck. That. Shit. Unless you cheat then I guess you still gotta worry. Your prerogative
That's funny though that the lecture was about not being scared to die. Like LOL I fucking knew half these momos are driven by fear. LOSER MINDSET.
do people even know the new testament was written by men? like out in the open. not hidden. dudes just wrote it to rule easier at the time. that wasnt god LOL motherfuckers think gods an author on the side LOL. like ayyy im gonna take a break from running the universe write a book on some animal hides. LOL. then get back to business. LOL. fuck yourself man you should fear death if you believe that you probably fear all types of shit.
all i fear is sharks and heights. if youre not scared of shit that will legit kill you then you have a broken OS youre running life on. like those fucking Harley riders who dont wear helmets on some tough guy shit. like bro that bandana wont hold your brain in LOL yeah the paramedics will come like oh how thoughtful thanks for wrapping your brain up so its easier to clean up off the street thanks leather vest man
Interesting history of the early Church there. Never heard about that version!
yeah Pope Constantine wrote that shit and then converted on his death bed. and people still buy it. master troll. respect.
Most Christians either don't know this or they do, but have chosen to ignore it.
If you talk like this in real life, I would actually find you awesome to be around and a rare type in finance.
I do talk like this but I'm not even in finance at all. Just come here for laffs
church should be at night now in the morning so you can confess your sins when youre done sinning
As a staunch agnostic, people who are "extremely vocal" about being agnostic and/or atheist are as bad as people who are extremely vocal about being vegan.
Keep your views to yourself unless you're asked.
That was meant in regards to my family. I am vocal to my family that I am agnostic and not fond of organized religion when religion is brought up etc. I think you interpreted that as I go around telling everyone I meet that I am agnostic, which isn't the case.
my wife's a special ed teacher. one of her kids is a little 5-year old girl. she has a trach in her throat and can't eat. she weighs about 25 pounds. her dad recently went to prison for beating her pregnant mom who later died of internal bleeding alone in her house. she's also autistic.
another girl is also an orphan. and blind. and deaf. she just sits there.
all god's plan, huh?
Kind of a shitty plan
GoldenCinderblock This is what baffles me about that this all loving god, guess will never understand him because he works in mysterious ways.
SamHarris You're not really sam harris, right? asking for a friend
GoldenCinderblock No, I'm not, huge fan of his.
Do you listen to his podcast? I like him on Joe Rogan, but on his own, I feel like he is a tough whiney and condescending. I agree with everything I've heard him say. It's just the delivery.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=church+song&view=detail&mid=794A76…
so i changed my default search to bing and apparently, when youtube goes through bing, it bypasses the ads
Noted!
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