More religious grumping

[kaberett]

See, right, the thing that annoys me even more than People Criticising Christianity Wrong is lazy, compassionless theology rooted in shame and fear, especially when it's coming from sodding priests.

This is how bad today's sermon was: I walked out after the Peace and my mother joined me after communion, and was genuinely surprised I hadn't walked out while the guy was still talking.

Today's Gospel reading was John 15:1-8, which reads:

Jesus said to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."

... so of course the local priest decided that the most possible important take-home from this was uselessness ends in disaster, with a really explicit statement about how non-fruit-bearing branches of the vine are so useless that they're not even considered fit to burn temple offerings.

Instead of, you know, stuff about drawing strength from the vine; about closeness and reciprocity making us stronger; about how it's difficult to tell the difference between fruit-bearing and non-fruit-bearing branches; about how branches that aren't fruit bearing clearly serve some purpose to the vine or they wouldn't have grown that way; about how "usefulness" does not necessarily look like bloody capitalist production; about love and growth and strength. Nope! Instead it was all about how if we weren't non-specifically useful and fruit-bearing (which was here explicitly equated with Witnessing To The Etc) then we'd go to hell and we'd deserve it. It was entirely focussed on fear and shame and violently making ourselves smaller lest we not be productive enough.

To which I say: NOPE.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

...right. ugh.

[ysobel]

Hell to the nope.

[silveradept]

Definite NOPE there. That verse, to me, has always been talking about cultivating a good relationship with the deity, and that if you have your faith and do things in that space, the deity will reward you by granting you what you ask.

I also tend to give the side-eye to anyone who says that witnessing is a primary duty in a tradition that tends to talk very negatively about people who wear their religion as a status symbol or are more interested in seeing themselves doing things than in doing good things.

[cadenzamuse]

NOPE TRAIN: DESTINATION NOPESVILLE

[davidgillon]

*headdesk*, that text is so easily turned to beating on different sub-groups that you would have hoped he would have gotten the clue in advance that special care was needed.

Hell, even focussing on Witnessing is beating on those of us who find any kind of public focus unbearable.

[el_staplador]

Nope indeed.

[hilarita]

It's one of the things I dread when I go to a Catholic religious thing (e.g. Christmas, funerals, that sort of thing) - that the priest will Have A Moment and not be all about the love of Christ and compassion etc., but all about the hell-fire and the discrimination. Because I will walk out, and then there will be an almighty family row. Go you for leaving.

[meneltarma]

Wow. That's a pretty disgusting reading. Pretty sure Jesus wasn't a capitalist overlord cracking the whip at his disciples yelling at them to produce widgets faster.

But to be fair I've seen this verse used to talk about apostates and how nothing good can ever come from an ex-Christian if they leave the faith because there's nothing good that doesn't come from God, so I guess it's not the most disgusting.

[azurelunatic]

The local priest's community feeling looks to have been lopped off rather short by some inept gardener. :(