Public shaming

[Cootie Brown]

Unfortunately the Bible is ambiguous. There is plenty of scripture promising grace, mercy, forgiveness, and heaven as the reward for being obedient.

However, there is also plenty of scripture warning the disobedient believer of punishment, condemnation, and eternal damnation in hell.

Liberal believers tend to focus on forgiveness, grace, & Heaven. Fundamentalist seem more interested in focusing on punishment, condemnation, & Hell.

IMO, the root cause of this problem rests in how scripture is interpreted. Fundamentalist believe the Bible is literally true and historically accurate. Liberals tend to view the Bible as a collection of theological myths, allegorical stories, and legends with moral messages.

When myth is literalize the message becomes distorted. Moral teaching tends to morph into laws, rules, and commands that are impossible for any human to fully obey and comply with. Grace, forgiveness, & mercy then become something that must be earned by keeping all the laws, rules, and commands. At that point religion becomes a burden rather than a joy. Fear replaces hope. Then we form groups like the Church of Christ to make religion a burden rather than a joy.

[trabucco]

So the congregation I grew up in, I hadn't been around for the better part of a year with any consistency. Mostly due to work and distance from said job with traffic, plus I'd grown to like the freedom of being away from some of them.

One afternoon I get a phone call from the person taking care of worship duty assignments. Mind you, this congregation had elders and deacons...but they assigned someone who was not the brightest and kind of a power hungry jerk to handle it. We'd grown up together, so we knew each other and there were few secrets about who worked where in the area; being a place with a very high cost of living, so 14 day work weeks weren't uncommon.

He calls and informs me that I "missed" an assignment he had given me on short notice a week before. He had posted it in the entry way on the bulletin board, but no call, email, or even a smoke signal. After stating this, he began demanding knowing why I hadn't done my duty, why I hadn't called him out of courtesy as the supervisor for the duty roster (HA!), or shown up. I explained that I had been working and not been in some time. His response was: "That's not good enough for God. I represent the elders and therefore I represent God on this. You need to quit your job today in order to be here and do as you're told." There is still a very rigid hierarchy in that congregation the way it was then.

As his little tirade went on, I tuned him out, thanked him for his time, after that went going to write a letter to move my membership to a congregation where a LOT of members worked for the same company. So missing, while discouraged, was understood and very rarely blasted. Total joke on how things were done.

[Struggler]

When someone publicly shames another person just because he or she can, the gloves should come off, and the shamer should be put in his or her place.

[Cootie Brown]

Public shaming is basically a modern version of an old time lynch mob. The targeted victim is tried and convicted by a mob and has no way to defend or protect themselves. This has become especially troublesome on college campus’s, where free speech is under attack and the administration is to cowardly to do anything about it.

This is an example of the truly evil uses of social media.

[Struggler]

So the congregation I grew up in, I hadn't been around for the better part of a year with any consistency. Mostly due to work and distance from said job with traffic, plus I'd grown to like the freedom of being away from some of them.

One afternoon I get a phone call from the person taking care of worship duty assignments. Mind you, this congregation had elders and deacons...but they assigned someone who was not the brightest and kind of a power hungry jerk to handle it. We'd grown up together, so we knew each other and there were few secrets about who worked where in the area; being a place with a very high cost of living, so 14 day work weeks weren't uncommon.

He calls and informs me that I "missed" an assignment he had given me on short notice a week before. He had posted it in the entry way on the bulletin board, but no call, email, or even a smoke signal. After stating this, he began demanding knowing why I hadn't done my duty, why I hadn't called him out of courtesy as the supervisor for the duty roster (HA!), or shown up. I explained that I had been working and not been in some time. His response was: "That's not good enough for God. I represent the elders and therefore I represent God on this. You need to quit your job today in order to be here and do as you're told." There is still a very rigid hierarchy in that congregation the way it was then.

