Mixed Nuts

There is something on the rise again on the Main Line.  I am going to get controversial here because these people scare the crap out of me.  I think they are one step removed from cult status.

What am I talking about?

Born Again on the Main Line.

It used to be the worst of it were places like Proclamation Presybyterian Church in Bryn Mawr and Church of the Saviour in the Tredyffrin end of Wayne (I make that municipal distinction because this monster of a church has created storm water issues for years for residents of Radnor downstream from them).  But now springing up all over are these random off-shoots of even MORE evangelical hard core no sympathy "Christian" establishments like these.

They show up in homes, and are formed around  other things like organized prayer groups. More specifically I think they infiltrate traditional prayer groups and bible study groups. They are also in the form of small, underground churches - in storefronts, renting space, etc.

Let me state for the record I have no problem with organized religion, I am part of one.  But I do have problems with these churches and groups that reek of cults in the making.

 

For example, there is a group I discovered on meet up who had the objective of this group of people walking around their neighborhood as an activity - to pray ON (not for, but ON) all the homes they passed. 

 

Were all these people unholy? Probably, because one of the things of this born again movement on the rise again is the objective of converting everyone to their brand of God.  You aren't holy or of God unless you are with them.

What happened to respecting how different religions worship God?  Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox, etc?

Just because I was baptized as a baby doesn't mean I consider myself "born again".

Am I the most religious person?  Not the most, not the least, somewhere in the middle.  But I have my faith and a belief in God.  And what I have noticed as the economy has tanked is the upswing of these "ministries" that remind me of tales of the tent revivals of the depression era.

Now don't get me wrong, some of these new Christians who have been born again so to speak aren't so bad.  They live what they believe and don't proselytize, nor do they try to convert you.  They respect you for your beliefs and only ask you try to respect theirs.  That I can deal with.

But the vast majority of "born agains" want to steamroll you over to their point of view.  Like many of the true Southern Baptist vein, you are either of them or no one.   They attract a lot of very lost and often damaged people. It is a form of escapism and the leaders literally get to control their own flock.

A lot of these new born agains have an amusing inability to reason logically.  Jesus will do it for them.

Huh?

Is Jesus going to pay the electric bill, too?

I read somewhere about a theory of Born Again Personality Disorder.  I just have a problem with something good that seems to render people unable to think for themselves.  It's also incredibly manipulative.  And with all the issues with things we see in the news about pedophile priests and ministers, and even a bad rabbi here and there, that also drives people away from traditional religion into the arms of these who must control.

And how emotionally stable is this all for wounded people?  If you have a grave disorder and require medication and therapy is someone speaking over you going to heal it all?  I have faith but I am a realist and maybe that whole speaking in tongues is just a bit creepy. And check out this article online about Born Agains and Mental Health.  Frightening.

I have no problems with Christians, I believe they exist, I know a lot of truly good a Godly people. But these who would preach, who think their job is to convert everyone?  I have a problem with that.  A lot of them I have discovered used to have other addictions.  Now their religious fervor is their addiction.  And to be told one is sinful because one wants a glass of wine now and again is ridiculous.  Or that you can't watch certain TV programs because it's sinful.   I actually found something else written by who knows that is interesting on this topic.

I have friends who are getting sucked into this.  They need and want to have something to believe in.  I get that - it's very human.  But this avoidance of reality in the name of religion?  To what end will that be anything but a pause button on what ails?  I know marriages in jeopardy because of husbands and wives who have discovered religion to such an extent that it is destroying the very family unit it supposedly protects.  And these off shoot religions? They put out the donation basket more then the Catholic Church and that in and of itself is saying something. (And where does all the money go exactly?)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.


─ Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 ain't a bad thought.  But taking advantage of people is.  And sorry, I don't see this new born again uprising as something good.  I see it as a sad commentary. To be fulfilled in life and death I have to be "born again"?  Bullshit.

Intolerance dancing in a disguise of religion is disgusting.  And yes it is here on the Main Line and you all know it.

Now I sit and wait for the religious knives to come out.  No worries.  I am one with my God.  And he ain't angry and judgemental like yours.