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I look around and most churches are some variation of globo homo, give us your money, fuck you over at every turn, guilt trip you to stay. I have lost so much fucking money from church members pretending to be my friend, trying to either steal from me, or lure me into bullshit ideas. And yet I still believe God is real, and that we will get out of our mess. But it just seems like everywhere I look, these churches are just using God as a false pretense to push their own dogma.

A good example, a preacher interpreting the Bible. The thing is the message or sermon is not challenged by anyone. So really it's just human dogma being pushed through the lens of Godly nature. And yet the bible specifically says no to idolatry, so then can we really say the preacher man is not an idol within a church?

I look around and most churches are some variation of globo homo, give us your money, fuck you over at every turn, guilt trip you to stay. I have lost so much fucking money from church members pretending to be my friend, trying to either steal from me, or lure me into bullshit ideas. And yet I still believe God is real, and that we will get out of our mess. But it just seems like everywhere I look, these churches are just using God as a false pretense to push their own dogma. A good example, a preacher interpreting the Bible. The thing is the message or sermon is not challenged by anyone. So really it's just human dogma being pushed through the lens of Godly nature. And yet the bible specifically says no to idolatry, so then can we really say the preacher man is not an idol within a church?

(post is archived)

[–] • 1 pt

Let no man persuade you from god. O father jesus save us from the dev when he comes. O saviour jesus when the persecution comes, help me stay strong in your faith and glory so i may ascend to heaven with your father for his word is mighty and blessed.

[–] • 1 pt

There are very few solid churches left but there are some (to repeat myself).

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

At the risk of appearing to just drop a low-effort comment, here is a podcast that will hopefully encourage you: https://ericconn.com/podcast/10-reasons-why-men-hate-going-to-church/

There is a bunch of gay, left-drifting crap happening in many "evangelical" churches these days. Jeff Durbin at Apologia Church (AZ) calls them "evan-jellyfish," but I digress.

About your objection though, the biblical model of church leadership is several elders, deacons, and at least one preacher-teacher (obviously I interpret the grammar of Ephesians 4:11 differently than adherents of the "five-fold ministry" movement...).

In Corinthians, Paul says that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. Things are to be done in order. We are to test the teaching, like the Bereans.

So I reject the idea that "one man just teaching his way" is the model of the New Testament. There is authority, leadership, accountability. Even as a lay person, I question my pastors.

Another point - it might be worth challenging your understanding of an idol. While it is popular to give that label to any obsession, addiction, or "unspiritual" desire, can you back that up with scripture?

Lastly, I'm curious what "human dogma" has been pushed by a preacher whose sermon you attended in person. Maybe it was truly in error? I have had to reject some material that I once held dear because the preacher said blasphemous things, which were never corrected or addressed. It does happen, and yes - there is a tendency to focus the entire ministry around a man (or sometimes woman). The King's Hall podcast about "big, fast, and famous" (IIRC) might be of interest.

[–] • 0 pt

I'm willing to visit any church that doesn't ask me for money. If they ask for a single dime, I'm outa there. I can listen to a preacher rant the most stupid, twisted interpretation of scripture imaginable, and I'm fine with it as entertainment, because nothing forces me to believe a single word he says. I just sit there and smile and nod.

Most Protestant preachers are posturing, dancing clowns. They are so bad, they are funny. The truth is, most preachers are of low intelligence. There are exceptions, but not many. They latch onto some personal interpretation of Revelation (they all love Revelation) and they beat it into the ground like a tent peg. It usually depends on taking a single verse out of context and basing their entire argument on it.

It's all entertainment to me. I'm a gnostic Christian, so none of the messages of these preachers mean very much -- they are all dead wrong. They think Jesus actually rose from the dead (he didn't). They think the god of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament (he isn't). They think there is no divine female element in the trinity (there is). They think we are going to undergo a physical resurrection in our bodies of flesh and blood (we aren't).

Every now and then a preacher will make a good point on some moral issue. But they are almost all dogmatic and small-minded. Maybe they have to be in order to be so completely sure about what they are saying. Intelligent people question, and these preachers don't question. They are certain they have all the answers, and by god they are going to hammer them into your head if it kills you.

I like the ones that perform miracles. What a dog-and-pony show that is. People getting zapped with the Holy Spirit left and right, falling down like Nine Pins, rolling around on the floor and babbling in "tongues." Now that's entertainment, and if I get it for free, I will entertain myself with it regularly. Mind you, I won't pay anything for it, but for a free show it's pretty good.

[–] • -1 pt

Got news for ya, it's ALWAYS been that way, since we invented God.

[–] • 1 pt

We came from monkeys?

[–] • 0 pt

Along the same evolution line.

[–] • 1 pt

Did evolution give us a conscience?