No moral or lesson or controversial look into why people believe or some such hot topic. Teresa Nielsen Hayden just has a nice writeup on her site about being excommunicated from the Mormon church. It’s an interesting read, a nice kind of “case study” on leaving a restrictive religious group. Perhaps it can help any Mormons who happen across this site.
From jesuswouldbeashamedofyou.com
So why do you hang your hat on that? Of all the really important things that need fixing on Earth, why do you fixate on whether gays can marry, or waste your time saving a woman who really was, it turned out, completely brain-dead? Why do you spend so much time arguing about how God created the universe, when the exact details don’t matter? You can pray in school any time you want– why force it on others? The justice system generally holds the same values as the ten commandments… why do you need it actually spelled out?
Do you think your rabid devotion to insignificant minutia really makes Jesus happy? I think he’s probably more interested in you spending that kind of time and energy on helping your fellow man, don’t you?
It’s reassuring to see the moderates and liberals working to reclaim Christianity from the rabid fundamentalists. There are parts of Christianity that do have value to the world, especially the calls in the Bible for compassion towards others. It would be a shame to see all of that lost to a bunch of nuts.
Via Google Video: an interesting roundtable discussion on religion, including Steve Allen and Tim C. Leedom, editor of The Book Your Church Doesn’t Want You to Read. Only had time to watch part of it, but what I watched seems decent. Worth a look.
Forum member jmassi has put together an audio documentary about the alleged abuse perpetrated by Charles Shifflett of Culpeper Virginia. The Lambs of Culpeper is an exploration of former members of Shifflett’s church and the alleged verbal, mental, physical, and sexual abuse they experienced at Calvary Baptist Church of Culpeper Virginia. Give it a listen, but be prepared: It’s pretty disturbing stuff and can be hard to listen to without getting upset. I offer my sympathies to everyone featured in the documentary.
Also interesting are some letters of support and letters of criticism regarding Shifflett from the Star-Exponent, including the comments underneath the letters. Of note are supporters’ comments chiding others that Shifflett is “innocent until proven guilty.” To that I would remind the writers that “innocent until proven guilty” only applies to courts of law. Those who know Charles Shifflett and believe the allegations because of their familiarity with him are free to do so.