mommaduck Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Politics do not belong in worship services. Never thought I would say that. No, it was not my church. That is all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 For what it's worth? I completely agree. It drives people away from the church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdalley Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 :iagree: Keep the politics out of church. Period. It creates division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 :iagree::iagree::iagree: My church involved itself in the 2008 election. It has never recoverd a sense of community and brotherhood. I go there for bible study, that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 :iagree: I attended a church once in which the pastor said he wasn't going to tell people who to vote for, but if they voted for Candidate Y, they needed to have their head examined—and they better not even think about throwing away their votes on a third party. Nope. He wasn't telling people who to vote for at all. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 You've got to keep the main thing the main thing. No politics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Politics do not belong in worship services. Never thought I would say that. No, it was not my church. That is all... :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Thankfully, we've never encountered it in worship. In SS and small groups, yes. Hate the discord, most of which occurs because some people think if you are a Christian, you must be of a certain party and hold certain political beliefs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 :iagree:It creates division. At work, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 :iagree: Oh, this one is easy to agree with! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parker Martin Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Years ago, we attended a church where the priest/pastor talked about politics all the time. All. The. Time. It was so annoying. He thought that Jesus was the leader of a political movement, so it was never ending. We left. We once visited my father's church, and the priest/pastor criticized a political commentator during the sermon, and one of the parishioners shouted "Amen!" Later the same parishioner was introduced as the new associate priest/pastor. Ugh. I love that I have never heard politics mentioned in our current church, except to pray for wisdom and discernment for political leaders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Amen, I heard it too many times. Jesus was a ________(fill in the blank). :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I never heard a peep about politics back when I went to church. Whenever I hear about it happening now, it always makes me :001_huh:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 I love that I have never heard politics mentioned in our current church, except to pray for wisdom and discernment for political leaders. We do this in ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 If it's not illegal, it's dangerously close. See IRS rules; for more info, click on the Revenue Ruling 2007-41 in para. 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted November 20, 2011 Author Share Posted November 20, 2011 If it's not illegal, it's dangerously close. See IRS rules; for more info, click on the Revenue Ruling 2007-41 in para. 4. Well the way it was presented didn't come close to breaking any laws. And there ARE churches out there that refuse exemption because they want to be able to say what they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Politics do not belong in worship services. Never thought I would say that. No, it was not my church. That is all... I thoroughly agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8circles Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I love that I have never heard politics mentioned in our current church, except to pray for wisdom and discernment for political leaders. Same here. There are all kinds or political views in my church. I don't want any politics preached even if I agree with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakimberly Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 YES! We had a state representative in our congregation in TX who would basically promote his re-election during the service sometimes. It made me sick to my stomach. It just is not the place. (And I'm not always convinced he was the best candidate, either!) I don't know that Jesus would want to associate Himself with any of the current political parties! He wasn't really a fan of corruption, misappropriation of funds, sexual harassment, and y'know posting photos of weiners on Twitter and stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirch Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 Definitely. Or in e-mails on the church e-mail loop. Drove me UP THE WALL last time around, and I was generally on the same side politically--it was just inappropriate and 99% propaganda. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuirkyKapers Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 :iagree: For me, it is a big turn off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 I once heard a pastor say if we didn't vote in the upcoming election we were committing a grave sin. Of course I thought "GRAVE sin? Is there any other kind?" and then snickered at myself for making movie references in church. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 See, this is why I love the concept of adiophora. These are matters of indifference, about which it is reasonable for dedicated Christians to disagree. And so an opinion on them should not be considered normative, and should not under any circumstances be preached as that is just for God's Word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 A few decades ago when I was in college, I was visiting a church in that city while not yet professing to be a Christian. It was near election time. Turns out one of the members of that congregation was the US Congressman for that district. Since he was in the district that weekend instead of Washington DC, the pastor asked him to come forward to be prayed over by the church leaders. The pastor said "this is not about voting for or against him. It is about praying for our leaders and those in authority." I found out later the pastor didn't actually vote for the guy but was still able to be polite, and pray for him. no one prayed for him to win or lose. He wasn't my preference for candidate, but I felt comfortable with the general idea of the pastor praying for him. Thought it was neat. -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Interesting this was brought up on my screen tonight. Our homily today wasn't exactly political, in that he certainly wasn't naming names or saying "vote this way or that." It was more along the lines of: there are natural laws (not this denomination or that, not even specifically Christian, but simply human laws) that can't be overruled by government and encouraging us to be involved in the process of governing and to hold our elected leaders accountable. To take our civic responsibility seriously and not be passive participants. It reminded me of something my mom used to say about dinner: if you don't like it so much, then YOU cook it! I didn't find the homily at my church today offensive. So, I'm curious, OP: was that the kind of preaching you heard today, too? Or was yours more specifically about this party, that party and who should be elected to what position? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted November 21, 2011 Author Share Posted November 21, 2011 Interesting this was brought up on my screen tonight. Our homily today wasn't exactly political, in that he certainly wasn't naming names or saying "vote this way or that." It was more along the lines of: there are natural laws (not this denomination or that, not even specifically Christian, but simply human laws) that can't be overruled by government and encouraging us to be involved in the process of governing and to hold our elected leaders accountable. To take our civic responsibility seriously and not be passive participants. It reminded me of something my mom used to say about dinner: if you don't like it so much, then YOU cook it! I didn't find the homily at my church today offensive. So, I'm curious, OP: was that the kind of preaching you heard today, too? Or was yours more specifically about this party, that party and who should be elected to what position? I can't get too far into it without this thread becoming political; that is the reason for the JAWM warning and my keeping it general. It wasn't about laws. It wasn't about political parties, though that would be implied if you knew the type of church it was. Yes, a specific group was named and called names. That irked me (I don't stand for or against said group, but I understand the reasons behind said group and know that there is more than two sides to this coin). I grew up in this kind of church, listened to this kind of thing every week, used to nod my head in agreement, and now I'm just shocked after being away from it for so long. I watched it online after watching an online Liturgy. Also, I just have gotten to the point where I want to WORSHIP, not sit there and hear a commentary (aka opinion). That's what got me the most. Please let me leave it at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VA6336 Posted November 21, 2011 Share Posted November 21, 2011 Please let me leave it at that. No problem. I can understand the desire to have opinions left out of a church service where the congregation just wants to be led in worship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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