At various times during the message, the minister cloaked himself in anti-intellectualism by disparaging scientist or claiming ignorance that wasn't his. It seemed that the embracement of complex intellectual concepts were associated with abandonment of God. College was described as a frightening place where agents of evil teach that Jesus was married or merely mortal. When explaining the odds of Christ fulfilling a certain number of prophecies he explained that it was one in 10 to the power of 157, then giggled and said he really didn't know what that meant. Of course he actually did understand the concept or he wouldn't have included it in the study guide we were provided.Towards the end of the service the sermon veered towards the scriptural support of Christ's divinity. Surprisingly, the minister said he wanted to move through this section quickly and his rate of presentation increased noticeably. There was no effort to involve critical thinking processes or discuss involved constructs and the very foundation of their faith were glossed over in an apparent aside. The main gist of the message had been to play on the congregations emotions while spoon feeding them overly simplistic sound bites. I was disappointed with the shallowness of their spirituality as well as the self-centered focus. At no time was there any impetus towards service or benefiting others but instead the primary theme was one of fear and the anger it fuels.
The author also found this image at the church, titled "Prayer for Peace":
Think they vote Democratic? Amy Sullivan can click her heels together all she wants, but they're not voting progressively anytime soon...
No comments:
Post a Comment