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The first time someone asked me that -- it was a 8-year-old neighbor whose parents apparently had yet to teach her that it's not polite to discuss religion with strangers -- I had no idea what she was talking about. It's just not a phrase used by the Christians I know, or in the Roman Catholic community I grew up in.
Thank you for that perspective. I dislike platitudes in general, but I never thought of this one that way. I'll strike it from my vocabulary forever.
I read once that an attractive woman who travels for business and gets hit on a lot used "Are you saved?" as a foolproof way to get rid of unwanted attention
Yes, I did grow up in a fundamentalist environment where I was locked away from the outside world, and it's been a slow painful journey out of that.
Pretty much everyone has a slow, painful journey.
When you realize that and get over your anger and stop feeling sorry for yourself your journey will be easier. That is not accomplished by poking the bears.
"Prayer warrior", "prayer is a powerful weapon", "spiritual warfare" and other similar beligerent terms. They are designed to make one feel like a tough guy who is really doing something about a situation. In reality all those tough guys are doing is mumbling to themselves while standing on their knees.
I've never even heard of a liberal Christian, or any other kind of Christian, who participates in "group intuition".
It's not how they would think of it, I'm sure, but in my view "the leading of the Spirit" is basically either personal or group intuition, or BS, or some combination of them -- while divorcing oneself from personal responsibility for decisions.
It's true that I know very little about liberal Christianity other than what I saw in college and see here on City-Data. Yes, I did grow up in a fundamentalist environment where I was locked away from the outside world, and it's been a slow painful journey out of that. Actually it was my self-directed exploration with books and the Internet that pulled me (kicking and screaming) out of fundamentalism.
As far as I can tell from anecdotal encounters, liberal Christianity is more about doing than believing, and beliefs seem to be left up to individuals rather than imposed by the church. Nothing wrong with that, but it is still pretty foreign to me.
I could have written the same thing myself. I think the last paragraph is an accurate statement, and I have had some actual experience now with liberal theism. Like you, much of it is counterintuitive to me, which is understandable because you aren't going to counteract a quarter century of indoctrination overnight. Frankly though I never saw the point of liberal theism which is why I went straight from fundamentalism to atheism with a short pause to examine other religions.
More recently I sought a sense of community among the nice apostates in the UU "church" but found them bickering amongst themselves with the same gusto that fundamentalists did, only in my view with much less at stake. How do you even form a clique when there's no dogma to argue about? You just substitute politics and social justice positions. You fight with the minister about being "denied a voice" because of some inconsequential change in how the service is conducted. You look down your nose at people who won't go to jail via civil disobedience.
People are people wherever you go, and, of course, wherever YOU go, there you are. I have come to see that much of what is wrong with churches of all stripes is that they're full of people. Your mileage may vary, etc. Personally I'm sticking to much less ambitious projects like shooting the bull and playing cards with a few guys who meet for just that purpose and not to pretend to Change The World. It's much less pretentious and overwrought and far more sustainable and enjoyable.
When you realize that and get over your anger and stop feeling sorry for yourself your journey will be easier. That is not accomplished by poking the bears.
You should not devalue the pain of others by claiming that they are whiners. You get to talk about your pain too, if you're so inclined. Also when people like Freak or myself talk about the harms of the fundamentalism we came out of we are in large measure bringing things to people's awareness that we find often overlooked. I can't speak for Freak but I suspect he does it more from a burden for others caught in the same ideology than for himself. I know I do.
"Prayer warrior", "prayer is a powerful weapon", "spiritual warfare" and other similar beligerent terms. They are designed to make one feel like a tough guy who is really doing something about a situation. In reality all those tough guys are doing is mumbling to themselves while standing on their knees.
Personally prayer helps me gather my strength.
Quote:
Ephesians 6:10-18New International Version (NIV)
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
I feel pretty strongly about this since I've gone through some very difficult times during which praying was an immense help. It wasn't my excuse for inaction - it was a time in which I found I couldn't rely on my own strength alone (which was a good lesson for me, since I am generally a very strong person emotionally, mentally, and physically). I am not "good" at prayer - I am too energetic and easily distracted to "sit still and meditate" for very long. So to find that well of strength was surprising - and it has helped me weather some pretty serious storms in my life.
I've never even heard of a liberal Christian, or any other kind of Christian, who participates in "group intuition".
The closest I would come is the practice of group discernment among Quakers where whatever perception is presented is considered worthy of attention and the question should be decided by what God would have us do. The "fruit of the Spirit" is a major consideration in any such discernment.
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