SERIOUS question for thinking Christians?

Question

FORGIVE ME FOR THE LENGTH.
I was coming home from work today with my father who is a Christian, I am an Atheist(obviously) when we had a rather interesting conversation. It was about the difference between the crazy, radical evangelical churches and the progressive main-stream "Calvary Chapel" type churches. We live in L.A.
We both agreed that as a Christian you MUST be very disappointed with both churches and here is why.
The evangelical "Bible literalists" churches are hateful and judgemental, not to mention hypocratical. You know, they claim to take the Bilble literally but they ONLY take the percieved hateful (O.T) parts that way, not the words of Jesus (N.T.) who talked of kindness and mercy.
On the flipside you have the proressive Christian churches. They are MUCH better with the hate issue and MUCH more Christ like. However, their services are NOTHING but fluff. They never say anything that may offend someone. NOTHING controversial. Too "Politically correct".

Do you agree?

CL Richardson- I can ONLY speak from my own experience. I grew up in evangelical churches all over S. Cal and they were ALL hateful and judgemental. I have also been to many Calvary chapels. I speak out of experience. I am not trying to offend anyone.

Suzi- I totally agree that Y!Answers bring the worst out of me. I have written apology emails to many people I have been mean to.

James B- NOTHING I said was hateful, however I WAS making a judgement. What is wrong with that?
I DID NOT say the evangelical churces were wrong for being judgemental, I was only descibing them.

Orpheus Rising- Thank you for the kind and informative response. Finally, someone who lived in L.A. gives me some of their perspective.

CL Richardson- When did I claim to be against judgement? READ my question. WAKE up!

P.S. Why do you not allow people to e-mail you directly, are you afraid?
well you should be, you are NO MATCH against most Atheists.

Answer 1

Amen and amen to you and your dad. I could NOT agree more.

In my experience, there are 2 denominations that I find can avoid the hate-mongering of fundamentalism and also attack the serious issues sanely: some Roman Catholic Churches (note the adjective "some") (Priests who rock the theological boat too much get excommunicated) and the Quakers.

Of course each Quaker meeting is different, but by and large, they are a liberal and active group of believers.

Answer 2

Totally agree. I'll tell you though, having lived in the L.A. area for many many years until recently, I DID find a few churches that walk the middle ground. They actually did have theological depth without going into Bible-fundie literalism, and actually preached Christ's love without going overboard into fluff-land. I don't know if it's coincidence or not but all of those churches that I found personally, had strong ties to Fuller Seminary. And they're the churches that have a strong sense of Christian history. Anyways, it seems to me that Christianity didn't get through 2000 years by being hateful on the one hand or fluffy on the other. There is something profound there, if we take the time to rediscover it. And "Bible literalists" have only been around for 150 years or so; I think they're already an endangered species.

Peace to you - and forgive me also for the length.

Answer 3

"The evangelical "Bible literalists" churches are hateful and judgemental, not to mention hypocratical."

I suppose you're not being judgmental in saying this? Whatever. Look, I'm a Bible literalist and I don't hate anybody. I don't judge. God judges. And the last thing I want to be is a hypocrite. It's awful that some people say these things about us without even knowing who we are or what we're about. If what you said here were true, then yes, you would have an excellent point. But since you have a tainted view of Bible literalists...and quite possibly "calvary chapel" churches too...I can't agree with you.

Edit: Still, aren't you judging them by saying this? And doesn't that make you a hypocrite, since you claim to be against judgment?

Answer 4

I agree in one aspect, there are a lot of Evangelical and Calvary Chapel Christians that fit into your generalization, but that is where I differ, one should not generalize and I know you are going off your own experiences, and maybe openess , truth, comes from letting the experiences of others as well be influencial in our decisions.
I know people from both aspects, the ones you mentioned, lamentably are wrong, but also I know those who are open enough to understand that at times even what they are being exposed to in their Churches is wrong, but it doesn't take away from the fact that the reason for going is less. In other words, their main purpose for attending is yes to find enlightenment in things of God, but when presented with things that a human is trying to put across as divine they are able to distinguish it, and still go to be exposed to God.
The truth lies in the heart of the receiver of the Word.
Have a wonderful and most blessed day, along with your father, and I admire the fact that on here there are persons like yourself who are open to true dialogue about faith.

Answer 5

Okay, some churches are stale because of the people that lead them from my experience. If you are looking for a church that is not full of fluff or fire and brimmstone judgement you do need to look around! I happen to love my church (Greek Orthodox) because it is the oldest of traditions, it's full of beautifully poetic praise and poetry. The liturgy is St John Chrysystom.
I've also been to Methodist, Catholic and the Vineyard. I absolutly loved the sermons at all of these churches because the preachers hearts were in it.

Answer 6

I don't spend a lot of time checking out different churches. My understanding is that we should just be Christians. The 'progressive Christian churches' you describe seem to favor the group with whom I worship, the church of Christ. But we don't seem to have any problem identifying sinful behavior. Of course, we use a little tact if the need to approach someone arises. Politically correct isn't an issue for us. Don't think it was for Jesus, either.

Answer 7

you know, i was raised protestant & i never learned anything & they never taught anything. it was always... i'm ok, you're ok. they accepted anything & let people believe anything. all the people i knew there were nice, but no one was interested in God. it was a "social club".

then i was catholic for 10 years & everybody kept completely to themselves & never discussed anything. we never knew anyone in church b/c no body ever talked.

the 1st time i went to an apostolic ("fundamental") church, i was floored. everyone came over to us & hugged us & told us how glad they were that we had come. i had never felt so much sincerity & love from total strangers in my entire life.
they preach the entire bible .... don't pick & choose. i liked that. i had been looking for that. they also believe & experience what the apostles did. i knew i had found the true church.

i can literally say i have had years of experience in the mainstream denominations. i can honestly say they twist scripture to tell people what they want to hear & not to offend anyone. it's all about money so they are careful not to address important issues.

apostolic churches addresses the big, important issues of what is acceptable to God & what is not.... while continuing to love those who are struggling. they love the sinner, but hate their sin. they give alot of support for those who are wanting to draw closer to God. i have learned more in the last 5 years than my whole life in protestant/catholic churches.
this is how church is suppose to be. when i am there, i am at home. when i go anywhere in any other city & i see apostolics in stores, i have an instant compatibility w/ them. i can say, who's church do you attend?? & they'll say. bro. (name's) church in (city). there is an instant connection b/c we are brother's & sister's in Christ.

i never experienced that in cath/protestant churches. they are all against each other... each thinking their's is the best.
hmmmm,. what does that tell you about false churches as compared w/ the true church?????

Answer 8

Actually you both are very close to correct. Just read Revelation Chapters 2-3. I assume this pertains to many of the Churches of today.

Answer 9

I agree but my church isn't like that. I go to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and we preach the truthfulness of the gospel. And not just one man gets up and preaches or teaches all of us are involved!!!! Each week 3 different members of the congregation stand up and speak about a chosen topic. To give guidance, and inspiration to all those who listen. Its really a wonderful church!!! You should try it sometime, if you like nice non-judgemental ppl!!!

Answer 10

I agree. I am a fundamenatlist/protestant. I have to say that R&S brings out the worst in me. In real life, I am very compassionate and patient with people I know who are following false doctrine. I still believe there is only ONE TRUTH and many people are deceived. But, like you said, I also believe that we should show people compassion and love and understanding. I pray for people that I know, and many that don't know. Good point, though!