In order to take care of every American – one has to assume our country is filled with people who give a fat rat’s ass about anything or anyone other than their own pocketbooks.
Sad to say – some of our huge Mega Churches are on the same level as those wealthy corporations who do not deserve what they get from We the Taxpayers – building their huge complexes on prime real estate and paying no taxes….
Maybe it’s just me, but what good are these Mega Churches doing by using their tax-free donations to build yet more and bigger buildings?
I would like to see some tangible evidence that these tax-free places are actually doing some good in the world…..
Indy, I have a request. It appears to me that you have experience and knowledge about faith practices. Can you tell me anything about the Friends (Quaker) experiences and traditions. My interest has been peeked by the activity of a local “Meeting.” They appear to me to be the antithesis of the Mega Churches you reference and that we both dislike. What can you tell me?
I’m not Indy, but I don’t think you’ll mind if I throw in my two cents worth. đŸ™‚
I’ve known two people who were “Friends” and have attended some Quaker services with them. One I knew during my teen years and he was my school teacher. The other I knew because she and I were co-leaders of a Brownie / Jr. Girl Scout troop. Our daughters were classmates and we led that troop together for four years so we worked together often, They were the real deal — full of love, compassion, honesty! I don’t have much experience but what little I do have is positive, “YES!, they’re doing it right!”
I have not known very many Quakers – so my personal experience would be very limited. I was raised in the 50’s and 60’s and that was a different world (at least my neighborhood). We had many different faiths and we got along. Of course, back then, we all had guns in our homes but we respected the guns and did not feel this obsessive need to strap it across ourselves and do the cock-strut through the local stores.
Wasn’t Richard Nixon a Quaker? Look at what he did – but how much of that was due to his being a political animal?
We had many different churches and nobody got their panties in such a twist and certainly nobody played the ‘religious persecution’ card because they were Christian.
I find that argument to be the most baffling – how do these Kristians actually have the nerve to try to play the persecuted card? Excuse me, but how many Christian churches have been burned, bombed or vandalized? Or how many crosses have been burned in their front yards – like the KKK did to the blacks.
Another fact about the KKK nobody talks about – this hate group also hated Catholics. But yet I know several Catholics who believe the KKK has a valid point in how whites are the ones being persecuted by the blacks now.
Bottom line – whenever there are groups of people, there are the good people and the bad people in the same group.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a religious group or non-religious group. That’s just human nature in full display.
I believe a person’s character is shaped by their upbringing and environment mostly – but sometimes I think some people are just born to be bad – pure evil.
The problem then becomes – iMHO – when you have a religious group and there are these pure evil folks involved – that is when we start having problems.
I’ve known a lot of people who attend church every time the doors are open – but then they live a life that would make Satan himself blush.
I don’t care what your religious beliefs are but when you start using your religion as a weapon against those of different faiths – that is when I have a problem with you.
I’ve shared this before – that Betty Bible supervisor made my life hell in the office. Because I dared to question her – she then would ask me in front of everyone – ‘why do you hate Jesus?’. I don’t hate Jesus – I just didn’t like her.
And to me – that is the problem with these Mega Churches – it’s all about the money, power and control. But mostly about the MONEY.
From my reading the Bible – Jesus was never that interested in MONEY – was he?
As for Palin’s son – the one factor that I never heard Sarah or any of her supporters talked about was that alcohol was involved.
Hmmm….
As for Palin’s daughter – can you imagine the outrage of these Palinettes if this was Obama’s daughter with two babies by different men – and then the girl bragged about how she had planned the second baby – even though she was not married to the father of the baby – and then a week or two before the wedding – she calls off the wedding because the father of her baby forgot that he was already married?
Boys and Girls – we just cannot make this crap up….
The Bible tells us – by their fruits, ye shall know them.
Hmmm….SP brags about being such a fine morally superior Christian – but yet it seems her kids have some serious issues. I believe that when a woman has children, that becomes her most important role/job in life.
I’m not saying my kids are perfect but I can safely say that my kids were taught to respect themselves, respect the laws and to conduct themselves in an honest manner.
Hmmm…what good does it do to gain the whole world and lose your soul?
Money, celebrity status and power are very addictive factors – IMHO – Sarah is caught up in that never ending cycle of “look at me” but she is using Jesus’ good name as her marketing tool.
I also believe Jesus/God does not give a fat rat’s ass about our political games in America. Besides – when any politician invokes Jesus’ name as if that is their stamp of approval – I just cringe.
To me – that cheapens Jesus to the same level as the politician. Again – from the Bible I’ve read all these years – Jesus was NOTHING like these Loud-N-Proud Kristians.
Final thought – one of the Ten Commandments is to not take the Lord’s name in vain. Many people believe this refers to cursing. I don’t believe that way.
