***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[IATT]

 

[dacomeup]

Sometimes it is. In this instance, a priest (not a pastor) is being used to paint a negative image of Christianity as a whole, and has appeared to shape one individual’s view of Christianity pretty strongly.

I’m not going to get sucked into a strawman argument on this. Lots of things shape people’s views of Christianity but a lot of these similar stories revolve around experiences in the Catholic church.

Interesting, because as someone who grew up in Black Baptist churches, that shaped my views of Christianity far more than anything else. I’d think people would be more influenced by whatever was proximate to them

 

[HarlemShakeStory]

Interesting, because as someone who grew up in Black Baptist churches, that shaped my views of Christianity far more than anything else. I’d think people would be more influenced by whatever was proximate to them

For sure. This doesn’t always mean these views are always accurate, well informed, or justified though.

I grew up catholic and thought that’s what Christianity was until well into my 20’s. Thank God I was wrong.

 

[jpzx]

If you look around and say wtf, just remember we in Minnesota agree. This is literally the second-best metropolitan area in the Midwest,

At least in the metro and Minneapolis.

We are a tall state, don’t go outward or else we’re like bum**** Pennsylvania.

 

[Lee And His Sneaks]

 

[IATT]

All about the church you grew up in

I’m Roman Catholic and live in the Bahamas.. very traditional

But because my dad was heavy heavy into politics my whole life.. I’ve experienced pretty much every denomination we have down here

Still was a shock once I started experiencing American churches.. I was prepared for say black baptist churches or traditional Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.. but some other ones I ended up, shhh was a whole other world

 

[IATT]

 

[plansb]

Yeah Ive been to the Philly burbs (Phoenixville and King of Prussia area) quite a bit and it gets very bible beltish the further west you go. Almost creepy.

Both are very close to me, just had dinner in kop tonight. I’m glad my community leans dem but the state is ******. There’s a reason most of the state is considered ‘pennsyltucky’

 

[Belgium]

I’m sorry you had such a negative experience at such an important time and that the leaders of that church dropped the ball for you and your family. Using this as an example to show that Christianity is bad comes across fairly ignorantly. I wish the Catholic Church would get it together so people would stop judging Christianity based on it. Evangelicals are Protestants, not Catholics. Typically when people talk about “bible thumpers” they are talking about evangelicals. The catholic church could certainly stand to do some bible thumping. It would prevent many negative experiences like this.

If anything, I thought the pastor chugging down wine like an alcoholic during my dad's funeral was funny.
Prior to that I don't recall ever being a church, I just assumed that I've probably been to maybe a funeral or something when I was little.

When I got to elementary school, I did not like the concept of organized religion so I asked my parents to not force me to attend catholic class. The alternative class was kind of a mix between religious history (including all major religions), cultural science and arts.

I don't have anything against religion or religious people. What other people believe in isn't my business as long as it doesn't infringe on basic human rights.
However I do think organized religion as a whole is an absolute cancer that only breeds corruption and authoritarian barbaric propaganda and laws.

Hypothetically, I'd strip tax-free status from any religious organization, add mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years for any sex crime committed by a priest, pastor, whatever and sanction the Vatican into financial ruin.
My local church is gonna have a weekly population of 0 once the current senior citizens die out. From what I hear, the local sunday mass barely reaches 20% capacity (compared to full when I was little) and literally all of them are senior citizens.
If a church can't attract enough interest to stay financially healthy without tax-free status, maybe they should get the message and pack their bags.

 

[Nike Jordan]

 

[HarlemShakeStory]

If anything, I thought the pastor chugging down wine like an alcoholic during my dad's funeral was funny.
Prior to that I don't recall ever being a church, I just assumed that I've probably been to maybe a funeral or something when I was little.

When I got to elementary school, I did not like the concept of organized religion so I asked my parents to not force me to attend catholic class. The alternative class was kind of a mix between religious history (including all major religions), cultural science and arts.

I don't have anything against religion or religious people. What other people believe in isn't my business as long as it doesn't infringe on basic human rights.
However I do think organized religion as a whole is an absolute cancer that only breeds corruption and authoritarian barbaric propaganda and laws.

Hypothetically, I'd strip tax-free status from any religious institute, add mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years for any sex crime committed by a priest, pastor, whatever and sanction the Vatican into financial ruin.
My local church is gonna have a weekly population of 0 once the current senior citizens die out. If a church can't attract enough interest to stay financially healthy without tax-free status, maybe they should get the message and pack their bags.

I appreciate your open mindedness and just want to encourage you that there are a lot of really great churches and church communities out there that are doing a lot of good in the world (as well as some not so good ones that give them a bad name).