http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/06/27/wsj-why-sunday-schools-closing Comments On: WSJ: Why Sunday Schools Closing by Dan Savage en-us Copyright 2009 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:30:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
Quote usage fail.
Posted by MJGabay]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:50:02 -0700 The Stranger
"Sunday school"? No, but the alternatives didn't come without failure. Depending on the grade level, we went Saturday morning, or Monday or Wednesday night. That meant conflicts with cartoons or Blackhawks games. :-P

But between five major Christian denominations and a couple varieties of Judaism, you couldn't avoid conflicts. Teams were sized to account for never being at full strength. Everybody got to play. Done.
Posted by Jason74]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:14:47 -0700 The Stranger
1) Without trying to get into the statistics of how often youth pastors are child molesters, I'd think it'd be above the average for the population -- not because I'm down on religion, but because if what I really want to do is have good access to kids I can molest and an authority position with which to hush them up about it, pretending to be devout and becoming a youth pastor is a GREAT way to do it.

Associate power with something and you're going to get, not most, but some people who go after the something because they want the power.

2) I think this kind of thing is more poisonous to the churches than it was a hundred years ago because people have more choices now. Not being a part of a local church is less likely to castrate your career or social life than in the past.

From the (not statistically significant, but I'd be surprised if anyone really disagreed with the trend) handful of people I've known in my life who were molested by church authority figures... those people generally want to get the fuck away from the church, even if what happened to them isn't really the church's fault. They leave, their families sometimes leave, they don't raise their kids in the faith, and they don't come back. I don't think it's a major cause of declining Sunday School attendance by any means, but it's sure not helping.
Posted by Dire Mongoose]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:13:29 -0700 The Stranger
You broke my heart. I believe we make our best contributions to the world by being who we truly are. We have much to offer this world, we can be an important person in a child's life in many ways: as a foster parent, adoption, uncle/aunt, mentor, child sponsor abroad, etc. I hope you find a way to share your heart.

Best wishes,
k
Posted by kim in portland]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:06:26 -0700 The Stranger Posted by observer]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:32:09 -0700 The Stranger
I was shy, withdrawn, and gay in school, and I got bullied some as a result. Although I have a good mind and liked learning, I hated school. These educational opportunities felt safe to me, no bullying, kind and empathetic teachers, wonderful atmosphere.

Your War On Sunday School seems to me kinda Nancy Grace. What exactly is your beef with Sunday School?
Posted by Drew in Palm Springs]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:05:44 -0700 The Stranger Posted by YourHoliness]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:41:58 -0700 The Stranger
I was the only one raised without any religious education during my youth. I am also the only one who regularly attends church today (In fact, I am in seminary of all things - ELCA Lutheran)

Sheryl makes the case well. Thanks.
Posted by mcFly]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:26:41 -0700 The Stranger
I copied and pasted your link and watched it, because your comments indicate you're upset, and perhaps you feel betrayed. Your feelings, are valid because they are your feelings. I think you're misunderstanding what was said. I do not hear any judgement on gays or slings. There is just the statement that his everyday life looks much the same as mine, the everyday life of being a parent and a spouse. I've found that having a spouse and kids changed my priorities, and that many of my activities revolve around the interests of my family, and thus I spend more time interacting and developing friendships with adults who share my stage of life. It's not that we still don't love and value our single friends, it's that our day to day lives don't resemble the lives of our single friends, our lives resemble the lives of those who's attention and interests are focused on their families.

Best wishes.
Posted by kim in portland]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:09:08 -0700 The Stranger
It was taught by parents, and was pretty low-key: Mostly just stuff about living a good life, being honest, blah blah blah. Catholics aren't big on Bible memorization or any of that nonsense that a lot of my protestant friends had to go through.

To me, the best thing about being a Catholic kid was that we never ever had to worry about Vacation Bible School, which we papists thought was absolutely ridiculous. We'd ride our bikes past the poor schmucks sitting in an un-air conditioned church "education center" and laugh cruelly, then go swim at the lake.

