Godless Girl

… and her adventures in Atheism

Posts Tagged church

Teenagers Ditching Youth Group & Church

Aug 11

Posted by Godless Girl in christianity, religion, society | 13 Comments

photo by marcia furman

USA Today published a short piece on how the days of overcrowded youth groups and church trips are over.

Only about one in four teens now participate in church youth groups, considered the hallmark of involvement; numbers have been flat since 1999. Other measures of religiosity — prayer, Bible reading and going to church — lag as well, according to Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif., evangelical research company. This all has churches canceling their summer teen camps and youth pastors looking worriedly toward the fall, when school-year youth groups kick in.

A few individuals guess why kids are ditching:

“Talking to God may be losing out to Facebook,” says Barna president David Kinnaman.

“I blame the parents,”who didn’t grow up in a church culture, says Jeremy Johnston, executive pastor at First Family Church in Overland Park, Kan. … “Remember, 80% of kids don’t have cars. Their parents could be lazy or the opposite — overstressed and overcommitted. If parents don’t go to church, kids don’t, either.”

Don’t forget the overcommitted teens themselves, the recession and growing competition from summer mission trips, says Rick Gage of Go-Tell Youth Camps, based in Duluth, Ga.

But then this quote sneaks in at the very end without any explanation or curiosity from the authors:

“I started to question if it was something I always wanted to do or if I just went because my friends did,” says Atkeson, now 18. “It just wasn’t really something I wanted to continue to do. My beliefs changed. I wouldn’t consider myself a Christian anymore.”

This is where I think the article would get interesting! Why did they stop there? This may be the most important issue—beyond lazy parents and facebook.

There must be more to kids leaving Christianity other than “I’m not attending church” or “I’m not going to camps with my youth group.” Many Christians often say things like, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a mechanic.” If Christianity and faith is so much more than just attending services, then what’s causing this shift in teen commitments?

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Ted Haggard “Over-Repented?”

Aug 1

Posted by Godless Girl in christianity, religion | 2 Comments

ted haggard

Iz just kidding bout teh butt secks! lulz!

So Ted Haggard—former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of a right-wing megachurch in Colorado Springs, Colorado—had a long-standing affair with a gay prostitute and smoked crystal meth. This was back in 2006. He resigned from his leadership positions and publicly apologized for his “sinful behavior.”

Now, Haggard is working on building up a new church which is, yet again, in Colorado Springs, CO. “In a July 2010 interview he gave to CNN, Haggard claims that his feelings of sexual attraction to other men have miraculously disappeared. Haggard now portrays his encounter with the prostitute as a massage that went awry (wikipedia).” That was one long-term massage, Mr. Haggard!

After changing his story, now Haggard claims he “over-apologized”:

It seems to me that Haggard may be back-peddling to make his sin sound less awful than he previously admitted it really was.  Perhaps he’s trying to justify his right to preach morality and righteousness. Perhaps he’s downgrading from “horrible sin” to “street cred”. Check out this article on his return to the pulpit where he explains how his public sin has become a great thing for his church.

Oh, what a guy.

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Do You Participate When You Don’t Believe?

Jun 28

Posted by Godless Girl in christianity, god, personal, religion | 31 Comments

I was recently a bridesmaid in a wedding–bouquet and all. It was a gorgeous event, and I had a wonderful time celebrating my childhood best friend’s marriage to her new husband. Standing up with her was a youthful dream come true.

The wedding mass was held in an old, opulent Roman Catholic church where the bride is a member. I didn’t mind this despite my divorce from Christianity and personal views on the way the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) manages itself. It was a beautiful location for their special moment.

Photo by photine

During rehearsal we ran through the ceremonial procedures and were instructed how to act by the wedding sacristan and the priest. At one point, the priest walked over to where we bridesmaids were sitting and gave us all a stern look. “When you are walking up the aisle,” he said, “Once you reach the front you must stop, pause, and bow to the Eucharist. You can’t genuflect in your dresses, but you must bow.”

At this matter-of-fact instruction, he walked away. Immediately, my eyebrows shot up. Surely he didn’t expect us all to be Catholic. and what non-Catholic would bow to a piece of food in a gold box on the stage?

My feeling of puzzled reticence only inflated when the priest joined us once again ten minutes later. He instructed us how to “properly receive the Eucharist” during communion: All of us must go up together because it would (apparently) look better. Those people not in good standing with the RCC should cross their hands over their chest (like a dead person in a coffin) and receive a blessing in the form of a cross drawn on the forehead by the priest’s thumb.

I sighed audibly, rolled my eyes, but kept my vocal opinions on this instruction to myself. The bridesmaid beside me was clearly perturbed as she scoffed, “Geez, who wouldn’t want a blessing?” I guess I didn’t hide my distaste for these traditions very well.

Some of the other other bridesmaids knew I wasn’t a Christian, but all of them knew I wasn’t Catholic. I saw a few  eyes dart towards me from further down the pew as I pondered what to do.

First we’re told to bow to someone who isn’t there. Then we’re told to receive a blessing and get a torture device religious symbol drawn on our foreheads? I mean really–what kind of atheist would I be if I didn’t feel a bit annoyed by this?

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Child Preachers

May 5

Posted by Godless Girl in christianity, religion, videos | 18 Comments

As I grew up I became  a very good performer when it came to preaching a message, sharing my testimony, or revealing an insight from the “holy spirit.”

Do you want to see just how early indoctrination, training, and exposure to the mannerisms, cultures, and languages of religion starts? Check this out:

Wow, what do you think? Also check out an ABC News piece on the child preacher phenomenon.

Children are amazing imitators–frighteningly so. Notice how culturally-specific these emotional, “spirit-filled” sermons are? It’s a performance. That’s what preaching and prophesying and praying aloud in public are all about. Who could honestly say that while they are in front of a group they didn’t care at all about if the audience liked it or if they did a good job? I tried not to think about those things as a Christian, but I couldn’t help it–especially as a young person who most wants love, attention, and affirmation.

What most recognizable in the videos are the styles of preaching, but what’s even more important is the content of what they say. Do you think children teach Bible lessons that don’t conform to the beliefs of their own church or group? I doubt it. Do you think these kids can understand the serious doctrines and theologies they’re shouting about? I doubt many adults actually understand what they preach, much less a child who hasn’t developed critical thinking nor been educated.

Sigh.

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