it doesn't matter what church you go to, they will say things that don't make any logical sense. cognitive dissonance is the reason i'm no longer a christian, not any sort of bitterness or hatred toward the church or her politics (which is ALWAYS what people assume). i actually LOVE lakewood church now, hated it before. i enjoy it for what it is, great music, production values and a sparkly, upbeat motivational speaker. Spoiler
Confused...are you implying that the pope is not pushing that christianity is the one true faith, or that gay marriage is bad, or that contraception is for sinners etc? I think I know what you meant...just clarifying; I admit that I am not an expert on how catholics impress subjective ethics on their parishioners.
Cognitive dissonance is part of every Christian's experience. That is what faith is about, I think. It's what you do with it that counts!
No - I'm saying that the sermon at a Catholic Church is more strongly controlled by the Pope. Whatever the Pope's message is that week is what's basically preached at every Catholic Church (with some limited variation in style). So you're not going to have a Catholic Church go off the reservation and randomly preach lots of hate in the same way that a local Protestant Church will. Those churches will far more take on the personality of the individual pastor, whereas a Catholic Church won't do that.
I'm sorry that you had this experience. It is truly something I despise hearing in churches. Fortunately, I've only heard one sermon like that in the last 12 years since I started back to church. Please be aware that it is the minority of churches that actually preach that crap, and most are hardline Baptist, Church of Christ, or a non-denominational church (although most non-denominational churches don't preach that either). Finding a church is a matter of finding one that works for you. Although I personally believe that if you agree 100% with what a Pastor says..then you are "doing church the wrong way". There are churches that fall more in line with what you believe, you just have to do some research and find the ones you like best. I pray that you will come to the conclusion that most Christians are not that way..and it sometimes seems that way because the ones who are happen to be the most vocal ones - the vocal minority. My old church had quite a few gay attendees, and I know a few gay couples that regularly attend church. At one time, the ELCA Lutheran website described the bible as God's inspired word, written by man and including mans limited world view, knowledge, and morals of the time. The idea is to understand not just what is said in the bible, but to understand it as it correlates to society at the time. In other words, the bible was corrupted a bit by the men who wrote it down. After all, men are fallible. This is considered a very liberal view of the bible that I thought was spot-on. I truly hope your next experience is better.
This is so illogical. Your problem with Christianity is that you don't believe in Christianity. It is absolutely foolish for people to say things like "I'd be all for religion x if it didn't say other religions were wrong." Why would it make sense for a religion to preach about going to heaven and stuff if they then said "but everyone else will be going to no matter what they believe." It is perfectly acceptable for you to not believe in any particular religion, but it is flat out dumb to say the problem with that religion is that it says others are false. If religion x teaches that religion y is also correct, what is the point in believing in religion x? "I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross so I could go to heaven. But I also believe that I can get to heaven by believing Jesus was NOT the son of God. I also believe that there is no heaven and that we can be reincarnated and reach enlightenment. All religions are right!" It is more logical to say they are all wrong than to say they are all right.
Does your current church preach that Jesus is the son of God and the way to get to heaven and then at the end say "It is also true though that you will go to heaven no matter what you believe so thanks for sitting through this hour long sermon about Jesus that really doesn't matter. Now, go be a nice person!"
I have never really noticed this, unless the default Pope's message is to preach based on the Gospel reading for that day. In my experience, most of the time, the homily is based on that week's readings. Other times it is due to a special circumstance (annual Diocese appeal, Church mission work, world wide event, etc.). Other times, it is simply random. 4 or 5 times during the year, there is a visiting Priest or Missionary talking about their work.
I grew up in a catholic education and went to church semi consistently throughout my youth, but have not been in several years. It is a little subtle, but what turned my off was the people at the church. I see women getting out of their expensive cars, covered in make up and jewels, and nose to the sky. Too me it was like they were in the ritual for their own satisfaction rather than for God, Jesus or whatever. It seemed as if the same people I would see at church were the same people scoffing at the homeless and only interested in themselves. I know this is not the total experience and the new pope is show how it should be done IMO...all this being said I has turned me away from it, probably for good.
why would you assume that? They teach that the only way to salvation is through the belief in Jesus the son of God. What they DON'T do is preach condemnation or to be judgmental of others. They preach to Love EVERYBODY regardless of their beliefs or lifestyles. After all, Jesus didn't hang out with the people in the church of his day.
I'm a Christian, and I thoroughly disapprove of any hate speech spoken at a sermon. However, as for the 'I'm right and you're wrong" portion, I think it's the necessary component to ANY religion. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not an attractive idea. No one truly likes to tell other people that they're completely wrong about their worldview, but to be a Christian involves that. If you accept other worldviews then you're simply not a Christian. And the same could be said about any other religion. If you follow Muhammad, you are assuming that all other worldviews are wrong. If you are a Jew, you are assuming that all other worldviews are wrong. Like i said, it's certainly not nice. But I like to call it how it is, and any religion takes that stance. Now, as for wars and fights that break out in the name of Christianity because of the 'I'm right and you're wrong" mindset, that usually is because of the state. Seperation of Church and State was an amazing idea because of the fact that this marriage that church and state had in history became corrupt and bloody. The state used the church for its own means, and the church lost its Godly direction just to obey the state. But that's getting way off topic. At the end of the day, do I ever tell anyone that you they are wrong and I am right? No, but I certainly assume that stance when I claim Christianity. And why? I've just been witness to what I qualify as miracles, and through deep studies, just can't deny that there is an all-loving God.
Sure I get that. But it seems that a lot of people don't like for a church to say other religions are wrong. What is the point in being a member of a faith if you believe all other faiths are also right? They can't ALL be right. Christianity teaches that Jesus is the son of God. If you don't believe that core belief, you aren't a Christian. Well, Islam does not agree that Jesus is the son of God. Hinduisim obviously doesn't believe that. Judaism doesn't believe that to be true. They can't all be right on that issue.
Sorry - that's basically what I meant. My experience is more with Protestant Churches so I'm just going on what my Catholic friends tell me. There's a more uniform message and reading in a Catholic Church, whereas a Protestant Church has far more flexibility in preaching about whatever they want that day. Their head pastors don't answer to anyone higher in the heirarchy so as long as their members are OK with it, there's nothing preventing them from going off the reservation and preaching things that don't even fit the Bible (the Prosperity Gospel, etc). Those are things, from my understanding, that would never happen in the Catholic Church.
It honestly depends on the church. When I was younger and would visit my friends they would go to the Oasis church in LA (David Robinson also went to that church for some time) and I would hang out with the family and friends and attend events with them. Being an atheist there everybody was incredibly nice to me anyway and nobody ever treated me like I was evil or anything. On the other hand I was spat at by an old lady the other day because I helped her out when she dropped her groceries and I wasn't Christian so...
I get ya brother. My point is that there are different preaching styles and different ways of saying things. You can teach that Christ is the Son of God and the ONLY way to heaven without being hateful or spiteful towards other people or religions. It sounded like the OP's sermon experience wasn't filled with love, but rather filled with condemnation. That is what turns off most people from religion today, and unfortunately people identify those types of sermons with Christianity. I would rather Christianity to be identified with showing Gods love by loving and helping others - preaching about being more Christ-like.
