Does religion have to be boring?

kenpodragon

When I left the Jehovah's Witnesses, I spent a couple of months attending local Christian churches. My wife and I did this because we thought the Christian path was still ours. Later we learned that our path went in a far different direction.

The thing is, when I attended these churches, I saw a really different approach to there preaching. For one, they often used forms of entertainment. They had funny skits, bands that sang, choirs, and the speaker actually joked at times to get people laughing and happy. All of these things would have been forbidden on a Kingdom Hall stage. So, my questions is to "why?"

Does learning about religion have to be stuffy and boring? It seems that is what the Witnesses think. If a speaker moved to much, he was counseled. If a speaker spoke to loud, he was counseled. If he used to much humor, he was counseled. Forbid the fact that they ever leave that platform and walk around the stage ... just hang on for dear life and bore us.

The first time I was introduced to new age thinking, we went on a nature hike and set in the trees and felt the life around us. What I felt was the movement of life, and the excitement to being alive. I felt that the universe moves constantly, the wind blows, insects fly around, and water flows in the creeks nearby. In all, the universe is not a boring place, it is entertaining and exciting if we take the time to look at it. So why then would we want to leave that and enter a church with stuffy speakers?

I don't know the answer, but I do know that I can say that not all Christian faiths were like that. About 50% caught on to the fact that life is movement and excitement and caught onto that wave in their presentation of their message. Although I did not swallow their message, I commended their thinking in making the message a little more enjoyable to listen too.

Some will say, "but God's word should be a serious matter." Well then I say, if life was meant to be so serious and so boring, why do we find so much more enjoyment in the other? Is that enjoyment wrong? No, it just means you are hearing the message on a level that appeals to you. Think some time of the speakers you enjoyed listening to the most, I bet they used what little they could get away with to step into a mold of "entertainment."

So no matter what faith you are into now, I am sure none of you miss those long boring Sunday talks. Where you looked up 50 scriptures and bored your mind and ears with a mundane speaking of a man who never moved from the spot he started at.

THE HORROR, THE HORROR!!!

So nice to find my life moving with the wind, and not planted with the tree.

Take Care

Gopher

It seems there is an inverse relationship between the amount of CONTROL a religion seeks to exercise over its followers and the amount of "freedom to enjoy" is found in their religious services. Of course if it swings way over towards being pure entertainment, then is it delivering any real message?

Most forward-thinking churches probably struggle to find a balance. I don't know for sure though, since I've only been to one Christmas play at an "Evangelical Free" church since leaving the JW's.

But you're right, I don't miss those "stick to the outline, dammit" talks which seemed like a spiritual dot-to-dot puzzle, very elementary. Yawn.

I would rephrase your question "Is religion relevant?" But I know there are some on this board who feel strongly that it is, and if it works for them, fine! (Sorry to be rambling here, it's almost 3 a.m.)

Sirona

Hi

Some people find christianity fulfilling, some don't. Some people like to have fun and enjoy as part of their beliefs, some think that its entirely separate and faith should be serious.

I'm glad you've found a way of looking at life and belief that suits you. Personally, I love being pagan, because we still have our ethics and serious beliefs, but we can also really enjoy life without guilt. There is always laughter at a pagan gathering.

Sirona

Francois

Sirona, I couldn't agree with you more. We are the children of God and should be enjoying our role in his universe - not sitting around grim-faced as before an unloving judge-accountant who is chiefly interested in making damaging entries in his "book of life" about his offspring so that he can see that they are properly dealt with later. What a terrible father image. And I think that's why so many JWs can't imagine a loving father. But you have to admit that this image of God appeals to those who were raised with a father or parent figure who was stern and unloving. THAT image of a father was famililar, thus acceptable.

It really does require a re-birth to see God as He really is. And also to realize that the God force has both male and female flavors. Did you know that archeology now tells us that the Isrealite's Jehovah had a wife? Yep. Do we hear anything about it from the patriarchic religions of the middle eastern desert like Christianity and such? Nope.

Nice post.

Frank

JanH

Frank,

Did you know that archeology now tells us that the Isrealite's Jehovah had a wife?

True. She was named Asherah, which may ring a bell for those who remember some Bible reading (or she was an Asherah, it is a bit unclear).

Pre-exile Israelite religion was a classical pantheon, where there were gods for anything, particularly fertility. Yahweh was one of the deities; the sky god El another. You find references to El in the OT, but it is hidden behind the word "God" in our translations. Personally I think Yahweh was a name for a fertility Ba'al (Lord), which explains his obsession with circumcitions. Gradually a power struggle between competing cults lead to ba'al becoming unpopular, El and Yahweh being fused, and during and after the exile a more and more exclusivist Yahweh worship emerged. The goddess Asherah was sacrificed somewhere along the way. Note the ferocious hatred to Asherah worship many places in the OT.

There are lots of rudiments to the pantheon worship left in our OT, but you have to know where to look.

As an aside, it is funny that some Babylonian myths found their way into the Bible as well. The book of Esther being a case in point. Esther and Mordecai are the Jewish names of Ishtar and Marduk, respectively. That Esther as a goddess of fertility and love was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom makes sense. After all, her Greek counterpart Aphrodite was judged the most beautiful goddess by Paris in the beginning of Homer's Iliad.

- Jan

Edited by - JanH on 3 July 2002 6:38:38

HomebutHiding

Francois; Israelite's Jehovah had a wife? Not only have I not heard this from any of the chuches, I e also have not heard it on The learning Channel or Discovery Channel. Can you locate a source of that info for me? This is something I need to share. Thank you. HbH

A thought on topic: No freedom of movement, no props, no allowance for freedom of personal expression, no wonder so much anger and depression among the ranks. I recall being chastized for harmonizing during the singing of songs at meetings. I was trained vocally, and those melodies were impossible to sing, for the most part. It seems i was drawing attention to myself by singing the written harmony line which was, of course, a no-no.

Sirona

Frank, thanks. MMM I didn't realise Jehovah had a wife. I'd like to know more about that actually.

Jan - how do you know all this? Any books I could get?

Sirona

JanH

Sirona,

Jan - how do you know all this? Any books I could get?

I think I estimated that during my university studies, I have read more than 40,000 pages about religion. Obviously I did not forget all of it.

On Asherah/Ba'al/Yahweh, a very good article can be found here: http://home.earthlink.net/~zimriel/Baal/baal1.html

Most good books I have seen on Middle East religion have been in German and Scandinavian languages. The article above has a good bibliography, though. If your local university has a good course in history of religions/comparative religion, you can check out their curriculum to find some good books.

- Jan

Sirona

Thanks, Jan, that was a good article.

CoonDawg

I don't know if I was in a renegade congregation or not....(am NOT defending JW's here.) but when I was a kid in the early '70's, our cong. used to do all kinds of skits. I remember a couple of brothers dressing up in robes and everything and act as Paul and Timothy walking up and down the aisle as if they were visiting our cong. in the 1st century.

Another nite at the service meeting, they turned out all the lights...and used flashlights like spotlights...and we had our version of the tonight show...."With your host...Johnny Caresome. HeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEERS JOHNNY!"

Seems like right after '75, it all became serious and dry.

Coon

Does religion have to be boring?

Share this