left biblioblography: TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK: ABERRANT BEHAVIOR IN THE ‘FALSE’ CHRISTIANS

Friday, March 24, 2006

TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK: ABERRANT BEHAVIOR IN THE ‘FALSE’ CHRISTIANS


Normally, I don’t comment very often on current affairs. Usually, idle speculation flowers into biased gossip, which then blossoms into some imbecilic meme that’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.

In this case, I found this example most intriguing: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/pastor_slain - Authorities Say Minister's Wife Confesses
There will be those who cry ‘Unrepresentative sample fallacy,’ but I find that these seem to be represented more and more in the press lately. True enough, you don’t read about the other some-odd millions who behave themselves, but this raises an eyebrow on me.

From the article:
“Matthew Winkler was hired at the Fourth Street Church in February 2005, said Wilburn Ash, an elder at the church. The congregation quickly came to love his straight-by-the-Bible sermons. Church members also took to his wife, who they described as a quiet, unassuming woman who was a substitute teacher at the elementary school.
"They were a nice family," said former Selmer Mayor Jimmy Whittington, who worked with the minister collecting donations for hurricane victims last year. "They just blended in."
“Mary and Matthew Winkler met at the Church of Christ-affiliated Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, where his father, also a minister, is an adjunct professor.
On Thursday, members of the Selmer congregation gathered inside the one-story brick church.
"I can't believe this would happen," said Pam Killingsworth, a church member and assistant principal at Selmer Elementary.
"The kids are just precious, and she was precious," Killingsworth said. "He was the one of the best ministers we've ever had — just super charisma."

They seem (from the article) to have been the pluperfect xtian couple – Daddy was a well-respected preacher, mom being a schoolmarm – well liked, well versed (assumption here), 3 kids.

What then, explains this divergence? This utter lack of ‘turning the other cheek’? ‘Thou shalt not kill (or murder, or whatever)’?

This troubles me, it does. We constantly see a lack of living by the principles in xtians, modern-day or otherwise. The standard out, is that they weren’t ‘true xtians’. ‘The bar is too high’. All that folderol.

For all I know, the lady in question had some mental illness. Perhaps she caught ‘Mr. Charisma’ in the sack (or suspected that) w/another parishioner? Perhaps the ‘devil made her do it’, or she saw some superimposed image of the great ‘Evil One’ on her husband? Questions, questions.

Why is it we see a preponderance of violent behavior in allegedly ‘peaceful’ religions? The ‘hereafterians’, if I may be so bold as to coin this term?

Could it be the ‘absolution’ theorem, that second-chance given? Or, as some atheists posit, the after-life concept breeds sociopathy? This bothers me to no end.

Simple thoughts on a cloudy afternoon.

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16 comments:

Anonymous said...

One of our local ministers was just arrested for embezzlement from his church. A real fundie, too. Never could stand him. He even has a weekly religious article in the paper.
Anyhoo,
With the ratio of Christians to others in this country, it stands to reason that they are the ones committing the crimes.
Hypocrites.
As for this woman's husband, the article hints at possible abuse.
Maybe he had it coming.
I know. Law and order and all that.
I'm just pissy.

k.

Krystalline Apostate said...

karen:
Thnx fer stoppin' by.
How does the article hint at possible abuse? I didn't quite catch that part.

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Off topic... but not really, actually:
Why is it that an overwhelmingly religious country like the U.S. has so many more violent crimes than largely secular countries, comparatively speaking?

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Well, meathead, ... uh, ahem...
Yes, people do sin.
(Whatever your definition of sin may be( Different sorts of Christians can't even agree!).
I'll not presume to answer for Reluctant, but as for what I think of your comment:
"I'm sorry you have such a negative attitude towards Christianity"....

Well... christianity, throughout its history has done little else but MERIT a backlash... and internal infighting.

Understand now, that when -I'm- talking about obnoxious christians, I mean those people who believe in the bible as -literal as written- truth.
Which is, if you really do study the bible, a horror unto mankind
and a blinding subserviesm to something unproven.
Can the bible teach us lessons on good behaviour? I'm sure.
Has it too often been used to the opposite? I know.

Krystalline Apostate said...

meathead:
I'm sorry you have such a negative attitude towards Christianity.
Well, truthfully, I'm sorry I do, as well. Honestly, I wish I didn't.
But the track record? It's awful. Granted, any system is inherently abusable. But religion? Seems twice as, if ye ken me drift.

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
Why is it that an overwhelmingly religious country like the U.S. has so many more violent crimes than largely secular countries, comparatively speaking?
Well, I'm torn between the 'forgive-anything-long-as-you're-remorseful' mindset, the elitest mindset, & the Antimonianist 'holier-than-thou' attitude.
Or perchance all 3.

