I’m not arguing your point at all, just the use in these 3 excerpts of the words [majority, most, & minority]:
“For a religion that is supposed to be about peace, love, forgiveness, and caring for others, the MAJORITY of people following sure fall short in so many ways.”
“And what are churches doing to appeal to those who love others of the same gender? MOST churches would have nothing to do with those people.”
“To the truly loving, accepting churches and members of those congregations, I applaud you. Thank you for hearing the actual real message of Jesus, the one that calls for us to love one another, regardless of any extenuating circumstances. You folks are in the MINORITY, but I see you and I admire you.”
Seriously, most of the “mainline” denominations (PCUSA, Episcopal, Lutheran, UCC, Methodist, Disciples, etc.) emphasize the love , empathy, & inclusion of Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament.
We may not be an actual majority — I don’t have the numbers handy. But we’re a large aggregate that is rarely quoted in the media. And we may also be less notable because, just like bad news, bad “Christian” behavior is broadcast more than quiet unassuming inclusion by non-flag-waving Christians.
I've had the unfortunate pleasure of when needing help, having no food many times, and a certain church acting like they care so much.
Sure, they brought me very healthy food I hadn't seen or eaten in a long time. I thought they really cared.
Until they started slowly trying to get in my head about god this and god that,but I didn't agree...
And boy did things change!
Banging on my door demanding me to answer, demanding God is telling you blah blah blah, like threatening and became very nasty to me,I would say harassing...
Oh, in between this, the meals that I qualified for,slowly started getting less and less,because instead of knowing anything about me,they assumed things,and that made me a bad person..
Eventually, banging on windows, and abruptly no more food!!
The last visit, yelling they have food for me,open your door,just to get in and start trying to preach to me,that god wont let them help me if i dont do as they want me to do!
Remember not knowing my personal situation, illnesses,etc.. that last time the 2 ladies hand me a box,it had 2 cans of green beans in it and 3 packets of oatmeal.
Never brought me the 3 hot healthy meals, for 3x aday ever again.
No apologies.
It really mentally messed with me..and I was starving and they could have cared less!!
All because I wasn't doing what they said,even poking my chest,what God is telling me to do!
Thanks, Jason. It seems like you expressed eloquently what I (another former Christian) have felt for a long time. It's one of the most annoying expressions of Christian condescension. Keep up the good work!
Great column, Jason! For me personally, the hypocrisy is definitely the main turn-off to organized religion, and this being 'Murica, the biggest culprits are the evangelical Xtians. As you said, they are mostly just hateful assholes.
As usual your pieces give a lot of food for thought.
Here goes the but:
I am not a Christian but I am faith and religious based.
In my religion we teach balance. I have attended reform, conservative and all various versions of orthodox services. But in spite of that they welcome all.
In our orthodox community if a male spouse is abusing his wife the men in the community will force a divorce. Even LBGQT+ are excepted in the congregation.
In closing there should be nothing evil in practicing your faith. And those that preach dam nation shouldn’t preach or be followed by anyone.
And if someone doesn’t which to be associated with faith just be honest and respectful to others. We should always treat others as we expect to be treated.
As a non-religious person, your last sentence echoing the Golden Rule is the most important idea that can be gleaned from Abrahamic doctrine. It perfectly encapsulates the simplest way to get along with one another and omits all the other dogma that often is interpreted in judgmental, hateful, and de-humanizing ways.
I almost didn't finish reading this piece, but I'm glad I did.
I was brought up in a Christian home and while I didn't have a horrible experience with it, it never felt like it was my decision. I was told what I believed and that was that.
It wasn't til many years later, I realized that it was MY choice to believe or not. If I was going to have a relationship with Jesus, it was going to be through my searching,not what some man made rule or religion told me I should be doing.
Thankfully today I do have a wonderful relationship with Him. I believe we are not here to judge, that will be done one day with Him and NO ONE else is equipped to do so.
I try to live my life with this knowledge and that He gave each of us free will, no one should take that away from us.
I was raised Roman Catholic and attended 14 years of catholic schools. But this was in the 60’s and 70’s and the Catholic Church was teaching diversity, tolerance, love, and joy. At least, this is what the nuns were teaching me. And, they walked their talk. Then abortion became the number one issue among Catholics. It became their “one issue voting” agenda. When you vote for a candidate solely on their abortion opinion, you find you have picked up a few conservative standpoints as well. I realized the church had sold its souls for the abortion issue. The intolerance, the hate, the demonization of Democrats, whom we had previously supported for their liberal values. I easily left the church and stayed true to what they had taught me. My poor mother wanted to vote for Democrats, but was told not to by her lifelong church. Obviously, I am not sure how she voted, but I saw her struggle. I knew this was not the role of a church. Now in my 60’s I know in my heart we are connected to each other in some way I can’t name. I sometimes use the words of my childhood, like we are all children of god, but I don’t identify with any particular faith or religion. I certainly no longer use Christian to describe myself. I just live my life believing every being on earth is of value. And, although I consider myself an independent, I vote blue the whole ticket.
