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The world is infected with evil. We can't wait to get out of this world.
Despite the fact that we might feel romance for non-Christians, we can't date or marry them. If you feel in love with a bon-Christian, that means the devil is trying to trap you.
Work is supposed to be unenjoyable because it was created as punishment. If you enjoy work, you're cheating the system. In fact, if you enjoy anything "of this world", you're experiencing evil feelings.
The world is infected with evil. We can't wait to get out of this world.
Despite the fact that we might feel romance for non-Christians, we can't date or marry them. If you feel in love with a bon-Christian, that means the devil is trying to trap you.
Work is supposed to be unenjoyable because it was created as punishment. If you enjoy work, you're cheating the system. In fact, if you enjoy anything "of this world", you're experiencing evil feelings.
As a Christian, I have no idea of what you are talking about. And for future reference the word "depressing" only has one P. (and by the way, I love my job)
The world is infected with evil. We can't wait to get out of this world.
That one is very common. An old ditty comes to mind:
"This world is not my home, I'm just passin' though. If heaven were not my home, then Lord what would I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's golden shore, and I don't feel at home in this world anymore."
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryManback
Despite the fact that we might feel romance for non-Christians, we can't date or marry them. If you feel in love with a bon-Christian, that means the devil is trying to trap you.
Also common, at least in fundy-land.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryManback
Work is supposed to be unenjoyable because it was created as punishment. If you enjoy work, you're cheating the system. In fact, if you enjoy anything "of this world", you're experiencing evil feelings.
This one is far less common. Most teachings seemed to be that there is dignity and meaning in work. There WAS a general teaching that enjoying anything too much that did not involve spiritual activity or personal responsibilities was at best a snare and distraction from more important things and at worst a sin. But the idea that ANY kind of pleasure or enjoyment is evil, is more of a Puritanical or outright ascetic concept. There are strong elements of asceticism in Christianity generally, but it's pretty compartmentalized. Heck, my denomination even taught that it's fine to enjoy sex -- with your wife, after you are married -- but nothing wrong with sexual pleasure when properly sanctioned and solemnized.
As a Christian, I have no idea of what you are talking about. And for future reference the word "depressing" only has one P. (and by the way, I love my job)
I know the kind of Christian the OP is talking about - and American Christianity IS based on Puritanical beliefs. I have noticed that having too much fun is considered somehow wrong, immoral, or irresponsible, and this isn't necessarily due to one's personal religious beliefs. It is actually embedded in American culture.
Americans spend more time at work than any other industrialized nation. Only China rivals us and there it's not uncommon for Chinese workers to sleep next to their machines and only go home on weekends. We also have the least amount of vacation time than anyone else. It seems, too, that despite the plethora of labor-saving devices that have been invented in the last 100 years, we're busier than ever before. It seems we're always assigning ourselves more work to do - even when that work isn't pressing or even required at the moment.
I have noticed a cultural trait that suggests that sitting down for more than an hour without doing work is somehow being lazy, and actually leaving the house to have fun is even more rare. I always thought the phrase, "I've had enough fun for one day" to be rather bizarre. When I was a child, I even remember having friends who were only allowed to play for an hour each day - because even the small children were assigned some task at home.
I do think this mindset is a result of the uniquely American experience that was founded on Puritanical beleifs. Now, one does not need to be a Puritan - or even particularly religious - to have this mindset. As stated, it has moved from being a religious virtue to being a cultural virtue. If one wishes to call it a "virtue."
America produces more serial killers than any other nation, and the number of people in our country that seem to "snap" and start pumping their co-workers full of lead is extraordinarily high compared to other nations. I have always felt that the anti-leisure work ethic to be a major component for why this occurs - that and children being raised by television, YouTube, and Facebook rather than parents. Because, well, the parents are too busy working. Plus we have a culture that says your material possessions are the yardstick by which we measure both your success and your worth as a human being resulting in people willing to work just one more hour, just one more ... yeah, I swear I'll go home after just one more hour ... in order to buy another neighbor-awing trinket to demonstrate how *ahem* "blessed" we are.
Coming from an Asian and European background, I see the frenetic, even frantic activity by Americans as somewhat of a waste of life. I do think there is something wrong with a culture where workers feel they have to bring along their contagious diseases and ailments to work with them because they are afraid of being fired or seen as a layabout if they take off work to heal up. And it's a pretty fouled-up culture that requires workers to chew up their vacation days being sick rather than actually giving them a number of sick days every year.
But hey, that's just my opinion. And I'm sure the Puritans among us would think differently.
Author's Note: When I talk about "work," I'm not talking about hobbies that might be considered "work" by others. For instance, gardening to me is just work - but I know many folks like to garden and don't consider it work.
I know the kind of Christian the OP is talking about - and American Christianity IS based on Puritanical beliefs. I have noticed that having too much fun is considered somehow wrong, immoral, or irresponsible, and this isn't necessarily due to one's personal religious beliefs. It is actually embedded in American culture.
You do have a point; the influence of our Puritan roots IS pervasive and deeply embedded in the national unconscious. Nevertheless I have not encountered it as an overt teaching within fundamentalism. They have a depressing enough value proposition -- you are evil and unworthy, and need saving. To be saved, only to live the dour structured cult-like existence of Puritanism, is not a way to attract or retain adherents.
The "Puritan work ethic" is no longer sustained by a religious impulse, it is just lodged in our collective unconscious. It is intertwined with other memes, such as The Rugged Individualist meme and the Self-Made Man meme and the Don't Tread On Me meme. We in the US are uniquely against "it takes a village" types of concepts that are far more understood and accepted in the rest of the civilized world. Religion started it, but now they are actually in the awkward position of having to counter it. I think it was one of those "be careful what you wish for" kinds of things.
Just as Australia is influenced by its roots as a penal colony, we are influenced by our roots as a way to escape authority and societal pressures (only to create equally profound ones of our own, but I digress). Joe American sees himself as accountable only to himself, defined by his fuzzily-defined ethos of "hard work" and "making things happen", and also as self-contained and self-sufficient. Even healthy interdependence is seen as a weakness. I submit that our early colonists were disproportionately paranoid, anti-authority, and utopian / hyper-idealistic in their outlook. Many of them were that way because they were religious fundamentalists who were fleeing persecution -- real, imagined, unjust and understandable because at times self-inflicted.
Being a Christian is far from seeing life as depressing, one is considered part of the Body of Christ we love the members of our church. We are happy in the sense that we put our problems and cares in the hands of the Lord. Yea we are not to yoke with non-believers but are to share the word, spread the gospel in our own way to the ones who don't know Him.
We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit and our members are there for edification and clarification of bible scripture. We are to do everything in the name of the Lord whether it be work or raising a family as everything is of God and is from God
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