Religion
Related: About this forumNo, I Don't Want to Go to Your Church!
http://www.alternet.org/no-i-dont-want-go-your-churchI am a practicing Catholic. As a black woman in Protestant America, this has not always been the easiest denomination to be affiliated with. The scent of incense wafting through a gothic-styled church, the embracing of the Holy Sacraments, the sacredness of the Blessed Virgin these are the facets I am used to in worshiping God and I enjoy them. I know for many who are reading this, these terms might be unfamiliar or even disturbing. And Im pretty sure some of you are ready to leave your pastors name and address for me to get right for the Lord. Please save your keystrokes.
If it is one thing I absolutely abhor is people assuming that I am not on a God-blessed path, and need to leave my views and church behind to join theirs. As well-intended they may be, nothing makes my skin crawl more than hearing I would like for you to come visit my church this Sunday. No thanks. Ive been hearing this line and similar ones since I was 9. I find such attempts to dissuade me from my faith and beliefs to be rude and hurtful.
As adults, we have the right to choose to join whichever faith or religious/non-religious path we feel called to. Just as I am comfortable being affiliated with my Christian denomination, I know friends who are just as relaxed in being agnostics and non-believers. No adult needs to be shown any light. The thing with faith is that its so subjective that a person cannot be forced to feel what they simply cannot. If I find that I find it uncomfortable trying to worship God in a church or within a faith that doesnt match my views or standards, it is not a criticism on the person who invited me to their church or the church/denomination itself. This feeling is mine, and mine alone, and I am free and entitled to experience it.
If I had to find a contender to contest how much I detest the come to my church phrase, it has to be you need a church to give you the real word of the Lord. Oh? I guess the priest and church members have been talking about Oprahs book club selection instead of the chapters of the Bible. Just as it would be completely out of bounds for those of us of faith to consider non-believers to be evil or out of it (as I regretfully have heard many refer to them), it is of bad taste to believe my status of being a Christian any lower than yours because I am not a member of your sect. As someone who has studied and continues to study the history of the Church, I believe that every religious sect has come from a group of people who are desperately trying to get back to the Source (God, the Universe, etc.) Therefore, there is no barometer to measure one groups belief against, and it is preposterous to act as if one exists.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)loansstore
(11 posts)What is this nonsense church is anywhere the god is in that church is one...so don't be a religious
dangin
(148 posts)Delusion is delusion. My delusion is better than your delusion. You can take your delusion and stick it. I'm on the path to true delusion.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)cbayer
(146,218 posts)Mine is pretty dull.
Silent3
(15,424 posts)...is someone how a denial of the right to think differently.
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,473 posts)What she is asking, quite reasonably, is to be left alone. I have come across the same sort of thing; people saying "Oh, you should leave your Church and join mine". If I were shopping around for a different Church, then such an invitation would be welcome. Since I am not, it is not welcome.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)ButterflyBlood
(12,644 posts)I don't think if a Lutheran was offered by a Methodist to go to their church they'd instantly assume it was because Methodists consider all Lutherans in need of conversion or whatever. And actually as one comment noted it's a bit hypocritical since her own church is the one claiming it's the only true Christian church and the others are all incomplete.
struggle4progress
(118,379 posts)denominations are in full communion, they probably aren't trolling each other for converts
dimbear
(6,271 posts)She may have studied what the church itself puts forward as its history. That hasn't much to do with actual history.
A good place to start for any person of color would be the story of the Franciscans in California ---- their landgrabs, their genocides and their enslavement of the natives over many decades. Then perhaps a sidetrip to Brazil, Catholic Brazil, the last country in the Western hemisphere to outlaw slavery.
Nothing need be said as to their treatment of women. It is all too well known.
That said, certainly anyone is welcome to forgive all sorts of crimes.