5 ms·
I see your point, but I think it goes the other way. Churches et al are microcosms of a geographic community, resulting in greater localized diversity of thoug
by IggleSniggle 5y ago
I see your point, but I think it goes the other way.
Churches et al are microcosms of a geographic community, resulting in greater localized diversity of thought. And these groups can either lead or hold back a community along the lines of race- and class-exclusion. The church I grew up with was the very first institution in my life that had an openly homosexual person in a position of power (the rector, in charge of the local church).
Point being, the exclusionary aspect of these institutions is often a reflection of the communities they exist within. Certainly clubs are self-grouping communities, with their own sets of exclusionary rules...and some clubs were and are quite explicit in their exclusions: anything that is pay-to-play is largely going to have an element of class-exclusion, whether you pay at the door or whether you pay with something you can "show" (eg being able to read Latin, being a great classical musician, etc). Certainly many clubs have been race- exclusionary, at times intentionally ("keep those people out!") and other times unintentionally ("wait you don't know about X??").
But just because these groups exhibited these exclusions, I don't think it necessarily follows that segregating by worldview is healthier than segregating by geographic region.
- ethbr0 5y agoMy childhood Southern Baptist church (irregularly attented, around holidays visiting family) had a female pastor. Eventually, the Southern Baptist Convention got around to noticing, and told them that wasn't allowed. They could either fire the pastor, or they'd lose SBC funding. ... to which the church replied that they were founded in 1804, liked their pastor just fine, and that the SBC could go have a talk with the devil, and take their money with them. :) So yes, it depends on the church.
- mbrodersen 5y agoI am not a church goer myself but I love how your church handled it. Kudos!
- idiotsecant 5y agoThere are certainly exceptions but the vast majority of the largest churches in the US are very homogeneous, more so than the communities they are a part of. There are some groups, for example the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's witnesses that seem to buck this trend but your average Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Jewish, Mormon, etc congregations tend to be very homogeneous.
- ipaddr 5y agoIf you live in a big city this isn't true for big tent religions. Catholic churches have a variety of different people from South American, East Asian, Italian, French, Irish.