LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY the_paulr)

As I commented in the Evangelicals disrupt play post, I sent an email of support to Mr. Daisey. I didn't expect a response but one showed up in my inbox this morning.

He links to a page called Aftermath and Confrontation and it's a very interesting read. It turns out that yes, the protesters DO consider themselves Christian, and the reason for the "protest" was because of the language.

( But here's the part that I found the most interesting... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY scyllacat)

This post has no links to articles, nothing to do with anything but me:

Yesterday I went down to Little Five Points and, seeing a pretty church with a yard sale, I spent 2 bucks on a trinket box. When I asked the lady what the yard sale was about, she told me about the church growing, and moving to a new place, and this church was going to house several ethnic congregations who were too small/poor to afford their own place. So far, terrific!

Then she told me that the church was built "without one inch of love" -- that it was built by Masons, the "most evil and Satanic" people in the world. Then it was the home to a "coven of witches" for over 100 years. Finally, through prayer and protest and the liberal application of children's tears, the righteous took over the church and refinished it through labor and "free" building materials (which I suspect were liberated by some of the less upstanding members).

She said all churches had their problems (and apparently the Masons are the Baptists' cross to bear) but that eventually they would have to all "shape up" and get on track because God's people would all be united at the end times (couldn't tell if she was pre- or post- millennialist -- heck, I couldn't get a word in edgewise!)

Finally, she moved on to the daily news, talking about a Pedophile that had tried to get rid of a Day care in his neighborhood, but the community said they were there for the Day care and he should get out. I didn't like the righteousness she infused in THAT statement either, and I blurted out something about opposing Megan's Law and did and abrupt about-face and skedaddled -- back into the heart of Little Five Point, full of its yuppies, ethnically diverse peoples, goths, homeless, tattooed bikers and rockers. Sweet relief!

It brought to mind -- and sort of obliquely confirmed -- what I think is the largest difference between the Christians I grew up with and what I see happening with the church now: When I was a young person, there was a real push for evangelism -- a joining, uniting, reach-the-world kind of evangelism. Now I see that turned inside out: They're still preaching and shouting, but now it's about the end times, and what we (the heathens) have done to make them come about. Now it's exclusionary. Now it's a push away.