Ritual

Here is an email I received in response to one of my essays.

Ritual

In fact Jesus himself spent so much time working with and ministering to gays and prostitutes; that he himself was often mistaken for one. He taught love for all people, not condemnation for sinners by man. Judge not lest ye also be judged.

Great stuff, but very anti Christian. Those teachings are not what the modern church teaches.

I don’t know what your experience with the church is or with what denomination but these are the teachings I have grown up with in many churches involved with the American Indian Fellowship. These churches are Pentacostal Assemblies of God churches. I’m sure that many other Pentacostal churches not directly affiliated with the American Indian Fellowship teach much the same values. I rarely watch T.V. evangelists or other forms of mass media because of its tendency to become corrupt regardless of good intentions. I also steer clear of churches that rely on set schedules and repetitive ceremonies and rituals similar to the Shaker and Catholic churches. It isn’t because I think they are wrong but because it’s the ceremonies and rituals that many people come to believe are what christianity is. Christians are people to and what they do is not always christian. I don’t try to force it upon people but I am writing because I have noticed misperceptions of what I believe in. I try to live my life as best I can and when people ask me what I have I respond by telling them about God.

Buddhism, which is considerably older than Christianity has suffered the same fate. So much ritual has been tacked onto the basic message that the essence gets lost. The true religion of most of America is consumerism. It is not at all compatible with the teachings of Jesus. It must be very distressing for nominal Christians to have to be so hypocritical. It is ironic to see a Christian railing against the poor, as if they were the source of all his troubles.

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