tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post5053070384457595923..comments2023-10-03T18:30:42.773-05:00Comments on Meta Watershed: BAPTIST INTOLERANCE THREATENS COMMUNITY WELL-BEINGMaggie Jochildhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07577090500862823864noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-45627356614050736422007-12-10T00:44:00.000-06:002007-12-10T00:44:00.000-06:00Dear Maggie,thankfully I was not abused (though I ...Dear Maggie,<BR/>thankfully I was not abused (though I don't remember much of my childhood)....but the first time I went to Sunday School in my mother's church (a very conservative and small branch of Lutheran), I KNEW I didn't belong there. I tried to believe the "Old Testament" way they believed but could not. When at last I turned 18, I never went to that church again for a Sunday service.<BR/>JanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-34534808303956090122007-11-20T19:34:00.000-06:002007-11-20T19:34:00.000-06:00Wow, thx for your empathy, Werebear. And yeah, th...Wow, thx for your empathy, Werebear. <BR/><BR/>And yeah, the cruelty thing is hard to comprehend. I've wondered if it has to do with the unresolved grief Christians seem to feel about the pointlessness of Christ's death -- I mean, I know they think it was preordained and had a point, but underneath it seems like few of them really buy that rationalization completely. Torture of someone you love, someone who was basically kind and good, for no damned reason at all requires maturity to accept -- otherwise, you keep dwelling on it and reproducing examples of it everywhere (right, Flicker?)Maggie Jochildhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07577090500862823864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-71945043942240791552007-11-20T12:48:00.000-06:002007-11-20T12:48:00.000-06:00At about age 9, I needed some relief from being mo...At about age 9, I needed some relief from being molested. So I walked a mile down the street to a Baptist Church and began attending regularly even though my family teased me. One day during the kid's service, there was a story about a little girl getting saved and she ran home to tell her father. The drawing in the book showed some scruffy dud in undershirt and unbuckled belt laying on a dirty sofa. The little girl woke him up and told him all about Jesus. The man got up, went outside and grabbed a piece of lumber, returned to the room and beat the little girl to death for waking him up. But it was OK because the little girl was saved from her sins and went to heaven.<BR/>At nine years old, I was horrified. I knew what they were saying was wrong. I knew this could very well happen to me. And I knew I didn't want to be associated with that church.<BR/>The final blow came when our dental hygenist who attended that church kept asking me why I didn't come any more. She kept witnessing to me in the dentist chair! I asked my worthless mother to make her stop but nothing happened. <BR/>I'm glad you betrayed your mother and saved yourself. We are strong!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3576716365575919550.post-24601406664919253362007-11-19T08:36:00.000-06:002007-11-19T08:36:00.000-06:00I just have to share my admiration for your courag...I just have to share my admiration for your courage; at eleven, if it seems Jesus has abandoned you, what might be left?<BR/><BR/>I had a Baptist phase in my family, though fortunately the worst of it was enforced Bible camp, with the three hour retelling of Christ's death on the cross that made me want to die, just to make it all stop.<BR/><BR/>They do love cruelty. Isn't that strange?WereBearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17746779803342657146noreply@blogger.com