A local megachurch blowhard's Sunday sermon is airing live on FOX. The sermon is really no more than an infomercial for the blowhard's tapes, books, and, especially, the church's private school. He is bemoaning the fact that the biology textbook used in Square State's public high schools devotes five chapters to evolution.
The horror!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
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My dad's house, where I grew up, was pretty rural when I was a kid. The pig farm across the road had a pungent aroma, and there were occasional big farm devices that traveled the roads.
About four years ago, my dad told me that some megachurch wannabe had been told by God to buy about 20 acres at the end of that road and build God's Promised Land Church of the Nutcase, or whatever.
I'd always been under the impression that this area was pretty steeped in that "religion is good" mindset that allows religions to get a pass from people, no matter what the religions do. I was tickled to find out that the local residents banded together to put up every obstacle they could. Some folks contested the zoning, others brought in contacts from the EPA to try and determine if the church plans would adequately protect nearby watersheds, and still others hassled the township trustees to try to hold up the building permits and such.
Eventually, the pastor was indicted and convicted of some kind of chicanery and shenanigans, so the whole project imploded.
Regarding your particular local megachurch:
If only, if only
The woodpecker sighs...
Meh. Even among conservative Christians, we look at said blowhard with an askew glance or ten. Most of us know he's in it for the $$$ and not the intangible spiritual benefits. He's raised church marketing to an art form, and that's not a compliment.
A European friend contacted me to ask: do Christians in the U.S. really not believe in evolution? if not, why not? do they go to school?
I thought: what amazing innocence. How pleasant to live in so rarefied a world.
Sometimes all I can do is watch this pointless tragedy unfold. Everyone here lives in their own stereotypes and prejudices. These set the program for tragedy, anger and alienation. Where is the courage to listen and think critically? Bad preachers being bad does not make all preachers bad. Angry professors being angry does not make all professors angry.
Instead of defending our position, listen to the other person's position. This can take great patience because sometimes the other position can be total nonsense from our point of view or it can be nonsense based on the observable facts. Listening builds respect and opens channels of communication. Listening also keeps us from finger pointing, scolding and correcting. If we listen first, we can build respect, later we can explain and possibly teach.
I'll give faded 10 woo points for that comment. I feel like I need to mainline some insulin.
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