Civil Commotion

Book Two: A Criticism of the Highest Values That Have Prevailed Hitherto
II: Criticism of Morality

§268   Two types of morality must not be confounded: the morality with which the instinct that has remained healthy defends itself from incipient decadence, and the other morality by means of which this decadence asserts itself, justifies itself and leads downwards. The first-named is usually stoical, hard, tyrannical (Stoicism itself was an example of the sort of “drag-chain “morality we speak of); the other is gushing, sentimental, full of secrets, it has the women and “beautiful feelings” on its side (Primitive Christianity was an example of this morality).

… it’s going to be a really long campaign season, and I’m hoping that this kickoff advertisement by Ted Cruz is as bizarre as it gets.

So: What’s the message here? Jesus gave Cruz a daddy, and Americans always rise to a challenge and overcome long odds, so vote for me? Seriously, I don’t get this ad.

Spiritual Sounding Board’s Julie Anne publishes a thoughtful meditation on the ways that pastors use language to signal disapproval and isolate members. Well worth reading.

Ok, Kathi brought up a knitting group and coincidentally I was in a knitting group while attending my former church which I believe runs like a cult, Beaverton Grace Bible Church. This knitting group consisted of some friends from a former church and also other knitting friends, some were Believers, some not. I was never told not to go to the knitting group by my pastor, but I felt guilty each time I went. I felt I was betraying someone, but who? Yes, I thought I was betraying my pastor and his “mission.”

Whenever I played the piano for the local high school choir and the concert coincided with Wednesday evening services, I felt guilty that I wasn’t spiritual enough, that I was letting my church family down. These guilty feelings really weighed on me. Why couldn’t I spend time with great friends and knit, even if the conversation didn’t always revolve around the gospel? Why couldn’t I share my love of music with high school students who were part of my community? We were building relationships and I was getting to know people in my community. Where was this division coming from?

My gut proved me right. I later got word from my friend who was a staff employee that my pastor, Chuck O’Neal, did NOT like me meeting with other ladies to knit.

We should expect the domineering, cult-like behavior of churches to intensify as the growing numbers of ‘nones’ force them further into retreat.

250+ fires in houses, buildings as arsonists grow bolder …

Fires broke out in more than 250 houses, businesses and other buildings in Detroit in March, the most destructive month of the year so far, as rigs broke down, hydrants malfunctioned and arsonists grew bolder.

There is a very good, very affecting piece here about the Quiverfull movement amongst fundamentalists.

At the heart of Quiverfull is patriarchy: the ideal of biblical headship and submission. This is the belief that by God’s perfect design, the father is the head of the home. The father serves as protector, provider and shepherd for his wife and children. He is primarily responsible for the wife’s and children’s physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and with such responsibility comes the (divinely granted) commensurate authority over the members of his household. According to this view, God works through the father and he serves as an intermediary for his wife and children.

There is no end of literature about fundamentalist cults, but what makes this one especially valuable is the frank recognition that so much of Christian teaching is predatory and, basically, draws its strength from the insecurity of its victims.

The Quiverfull lifestyle is extremely demanding and completely overwhelming for the devoted Christian women who are determined to fulfill their God-given purpose of being godly wives and mothers. They’re submitting to their husbands, having a baby every other year, homebirthing, homeschooling, cooking from scratch, and earning extra money with a home business. They are almost completely cut off from “unsupportive” friends and family, and they never use babysitters so they have their children with them 24/7. Why would any woman want to live this way?

Most of the women come from chaotic family backgrounds and are seeking the security of “biblical family values.”

But:

The more a Christian woman cares and the harder she tries to live according to biblical principles for godly womanhood, the more she, her husband, and their children suffer.

Make no mistake about this: The difference between groups that we can all agree are nothing but predatory cults, and the ‘respectable’ church around the corner from your house, is one only of degree. It is no accident that family- and social-pathologies are most acute where the churches are strongest.