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Faith and introspection
Nov. 5th, 2006 02:26 pmRecently, the country was anxiously pulling millions of bags of spinach from the shelves due to a deadly outbreak of e. coli. When spinach is grown on megafarms, a relatively small infection of e. coli becomes a national epidemic as tons of spinach are mixed into smaller batches. Those who ate spinach from local growers never had to worry. They knew their local farm.
When I was young, people went to the neighborhood church. They often walked. The Minister or Pastor stood at the door and shook your hand as you walked in. If he* didn't know you, he made certain he introduced himself and introduced a few church members to you. If you went to the hospital, he'd see you on his weekly rounds. You went to your minister's house, you knew his wife, your kids played with his kids. You knew him.
The megachurches surfaced in the 1950's, and spread with the popularity of television. Pastors were charismatic, spreading the Evangelical message with zeal. The public joined in droves, and congregations swelled. The churches are run as businesses, netting millions of dollars per year, their Pastors have star power greater than hollywood actors, and are as remote. The megachurch machines use staff and software to fill the void. Through complex databases, they work quickly to embrace new members and tag members whose participation is flagging and act to bring them back to the flock.
But church members often do not know their leaders in the same way a community church knows its minister. The centralization of power in megachurches seems to open them up to becoming cults of personality. The money and power involved could tempt a saint, as it were.
Ted Haggard brazenly abused the trust of not only his own congregation, but the many Evangelicals he represented as the head of the National Association of Evangelicals. It does not help that he played up his contacts with the White House, or delivered a barn-burning anti-homosexual speech preserved for posterity in the film "Jesus Camp". While liberals gloat, (and, as Kuo has it, the White House laughs), the millions of evangelicals across the country who are members of his church are left wondering how this reflects on them and their faith.
A less publicized story emerged out of Pensacola on Friday when Creationist Evangelist Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind was found guilty of 58 counts of tax evasion. Hovind claimed that those working for God are exempt from taxes (what part of "render unto Caesar" did he not understand?). He could be sentenced to over 200 years in prison.
In all, it has not been a good week for Evangelicals. Perhaps they should stick to locally grown vegetables, at the very least.
*I am using "he" because ministers and pastors were male. The revolution that allowed women to be ordained was yet to occur.
When I was young, people went to the neighborhood church. They often walked. The Minister or Pastor stood at the door and shook your hand as you walked in. If he* didn't know you, he made certain he introduced himself and introduced a few church members to you. If you went to the hospital, he'd see you on his weekly rounds. You went to your minister's house, you knew his wife, your kids played with his kids. You knew him.
The megachurches surfaced in the 1950's, and spread with the popularity of television. Pastors were charismatic, spreading the Evangelical message with zeal. The public joined in droves, and congregations swelled. The churches are run as businesses, netting millions of dollars per year, their Pastors have star power greater than hollywood actors, and are as remote. The megachurch machines use staff and software to fill the void. Through complex databases, they work quickly to embrace new members and tag members whose participation is flagging and act to bring them back to the flock.
But church members often do not know their leaders in the same way a community church knows its minister. The centralization of power in megachurches seems to open them up to becoming cults of personality. The money and power involved could tempt a saint, as it were.
Ted Haggard brazenly abused the trust of not only his own congregation, but the many Evangelicals he represented as the head of the National Association of Evangelicals. It does not help that he played up his contacts with the White House, or delivered a barn-burning anti-homosexual speech preserved for posterity in the film "Jesus Camp". While liberals gloat, (and, as Kuo has it, the White House laughs), the millions of evangelicals across the country who are members of his church are left wondering how this reflects on them and their faith.
A less publicized story emerged out of Pensacola on Friday when Creationist Evangelist Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind was found guilty of 58 counts of tax evasion. Hovind claimed that those working for God are exempt from taxes (what part of "render unto Caesar" did he not understand?). He could be sentenced to over 200 years in prison.
In all, it has not been a good week for Evangelicals. Perhaps they should stick to locally grown vegetables, at the very least.
*I am using "he" because ministers and pastors were male. The revolution that allowed women to be ordained was yet to occur.
