Drink the Kool-Aid....
"...it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven".
As a favour to one of his friends, my love and I went to a different 'church' on Sunday. His friend (who is an absolute doll and I know we would become fast friends if given the opportunity) is concerned about her 14 y/o daughter attending a church other than the Catholic church.
I can identify with this on a lot of levels. First off I myself was rebellious and left the church and argued with my mom at about the same age. Luckily I turned to the Presbyterian church and my mom relaxed her grip a bit. Sure I was also studying 'things' of a 'pagan nature' but my mom did not know this since it was mainly 'self-study'. Secondly my own daughter is now in involved in what I consider to be a 'cult' and I worry for her (yes worry as if it were being led by David Koresh) - so from my own personal experience I can understand the fear, the worry but also the sense of needing to 'explore' and rebel against what you are suppose to just blindly follow because your parents 'say so'
We showed up at the church (I use this term lightly only because it was housed in an unlikely place and I have seen these types of churches. I think of them as 'church mills' sort of like puppy mills only different - they pop up in weird locations and they usually have unusual names and they don't seem to be on the 'up and up'.
We promised to be open minded so we went in. It reminded me of some of the services I had attended with various friends when I lived down in Houston, however those church services were usually held in a poor Baptist church and they may have been short on money but they were long on 'spirit' and there were Gospel choirs that shook the walls with the songs of praise and their reverence. Someone (such as myself) who was born and raised Catholic can be sometimes a bit frightened witnessing those possessed by 'the Holy Spirit' it can be loud and raucous and really intense.
At first I thought things were not so bad in this place seemed a bit 'rag tag' but that's OK, people are allowed to worship it does not have to be a cathedral for God to be present. Congregants took turns 'witnessing' (this is what it is called), there did not seem to be a set schedule to the worship service or it seemed to me a bit disjointed. Also there seemed to be more than one 'Pastor'
It came time for the offering, I put $2 in an envelope simply because I was a guest in this 'house of God' and also because from what they were saying, they did do some good works in the form of feeding the hungry down at the 'City Mission' and I want the poor helped and the hungry fed.
Then another 'Pastor' stood at the pulpit and began talking about giving money to the church; he kept saying that when you give money that God then takes care of you (I do agree with this sentiment to some extent), but he was going on and on about prosperity how God does not want people to be poor and that if you are complaining about not having money or being sick that people won't 'come to God' because of you (????) at any rate he seemed to get more and more insistent that giving of sums like $27,000 (I don't know why he kept bringing up that number - he said something to the effect of just getting a check for that much, or paid that much, or some such crap) and hundreds of thousands of dollars to help build a church (THEIR church) should be a sacred charge for each congregant. All through the service my boyfriend and I (we sat across the aisle from each other - I was seated next to his worried friend - he was seated next to her daughter) - kept exchanging glances, sometimes worrisome, sometimes smirks (well maybe not smirks - it's not like we were feeling superior), perhaps they were more just WTF??? glances...
Finally I think he had had enough. He looked at me and mouthed "I am leaving" and stood up to walk out. I excused myself telling his friend that I'd be back, went outside...he hugged me and we both breathed a collective sigh of relief and then both of us related to each other feeling the same about the 'message' we were hearing. We were joined by the little 14 yr old girl who came out to ask us to turn in the slips of paper with our names/addresses, so that we could be perhaps contacted (brainwashed? Sorry had to go there) by the church elders...
My dear man talked to this young girl, was very gentle and loving and kind to her and he ripped up the piece of paper - she seemed to have tears in her eyes; she kept apologizing for us not 'liking' the church - I told her at one point to not apologise for the church or it's actions. She hugged me and told me it was good meeting me. What a lovely young woman she is going to be...
My boyfriend asked me for a moment alone with her and I walked to his truck. I waited while he spoke to her and hugged her, then we drove to his house, talking about our impressions. We both felt the same. I finally said something about the cultish quality and that they may be offering their parishioners what they think is the message of God but in the end it 'still ends up being Jim Jones Kool-Aid' - and I don't mean to 'go there' I am not trying to be judge and jury here but the place reeked of bilking people out of their money and of people who just seemed to be 'shady' and dishonest - I can't help the vibes I get. That is not to say there were not good people/congregants/ministers amongst them - but I just did not sense it and some of it downright made my skin crawl.
I hope that this mother and her daughter are able to come to a sound decision about this church and that no harm is done to them as this young girl 'xplores' her options when it comes to worship. I hope they remain strong and close and loving. From what I can tell, this young girl IS surrounded by people how love her dearly including my boyfriend and that only make me love him all the more...
