tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post2218256718343295688..comments2024-02-19T07:24:42.397-08:00Comments on Anglican Curmudgeon: On Faith -- and the Dark SideA. S. Haleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-28684314584464124072012-06-15T22:55:57.527-07:002012-06-15T22:55:57.527-07:00This post grabbed me and I had to read the origina...This post grabbed me and I had to read the original, but what jumped out at me was different. His comment,"..all I want is to connect with others" and his observation what his(and my)generation won't accept: <br />" They will not put up with what they deem to be a lack of community and/or authenticity, and they will not abide anything that appears to simply be going through the motions or ... just being part of some spiritual/religious club." He sounds...single. Like he's been to too many churches like mine that say they welcome all, but if you're not married or don't have kids....you don't exist. For me, I want creeds and solid beliefs and sermons, etc. but the culture the church is protecting isn't the faith in Christ Jesus, it's a faith in nuclear families with kids. And if you don't have one of those, you're not welcome. It's common to many churches and denominations. Some are frank,"Let us help you find someone so you can join." Others more subtle.It's still true.<br /><br />When I read it I thought of the cults/gangs in the news my whole life and how they start out by befriending/"caring" for people first and then then teaching them what to believe, but the church says believe and have a family and then you can join. Your example of the marriage ceremony as the faith the church protects was so perfect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-17477837652428885552012-06-09T18:29:04.858-07:002012-06-09T18:29:04.858-07:00Thank you for your comments, SFitC. If the message...Thank you for your comments, SFitC. If the message of the Gospel which young people are hearing may be interpreted as all about human power, then it is not the message of the Gospel. The Gospel is all about <b>God's</b> redeeming power through the sacrifice of His Son, as understood through the grace of the Holy Spirit. If it were twisted into a means of some humans exercising power over others, then I, too, would recoil from it.<br /><br />My problem is not so much with what the young man in question is hearing in the churches he attends, but more with what he has <i>prevented</i> himself from hearing in those churches. How can the Word of God, even assuming it is being preached, be heard when all the listener hears is a cacophony -- which he <i>likes,</i> and assumes is normal?<br /><br />It all rather reminds me of an old story about an equally forceful young man who believed with all his heart that "music soothes the savage beast." So he took up the study of the violin, and studied so long and so well that there was no person who could listen to his playing without being moved to tears.<br /><br />Determined to put his skill to the ultimate test, he booked a safari to deepest Africa, and took his violin with him. Once in the midst of the jungle, he left the group and took off on his own until he found a clearing, whereupon he unpacked his violin and began to play.<br /><br />One by one, the wild animals of the jungle gathered in the clearing, spellbound by his beautiful music. A large number of them had gathered around the young man, when suddenly a huge tiger bounded into the clearing, pounced on the violinist, and devoured him then and there, leaving only his violin and bow behind.<br /><br />The other animals asked the tiger: "What in the world did you do that for? He was making such beautiful music!"<br /><br />And the tiger, laying a paw beside his ear, responded: "Ehh? What's that you say?"A. S. Haleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05108498446058643166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-64148003069048612252012-06-09T16:20:32.100-07:002012-06-09T16:20:32.100-07:00An interesting article. I would suggest that what ...An interesting article. I would suggest that what you're choosing not to hear is the belief by many of the young that what is given over as God's Word is in fact the machinations of human minds trying to acquire and maintain power over others - assertions to the contrary while going about business as usual simply endorsing their views.<br /><br />Interestingly those communities of Christ followers who emphasize the mysterium of God seem to be doing alright irrespective of their theology or liturgy (or lack thereof)...<br /><br />Thoughts?Small Farmer in The Cityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14271910054588466598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-31049762713489143962012-06-08T14:26:13.677-07:002012-06-08T14:26:13.677-07:00Underground Pewster,
I wholeheartedly agree, whic...<b>Underground Pewster</b>,<br /><br />I wholeheartedly agree, which is why I join my prayers to our esteemed host's and to yours. I was simply observing that there seem to be, and to have been, individuals who did succumb, and some of those may never have regained, insofar as we can know this side of the grave, their faith in anything absolute. It is indeed a most dangerous position in which to find oneself, and I see a lot of people around me in danger of falling victim to it.<br /><br /><i>Pax et bonum</i>,<br />Keith TöpferMartial Artisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11679584221923893460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-69507063193341705862012-06-07T19:17:02.073-07:002012-06-07T19:17:02.073-07:00Keith,
I don't know if there is "a point...Keith,<br /><br />I don't know if there is "a point in each person's life beyond which the idea that 'everything is relative' can become incontrovertible..."<br /><br />Having been raised in Episcopal church and having survived the most liberal teachings of "everything is relative," I pray that this young man will also discover that this is but a tender trap. A trap which ultimately leads to faith in uncertainty, which is not Faith at all. It results in a loss of your first love, the Love of Christ crucified, dead, and resurrected so that we might live. That is a loss that you, me, this young man, and the world can ill afford to have occur in our lives.Undergroundpewsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10182191422663119484noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-53324241320400729522012-06-07T15:50:03.748-07:002012-06-07T15:50:03.748-07:00"To thine own self be true" (Polonius a..."To thine own self be true" (Polonius a.k.a. the 'rat', a.k.a. the man who plays the fool in his own house). Shakespeare had it all figured out. I couldn't read his blogpost...it is so full of dry, nebulous vanity. I hear enough of it. Sadly, it is probably too late for him: he would rather watch his porn, play his video games, and continue thinking he is a clever fellow...oblivious to the tedious gasbag he really is.<br /><br />If I can ever get this stupid dissertation written (which isn't easy teaching 40 hours a week and then coming home to a loquacious and ever-attentive 6-year-old and a loud and dexterous 2-year-old...and all their friends, etc.), my wife and I want to leave the town where we live and move to one of three of four different areas where (1) there is an orthodox Episcopal/Anglican congregation and priest: we want to start a ministry for single moms and their children in urban and suburban areas. <br /><br />I think you have to start there...please pray that I can finish this academic stuff so that God can use us.The Reformed Reinhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12117578058106157744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759178030677978044.post-5186177575412166822012-06-07T14:59:40.149-07:002012-06-07T14:59:40.149-07:00Mr. Haley,
I join in your prayer, and hope that t...Mr. Haley,<br /><br />I join in your prayer, and hope that there will be many whose lives are changed as a result. Nevertheless, a part of me recognizes that there is a point in each person's life beyond which the idea that "<i>everything is relative</i>" can become incontrovertible, but only so up to the point that one's personal voyage runs aground on the rocks and shoals of absolute truth. Some survive the encounter and change, others do not. It is beyond a sorry state of affairs that our children should be facing such a future, but I fear that we may well be nearing a point in the course of Western civilization where it may, at least for a time, founder on those rocks and shoals. I hope and pray that our children and grandchildren may survive the travail and be saved.<br /><br /><i>Pax et bonum</i>,<br />Keith TöpferMartial Artisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11679584221923893460noreply@blogger.com