This was the last church visit for Off-the-Map and I just wanted to thank everyone for reading and commenting. It was fun and I learned a lot. I will now be updating my own website (www.friendlyatheist.com) more often, but still making occasional comments here.
The visit yesterday was quite the experience. I went to a Vineyard church in Evanston, IL and Jim accompanied me. We only spoke before and after the sermon so the experience could be as objective as possible.
Read the rest of this news item »
This morning, I went to St. Sabina’s, an “African American Catholic Community.” There’s much more history to this church that I didn’t get to really experience as this was not an actual service, but if you’d like to know more, their website is here: http://www.saintsabina.org/index2.htm.
I went there to go to a Bible Study. As expected, I didn’t stand out. There were 12 older, African females… and 2 older, African males. And me, the younger, brown person who walked in 2 minutes late.
We began with a prayer request, and thankfully I heard the prayers requests I can relate to. There’s a lot of local violence, especially recently, so requests were made to pray for the safety and health of everyone. Requests were also made for someone with poor eyesight and a sick relative. And (there has to be at least one) a request was made to pray for the professor who said on Good Morning America that Jesus didn’t really walk on water– the Mediterranean had frozen over so Jesus actually walked on ice. I’m not sure what we’re praying *for* but I can venture that it’s a prayer request for his soul to be saved…
Read the rest of this news item »
In lieu of a church visit this week, allow me to write about why I enjoy Christian media. Please note that I’m not mocking the religion at all, but I am making light of the way Christians expose their message.
It’s no surprise to anyone here: I genuinely enjoy watching Joel Osteen. I also enjoy watching any number of preachers on TV that speak the fire-and-brimstone rhetoric that tells me I’m doomed. When I go to a hotel, it has become a habit for me to check that my Gideons Bible is there and that Trinity Broadcasting Network is on the TV. I look forward to receiving my Charisma magazine each month, and I love getting my Focus on the Family newsletters. Even better are the church pamphlets that tell me I’m hellbound.
How did I become addicted to these things?
Well, first the positive. I enjoy watching Joel for the same reason many Christians don’t watch him– it’s Christian-lite! He’s not solely dependent on the Bible to make a point. Instead of using the Bible to write a sermon, it always seems to me that he wrote the sermon with a life lesson in mind, and then consulted the Bible to back up his points. And I walk away from watching him thinking, “I do need to make better use of my time!” instead of “I should read Mark because Chapter 2 (or whatever) said some interesting things about Jesus.” Obvously, the former sits better with Atheists.
Another great part about Joel is that while he leads the king of all megachurches, I’m not drawn to him on TV because of the extravagant setup of his church/basketball arena. Unlike other megachurches that depend on the sheer enormity of itself to bring people in, I’m drawn to Joel’s message. You could have him speaking in a tiny room with an audience of 4, and I know he’d speak the same way with the same passion.
There aren’t many places on TV (outside PBS) where you ever get to see anyone giving a speech. Christian TV is one of them, though, and they have some very good speakers. I’d take that over most of the stuff on other channels.
Some negative: I love that I can hear a different point of view, which might be why I’m drawn to all this. Of course, I think my own framework of Atheism is “right,” so when I see someone saying I am going to Hell if I don’t succumb to the Word of God, I have to laugh because I “know” they’re wrong. I’m certainly not scared. And since scaring people seems to be the reason why they say such things, I am amused that it’s not working.
Charisma Magazine also shows me a world I didn’t know existed. I enjoy the advertising of the (approximately) 23128937182 conferences going on each month, hosted by the same pastor husbands with their big-blonde-haired wives. I’m not ripping on them at all (I’m sure Atheist conventions wish they had just a fraction of the attendees of any of these Christian conventions)– it all just seems so homogenous. Even the ads for the conventions are all the same. The inset Glamour-Shot poses of the hosts, the globe in the background, and the photoshopped image of all the speakers together in a row.
Charisma also has a column called “Persecution Watch” which I enjoy because I have never thought Christians were persecuted. I’m not condoning any sort of violence from non-Christian groups at all. But it seems the Christians are only being “persecuted” in countries where missionaries entered to try to convert non-Christian people. And then they act surprised when they’re told they’re not welcome. The locals didn’t want to be “saved” so they rebelled. Again, the violence is bad– Just ask the missionaries to leave. But why is it persecution when you’re trying to bring your religion to people who don’t want it, and they don’t want you there? Some of these stories are legitimate, but if you’re truly not being allowed to practice Christianity, I firmly believe Atheists would be right at your side in terms of giving you the right to worship.
The homogeneity of the people in the Christian media is another great reason to watch Trinity Broadcasting Network. The people who are on TV are, again, always the same always-happy husband-wife pair who agree on everything and think those crazy Atheists are trying to stop their way of life. How can I not watch that?! It’s just a strange feeling when “your people” are the enemy of those on Christian TV, and to be able to hear what they say about you– to be a fly on that wall– and to hear how they stereotype us Atheists into a cartoony, satan-worshipping caricature– is too good to pass up.
The icing on this whole cake is reading my Focus on the Family newsletter. And I say this without trying to politicize anything. Personally, I’m a huge fan of Dan Savage and his advice column Savage Love (typical advice: If your wife is not satisfying you, go have an affair), because I find him to be funny. He may take it too far at times, in my opinion, but he stresses the importance of personal freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Dobson, on the other hand, stresses complete control and the pursuit of Heaven. I like to read what he says because he is a man that’s so well-respected in his community. But he also despises everything I stand for, and since I think I’m a good person, I can’t understand why he feels that way. Well, I know why he feels that way… but I can’t understand why people like me don’t make him stop and think he might be a *little* bit wrong…
Don’t even get me started on the magical “Jesus mat” that came in the mail which will bring me good fortune (Apparently, if I stare at it, Jesus’ eyes will open… staring… starting… darn, nothing happened).
Moral of the story: Christianity works best for non-believers when we hear stories that sound like something we would see or do. Joel tells me to not be dishonest by telling a story from his college days (Hey, I went to college, too!) and then supports his message with a story from the Bible. Dobson tells me I shouldn’t be dishonest because Proverbs 6:16-19 says so (as he does in the April issue of Charisma). Period. Who would I be more inclined to listen to?
On a similar note, the conference advertising and the Christian TV shows show people who seem so contrived and *not* like the people I’d see on a regular basis (Can anyone else imagine Benny Hinn or Jan Crouch at your workplace?)… It’s a different world. And if you want me to join you, you have to appeal to me. That’s not even close to happening.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Hemant's Church Surveys | 36 Comments »