Sunday,
July 27, 2008 at 8:17am
Joel
Osteen is a character, I'll tell you what. I what to do a study about
the number of passages and stories in the bible that seem to teach
people non-sequitur metaphors and complacency. Osteen came up with
this metaphor about God being like rainclouds. You have to constantly
give God praise, like the growing condensation in a raincloud, and it
will eventually rain down into your life with supernatural
opportunities and new horizons. He goes back to money issues and
relationship issues frequently. I can't argue with him about
switching out of a defeat mode, but to take that energy towards
praise instead of work I believer is superbly wrong. It kills me to
think that the religious speeches are so close to getting things
right, but immediately take the wind out of their sales when they
tell you to focus on a god. This kind of thinking would be perfect
before the days of logic and established rules in science, but
unfortunately for these people once they get out of church, they go
back to playing by the same rules as the rest of us. One example he
uses was to imagine that your in traffic and instead of being upset
at the traffic, be happy that you have a job. Now, okay great, be
happy about what's going right in your life. I don't think I could
depict a better example of looking for and taking the good, and
completely ignoring the bad. The fact remains, traffic is a bitch, if
you really want to avoid it, leave for work earlier. It does not help
you deal with your anger when you ignore what it's directed towards.
Osteen says it himself that change isn't going to happen within our
own minds, or hearts, or intellect, it will happen in God's breath
and rain. In other words, your stupidity can go ignored if you focus
on how awesome it was to walk to today.
Instead of learning
the proper strategies to make concrete changes in their lives,
believers are allowed every opportunity to push their problems
farther and farther away. How can you explain to someone that your
problem with them isn't that they happen to get happy with a
particular sky daddy, but their happiness is at the expense of, and
almost in spite of, the hard fought knowledge of those whose
contributions go towards making everyone's lives better, not just
their own. The whole of Osteen's talk was about giving it to God so
he can trickle it back down on you. Why wait for God? Why do you need
to call that lucky parking space a message that you should respect
and help your fellow man? Also, exalting that space, or working
hands, or meager job etc. as the result of your praise, does not
teach you how to get out of your debt or find a date. Yet another way
to say how religion is one of, if not the most, destructive
institution we've managed to concoct. I find myself just thinking
“wow” that right after the sermon with everyone in their Sunday's
best, the commercial about all the poor African families comes on.
Some Christian group has managed to get Mewquay his first sippy cup
and pair of shoes. All I can think about is Dubai where a recently
learned a new fountain will be put in, greater and grander than the
one in Vegas. I can't help but that think if the Christian groups
really wanted to help, I mean give their all, for Jesus, they'd learn
how to make the money of the billionaires building fountains and use
it make suburbs for Africans. O wait, is religion already an industry
worth billions of dollars, tax exempt dollars no less? One doesn't
have to think that hard to realize where their real focus is.
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I'm pretty
sure he's alot more clear minded than anyone who believes in
the sky-daddy or god (I didn't capatilze it on purpose) as some
whould like to cal it. You bring up a great point, we all know
religion is a billion dollar tax free corporation. In my
exploration of relgious houses of worship I've seen more than
one church gross over a million and a half alone, yet they
still ask for more. Maybe they should stop filling the pockets
or better yet stop brainwashing people into thinking you have
to believe in the almighty sky-daddy ( I love that term) to be
a good, giving person. Instead of building another mega church
that can seat up to 50,000 people in the US, how about they
take that money and build house, supply water, or simply food
to destitude Africans. But if they did that then they'd have
50,000 less people that were brain washed and that much money
out of their pockets. |
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Religion
becoming an industry. Hmm..
Now, if you're talking
about businesses using religion as a way to get those tax
exemptions through donations, while using it for advertisement
and marketing, then I completely agree. In Iowa, I helped
Winter and her mom's church fix up this recently widowed lady's
(shes like 27, three kids) mobile home. They completely redid
the place. Furnature, bathroom, kitchen, appliances, carpet,
beds, everything. All donated, all tax exempt. Now don't get me
wrong, I think it was awesome the church and those businesses
could do it for her, but I agree with you, the donation aspect
of religion is getting a bit "business-like", not
that it's a bad thing. They used money and donations to
actually HELP someone.
Using money to create more
worthless fountains, or mega church, as Mr. Turner said, is
completely unnecessary, and to me, wrong in terms of religion.
I like how he said churches can gross 1 million+, and still ask
for more. It's true, and is indeed showing religion turning
into an industry.
Religion itself becoming an industry?
No. How we're using religion? Damn right it is. |
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I like your
first paragraph as well. Using religion to distract you from
your problems is just stupid, and one of the reasons I don't
really like religion. If traffic sucks and you're late for
work, don't ignore it and ask God to make traffic speed up, or
tell you how awesome your life is. Fucking do something about
it. Take a new route. Leave earlier. Be productive. /end rant. |
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Nick
P.
wroteat
9:37pm on July 27th, 2008
Mr. Pirtle
if you'd like to explain to me how I'm so confused I'm eager to
hear it. |
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Hey, um,
just giving my input as a "religious" person. I
realize that I'm only 19 and I don't have a steady income, but
no, I do not give any money to my church. I mean, yeah we take
an offering every week, but there is never any pressure or
awkwardness if you don't give money. And the fact that my
church is so freaking huge and keeps adding on new things to it
actually has bothered me before, especially when there's people
in need of money. You're right, we should be using the money on
people who actually need it. |
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