Which Religions Are Acceptable?
http://www.fawcette.net/2011/06/which-religions-are-acceptable.html
Bangalore
Which Religions Are Acceptable?
by Bangalore 4 Replies latest social current
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Knowsnothing
From the blog:
? On the Cusp : Mormonism, Jewish (Ok for legislature, unlikely for White House), Methodist (once dominant is falling rapidly in legislative representation), Jehovah's Witnesses, Orthodox Christianity.
Um, wtf? No, JW's would never participate in politics, at least not openly.
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designs
Bahia and Rastafarians are fun....
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dgp
It's curious that they list atheism as a religion.
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Band on the Run
It depends on which culture is evaluating them. In upper middle class NY, the mainstream Protestants are crucial. Jews are more tolerated than pron. anyplace besides Israel. NY frequently elects Jewish people to high office. In fact, a Christian seems rare. I'm Anglican. Roman Catholicism is respected foro the beliefs of individuals but the Church itself is seen as corrupt and non scriptural, even tacky. Yet the Eastern Church is highly sought after. People sit around and brag how they travelled to a seminary for Orthodox Christmas and Easter.
I lived in the East Village for 30 years. My building was the first wave of gentrification. The neighborhood retained some of its character b/c it is Times Square of Eastern Rite churches. Almost every single block has a small Eastern rite church from a country I never heard of before in my life. I would ditch Anglican services and attend Russian Orthodox and Ukrainian churches. It was so different! They talk openly during the sermon, get up and light candles. What impressed me the most was the Eucharist. They were not sombre with clasped hands in front of them. Sheer joy and rapture was on their faces -- every face. They seemed transported to sheer bliss. My Anglican churches invested in very impressive organs. Instrumental music is forbidden. Only men may sing the Old Slavonic hymns.
My confirmation sponsor was an Orthodox obsessed priest. The Anglican Cathedral had his treasure trove of icons. Any Christian that I met seemed very interested in the Eastern Church. I had much company. Yet the Eastern Church is autocratic, too. I feel it was exotic, a way to flirt with a different view without changing belief.
There is a pecking order among Protestant sects. Anglican is very strong in NY. Lower Manhattan is engulged in Anglican churches but as the city grew as time passed, they became fewer. Within Anglicanism, certain parishes were the status ones. Trinity, Grace, St. Thomas, St. Bart's and St. James were power parishes. Greenwich Village had several village ones. The Cathedral, next to Columbia's main campus, was not a full parish but drerw strongly from all over Manhattan, particularly Columbia. Southampton had a parish with a plague commeorating its loyalty to George III during the conflict. They don't refer to it as the REvoluntiary War.
Presbytrian. Lutherans, Methodists all have allure, too. Baptists are considered lower in social class. The Rockefellers built Union Theological Seminary and Riverside Church to give the Baptist rreligion some lustre and academic cred.
One of the coolest things about NY was the exposure to every variety of religion. I completely lack choice now. In fact, I can cry about how impoverished my present religious community life is.
I have a strong feeling this assessment correlates with income level and participation in establishment organizations. An important factor for professionals in Manhattan is a private club that is part of St. Bart's church for meeting members of the opposite sex. There are these diverse clubs, parties, a sailing boat, trips to Europe. The sex ratio is maintained. Members are vetted by interviews and references. I utterly loved it. It was safe and a nice harbor in which to socialize.
All I have here is a fundamentalist, money-grabbing fundamentalist mega church with many outreach programs.