Money, money, money

This society is about money in so many ways. Even religion.
I always thought of religion and churches as being something independent from money. Of course it is being subsidized by people attending churches, but it is difficult for me to imagine that people will make business on religion.
Here Xmas is the main purchasing season. It is all about buying stuff and discounts. Even Easter. I was sure there is no way you can make money on Easter. I was so wrong.
Few days ago, while driving to my job I was listening to the radio station and they were talking about Easter costumes for kids. As I haven't celebrated Easter with an American family, I'm not sure if it is true, but later I've heard about these costumes again. And these are the costumes that people probably have to buy... only a few will make them themselves. I guess, you can make money out of everything... Seems like this is exactly what H. Marcuse was talking about in his works...
And I'm still curious what kinds of costumes kids wear...

reasons to attend a church

While talking to my “back home” boyfriend I’ve mentioned that I’ve missed the church service today. His reply was: “do you think that [going to a church] will help [save] you?” Here it is – the difference in how we perceive reasons for going to the religious services. While here people go there to learn something new, to communicate with others, to straighten their beliefs, etc, back home people go there to pray for forgiveness of sins and to show that you are true believer. People do not go to the church to communicate, to meet others from the local community. Moreover, you are not really allowed to talk in the church, other than praying. It is totally different and I have to admit that I like churches here more. They truly give you a feeling of belonging to the community, they address issues that you face in life; churches here are more people oriented.

“I’m a professional Christian”

coming back to the topic of religion, churches, etc.

“I’m a professional Christian,” – said N., who preaches sometimes at the local Baptist Student unit. “Smells” like money to me. So this guy is actually being paid to talk to us about spiritual issues (issues with no monetary value attached). Those are the issues that you cannot really talk about unless you have passion and strong desire, otherwise, your lesson will go nowhere. Does that mean his inspiration to talk to us is not true, not motivated by his believes, but motivated by check that he’ll get at the end of month? Might be. A lot depends on a person here.

I guess it is ok to have paid staff in the church, but those should be people who really can deliver a message and truly believe in certain things. Screening for job in such a place should be very strict. The guy I'm talking about does a terrible job. He really needs to work on his delivery more… Maybe he needs more money to get motivated to improve??

“Professional Christian”

Now what that is supposed to be?

Does that mean the message you come up to talk about are paid? Do those who pay tell you what to talk about and how to interpret certain things in the Bible (And yes, Bibles here come with interpretation. Probably different churches have different interpretations. That’s interesting… Meaning creation? Why not to let people understand things for themselves? I always though of Bible as a book with personal interpretations. It is different for everyone and its lessons are different for everyone).

Is Christianity a profession? I always though of it as a true devotion to God, no monetary value attached. But Religion and churches here are huge business. It’s getting the same way back home now too with more people going to churches.

Well, anyway, I truly believe that believing in God, religion and churches are three totally different things that are often not connected at all.

God's game plan

Religion is one of my favorite topics. There are so many question, not so many answers. Well, you just have to believe and be strong in your believes.
I might get back to the topic of church and religion again, but for today I just wanted to share my experience at the Baptist Church.
1) I've learned a new word - "pew". Awesome, isn't it?
2) I sang... and I loved it.
3) I saw a very interesting name for the Bible - "God's game plan." Interesting.
Basically this version of a bible has regular text that the bible has and interpretations.
First of all, I prefer when people interpret things themselves and not get limited by someone else's vision. Isn't that framing? Something that PR or Ad people is accused of.
Second, how appropriate is the name? Game is something not always serious, sometime just to have fun. Of course it can be strategic too. It's like in ancient Greece where Gods played with people's lives. But what if it is really a game, is that the reason why people are saying we'll do what God wants us to do, but some of them just do nothing saying that God, probably, doesn't have any mission for them? It's something really difficult for me to understand. I truly believe that people should be active and should not wait for the sign from above.