1-3, the damage the church does, and...other things I might want to blog about
Ok, let's just rip off the band-aid...
The Steelers are 1-3. This is not good. Maybe they play better when they're backed into a corner. Maybe they enjoy being underdogs. I don't care. I don't enjoy it! I feel that the Steelers should be liable for heart problems I have later in life. If the Steelers don't bench Big Ben (at least for a game) they are playing for next year. I guess that's not fair to say. The whole team hasn't played a complete game yet. They can certainly rebound, but it isn't going to be easy.
If I wasn't a Steelers fan, a world I can't fathom, I would be cheering on da' Bears. Wow, they look amazing right now! Good for them! They've had some awful years recently and right now they are dominating. I also have to say that it is great to see some African American head coaches thriving. Of the three remaining undefeateds, two are coached by black head coaches. And Marvin Lewis is doing a great job in Cincinnati (though I wish he would stop!).
Though I am really only a football fan, I enjoy seeing the joy in the faces of my friends who root for the A's. I honestly haven't been into baseball since my grandfather died (I used to watch baseball with him when I was a kid). Still, there is palpable excitement around certain folks and that is fun for me. Go A's! (from the fan of A's fans)
Shift...
A friend of mine recently came out of the closet to his folks. His dad is a pretty conservative Presbyterian pastor. After a couple of days, his reaction to his son's news was one of the worst things I have ever heard. He told him that this was incredibly hard on him and that he would rather relive his parents' deaths. Let that sink in for a second...I know my friend's dad. He is a good guy. He will regret those words one day. Though I can't say for certain, I'd imagine that a lot of his frustration is that he has been pretty outspoken within the PC(USA) against homosexuality. I have to guess that a great deal of his frustration is church-related.
I went to a meeting a month agao with some folks who are interested in working on the issue of HIV/AIDS. One of the folks there, a gay man with a Catholic background, told the Christians in the room "As a movement, you have shitty PR". He broke into tears explaining the hurt he had experienced in the name of religion.
I have an archenemy. (this is related) His name is Fred Phelps. If Fred was here right now I would quote to him the lyrics of a song by the Plain White T's: Hate is a strong word, but I really, really, really don't like you. (it's a cool song!) Fred Phelps and his people live in a compound somewhere in middle America. They show up at funerals and protest, telling people that God hates them and their actions. They protested outside of Fred Rogers' funeral saying he was going to hell because Mr. Rogers said that we should love gay people. What kind of sick fuck do you have to be to protest outside of Mr. Rogers funeral?! They protest outside of funerals of soldiers coming back from Iraq. They recently were trying to protest outside of the funerals of kids who were killed in Amish country last week. They didn't show up. Why? Well, a syndicated radio show host offered them money not to show up at the funeral. They turned the offer down. Then he offered them air time on his nationally syndicated show. They took that. Grrrr...
Aside: "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake is not a good song. It is also illogical. When did "sexy" go away? Unfortunately, bad songs are often catchy.
okay, back to the matter at hand. I had a bad weekend in terms of thinking about the damage religion can do. After talking to my friend and then hearing the news about Fred Phelps (the Dr. Octopus to my Spiderman, the Megatron to my Optimus Prime, the Phil Angelides to my Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc...) Marnie and I watch a dateline special about a priest who had fathered two children with an emotionally unstable woman. The church shuffled him all over the place to cover the issue up. He then stood by as the woman overdosed on pills and died. The woman's now adult children confronted him and got him to take paternity test to confirm that he was their biological father. These folks suffered significantly because of the church and a man not living up to his vows of celibacy.
I wouldn't be at seminary if I didn't believe that the church was capable of an equal or greater proportion of good as it is evil. But somedays, I wonder...
The Steelers are 1-3. This is not good. Maybe they play better when they're backed into a corner. Maybe they enjoy being underdogs. I don't care. I don't enjoy it! I feel that the Steelers should be liable for heart problems I have later in life. If the Steelers don't bench Big Ben (at least for a game) they are playing for next year. I guess that's not fair to say. The whole team hasn't played a complete game yet. They can certainly rebound, but it isn't going to be easy.
If I wasn't a Steelers fan, a world I can't fathom, I would be cheering on da' Bears. Wow, they look amazing right now! Good for them! They've had some awful years recently and right now they are dominating. I also have to say that it is great to see some African American head coaches thriving. Of the three remaining undefeateds, two are coached by black head coaches. And Marvin Lewis is doing a great job in Cincinnati (though I wish he would stop!).
Though I am really only a football fan, I enjoy seeing the joy in the faces of my friends who root for the A's. I honestly haven't been into baseball since my grandfather died (I used to watch baseball with him when I was a kid). Still, there is palpable excitement around certain folks and that is fun for me. Go A's! (from the fan of A's fans)
Shift...