One of the things I really liked about being Jewish as a kid (you're gonna hate this comment, by the way) is that I didn't have to be a Catholic. I didn't have to go to a school where I be taught by strange women in wimples carrying rulers to rap the knuckles of kids like me. None of them seemed very loving, or even very nice. At least taking off part of the day from school to go to Hebrew School at the local synagogue was a way to get out of the boredom of school and replace it with the milder boredom of Hebrew School. That's where I learned about Jewish holidays and how to read Hebrew. Of course, like Barbra Streisand, I learned to pray in Hebrew but never learned what the words meant. She had the misfortune of going K-12 to a yeshiva and not split the day between Jewish school and public school. So I wound up pretty much like the way Barbra seems to be, a secular Jew interested in the idea of Israel, modern Jewish history, and what truths could be gleaned from the ultra-violent Old Testament. And somehow it all led me to being a liberal and hating injustice and racism, and knowing a bit of Yiddish (oy vey!) but i'd hate to have to go through it all again.
Religion is the opiate of the masses. It gives people the outlet to feel superior to everyone else. It’s been the main cause of wars going back to 4000 BCE when the Sumerian city/states were warring over whose god was better and more worthy of honor.
The best thing I’ve ever done for myself was walking away from all forms of “worship” and religious bullshit after two years of nuns beating my fingers bloody because I was left handed, the sign of the devil. I’ve never missed a day of it and have never looked back.
If there is a so called higher power, it doesn’t give a rat’s ass about any of us.
As a recovering Catholic, I have two main problems with religion. One - don’t tell me how to run my life. And Two - I’d rather be around people who are kind and good and loving just because it’s the right thing to do, and not for the selfish reason of going to “heaven”.
💙 Jason, thanks for speaking for me 🌊🌊🌊
“We are not a vessel for wannabe dictators”. Kamala Harris
I’m not arguing your point at all, just the use in these 3 excerpts of the words [majority, most, & minority]:
“For a religion that is supposed to be about peace, love, forgiveness, and caring for others, the MAJORITY of people following sure fall short in so many ways.”
“And what are churches doing to appeal to those who love others of the same gender? MOST churches would have nothing to do with those people.”
“To the truly loving, accepting churches and members of those congregations, I applaud you. Thank you for hearing the actual real message of Jesus, the one that calls for us to love one another, regardless of any extenuating circumstances. You folks are in the MINORITY, but I see you and I admire you.”
Seriously, most of the “mainline” denominations (PCUSA, Episcopal, Lutheran, UCC, Methodist, Disciples, etc.) emphasize the love , empathy, & inclusion of Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament.
We may not be an actual majority — I don’t have the numbers handy. But we’re a large aggregate that is rarely quoted in the media. And we may also be less notable because, just like bad news, bad “Christian” behavior is broadcast more than quiet unassuming inclusion by non-flag-waving Christians.
....this is so point on!
I've had the unfortunate pleasure of when needing help, having no food many times, and a certain church acting like they care so much.
Sure, they brought me very healthy food I hadn't seen or eaten in a long time. I thought they really cared.
Until they started slowly trying to get in my head about god this and god that,but I didn't agree...
And boy did things change!
Banging on my door demanding me to answer, demanding God is telling you blah blah blah, like threatening and became very nasty to me,I would say harassing...
Oh, in between this, the meals that I qualified for,slowly started getting less and less,because instead of knowing anything about me,they assumed things,and that made me a bad person..
Eventually, banging on windows, and abruptly no more food!!
The last visit, yelling they have food for me,open your door,just to get in and start trying to preach to me,that god wont let them help me if i dont do as they want me to do!
Remember not knowing my personal situation, illnesses,etc.. that last time the 2 ladies hand me a box,it had 2 cans of green beans in it and 3 packets of oatmeal.
Never brought me the 3 hot healthy meals, for 3x aday ever again.
No apologies.
It really mentally messed with me..and I was starving and they could have cared less!!
All because I wasn't doing what they said,even poking my chest,what God is telling me to do!
No more help.
The end.
Thanks, Jason. It seems like you expressed eloquently what I (another former Christian) have felt for a long time. It's one of the most annoying expressions of Christian condescension. Keep up the good work!
I agree with you 100%. I am, I hope, in that minority of people who are Christians but not the hateful ones.
Great column, Jason! For me personally, the hypocrisy is definitely the main turn-off to organized religion, and this being 'Murica, the biggest culprits are the evangelical Xtians. As you said, they are mostly just hateful assholes.
