Ken-dull is not a big reader

[Aurora]

Surprising, isn't it? I thought, from her writing, that she must read constantly. /sarcasm

Currently she is reading Voddie Baucham and "Give Them Grace" by Fitzpatrick and Thompson. Anyone know anything about these books?

The "snid-bits" (wut?) are confusing:

"Let's face it; most of our children believe that God is happy if they're "good for goodness' sake." We've transformed the holy, terrifying, magnificent, and loving God of the Bible into Santa and his elves. And instead of transmitting the gloriously liberating and life-changing truths of the gospel, we have taught our children that what God wants from them is morality. We have told them that being good (at least outwardly) is the be-all and end-all of their faith. This isn't the Gospel; we're not handing down Christianity. We need much less of Veggie Tales and Barney and tons more of the radical, bloody, scandalous message of God made man and crushed by his father for our sin." Give Them Grace pg 19

'Kay... so Santa is bad, that I get. But morality is also bad? And the last sentence... wow, Bible time must be scary for her kids. :shock:

thefatherknowsbest.com

[caitiedid313]

This drives me crazy because it makes absolutely no sense to me. Does it really matter why a person helps an old lady across the street? It's still a good thing no matter if it was done for "goodness sake," because the person wants to go to Heaven, because the person doesn't want to go to hell, or because the lady was wearing a shirt in the helper's favorite color. Motivation doesn't necessarily change the end result.

As for the God isn't Santa thing, I know what could prevent further confusion: http://twentytwowords.com/2011/12/11/sa ... n-diagram/

[Aurora]

As for the God isn't Santa thing, I know what could prevent further confusion: http://twentytwowords.com/2011/12/11/sa ... n-diagram/

:lol: :lol: Love the Venn diagram!

[Witsec7]

:lol: :lol: Love the Venn diagram!

WaLa

[Diggers]

Surprising, isn't it? I thought, from her writing, that she must read constantly. /sarcasm

Currently she is reading Voddie Baucham and "Give Them Grace" by Fitzpatrick and Thompson. Anyone know anything about these books?

The "snid-bits" (wut?) are confusing:

'Kay... so Santa is bad, that I get. But morality is also bad? And the last sentence... wow, Bible time must be scary for her kids. :shock:

thefatherknowsbest.com

Harhar, I was just reading her oh-so-literary blog and saw that "snid-bits" thing and had to furrow my brow at her.

I don't know about either of those books, due to my reading mainly worldly things that she would disapprove of (like The Economist, and Dostoevsky, and Dickens, and Harry Potter... and actual history books), but if those "snid-bits" are anything to go by, I'll have to pass on Messrs Baucham and Fitzpatrick.

Never will I understand the whole teaching kids by frightening the shit out of them thing.

Also, God has a scandalous message?

[Diggers]

WaLa

I wonder if Kendal is familiar with the Spanish Inquisition?

[darkplumaged]

Nothing says age-appropriate teaching like talking to your kids about "the radical, bloody, scandalous message of God made man and crushed by his father for our sin."

I don't know how these people can stand themselves.

[synchroswimr]

Wait, snid-bits? The Urban Dictionary definition is "little bit of something," and has a whopping 8 votes. She means tidbits, right? Or is this something new and hip that "the kids" are doing these days?

[julie paradox]

I think she means snippets.

[Qennies27]

Nice discussion buddy.

[formergothardite]

I think she combined snippets and tidbits without knowing it. Wasn't she the one who said she didn't care about making all sorts of mistakes on her blog because she has better things to do? I thought Christians were supposed to do their best at all things like they were doing it for God, not be slack just because they are lazy.

[Confused_by_religion]

"and tons more of the radical, bloody, scandalous message of God made man and crushed by his father for our sin." Give Them Grace pg 19"

If THAT doesn't sound like a loving god I don't know else does. Wow.

Let's not even get into the theological aspects here. Trying to sell Christianity like this can only lead to a lot of more atheism.

[contrary]

I wonder if Kendal is familiar with the Spanish Inquisition?

now i have Monty Python running through my head.

"it's the inquisiiiiiiiiii-tionnnnn!"