A friend of mine recently came out of the closet to his folks. His dad is a pretty conservative Presbyterian pastor. After a couple of days, his reaction to his son's news was one of the worst things I have ever heard. He told him that this was incredibly hard on him and that he would rather relive his parents' deaths. Let that sink in for a second...I know my friend's dad. He is a good guy. He will regret those words one day. Though I can't say for certain, I'd imagine that a lot of his frustration is that he has been pretty outspoken within the PC(USA) against homosexuality. I have to guess that a great deal of his frustration is church-related.
I went to a meeting a month agao with some folks who are interested in working on the issue of HIV/AIDS. One of the folks there, a gay man with a Catholic background, told the Christians in the room "As a movement, you have shitty PR". He broke into tears explaining the hurt he had experienced in the name of religion.
I have an archenemy. (this is related) His name is Fred Phelps. If Fred was here right now I would quote to him the lyrics of a song by the Plain White T's: Hate is a strong word, but I really, really, really don't like you. (it's a cool song!) Fred Phelps and his people live in a compound somewhere in middle America. They show up at funerals and protest, telling people that God hates them and their actions. They protested outside of Fred Rogers' funeral saying he was going to hell because Mr. Rogers said that we should love gay people. What kind of sick fuck do you have to be to protest outside of Mr. Rogers funeral?! They protest outside of funerals of soldiers coming back from Iraq. They recently were trying to protest outside of the funerals of kids who were killed in Amish country last week. They didn't show up. Why? Well, a syndicated radio show host offered them money not to show up at the funeral. They turned the offer down. Then he offered them air time on his nationally syndicated show. They took that. Grrrr...
Aside: "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake is not a good song. It is also illogical. When did "sexy" go away? Unfortunately, bad songs are often catchy.
okay, back to the matter at hand. I had a bad weekend in terms of thinking about the damage religion can do. After talking to my friend and then hearing the news about Fred Phelps (the Dr. Octopus to my Spiderman, the Megatron to my Optimus Prime, the Phil Angelides to my Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc...) Marnie and I watch a dateline special about a priest who had fathered two children with an emotionally unstable woman. The church shuffled him all over the place to cover the issue up. He then stood by as the woman overdosed on pills and died. The woman's now adult children confronted him and got him to take paternity test to confirm that he was their biological father. These folks suffered significantly because of the church and a man not living up to his vows of celibacy.
I wouldn't be at seminary if I didn't believe that the church was capable of an equal or greater proportion of good as it is evil. But somedays, I wonder...
I heard about these protester people, isn't it scary. Andrew Ward woke up early to listen to them on the radio. He said they hate everybody, for basically anything.
He was really shocked how much these people could hate. You should ask him about it.
Posted by
Nick Larson |
2:50 PM
Fred Phelps and his crew are pretty messed up, but it's a really sad little setup he has going on anyway. His whole church is basically his own family - but not even his whole family. One of his children (maybe more) have openly said they think their Dad is a looney - Mr. Phelps of course disowned them. It's an incestuous little gathering. They are loud, but they don't represent the Church.
Posted by
Anonymous |
5:34 PM
Wow . . Phelps, Timberlake, Steelers . . now that's a blog.
I would agree (and each of the stories are grrrrrr!) that the church has done crap loads of damage . . . but somehow, someway (God maybe?) despite humanity's worst intentions, oppressed people continually find a word of liberation that frees the body and spirit. I yearn to be a faithful part of that liberation for myself, my community and the world. In that yearning and struggle lies my hope and joy in Christ.
And if that ain't cheesy enough, in the words yet another songster, Will Smith, in "Just the Two of Us"
Throughout life people will make you mad
Disrespect you and treat you bad
Let God deal with the things they do
Cause hate in your heart will consume you too
My daughters LOVE that song because it makes each of them feel special and loved by God via their dad... nd mom when she gts her rap groove on ;-) If they could hold onto and live that image and idea of God in the world, what could be more liberating and healing than that?
Posted by
Anonymous |
9:58 AM
I'm not sure how I feel about people quoting Will Smith on my blog. Seems wrong.
The point, though, is right on. The Spirit of God continues to lead those who are faithful to the Gospel's message into doing redemptive work and we can't get caught up in allowing us to distort the image of God in the world.
It is unfortunate that folks like Phelps can get associated with the church, but I think Joe Public knows a nutjob when they see one. Still, I think we have some cleaning up to do.
Posted by
dlweston |
8:35 AM
you are one of many, many people who are better people than i am. if Fred Phelps was standing in front of me, i'd probably punch him in the face.
i'd like to think that i'm one up on him because i just hate Fred Phelps, whereas he hates everyone, but i know i'm wrong.
still, if i didn't punch him in the face, i'd feel that i'd wasted a wonderful opportunity.
isn't it great that i'm going to be a minister? i'm excited.
Posted by
Douglas Underhill |
6:22 PM