I love my church
Something that I really hate is people who insist that their faith is the only way, and that anyone who disagrees is going sraight to hell. And that is why I think that my church is the best. Before you dismiss me as a hypocrite, allow me to explain.
"We say of ourselves: We are a congregation who believes that God's unconditional love is for all people. All people should be welcome and accepted among us, no matter who they are or where they are on life's journey. We do not believe others must share our beliefs to be a part of this community of faith. In fact, we honor diversity in thought and belief, seeking to be open to each other. We affirm the right and responsibility of each person to form their own faith journey. We seek a faith that is intellectually stimulating and theologically open."
That was from my church's newsletter.
In my sunday school class we have discussed whether or not it is necessary to our faith that Jesus was bodily resurrected, whether or not it matters if Mary was a virgin, the fact that the creation story was written by a people with almost no knowledge of science. We have read the passages that were removed from the Bible in medievil times, we talk about the editing the Bible has undergone and if we think that it was written by people inspired by God. We've learned about other world religions and why those are valid and if we think those people will go to heaven. We've talked about if there really is a heaven, or a hell, or a devil, or if God is even a sentient entity at all. In our church parking lot there are little Darwin Jesus fishes.
And recently the church as a whole, the United Church of Christ, has started a new campaign, God is still speaking, and made commercials for it. Commercials that NBC and CBS have decided not to air, saying they are too controversial. Here is the webpage, you decide if it is controversial or not: link
I myself struggled through the religion question when I was 15 and came out deciding that my church community was entirely too valuable to me for me to change it. My philosophy class has been challenging me lately to think again about how exactly I view God and I'm really not sure. I think that I do believe in a supernatural force that is Tri-O (you know, omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent) but I don't know that it is necessary for me to picture God as a person, or even very person-like. I certainly do not believe in creation, or that the bible was directly inspired by God. I guess the writers were inspired, similar to how I am inspired occasionally to write, but I don't think that God was guiding their writing at all. I do think that all good people (Christian or not) will go to heaven. I don't really believe in hell, for me that doesn't work with omnibenevolent. I don't really think Mary was a virgin, or that Jesus was bodily resurrected, but I don't think either of those things needs to play an important role in someone's faith.
Maybe I should go to church tomorrow... Maybe I'll be too drunk to drive that early in the morning.
My minister knows about and endorses my drinking, he also launches bottle rockets at passing cars and likes to hunt and camp. He is one of the coolest, smartest people I know, along with my Sunday School teacher. I respect them almost more than I can say.
"We say of ourselves: We are a congregation who believes that God's unconditional love is for all people. All people should be welcome and accepted among us, no matter who they are or where they are on life's journey. We do not believe others must share our beliefs to be a part of this community of faith. In fact, we honor diversity in thought and belief, seeking to be open to each other. We affirm the right and responsibility of each person to form their own faith journey. We seek a faith that is intellectually stimulating and theologically open."
That was from my church's newsletter.
In my sunday school class we have discussed whether or not it is necessary to our faith that Jesus was bodily resurrected, whether or not it matters if Mary was a virgin, the fact that the creation story was written by a people with almost no knowledge of science. We have read the passages that were removed from the Bible in medievil times, we talk about the editing the Bible has undergone and if we think that it was written by people inspired by God. We've learned about other world religions and why those are valid and if we think those people will go to heaven. We've talked about if there really is a heaven, or a hell, or a devil, or if God is even a sentient entity at all. In our church parking lot there are little Darwin Jesus fishes.
And recently the church as a whole, the United Church of Christ, has started a new campaign, God is still speaking, and made commercials for it. Commercials that NBC and CBS have decided not to air, saying they are too controversial. Here is the webpage, you decide if it is controversial or not: link
I myself struggled through the religion question when I was 15 and came out deciding that my church community was entirely too valuable to me for me to change it. My philosophy class has been challenging me lately to think again about how exactly I view God and I'm really not sure. I think that I do believe in a supernatural force that is Tri-O (you know, omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent) but I don't know that it is necessary for me to picture God as a person, or even very person-like. I certainly do not believe in creation, or that the bible was directly inspired by God. I guess the writers were inspired, similar to how I am inspired occasionally to write, but I don't think that God was guiding their writing at all. I do think that all good people (Christian or not) will go to heaven. I don't really believe in hell, for me that doesn't work with omnibenevolent. I don't really think Mary was a virgin, or that Jesus was bodily resurrected, but I don't think either of those things needs to play an important role in someone's faith.
Maybe I should go to church tomorrow... Maybe I'll be too drunk to drive that early in the morning.
My minister knows about and endorses my drinking, he also launches bottle rockets at passing cars and likes to hunt and camp. He is one of the coolest, smartest people I know, along with my Sunday School teacher. I respect them almost more than I can say.
posted by Rachael Ferber at 2:22 PM
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