St. Columba's overly political sermons...

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm the poster from the Catholic church in Arlington. As a convert from Episcopalianism (I used to go to St. Albans and the Cathedral), I second the motion that you try some Catholic churches. You will find a very rich faith life there that helps you with the daily struggles you mention. I promise. And there are quite a range of "political" messages depending on the parish (though I have never found them overwhelming -- they come up in context when relevant to the Gospel reading at our NOVA church). We left the Episcopal church about 12 years ago when we thought it had gone off the deep end, and because we didn't feel that we were developing at all spiritually. You will likely struggle with some of the messages you hear at any church, but at least in ours politics is not the main focus. And there is never ever anything that would cause us to keep our children out of Mass. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I quit my place of worship for this reason. I think there should be a variety of topics discussed, and the topics should lean towards those that cause the most problems for the people attending that the place of worship. For most of us, we still struggle with the old fashioned sins of sloth and greed more than the higher order ones of not-quite-being-as-liberal as we want to be. I especially hate discussing sins that are committed by other people instead of the sins we ourselves commit. In my former place of worship, there was basically (maybe beyond that, maybe abssolutely) nobody who was against LGBTs. So when you are discussing it, you are mostly bad mouthing "those others". Seems a bit hypocritical to me, since the people in the room did have plenty of sins that they were committing that could be discussed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Equality - in spirit, in law, in practice - is EXACTLY what the church should espouse, loudly and firmly.

Actually, the church should espouse the teachings in the Bible, not your ideas on social justice.

Amen.

Which ones? Leviticus? Sorry, I can't keep up with that. Paul's teachings in Corinthians that women should be silent? Sorry, I can't keep up with that either. Give me 1 John 4:7 or Mark 12:28 anyday. If you really think Jesus came here to tell you who to persecute or how to keep all your money, I think you just might have it wrong.

Are you a pastor or preacher with a degree in theology? If not than STFU and go to another church that will tell you everything you like.

[Anonymous]

I'm a new poster, and a fellow parshioner at St. C's. I'm generally very happy with the parish, but agree it has gotten a little issue-centric, and there are many, many other worthy and relevant topics that we could be spending time on. However, I am shocked to see other posters recommend becoming Roman Catholic as a less BS alternative. I was raised Catholic, and the not-so-veiled commentary on abortion and other social conservative issues was one of the things that drove me away from the Church. (Ironic, I know.)

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm the poster from the Catholic church in Arlington. As a convert from Episcopalianism (I used to go to St. Albans and the Cathedral), I second the motion that you try some Catholic churches. You will find a very rich faith life there that helps you with the daily struggles you mention. I promise. And there are quite a range of "political" messages depending on the parish (though I have never found them overwhelming -- they come up in context when relevant to the Gospel reading at our NOVA church). We left the Episcopal church about 12 years ago when we thought it had gone off the deep end, and because we didn't feel that we were developing at all spiritually. You will likely struggle with some of the messages you hear at any church, but at least in ours politics is not the main focus. And there is never ever anything that would cause us to keep our children out of Mass. Good luck!

I am Episcopalian and really could never become Catholic. The whole church structure is absurd, with the Pope and rules on birth control..talk about anti-women! It really isn't an option for most Episcopalians to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm the poster from the Catholic church in Arlington. As a convert from Episcopalianism (I used to go to St. Albans and the Cathedral), I second the motion that you try some Catholic churches. You will find a very rich faith life there that helps you with the daily struggles you mention. I promise. And there are quite a range of "political" messages depending on the parish (though I have never found them overwhelming -- they come up in context when relevant to the Gospel reading at our NOVA church). We left the Episcopal church about 12 years ago when we thought it had gone off the deep end, and because we didn't feel that we were developing at all spiritually. You will likely struggle with some of the messages you hear at any church, but at least in ours politics is not the main focus. And there is never ever anything that would cause us to keep our children out of Mass. Good luck!

I am Episcopalian and really could never become Catholic. The whole church structure is absurd, with the Pope and rules on birth control..talk about anti-women! It really isn't an option for most Episcopalians to consider.

so the Catholic structure is absurd, but the Episcopal structure is not? got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm the poster from the Catholic church in Arlington. As a convert from Episcopalianism (I used to go to St. Albans and the Cathedral), I second the motion that you try some Catholic churches. You will find a very rich faith life there that helps you with the daily struggles you mention. I promise. And there are quite a range of "political" messages depending on the parish (though I have never found them overwhelming -- they come up in context when relevant to the Gospel reading at our NOVA church). We left the Episcopal church about 12 years ago when we thought it had gone off the deep end, and because we didn't feel that we were developing at all spiritually. You will likely struggle with some of the messages you hear at any church, but at least in ours politics is not the main focus. And there is never ever anything that would cause us to keep our children out of Mass. Good luck!

