He was a strange fellow, wasn't he? Lotta hangups, that boy.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

oh yeah... Christianity is ok, but the Paulianism we got is .. umm... weird

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Are you serious? There's such thing? *giggles*

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Paulianism is a slang term in some communities, including the ex christian ones that i hang out in, for the fact that almost all of the objectionable stuff in "Christianity" that we fled from comes from the writings of .....Paul.
Not the sayings of Christ, or the teachings directly attributed to him, but the sermons and lectures of a man who never even met Him.

Christ spoke to women. there were women present when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentacost, Women were church elders and leaders, and Mary magdalene was "the one he loved best" (and even if you take it to mean purely platonic, that was a strong reference) and his mother, Mary, was a elder among the disciples.....
women were the first to see him after his ressurection, etc etc, etc
where does the whole anti women crap come from? Paul and later church teachings.

christ spoke out against "immorality" but had men and women seated together, and taught mixed gendered groups, despite the fact that local custom was completely against that.....
Paul preached abstinance and was vehemently anti sex.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Ah, I gotcha now. Yeah... I definitely agree with you on most of the crazy stuff coming from Paul. That, and misinterpretations (Sodom, anyone?)... it's pretty silly. Even if I wasn't existential and did for sure believe in a Higher Power, I doubt I would join a 'church' per se.. a little too much 'be like the preacher' and not enough 'be like the Christ'. >.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

i am a Preacher's Kid (PK).. like most PKs we "saw behind the curtain" when we were grouwing up, and there are very few ministers/rabbis/etc that practice what they preach ... mind you, i wont say "none". but when you see the doubt, the selective quoting, the daily life not matching up with the ideals at all...its not really good for your faith in your religion.

most PKs at least dabble in other religions, and many of us end up in religions other than what we were born into. In my case you can blame most of it on being far too well educated. "christianity says.." well no, Christ didnt say that, Paul said that.. or some Pope in the 9th century, or what have you..

Churches can be very useful, as gatherings of people with similar ideas and for study. (sort of like any convention or study group) but most of the churches out there are really weekly updates on the brainwashing "believe this, here is the reinforcing for this week" (look at twistedchick 's Lj for a good link on how brainwashing works in regular settings.)

a good "reality check" for most churches is ... how do they react to honest questions? does anyone support real discussion? or do they hand you a rote answer and tell you to memorize it?

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Yeah, I definitely agree with you on all that. I've known PKs before... I do know some churches I like. My grandmother's church (United Church) regularly holds open discussions on things like gay marriage (they decided to vote to allow it, both in the law and in their church), Christ's teachings, all kinds of stuff.

It seems somewhere along the way, we forgot what 'Christianity' meant.. not to pen others in, force people into things, or judge.. but to be as the Christ...

I will check out that LJ. I love learning about stuff like that X3

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)