Ah, youth.....
Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:26:34 -0700 The Stranger Thank you for your post
Posted by chaya760]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 07:38:27 -0700 The Stranger
the nature of "god" is most likely not anything like a being. the belief that "god" is a being who judges us in perpetuity for our actions is the worst part of monotheistic religion.

unlike buddhism, monotheistic beliefs have no basis in scientific observation.
Posted by Max Solomon]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:45:47 -0700 The Stranger
I not particular about our kids being taught the biblical mythology, and I'm okay with them being taught the golden rule, or the beatifications, but I think it's a disservice both to children and to our nation when they are taught that their faith is superior to others, that their neighbors will suffer Hellfire for being Mormon, or Jewish, or atheist, or gay. I don't think it's appropriate anymore to teach that women are subservient to men, or must be silent in church, and I think children should not be taught young earth creationism as science anymore than they should be taught geocentrism.

And I certainly don't think kids should be smacked, or discouraged from asking questions.
Posted by Uriel-238]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:36:35 -0700 The Stranger
What I care about is that Christians all too often seem to be content to let the bigots and cretins and hateful fools in their midst speak for them. Silent majority, that's great, but maybe silence isn't good enough? When Pat Robertson is on TV, how come it's only people like Dan who are willing to go up against him, and not good-guy religious people?
Posted by Fnarf]]> Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:46:45 -0700 The Stranger
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2sIf_sVYuc
Posted by SlinglessInSeattle]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:38:09 -0700 The Stranger
I never went to any church as a kid. Don't really feel like I missed anything.
Posted by dwight moody]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:24:04 -0700 The Stranger
Well said, Sheryl.
Posted by kim in portland]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:04:12 -0700 The Stranger
I share Sheryl's views. So, I won't take up thread space here, as Violet asked me to explain a few days ago: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archive…
Posted by kim in portland]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:03:16 -0700 The Stranger
Now, like I implied, that doesn't mean that I don't believe in science, and I don't believe in the rational world. I believe faith and reason can and must coexist, at least for existance to make sense for me.

Personally, all I ask is that non-believers respect the fact that I'm an intelligent human being capable of rational thought despite my faith. I certainly respect your intelligence and your rationality despite your lack of belief.

And I don't believe in proselytizing. I will talk about my faith and answer questions if asked, but I don't believe I have the right to foist what I believe on anyone else. Most progressive Christians feel that way, which is why we are the silent majority. Perhaps it's time, though, that we make some noise and let the world know that we aren't all homophobic, anti-choice, gun nuts who will condemn you in one breath and try to save you in another.
Posted by Sheryl]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 22:44:41 -0700 The Stranger
Magic is fake, people. How can anyone still believe it's real?

Posted by Urgutha Forka]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:45:54 -0700 The Stranger Posted by amazonmidwife]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:15:11 -0700 The Stranger Posted by whateverr]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:07:30 -0700 The Stranger
CHURCHES SHOULD BE TAXED.

Because it costs you and me billions. We are not talking chump change here.

Consider that for every tax dollar a religious organization does not pay, you and I pay it on its behalf. Many are among the wealthiest organizations in the world: by 1971, the amount of real and personal property owned by U.S. churches was approx. $110 billion. In New York City alone, the amount was $3 billion in 1989. A 1986 estimate showed religious income in that year of approx. $100 billion, or about five times the income of the five largest corporations in the U.S. All tax free.

"Some of the big giant mega churches are about 80% show and 20% good. These mega-churches should be taxed on the 80%. The kind of church I like is the one room church in Little House that doubled as a school. This is what I consider as a real church."
Posted by DoorMouse]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:48:35 -0700 The Stranger Dan Savage says that he has much more in common with his straight friends who have kids than his gay friends who have slings (Dan has outgrown his). It is the way that he spits out this regretable phrase that really gets me. It is spat out with utter contempt. But what can you expect from an approval seeking (approvial from his own catholic family) individule who couldn't quite bring himself to break the umbelical coard enough to NOT batize his kid into the Catholic church. He is still an approvial seeking whore of an alter boy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2sIf_sVY…
Posted by SlinglessInSeattle]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:27:04 -0700 The Stranger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2sIf_sVY…
Posted by SlinglessInSeattle]]> Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:19:20 -0700 The Stranger