He is skeptical of hopefuls who try to point out all the good that the church is doing in the world, supposedly off-setting all the evil that the church is doing in the world. Their mantra seems to be the quip, "The church is a whore, but she is my mother" attributed to Saint Augustine, which implies that there should be some loyalty to the church despite her habitual spiritual prostitution (the poop in the brownies). My friend would agree with only half of Augustine's statement, saying yes, the church is a whore, but no, she is not my mother! He sees nothing good to be credited to her.
My view is a little less sweeping but no more hopeful. While I do acknowledge, with my friend, that there is a lot of bad in the system, I also have experienced a lot of good that has been accomplished within the system, so I would not be so eager to throw out the whole thing. That said, I don't see any solution for the bad that is entrenched in the institution; I don't think, for example, that over-bearing controllers can ever be successfully removed from the system, and with that in mind, the only solution is exile for those who can't tolerate the abuses of those ungodly bullies. Further, there are destructive doctrines and orthodoxies that I don't see changing any time soon.
On the other hand, I have seen great things accomplished in spite of the poop. I have been a part of neighborhood outreaches, humanitarian initiatives, and global missions that have had tremendous redeeming value in the world.
So is there a lot of poop in the system? Yes, but some of those problems can be found wherever you go. Shoot, even in small house meetings you can find domineering personalities and questionable theologies. So I'm not ready to throw out the brownies. However, whenever and wherever there are realities that render the system either useless or harmful, we each have a choice as to how much of our energy and life force we will continue to invest in the program, whether it's small or large.
In my case, having become hopeless that there will ever be significant improvement in the systems, I have pretty much thrown out my local assembly and my denomination. The poop has become so pervasive that there is little redeeming value in either, other than the sanctuary they provide for a homogeneous group of faithful followers. But I am not ready to say that there aren't many many good congregations and possibly a few evangelical denominations that maintain a viable presence in the spiritual world. So I'm not throwing out all the brownies-- just certain ones.
I guess I would say that Saint Augustine does not speak for me-- or for my young friend and a million other disenchanteds-- when he suggests any sort of loyalty to a sinful mother church.
One more important observation should be mentioned before ending this blog: My young disenfranchised friend and I represent a growing multitude of believers who are exiled from the religious institution for an assortment of reasons. It would not be wise for leaders of churches and denominations to dismiss this movement as rebellious and insignificant. They do so to their own eventual self-destruction. To shore up the walls of the fortress by re-asserting traditional doctrines and orthodoxies is to accelerate the eventual but certain fall of the empire.
The best way to maintain the viability of the establishment is to listen to the people, especially the dissidents, and make appropriate changes, no matter how drastic, to keep it relevant (get rid of the poop).
Good luck with that.
Philosopher, Stephen Law, speaks for me when he says (however crudely), "we should be cultivating an alertness for bullshit... My guess is that it is bullshit that will ultimately bring about the end of civilization."
And so it may well be with the religious empire.
I guess I would say that Saint Augustine does not speak for me-- or for my young friend and a million other disenchanteds-- when he suggests any sort of loyalty to a sinful mother church.
One more important observation should be mentioned before ending this blog: My young disenfranchised friend and I represent a growing multitude of believers who are exiled from the religious institution for an assortment of reasons. It would not be wise for leaders of churches and denominations to dismiss this movement as rebellious and insignificant. They do so to their own eventual self-destruction. To shore up the walls of the fortress by re-asserting traditional doctrines and orthodoxies is to accelerate the eventual but certain fall of the empire.
The best way to maintain the viability of the establishment is to listen to the people, especially the dissidents, and make appropriate changes, no matter how drastic, to keep it relevant (get rid of the poop).
Good luck with that.
Philosopher, Stephen Law, speaks for me when he says (however crudely), "we should be cultivating an alertness for bullshit... My guess is that it is bullshit that will ultimately bring about the end of civilization."
And so it may well be with the religious empire.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing Bob. I have to believe there are more voicing this inside than can be realized. It is a matter of getting fair and free ground for a voice. But I believe that is a problem. Secondly, is fear. Come to think of it, it may all be because of fear. That may BE the main problem. Being honest, it sure is mine.
I love this statement: "we each have a choice as to how much of our energy and life force we will continue to invest in the program, whether it's small or large." That is my conclusion. Living in an urban area, I have found a couple established churches that seem to preach freedom. But when I began to get involved in ministry there, that's when the poop began to smell. So I choose to invest less in the church and more in my neighbors.
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