I believe that taking the Lord’s name in vain is what these money changers are doing in these Mega Churches and/or televangelists. These are the folks who knowingly use Jesus’ name to line their own pockets. There is no love – there is no burning desire to follow Jesus’ teachings of healing the sick, feeding the hungry, housing the poor, defending the prostitute from stoning or turning the other cheek.
When I drive past all those Mega Churches on 21st Street going east from Wichita to Andover – all I see is a lot of tax-free money but yet very little good being done in the way Jesus worked – truly helping the outcasts of society.
From what I’ve seen in their parking lots – a lot of very nice cars, very nicely dressed people coming out. One might even suspect they were financially well -off and have not missed too many meals.
Contrary to all my Baptist church upbringing – I no longer believe God is a supreme being sitting on some golden throne in Heaven and just waiting for us to cross that line because he is gleefully waiting for the chance to throw those thunderbolts. I also don’t believe that Heaven is some place with those streets made of gold.
I have come to the realization that I must have turned into a Deist along the way.
There are several prominent people who were also Deists – several of the Founding Fathers were Deists – and not Christians as we are being told by the Radical Right Kristians.
I believe God is a life force that is fueled by love. When I get these email or Facebook requests for prayers – I always make the same comment: I don’t care what God you worship or if you don’t even believe in God. Prayer is nothing more than sending out positive energy. And that positive energy – when combined with a lot of people – is truly a source of power.
Is that what a Deist believes? I didn’t know the ‘title’ but what you said describes what I believe fairly closely. GOD IS LOVE and along with treating my neighbor as myself — always striving and understanding the need to live a life of love (after all, that is God), sums up the basis of my beliefs. I fail, I try again, I fail, I try harder. Love is THE greatest energy and it can change hearts, minds and even worlds.
I know what I don’t believe in anymore and that is organized religion – no matter which religion.
Maybe I am wrong about this – but when I see my grandkids playing, laughing, singing and dancing with me in my living room – I see God’s love.
When I see people helping other people – I see God’s love.
When I come across a stranger while walking through a store and they look straight in my face, smile and say hello – I see God’s love.
When people get out of their own selfish bubble and acknowledge/react/reach out to others people – I see God’s love.
Our universe is all connected and when a ripple is caused in a pond, doesn’t that one ripple cause the pond to be moved in some way?
That is what is missing in organized religion – IMHO. That feeling of being connected to EVERYONE – not just those folks who look like us, talk like us and believe like us.
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
In order to take care of every American – one has to assume our country is filled with people who give a fat rat’s ass about anything or anyone other than their own pocketbooks.
Sad to say – some of our huge Mega Churches are on the same level as those wealthy corporations who do not deserve what they get from We the Taxpayers – building their huge complexes on prime real estate and paying no taxes….
Maybe it’s just me, but what good are these Mega Churches doing by using their tax-free donations to build yet more and bigger buildings?
I would like to see some tangible evidence that these tax-free places are actually doing some good in the world…..
Indy, I have a request. It appears to me that you have experience and knowledge about faith practices. Can you tell me anything about the Friends (Quaker) experiences and traditions. My interest has been peeked by the activity of a local “Meeting.” They appear to me to be the antithesis of the Mega Churches you reference and that we both dislike. What can you tell me?
I’m not Indy, but I don’t think you’ll mind if I throw in my two cents worth. đŸ™‚
I’ve known two people who were “Friends” and have attended some Quaker services with them. One I knew during my teen years and he was my school teacher. The other I knew because she and I were co-leaders of a Brownie / Jr. Girl Scout troop. Our daughters were classmates and we led that troop together for four years so we worked together often, They were the real deal — full of love, compassion, honesty! I don’t have much experience but what little I do have is positive, “YES!, they’re doing it right!”
I have not known very many Quakers – so my personal experience would be very limited. I was raised in the 50’s and 60’s and that was a different world (at least my neighborhood). We had many different faiths and we got along. Of course, back then, we all had guns in our homes but we respected the guns and did not feel this obsessive need to strap it across ourselves and do the cock-strut through the local stores.
Wasn’t Richard Nixon a Quaker? Look at what he did – but how much of that was due to his being a political animal?
We had many different churches and nobody got their panties in such a twist and certainly nobody played the ‘religious persecution’ card because they were Christian.
I find that argument to be the most baffling – how do these Kristians actually have the nerve to try to play the persecuted card? Excuse me, but how many Christian churches have been burned, bombed or vandalized? Or how many crosses have been burned in their front yards – like the KKK did to the blacks.
Another fact about the KKK nobody talks about – this hate group also hated Catholics. But yet I know several Catholics who believe the KKK has a valid point in how whites are the ones being persecuted by the blacks now.
Bottom line – whenever there are groups of people, there are the good people and the bad people in the same group.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a religious group or non-religious group. That’s just human nature in full display.
I believe a person’s character is shaped by their upbringing and environment mostly – but sometimes I think some people are just born to be bad – pure evil.
The problem then becomes – iMHO – when you have a religious group and there are these pure evil folks involved – that is when we start having problems.
