But since we’re still allergic to evangelism, and because our ad campaigns and too many of our members and our outdated promotional pamphlets and books still frame us as the alternative TO religion, we’re bound to stay teensy beensy. If there are so many interesting, intellectually provocative, or just relaxing alternatives to religion that I can do on my own, why in the world would I join a congregation or church so that I can pledge my money to, give my volunteer hours to, and send my children to Sunday School (or religious education) an institution that is still trying to convince the world that it’s a legitimate religious institution … but not really religious?We might look at some variations of how Buddhism is presented in the West and ask something very similar - who would want to be a Buddhist? (And why?)
Is this, for example, really the best statement we can make to seekers who want to know who we are religiously? Why wouldn’t I just spend the afternoon at Barnes & Noble skimming through the religion section if that’s all these people are offering? I can sit in a comfy chair and sip coffee while I’m doing it, too!
Somewhere God is laughing.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Who would want to be UU?
A good post over at PeaceBang caught my eye - here is an excerpt:
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"In many senses the church is a hospital - it is a place of spiritual, social, emotional, moral and psychological healing. And just as in a hospital the patients suffer from different conditions, are at different levels of health and are at different stages of the healing process, so it is with the church. Sometimes healing takes weeks or months - sometimes it takes a lifetime. Simply visiting a hospital doesn’t automatically make a sick person well. Some need intensive care, others less intensive but no less important ongoing treatment or rehabilitation. No hospital is a centre of physical perfection, and neither is a church one of spiritual perfection - rather, both are messy environments full of messed-up people striving to be less so." - Steve Chalke
ReplyDeletehttp://dharmakara.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/messy-sangha/
I like the idea of spiritual communities being "messy environments full of messed-up people striving to be less so" - its certainly what i would look for, (and think i have found), in a buddhist sangha.