Krystalline Apostate said...

Oh, oops. 2 & 3 are the same. Apologies. There was another, which escapes me temporarily.

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Ra said:
"But religion? Seems twice as, if ye ken me drift."

Try to click on meadhead's link.
(His name)
Feel free to feel the funny fear!
P.S.
Before you do, turn on and up your speakers. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll stick an ice-pick in your eye... ehh.. well, actually you won't do any of those three things... except maybe all of them, if you take it seriously.

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Uhmmm... RA, That's uhhh... okay... 'cause I was aiming that comment at the aptly name Meathead, not you!

Krystalline Apostate said...

HMDK:
Actually, I already did. Didn't get any sound at all.
Very familiar w/the Inglesia ni Christos.
Bad copy of the Roman C, if memory serves proper.
Probably more familiar than they'd be comfortable w/, seeing as I've always been an outsider.

'cause I was aiming that comment at the aptly name Meathead, not you!
S'cool. I was just rambling anyways.

HairlessMonkeyDK said...

Ra .... Really? No sound?
I got this enticing sibilant male voice inviting me to love christ... in stereo!
Considering the usual christian teachings, I found this...
counterproductively/inadvertently funny.

Anonymous said...

RA
I still can't cut and paste in here, but I took the line about *no comment as to whether she was claiming her husband to be abusive* (paraphrase) to mean that indeed that was probably the case.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it. Just thought it might be the firearms version of The Burning Bed.



Hairless
I didn't get any sound on Meathead's link either. Maybe yours were the sacrificial ears!

Meathead
"I'm sorry you have such a negative attitude towards Christianity."
I'm sorry Christianity breeds such negativity. It has only whoever made it up--and its followers --to blame.

karen

Krystalline Apostate said...

karen:
but I took the line about *no comment as to whether she was claiming her husband to be abusive* (paraphrase) to mean that indeed that was probably the case.
Yeah, that's the question in the article. Unanswered. May've been the question posed.
You could very well be right.
If they were affiliated w/the Inglesia Ni Christos, chances are he abused her, the church told her she couldn't divorce him no matter what.
That's speculatory.

HMDK:
I got this enticing sibilant male voice inviting me to love christ... in stereo!
Considering the usual christian teachings, I found this...
counterproductively/inadvertently funny.

That does sound amusing. Too bad karen couldn't hear it.
Chances are, noone sat down & thought it thru.
Kinda like that latest burger commercial, 'Biiig...Bucking...Chicken."

Stardust said...

We constantly see a lack of living by the principles in xtians, modern-day or otherwise.

Back in our days of fading xianity, our kids were enrolled in a Lutheran school (we were not Lutherans, we were Presbyterians but the public schools where we lived at the time were not so good.)

Anyway...the pastor of this congregation was having an affair with the 2nd grade teacher. The second grade teacher's husband was the 5th grade teacher. The pastor's wife was the kindergarten teacher. This blew up like a volcano. Kids knew about it, the parents knew about it and what a fiasco it was. The pastor was removed and excommunicated via the vote of the congregation. We bought a house in a better area and sent our kids to public school where ironically there were better morals than they were learning at the church sponsored schools!

And these are the kinds of people telling everyone else they are sinners! They can't even get their own lives straight...why should we even try to believe a word they say? That's what gets me too, and no xian ever answers it: Why would an omnipotent god need to send stupid faulty humans to relay a life or death message to other humans in the name of this all powerful entity? Why doesn't he just do it himself?
Could it be because THERE IS NO GOD? Most people are too afraid to even consider this out loud. One has to first get over the fear of being zapped with a lightning bolt.

Krystalline Apostate said...

stardust:
Hey, pleased as punch you stopped by.
Anyway...the pastor of this congregation was having an affair with the 2nd grade teacher. The second grade teacher's husband was the 5th grade teacher. The pastor's wife was the kindergarten teacher.
Sounds like a sanctimonious soap opera.
This blew up like a volcano.
No surprise there.
The pastor was removed and excommunicated via the vote of the congregation.
Wish someone'd do that w/the Shrub.
They can't even get their own lives straight...why should we even try to believe a word they say?
Ramen, sister.
Hey, don't be such a stranger. Come on by, kick off your shoes, stay a while, eh?

Krystalline Apostate said...

More on this 'unfolding' story here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060326/ap_on_re_us/pastor_slain
"Church member Pam Killingsworth visited Mary Winkler after Sunday services and said the preacher's wife gave no indication why her husband of 10 years was shot."
A little later on:
"The congregation held its first Sunday services since the shooting death and were warned by elder Robert Shackelford not to speculate about why their popular, young minister was killed."
Intriguing. 'Loose lips sink ships', anybody?