As usual your pieces give a lot of food for thought.
Here goes the but:
I am not a Christian but I am faith and religious based.
In my religion we teach balance. I have attended reform, conservative and all various versions of orthodox services. But in spite of that they welcome all.
In our orthodox community if a male spouse is abusing his wife the men in the community will force a divorce. Even LBGQT+ are excepted in the congregation.
In closing there should be nothing evil in practicing your faith. And those that preach dam nation shouldn’t preach or be followed by anyone.
And if someone doesn’t which to be associated with faith just be honest and respectful to others. We should always treat others as we expect to be treated.
Good reply
As a non-religious person, your last sentence echoing the Golden Rule is the most important idea that can be gleaned from Abrahamic doctrine. It perfectly encapsulates the simplest way to get along with one another and omits all the other dogma that often is interpreted in judgmental, hateful, and de-humanizing ways.
I almost didn't finish reading this piece, but I'm glad I did.
I was brought up in a Christian home and while I didn't have a horrible experience with it, it never felt like it was my decision. I was told what I believed and that was that.
It wasn't til many years later, I realized that it was MY choice to believe or not. If I was going to have a relationship with Jesus, it was going to be through my searching,not what some man made rule or religion told me I should be doing.
Thankfully today I do have a wonderful relationship with Him. I believe we are not here to judge, that will be done one day with Him and NO ONE else is equipped to do so.
I try to live my life with this knowledge and that He gave each of us free will, no one should take that away from us.
Thank you for this article. Keep speaking out!!!
Well said indeed.
I was raised Roman Catholic and attended 14 years of catholic schools. But this was in the 60’s and 70’s and the Catholic Church was teaching diversity, tolerance, love, and joy. At least, this is what the nuns were teaching me. And, they walked their talk. Then abortion became the number one issue among Catholics. It became their “one issue voting” agenda. When you vote for a candidate solely on their abortion opinion, you find you have picked up a few conservative standpoints as well. I realized the church had sold its souls for the abortion issue. The intolerance, the hate, the demonization of Democrats, whom we had previously supported for their liberal values. I easily left the church and stayed true to what they had taught me. My poor mother wanted to vote for Democrats, but was told not to by her lifelong church. Obviously, I am not sure how she voted, but I saw her struggle. I knew this was not the role of a church. Now in my 60’s I know in my heart we are connected to each other in some way I can’t name. I sometimes use the words of my childhood, like we are all children of god, but I don’t identify with any particular faith or religion. I certainly no longer use Christian to describe myself. I just live my life believing every being on earth is of value. And, although I consider myself an independent, I vote blue the whole ticket.
Well, ya' know we're All a bunch of sinners and I wouldn't have it any other way. Excellent piece this morning ☕ and will reStack ASAP 💯👍💙🌊🌊🌊🤗
One of the things I really liked about being Jewish as a kid (you're gonna hate this comment, by the way) is that I didn't have to be a Catholic. I didn't have to go to a school where I be taught by strange women in wimples carrying rulers to rap the knuckles of kids like me. None of them seemed very loving, or even very nice. At least taking off part of the day from school to go to Hebrew School at the local synagogue was a way to get out of the boredom of school and replace it with the milder boredom of Hebrew School. That's where I learned about Jewish holidays and how to read Hebrew. Of course, like Barbra Streisand, I learned to pray in Hebrew but never learned what the words meant. She had the misfortune of going K-12 to a yeshiva and not split the day between Jewish school and public school. So I wound up pretty much like the way Barbra seems to be, a secular Jew interested in the idea of Israel, modern Jewish history, and what truths could be gleaned from the ultra-violent Old Testament. And somehow it all led me to being a liberal and hating injustice and racism, and knowing a bit of Yiddish (oy vey!) but i'd hate to have to go through it all again.
I stand with you in your fight.
🏳️🌈🇺🇸☮️🤓💙🤗
Religion is the opiate of the masses. It gives people the outlet to feel superior to everyone else. It’s been the main cause of wars going back to 4000 BCE when the Sumerian city/states were warring over whose god was better and more worthy of honor.
The best thing I’ve ever done for myself was walking away from all forms of “worship” and religious bullshit after two years of nuns beating my fingers bloody because I was left handed, the sign of the devil. I’ve never missed a day of it and have never looked back.
If there is a so called higher power, it doesn’t give a rat’s ass about any of us.
As a recovering Catholic, I have two main problems with religion. One - don’t tell me how to run my life. And Two - I’d rather be around people who are kind and good and loving just because it’s the right thing to do, and not for the selfish reason of going to “heaven”.
Same for me. And the self-serving nature of praying for something I want. Seems tawdry. So I don't pray. I don't think it works anyway.