[galaxygirl]

"and tons more of the radical, bloody, scandalous message of God made man and crushed by his father for our sin." Give Them Grace pg 19"

[Austin]

"Let's face it; most of our children believe that God is happy if they're "good for goodness' sake." We've transformed the holy, terrifying, magnificent, and loving God of the Bible into Santa and his elves. And instead of transmitting the gloriously liberating and life-changing truths of the gospel, we have taught our children that what God wants from them is morality. We have told them that being good (at least outwardly) is the be-all and end-all of their faith. This isn't the Gospel; we're not handing down Christianity. We need much less of Veggie Tales and Barney and tons more of the radical, bloody, scandalous message of God made man and crushed by his father for our sin." Give Them Grace pg 19

Evangelicals (and not just those of the Calvinist variety) believe that there is no such thing as human "goodness". Since humankind is inherently evil, any displays or manifestations of seeming goodness are just things we make up in the moment and impress God not in the least, as we truly don't have any goodness in us. The only way we can attain any goodness, they contend, is through the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, and even then, it is not our goodness but Christ's. Isaiah 64:6 claims But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags, so there is no goodness in us apart from Christ.

Is it any wonder so many Christians are depressed? Who in their right mind can deal with all that self-loathing? Who can reconcile that the God who created me hates me unless Jesus covers my offensive presence with his blameless blood?

I personally have come to believe this is a very sick system. And it also explains why so many of the non-Christians I know seem to have true goodness in them and practice it regularly. It has not been beaten and badgered out of them, so unlike many Christians who have given up, they believe in the power of goodness toward their fellow humans.

[VodouDoll]

"Snid-bits" might not be quite as bad as "soak and wet," but it's definitely close.

[darkplumaged]

Is it any wonder so many Christians are depressed? Who in their right mind can deal with all that self-loathing? Who can reconcile that the God who created me hates me unless Jesus covers my offensive presence with his blameless blood?

I personally have come to believe this is a very sick system. And it also explains why so many of the non-Christians I know seem to have true goodness in them and practice it regularly. It has not been beaten and badgered out of them, so unlike many Christians who have given up, they believe in the power of goodness toward their fellow humans.

The bolded part, especially. I see lots of Christian bloggers--not even fundies, just conservative--flagellating themselves for... being human. It seems disingenuous, like they actually want people to think they're holier because they're so self-abasing, but I'm not sure it actually is, at least not in all cases.

One blogger I read occasionally recently called herself "the worst of all sinners." Um... as far as I can tell, you're a suburban working mom who loves her kid and seems like a perfectly decent person. What makes her a worse sinner than anyone else? Or are all Christians the worst of all sinners just by virtue of existing?

This concept is completely incomprehensible to me as a Jew. I can be pretty hard on myself when I make mistakes I should have known better than to have made, but I don't think I, or anyone else, was born a sinner (!!111!!). To me, it defies logic.

[titus2_4u]

WaLa

That one's my favorite! I also love "Viola!" in the same context (missed attempt at "voila!" not referencing the instrument.

[Constance Vigilance]

How do they explain the six hundred and something (been years since I read Pollyanna) exhortations in the bible to rejoice?

[ThisOlGirl]

Kendull and those like her need to get their hands on Jay Bakker's books. Until I read his stuff, I thought I was the only one who thought like that. What he says makes so much more sense to me than say, that Mars Hill Church guy (can't remember his name and I don't like him enough to Google him). Unfortunately, Kendall and and company would just call him a heretic and say he's going to hell.

And as a bonus, I find Jay oddly defrauding (odd for me, since I don't normally go for that "type)!

[liltwinstar]

The bolded part, especially. I see lots of Christian bloggers--not even fundies, just conservative--flagellating themselves for... being human. It seems disingenuous, like they actually want people to think they're holier because they're so self-abasing, but I'm not sure it actually is, at least not in all cases.

One blogger I read occasionally recently called herself "the worst of all sinners." Um... as far as I can tell, you're a suburban working mom who loves her kid and seems like a perfectly decent person. What makes her a worse sinner than anyone else? Or are all Christians the worst of all sinners just by virtue of existing?

This is pretty much why I've left Christianity (at least for now). The whole time I was growing up and as a young adult, I was ridiculously depressed over things I couldn't control - ie, being human and having human desires/needs/etc.

Also, it was drilled into me that sin is sin is sin, regardless if you're telling a "white lie" or killing someone, so I used to be terrified that I'd grow up and be some horrible sociopath or serial killer or something - after all, I told lies to my parents on occasion, so clearly a sin-beast lurked within, just waiting to get out.

Yeah, I had to talk about that a *lot* in therapy...I literally thought if I gave one inch to my negative emotions (like anger), I would turn into the Incredible Hulk and destroy stuff and all that. My therapist helped me realize I'm not actually that powerful.

I know some people manage to be Christians without the depression/self-loathing, and honestly, I don't know how they do it!