4 ms·

The community of my church is probably keeping me there more than my faith is.

ryandrake 4y ago
I'd probably be more into church if it was just a social club and didn't come with that expectation that you'd be worshiping an invisible sky daddy, adopting questionable morality/philosophies, and attending what's basically a Republican political rally every Sunday. My wife goes to hers and it's nice, socially for her, that it comes prepackaged with a ready-made group of friends, but as soon as the Bibles and Trump flags come out, I bounce.
- formerkrogemp 4y ago
  Heck I would join a church for the community if the faith part and Trumpettes weren't involved. Unfortunately all of the churches around here have more red hats than not.
  - hattmall 4y ago
    If your part of a community that meets your social needs your world view changes and you become conservative. The exception is the groups that aren't directly opposed to conservatism but they typically lack the true community adhesion. This isn't a democrat or republican thing though, you can totally join a Democratic church, with a strong community, but they are largely minority churches. They are also still generally conservative.
- hstan4 4y ago
  It’s sad to hear someone’s view of church be similar to that of a political rally because that’s far from the truth of all the churches I’ve been to. Of course, we do read the Bible and worship God, but this social club that comes with “prepackaged” friends that you refer to can’t exist unless the people going agree on some ideas of morality and philosophies of why we’re here on Earth.
- organsnyder 4y ago
  I'm fortunate to attend a church that is socially progressive, theologically rigorous, and relishes honest questioning and debate. I don't think I would have maintained my faith without this environment.
- ajmurmann 4y ago
  Agreed. There was an interesting post here recently that had this theory why churches work: "Eventually, you pick a relatively relaxed “normal” religion, complete with all the “God” stuff. You don’t believe everything they say is literally true, but our reality is strange and inexplicable, so who knows? There’s a great stable community and you talk about the broader themes of life and you’re healthier and happier. You secretly guess that the group is sustained by a minority of true believers who make up critical mass for a larger group of people like you, but you never talk about this and neither does anyone else. When you have kids, you feel weird about explaining your thoughts about all this to them, but you don’t parrot back what the religion says when you’re talking about the meaning of life either." https://dynomight.net/plans/ https://dynomight.net/plans/

I'd probably be more into church if it was just a social club and didn't come with that expectation that you'd be worshiping an invisible sky daddy, adopting questionable morality/philosophies, and attending what's basically a Republican political rally every Sunday. My wife goes to hers and it's nice, socially for her, that it comes prepackaged with a ready-made group of friends, but as soon as the Bibles and Trump flags come out, I bounce.

formerkrogemp 4y ago
Heck I would join a church for the community if the faith part and Trumpettes weren't involved. Unfortunately all of the churches around here have more red hats than not.
- hattmall 4y ago
  If your part of a community that meets your social needs your world view changes and you become conservative. The exception is the groups that aren't directly opposed to conservatism but they typically lack the true community adhesion. This isn't a democrat or republican thing though, you can totally join a Democratic church, with a strong community, but they are largely minority churches. They are also still generally conservative.
hstan4 4y ago
It’s sad to hear someone’s view of church be similar to that of a political rally because that’s far from the truth of all the churches I’ve been to. Of course, we do read the Bible and worship God, but this social club that comes with “prepackaged” friends that you refer to can’t exist unless the people going agree on some ideas of morality and philosophies of why we’re here on Earth.
organsnyder 4y ago
I'm fortunate to attend a church that is socially progressive, theologically rigorous, and relishes honest questioning and debate. I don't think I would have maintained my faith without this environment.
ajmurmann 4y ago
Agreed. There was an interesting post here recently that had this theory why churches work: "Eventually, you pick a relatively relaxed “normal” religion, complete with all the “God” stuff. You don’t believe everything they say is literally true, but our reality is strange and inexplicable, so who knows? There’s a great stable community and you talk about the broader themes of life and you’re healthier and happier. You secretly guess that the group is sustained by a minority of true believers who make up critical mass for a larger group of people like you, but you never talk about this and neither does anyone else. When you have kids, you feel weird about explaining your thoughts about all this to them, but you don’t parrot back what the religion says when you’re talking about the meaning of life either." https://dynomight.net/plans/ https://dynomight.net/plans/