Mine vs Yours

Last night my daughter was telling me about a "Facebook war" regarding some video about Jesus and Religion.  I was amazed today to see it with over 10 million views.

"Religion: it will continue its slow progression back towards traditional.  Extreme religious behavior will continue to become more prevalent.  How we differ will become more important than how we are the same.  You say God, I say Alla or Yahweh."
Random Roving, January 1, 2012

"As this cycle continues downward, it will be important to know what you believe in. You will be challenged to stand up for what you believe in whatever that is."
Random Roving, November 6, 2009
 

The Contracting Mega-Church

"The streets that were once choked with traffic are now bare. The church's sprawling parking lot is half full. Inside the stylish sanctuary, ushers sway to choir music in front of empty seats.  On a typical Sunday morning, New Birth Missionary Church in suburban Atlanta would be hopping. But on a recent Sunday, the sprawling church complex looked half-deserted and the mood seemed flat.  Six months after a sex scandal involving New Birth's senior pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, became public, the megachurch no longer packs them in. Yet there are loyalists, like C.D. Dixon, who have not joined the exodus."
Source: CNN

"The megachurch and megamillionaire ministers might have seen 'the peak'. Hopefully they saved all of those millions from the book deals."
Random Roving, "Happy New Year 2010 is Here", January 1, 2010 

Religious Bankruptcy

"Crystal Cathedral officials say their financial woes were brought on by the recession. More than 550 creditors are owed $50 to $100 million, according to bankruptcy documents filed last month.  But insiders and religious experts say the situation is more complicated, and stems from how to best preserve founder Robert H.'s legacy.  The Crystal Cathedral has been battered in recent years as attendance has declined along with donations. That has brought cuts that some believe have reduced the quality of the church's programming and productions.  At the same time, the church has been roiled by family discord that included the very public firing of Robert Anthony Schuller, who had long been seen as the founder's successor, and the ascension of Robert H.'s eldest daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, to the top job.  The church kept expanding, and the spectacular 10,000-pane Crystal Cathedral was dedicated in 1980. "The Glory of Christmas," an extravagant holiday production that attracted thousands, began in 1981. Soon after, the church added an Easter show.  The Christmas production would begin to signify a culture of extravagance within the church: More than a dozen angels in white chiffon flew overhead, professional singers replaced volunteers, and live camels and donkeys took the stage.  "You felt like you were sitting in the middle of a symphony orchestra," said Conwell S. Worthington, who directed the Christmas and Easter pageants from 1983 to 1986"
Source: LA Times

"Religion will become smaller, 'deeper', and more traditional. The megachurch and megamillionaire ministers might have seen "the peak". Hopefully they saved all of those millions from the book deals."
Random Roving, January 1, 2010

Selfish Manipulation

"The album is a snapshot of the era in which we live as we question and try to make sense of the selfish manipulation going on around us, whether it be the government, religion, media or frankly any form of authority.”
Billie Joe Armstrong - Green Day

Will The Real Christians Please Stand Up

Some of the comments over the past few days from the "Republican Right" are just shocking. Being a non-party carrying member, I'll make an unbiased, direct comment. It is my personal opinion that the people known as the "Republican Right" are the most non-Christian behaving people that I know. If I remember correctly, Jesus was about love and compassion.

“There goes Obama again – he lives to help the downtrodden. The Haiti earthquake was made to order for Obama. Obama will use Haiti to boost credibility with the light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country.”
Rush Limbaugh, The Big Babbling Buffoon

"They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal."
Pat Robertson (one day after the Haitian earthquake)

"The mob will get even more angry. Beware of the angry white American man carrying the Bible. Xenophobia will continue to increase. Muslims and Mexicans will continue to be the easy targets. Which group or culture is next?"
Random Roving - January 1, 2010

A repost from a few months ago:
"The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy. The Republicans, on the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country club." Dave Barry

The Drumbeat of Triumphalism

The Tiger Woods saga took a new twist this past week when religion was thrown "into the mix". I found this article insightful:

'My God is bigger, badder than your God'
"'My God beats yours.' That's the essential message of triumphalism.
You can hear its marching band tooting along as various commentators parade across the airways and Internet debating which is the one true faith that can rescue Tiger Woods' reputation. The current drum major is Brit Hume, appearing at microphones daily to repeat his call to Tiger to turn to Jesus and Hume's own religion. It's one thing, however to testify to the peace, wisdom, joy and comfort your particular faith has given you. It's another to trash talk others' path to spiritual truth and a life of goodness beyond the so-called good life. No religion or atheist philosophy offers cover for serial adultery. There might be many paths to moral and social restoration for the wayward golfer -- and spiritual restoration as well, if Tiger hungers for that."

The entire article:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/01/evangelical-convert-tiger-woods-christianity-buddhism/1

"As this cycle continues downward, it will be important to know what you believe in. You will be challenged to stand up for what you believe in whatever that is."
Random Roving - November 6, 2009

"Keep an eye out for increased religious conflict though."
Random Roving - January 1, 2010