I am Episcopalian and really could never become Catholic. The whole church structure is absurd, with the Pope and rules on birth control..talk about anti-women! It really isn't an option for most Episcopalians to consider.

so the Catholic structure is absurd, but the Episcopal structure is not? got it.

I agree that the Catholics are just anti-women--and the anti-abortion thing is untenable. I guess I just wish the Episcopal church could be a leeetle more conservative. St. C's has completely gone off the rails from what the general parishioner's life issues are.

[Anonymous]

One of the reasons that religion is so successful in the US is that it follows a consumer mdel. People "shop" for a church and find one where the people are like them politically, educationally, racially, and SES-wise, and have the same family structure (young families or singles etc).

The OP is following a more traditional model used by the Catholic and Episcopalian churches wherein one attends a local parish and hears a fairly uniform message. That clahses with the American religious consumer model, and most Catholic and Episcopalian parishes are no longer uniform. Your fellow parishioners are probably hearing a message they like, or they would vote with their feet. You may have to find a church with a message that resonates with you.


Incidentally, the reason that so many gay people, single people, and women are entering the ministry is that the wages are rather low for people with graduate degrees. I grew up in the Bay ARea and, and the Minister of our church could afford a house in a decent school district. No longer true. ALso, the ministry places huge pressures on family life, and so people without children tend to do better in it. The divorce rate for people in the ministry is quite high.

[Anonymous]

I agree that the Catholics are just anti-women--and the anti-abortion thing is untenable.

You obviously have no real understanding of the Catholic faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I agree that the Catholics are just anti-women--and the anti-abortion thing is untenable.

You obviously have no real understanding of the Catholic faith.

In fact, in Europe at least, predominantly Catholic countries have much higher participation by women in the workplace than in predominately Protestant ones. Women also are more likely to go into traditional male fields like engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I agree that the Catholics are just anti-women--and the anti-abortion thing is untenable.


You obviously have no real understanding of the Catholic faith.


In fact, in Europe at least, predominantly Catholic countries have much higher participation by women in the workplace than in predominately Protestant ones. Women also are more likely to go into traditional male fields like engineering.

Don't expect people on this board to bother themselves with actually facts...particularly if those facts don't support their preconceived notions.

[Anonymous]

You are such a whiney bitch, boohoo I am sad because the church wont gay it up, change to some fake churche

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree that the Catholics are just anti-women--and the anti-abortion thing is untenable.

You obviously have no real understanding of the Catholic faith.

In fact, in Europe at least, predominantly Catholic countries have much higher participation by women in the workplace than in predominately Protestant ones. Women also are more likely to go into traditional male fields like engineering.

What European countries are still practicing AND Catholic? Portugal? Malta? Certainly not France, and there's probably more practicing Muslims in Spain than Catholics (as in attend some service 1x a week at the least.)

And yeah, when I think Catholic, I think of my former college roommate who no longer considers me a friend because I'm now a Democrat, is rabidly against gay marriage and abortion, insists his wife (I think he truly believes this) stay at home and have kid after kid despite having a professional degree, and was, overall, an asshole to me and my wife when we tried to hang out after college graduation. I dislike the idea of rabid Republicans dominating the church and my fellow parishioners even more than the idea of rabid Democrats.

Our experience with St. B (Springfield VA) wasn't the greatest either, everyone just seemed in a hurry to get out once Mass was over. Not a huge fan of the "Oh yeah, you're not cool enough to share the Eucharist" thing, either, or the "agree with everything we say or you're a fake Cafeteria Catholic" thing.

Oh yeah, and the denial of Communion to politicians with the "wrong" views (it seems having abhorrent social justice views is A-OK, but being pro-choice is enough to deny communion.)

And I guess not allowing altar girls is A-OK if you're in Northern VA. Yes, men and women are different. Now explain why this means a teenage girl can't wear a white robe and light some candles at the start of Mass.

[Anonymous]

(I think he truly believes his wife wants to do this, and he may well be correct.)