Sailor: Your discussion of his Bible really hit home. I have a born again Christian working for me - wonderful person, known her for 15 years. She's brilliant and can discuss the various language/interpretation issues involved in the Bible with the best of them.
And then she turns around and says the earth is 6,000 years old, evolution is a lie, and an 800 year old man built a giant ark and took 2 or 3 of every animal on a cruise.
It's like there's a switch in their heads they can turn on and off at random.
I don't get it. Never will.
But I do love some of them. Damn good people.
Bob,
I've had similar experiences with evangelicals. I was hired by a Baptist fundamentalist church to produce, record and edit their weekly radio program.
I got to know the pastor quite well during the ensuing time and we would frequently have religious/moral discussions after the sessions. He was open to new ideas and I like to think I had some influence on his views. (e.g. I raised some questions about why he had to constantly ask for money during the broadcast since one of his tenets was 'the Lord would provide.' He agreed with me, dropped the $$ harangue, and donations didn't fall.)
I know he some influence on my views, especially after I saw several examples of him not just talking the talk but walking the walk.
- He put some kids from his congregation up at his house for months when their parents were having money/marital problems.
- He bought groceries and paid for a hotel room when neighbors of one of his congregation had their house burn down.
- He defended my hiring when some of his flock weren't pleased about the leather jacketed, long haired non-believer in their midst.
He had this great Bible with literal translations for every passage from the original Aramic, Greek or Hebrew. We had some very interesting discussions about what certain passages meant and whether it was fair to cherry-pick arguments IRT homosexuality or infidelity.
I eventually left because of moral compunctions when the program started being broadcast on shortwave radio to the 3rd world.
I have a hard time putting into words why I drew a moral distinction between preaching to poor Americans and poverty stricken 3rd worlders but it just didn't seem right.
I’m a far left atheist who works for the Army. In other words I spend my work life with people who are nothing like me politically or religiously. I’ve gotten to know – and like – a host of fundamentalist Christians. They are genuinely decent people. I know in my heart were I ever to hit rock bottom and be in desperate need of help they would be there. Hell, they’d go to war for me. I would feel sorry for any bureaucrat who tried to deny me a service or benefit because these people would tear him apart.
Just north of where I live is a really run down neighborhood filled with drug addicts and prostitutes. Who runs the shelters there? Who provides showers, food and clothes for the junkies? Not liberal groups, not conservative groups, not government agencies. It’s the very churches these people belong to
Which is why I will never understand their more generalized fears. They know I have nothing in common with them but they see me as a good person and thus will help. And yes, their work with the junkies and prostitutes does have a self-serving element to it – they hope to convert. But they are there every goddamn day, rain, snow, sleet, it doesn’t matter. They do the hard work the rest of us are too busy for.
And then they turn around and get bent out of shape over a mural showing accurate scenes from our history. I’ll just never get it.
Btw – many years ago I attended a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium. I don’t remember the occasion – it was an anniversary of something – so the game was only a small part of the evenings festivities. The highlight of the evening – at least for me – was Yvonne Elliman standing on second base singing “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”. A beautiful song sung beautifully.
Whew! Lucky thing the artist didn't compound things by depicting images of Doug Henning conducting "wizardry".
"Bastrop resident Lauren Hansell, who made the original complaint, homeschools her children..."
Oh dear
;>)
Someone needs to file a complaint about her praying to the giant phallic symbol of a flagpole every Friday on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath no less.
These types have no tolerance for tolerance and understanding. If they can't suck the joy and wonder out of life for everyone around them they feel like failures.
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