I’ve known a lot of people who attend church every time the doors are open – but then they live a life that would make Satan himself blush.
I don’t care what your religious beliefs are but when you start using your religion as a weapon against those of different faiths – that is when I have a problem with you.
I’ve shared this before – that Betty Bible supervisor made my life hell in the office. Because I dared to question her – she then would ask me in front of everyone – ‘why do you hate Jesus?’. I don’t hate Jesus – I just didn’t like her.
And to me – that is the problem with these Mega Churches – it’s all about the money, power and control. But mostly about the MONEY.
From my reading the Bible – Jesus was never that interested in MONEY – was he?
fnord
Always —- your “two cents” are welcome. Thanks.
As for Palin’s son – the one factor that I never heard Sarah or any of her supporters talked about was that alcohol was involved.
Hmmm….
As for Palin’s daughter – can you imagine the outrage of these Palinettes if this was Obama’s daughter with two babies by different men – and then the girl bragged about how she had planned the second baby – even though she was not married to the father of the baby – and then a week or two before the wedding – she calls off the wedding because the father of her baby forgot that he was already married?
Boys and Girls – we just cannot make this crap up….
The Bible tells us – by their fruits, ye shall know them.
Hmmm….SP brags about being such a fine morally superior Christian – but yet it seems her kids have some serious issues. I believe that when a woman has children, that becomes her most important role/job in life.
I’m not saying my kids are perfect but I can safely say that my kids were taught to respect themselves, respect the laws and to conduct themselves in an honest manner.
Hmmm…what good does it do to gain the whole world and lose your soul?
Money, celebrity status and power are very addictive factors – IMHO – Sarah is caught up in that never ending cycle of “look at me” but she is using Jesus’ good name as her marketing tool.
I also believe Jesus/God does not give a fat rat’s ass about our political games in America. Besides – when any politician invokes Jesus’ name as if that is their stamp of approval – I just cringe.
To me – that cheapens Jesus to the same level as the politician. Again – from the Bible I’ve read all these years – Jesus was NOTHING like these Loud-N-Proud Kristians.
Final thought – one of the Ten Commandments is to not take the Lord’s name in vain. Many people believe this refers to cursing. I don’t believe that way.
I believe that taking the Lord’s name in vain is what these money changers are doing in these Mega Churches and/or televangelists. These are the folks who knowingly use Jesus’ name to line their own pockets. There is no love – there is no burning desire to follow Jesus’ teachings of healing the sick, feeding the hungry, housing the poor, defending the prostitute from stoning or turning the other cheek.
When I drive past all those Mega Churches on 21st Street going east from Wichita to Andover – all I see is a lot of tax-free money but yet very little good being done in the way Jesus worked – truly helping the outcasts of society.
From what I’ve seen in their parking lots – a lot of very nice cars, very nicely dressed people coming out. One might even suspect they were financially well -off and have not missed too many meals.
Jesus was not in that crowd – IMHO
“God is not out there …” (Fr. Richard Rohr). “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)
Contrary to all my Baptist church upbringing – I no longer believe God is a supreme being sitting on some golden throne in Heaven and just waiting for us to cross that line because he is gleefully waiting for the chance to throw those thunderbolts. I also don’t believe that Heaven is some place with those streets made of gold.
I have come to the realization that I must have turned into a Deist along the way.
There are several prominent people who were also Deists – several of the Founding Fathers were Deists – and not Christians as we are being told by the Radical Right Kristians.
I believe God is a life force that is fueled by love. When I get these email or Facebook requests for prayers – I always make the same comment: I don’t care what God you worship or if you don’t even believe in God. Prayer is nothing more than sending out positive energy. And that positive energy – when combined with a lot of people – is truly a source of power.
Is that what a Deist believes? I didn’t know the ‘title’ but what you said describes what I believe fairly closely. GOD IS LOVE and along with treating my neighbor as myself — always striving and understanding the need to live a life of love (after all, that is God), sums up the basis of my beliefs. I fail, I try again, I fail, I try harder. Love is THE greatest energy and it can change hearts, minds and even worlds.
fnord, the link defines deism as I always understood it. A deist is one who believes in deism. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/deism
Maybe I am using the wrong label?
I know what I don’t believe in anymore and that is organized religion – no matter which religion.
Maybe I am wrong about this – but when I see my grandkids playing, laughing, singing and dancing with me in my living room – I see God’s love.
When I see people helping other people – I see God’s love.
When I come across a stranger while walking through a store and they look straight in my face, smile and say hello – I see God’s love.
When people get out of their own selfish bubble and acknowledge/react/reach out to others people – I see God’s love.
Our universe is all connected and when a ripple is caused in a pond, doesn’t that one ripple cause the pond to be moved in some way?
That is what is missing in organized religion – IMHO. That feeling of being connected to EVERYONE – not just those folks who look like us, talk like us and believe like us.