As his little tirade went on, I tuned him out, thanked him for his time, after that went going to write a letter to move my membership to a congregation where a LOT of members worked for the same company. So missing, while discouraged, was understood and very rarely blasted. Total joke on how things were done.

I went to a church who had one or two like this guy, although not quite as strident. When I was asked to help with something and decline, I was more than once asked, "What do you have to do that's more important than this?" Or, "You have time to do this. You can make time."

I've told this one before, but once again, for newer folks:

One man was in charge of getting people to help with the weekly service at a retirement home. Friend of mine refers to these as "road shows." The church was large enough that teams of 3 were supposed to go only once a quarter. Almost every Sunday morning, I'd get a call, usually within an hour of when church was to begin. It was this man, asking me to help because someone had bailed. I went a few times, but finally figured out he was calling me first. The last straw came when we were to celebrate a family member's birthday that afternoon. The guy calls and asks. I told him I could not. He asked why, as if that were his business. I told him. He said words to the effect of, "Can't you do that some other time? I really need you to be there today." i said no again, and ended the call. Later on, I had to get off his list entirely due to work and family obligations. He started giggling, and said in a sing-songy voice, "All work and no play makes a Jack a dull boy," followed by more giggling.

[Cootie Brown]

How about this one, “I’m sorry to hear you don’t have the time to serve Jesus, when he found the time to crawl up on a cross for you.” Yep, someone actually said that.

[ena]

Unfortunately the Bible is ambiguous. There is plenty of scripture promising grace, mercy, forgiveness, and heaven as the reward for being obedient.

However, there is also plenty of scripture warning the disobedient believer of punishment, condemnation, and eternal damnation in hell.

Liberal believers tend to focus on forgiveness, grace, & Heaven. Fundamentalist seem more interested in focusing on punishment, condemnation, & Hell.

Hell is real. The Lake of Fire is where most of the CoC will be dumped. They will be dumped there for not teaching the whole Bible. They do not understand the salvation message. They believe they are saved by their special baptism. You will sin even after baptism what then? Oh you must be perfect and toe the line. If you don't toe the line you are going to Hell. If you do not follow CoC rules like attendance and other man made rules you are made to feel guilty. There is no safety net. There is no way to recover and regroup. This is not Christianity in fact the CoC is not Christian. You cannot only read 10% of the Bible any expect to know much. They ignore the teachings about grace. You cannot understand Jesus without understanding the Jewish faith. Not only Jews of the first century but also the Jews of today. The problem is the Jesus was the last true sacrifice. You did not get that in the CoC.

I am out of the CoC nearly 50 years. The adults I knew in my CoC are mostly dead. I live in a world were Christian's actively work to solve their issues and well as sin. Nobody is perfect and none claim to be. There is a certain amount of humility that stops gossip at the door. Very unlike the CoC. I very seldom attend church. I find God everywhere in the world not only in a building. I some times get answers to prayers. If not the answer is no. God will answer prayers in a simple manner. He has no reason to show off today. It can be as simple as finding the right doctor or a person to help. A man was sitting in a lifeboat and prayed for someone to save him. A ship came by and offered help. The man said no I am waiting on help from God. The man later died of thirst and asked God why he did not send help? God answered, "I sent you a ship."

[Cootie Brown]

Hell is certainly real for believers, but not for those that have studied and researched the historical realities of the origins and evolution of hell. Just as the God Christians worship today has a historical beginning (He was one of many Canaanite Gods, but the Israelites, who were originally Canaanites, claimed he was the one true God. Hell also has human origins.

This information can be found using Google as well a YouTube videos. Sorry, but all religions and their deities have human origins. Humans have been creating gods and religions for thousands of years. And history has recorded all of that.

[Struggler]

I've seen those party buses and out of control bridal/bachelorette parties, so I am convinced that Hell is real.

[Cootie Brown]

I've seen those party buses and out of control bridal/bachelorette parties, so I am convinced that Hell is real.