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If I am attending this church service, how am I "inconvenienced" or "hurt" by this person discreetly reading a book? Outside of his wife, I don't really see it.
Your Buddhist event seems to have been entirely based on silence for meditations and chants. Don't some of those places specifically request by sign or spoken word to be silent if you come in to observe? A church sermon is typically full of rustling papers, little kid squirms, sneezes, A/C unit noises....I am not sure that someone discreetly and quietly reading a book would cause harm to anyone. Unless the minister somehow saw it and it took her/his focus off to such a large extent that she/he couldn't do her/his job well, but that seems a stretch.
If it were a meeting house during expectant waiting where all humanly noises are supposed to temporarily cease to try and be moved and connect....I can see how it is inconsiderate to have someone come in with noise blaring from their headphones or even turning pages loudly...but I think that is a different environment than a normal sermon.
Not a bad argument by you and a good story you shared. But...as I pointed out in my first post, some will find offense with it and some will not...so that must be weighed in with whether he does it or not.
I think that would be inconsiderate to come in high and laughing as that would likely cause disruptions and hurt people's ability to hear what was said.
Hands off the wacky tobacky.
There is a time and place for everything. A church has one purpose. A library has a different purpose.
I kind of agree. If he is doing it discreetly....people have to choose to be upset by it. He is there...which supports his wife and his wife wanting kids there.
Maybe ask his wife to be sure its okay...but of all the things to be angry about, someone quietly reading a book probably shouldn't be on the list. We must focus on positive energy in life.
I still think church service should be more about discussion and intellectual engagement than passive sitting until its time to sing.
I use to love the comments at my meeting house when I was young from some of the older women....and there was this old man who didn't speak often, but when he did it was pure genius...even I as a then not bright 14 year old could tell this guy was worth listening to when he would choose to speak.
Right? In contrast to people on their phones, yawning, nodding off, rolling their eyes, looking around the room, kids kicking their legs, kids on their tablets, kids crying or complaining, the seats uncomfortable, singing off-key, questionable interior design, service content / order, service running too long, constant fumbling between bulletin and Bible, standing vs. sitting, etc.
It's a wonder if anyone ever picks up anything useful at all. Reading a book sounds like a huge plus, whatever it is. May that reader be protected from distractions and churchy rudeness.
Last edited by Thoreau424; 12-23-2022 at 11:51 AM..
Right? In contrast to people on their phones, yawning, nodding off, rolling their eyes, looking around the room, kids kicking their legs, kids on their tablets, kids crying or complaining, etc.
This is basic churchy religious nonsense. They'll highly support reading if if fits their narrow view, but then turn around 180 degrees opposite and hate it if in a slightly different context.
Ooohhh ohhhh, snoring!!!! Loudly I might ad. About every third week or so I might ad!!!
Okay. What I'm getting from most of these responses is that 'church' is pretty much a joke and serves nothing worthwhile other than as a yawn fest. I'm not a churchgoer, not right now anyway, but 'church' still seems to me to be a meeting place of like-minded people who believe that love, respect and common decency and the worship of 'a deity' is still a virtue worth upholding.
I'm not religious by any stretch of the imagination but the levity that I'm seeing on this thread kind of surprises me. Someone who originally volunteered to go to church with the kids but is not adult enough to sit through an hour's service without having to resort to reading a book is fast becoming the hero of this thread.
Someone who originally volunteered to go to church with the kids but is not adult enough to sit through an hour's service without having to resort to reading a book is fast becoming the hero of this thread.
I don't think anyone is lionizing it. Even those who don't see anything technically wrong with it, aren't entirely comfortable. If he's sitting with his kids I'm actually more concerned about what he's modeling for them, or what they are likely to perceive from it. As someone else here said, there's a time and place for everything. I never allowed my children to act out in restaurants, I didn't take them there until they were old enough to be under control. I see church as a similar setting, only quieter. If he's checked out and they're behaving anyway then good for them, but I wonder if they should be effecting ennui in that setting. They can be curious and attentive. So can Dad.
I was not aware people are using smart phones to follow along in their Bible. Plausible deniability I guess, making that acceptable behavior. Books -- not so much, unless you keep whatever you're reading in a hollowed out Bible for camouflage.
I long since solved this problem by not going. But I assume his wife is a paid outside musician (anymore these days, the probability that some random person in the congregation knows how to play an organ, particularly one of any size, are practically nil). He is risking not only offending other attendees but jeopardizing his wife's employment, if the pastor or board members take umbrage to it. SHOULD they? Not in my view, so long as he's not disruptive and is actually keeping the children quiet. But even at a subconscious level it's apt to bother people who matter to his wife. I just wouldn't risk it.
So no, not a "hero", just not a zero, either, really.
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