Since the beginning of this year, I have gotten to know
a couple of friends whom I mingle well with well enough to spend
recess with and participate in group outings. All was fine until
one of them invited me to her church service some time ago, which I
eventually agreed to despite my initial hesitation.
To start off, I am not a religious person, nor am I interested in
activities of faith or anything related to worshipping. My friend
assured me that it would be fun to get to know more people and
besides, they were going to watch a movie after that. I thought
that I would give it a shot; I was not one to be a spoilsport
anyway.
Obviously that was the biggest mistake of my life.
Service was disgusting, coma-inducing and highly absurd to say the
least. I was drowning in the ocean of unwashed humanity who kept on
singing, chanting and mumbling some gobbledegook which meant
absolutely nothing. There was also a session called healing which
I find inexplicably stupid. Some woman got on stage, testified that
her back pains had miraculously disappeared during the healing
and thanked the lord for curing her. What an idiot. Try curing
cancer and make a cripple walk again; then I would be
impressed.
What really pissed me off was when they started begging for money:
Even if its one dollar more than youve contributed last week,
the lord is watching from above and he knows that youre helping at
your best.
Hello? If I want to make a financial contribution towards a
charitable cause, I would put my money in established reputable
organisations to pursue my philanthropic deeds, not in some
deceptive profit-driven association disguised under the clever
label of a church.
Anyway, back to the point. Despite my subsequent refusal to attend
service or cell group meetings, my friend kept on pestering me to
show up, and it actually worked. I have already attended several
cell group meetings against my will just to keep the friendship
going.
Their pressure for me to participate regularly in their church
activities is overwhelming. I kept on rejecting her, citing other
plans, but she just pressed on and stuck to compelling me to join
them. Now she is asking me to bring more friends along the next
time I show up. She even wants to know the actual number of people
I already have (zero), and she messages me on a daily basis just to
persuade me to commit to church.
She is being horribly selfish. If she likes leading a life centred
around church and interacting with other believers, then she should
do so without forcing along somebody who is blatantly not
interested. I hate church, and I like spending time with my other
friends doing things which actually generate fun. In fact I rather
do homework than to go to church. The fact that she is asking me to
bring more friends along is puzzling why would I want to subject
my friends to such torture and consequently jeopardise our
friendship? I already explained to her that I cannot (and in
actuality do not want to) commit to church. I mean, what a way to
destroy an otherwise promising weekend. So I get my Fridays,
Saturdays and Sundays all occupied with something incredibly
worthless such as worshipping? When does the fun start, or does it
ever? The fact that church is a heavy commitment does not help one
bit. I have a life, I need to unwind and I have ambitions which
require much time and self-commitment. Why would I even waste my
time on things which obviously do not add value to me as an
individual, a student, a son or a citizen? Why cant she be more
understanding in this respect?
My last point is why are people from churches so mafia-like? Why
cant churches just be quiet and simple like every other house of
worship, without all the extravagant commercialisation, preaching
and coercive methods of increasing membership? Stop trying to be
heroes and tell people where they should put their faith in. We can
think. I am sick of people trying to convert me. They ramble
ceaselessly about very ambiguous things regarding God, life,
brotherhood and an inherent obligation to atone for our sins which
Jesus died for, but when I start to challenge them to a debate on
religion, they cannot even answer me. Go away, get lost, dont
preach and get a new cause. Believe in whatever you want but keep
your mouth shut about it; I am sure anyone harassed by you annoying
neo-mafia members would say the same. I know that once I become
one of them (i.e. get baptised) I am never going to be able to
escape future meetings. If I quit, I would be condemned as a
traitor and be damned to hell.
I am really at my wits end when it comes to abstaining from church
while not straining my friendship with her. Crying or Very
sad
Be reminded... We DO NOT FORCE you to believe....You want to
Believe in other things Go ahead...Not all Christians are the ones
who forces people to believe...
Yes about certain cell groups... You are not the only Person that
is affected... You should know there are a lot of type of
Christians...As being a Catholic...I also must say that certain
other forms of Christians did once pressure my friends and family
into joining their group... And if you didn't join...Sometimes all
sorts of remarks comes at you.. But i think the only advice is to
be Tolerant and just let go...
So take it easy yea... Don't let one bad apple Spoil the image of
others....