As a favour to one of his friends, my love and I went to a different 'church' on Sunday. His friend (who is an absolute doll and I know we would become fast friends if given the opportunity) is concerned about her 14 y/o daughter attending a church other than the Catholic church.
I can identify with this on a lot of levels. First off I myself was rebellious and left the church and argued with my mom at about the same age. Luckily I turned to the Presbyterian church and my mom relaxed her grip a bit. Sure I was also studying 'things' of a 'pagan nature' but my mom did not know this since it was mainly 'self-study'. Secondly my own daughter is now in involved in what I consider to be a 'cult' and I worry for her (yes worry as if it were being led by David Koresh) - so from my own personal experience I can understand the fear, the worry but also the sense of needing to 'explore' and rebel against what you are suppose to just blindly follow because your parents 'say so'
We showed up at the church (I use this term lightly only because it was housed in an unlikely place and I have seen these types of churches. I think of them as 'church mills' sort of like puppy mills only different - they pop up in weird locations and they usually have unusual names and they don't seem to be on the 'up and up'.
We promised to be open minded so we went in. It reminded me of some of the services I had attended with various friends when I lived down in Houston, however those church services were usually held in a poor Baptist church and they may have been short on money but they were long on 'spirit' and there were Gospel choirs that shook the walls with the songs of praise and their reverence. Someone (such as myself) who was born and raised Catholic can be sometimes a bit frightened witnessing those possessed by 'the Holy Spirit' it can be loud and raucous and really intense.
At first I thought things were not so bad in this place seemed a bit 'rag tag' but that's OK, people are allowed to worship it does not have to be a cathedral for God to be present. Congregants took turns 'witnessing' (this is what it is called), there did not seem to be a set schedule to the worship service or it seemed to me a bit disjointed. Also there seemed to be more than one 'Pastor'
It came time for the offering, I put $2 in an envelope simply because I was a guest in this 'house of God' and also because from what they were saying, they did do some good works in the form of feeding the hungry down at the 'City Mission' and I want the poor helped and the hungry fed.
Then another 'Pastor' stood at the pulpit and began talking about giving money to the church; he kept saying that when you give money that God then takes care of you (I do agree with this sentiment to some extent), but he was going on and on about prosperity how God does not want people to be poor and that if you are complaining about not having money or being sick that people won't 'come to God' because of you (????) at any rate he seemed to get more and more insistent that giving of sums like $27,000 (I don't know why he kept bringing up that number - he said something to the effect of just getting a check for that much, or paid that much, or some such crap) and hundreds of thousands of dollars to help build a church (THEIR church) should be a sacred charge for each congregant. All through the service my boyfriend and I (we sat across the aisle from each other - I was seated next to his worried friend - he was seated next to her daughter) - kept exchanging glances, sometimes worrisome, sometimes smirks (well maybe not smirks - it's not like we were feeling superior), perhaps they were more just WTF??? glances...
Finally I think he had had enough. He looked at me and mouthed "I am leaving" and stood up to walk out. I excused myself telling his friend that I'd be back, went outside...he hugged me and we both breathed a collective sigh of relief and then both of us related to each other feeling the same about the 'message' we were hearing. We were joined by the little 14 yr old girl who came out to ask us to turn in the slips of paper with our names/addresses, so that we could be perhaps contacted (brainwashed? Sorry had to go there) by the church elders...
My dear man talked to this young girl, was very gentle and loving and kind to her and he ripped up the piece of paper - she seemed to have tears in her eyes; she kept apologizing for us not 'liking' the church - I told her at one point to not apologise for the church or it's actions. She hugged me and told me it was good meeting me. What a lovely young woman she is going to be...
My boyfriend asked me for a moment alone with her and I walked to his truck. I waited while he spoke to her and hugged her, then we drove to his house, talking about our impressions. We both felt the same. I finally said something about the cultish quality and that they may be offering their parishioners what they think is the message of God but in the end it 'still ends up being Jim Jones Kool-Aid' - and I don't mean to 'go there' I am not trying to be judge and jury here but the place reeked of bilking people out of their money and of people who just seemed to be 'shady' and dishonest - I can't help the vibes I get. That is not to say there were not good people/congregants/ministers amongst them - but I just did not sense it and some of it downright made my skin crawl.
I hope that this mother and her daughter are able to come to a sound decision about this church and that no harm is done to them as this young girl 'xplores' her options when it comes to worship. I hope they remain strong and close and loving. From what I can tell, this young girl IS surrounded by people how love her dearly including my boyfriend and that only make me love him all the more...
posted by Colette at 9:41 AM
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