NYT article "canceled by the Presbyterian Church"
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On the face of it, this is about David French's experience with the Presbyterian Church that he was a member of, but in many ways, to me anyway, it's really just an article about what has happened in American since Trump was elected.
Here is a gift article link for those who don't subscribe to the NYT.
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@ShiroKuro said in NYT article about being canceled by the Presbyterian Church:
Presbyterian Church
Don't confuse the Presbyterian Church in America with the Presbyterian Church (USA), a larger and generally more liberal denomination. I am a Methodist Christian and our denomination has recently gone through a schism that led to the Global Methodist Church separating from the United Methodist Church over issues similar to those dividing the Presbyterians, Lutherans, Epis copals, and other Protestant denominations.
It pains me to see all Christians painted with a broad brush as bigots or unkind, unloving people because that is contrary to the Christian faith I believe in and embrace.
Big Al
Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.
Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro
A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ
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@Big_Al said in NYT article "canceled by the Presbyterian Church":
It pains me to see all Christians painted with a broad brush as bigots or unkind, unloving people because that is contrary to the Christian faith I believe in and embrace.
And certainly that was not my intent with this post, or my comment. I was just thinking that the author's experience, which he locates as occurring within a particular religious institution, has happened across all kinds of realms, in all kinds of contexts, since 2017 on. Where someone found out that they weren't as accepted by others as they had previously thought. That doesn't mean everyone is a bigot, but the trouble is, those who are bigoted tend to take up all the oxygen, leaving the victims little resources.
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@Big_Al said in NYT article "canceled by the Presbyterian Church":
It pains me to see all Christians painted with a broad brush as bigots or unkind, unloving people because that is contrary to the Christian faith I believe in and embrace.
BTW, I may be misunderstanding, but this wasn't the impression I got from the article and I don't think French, the author, intended to give this impression either. He mentions that they joined a different church, though he doesn't say which one (probably to protect them as much as himself, given what he's experienced), so he's not rejecting all Christians.
The trouble is, I don't see how the article could have ended on anything other than a negative note... Unless he talked more about his current church, perhaps...
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What Big Al said. The PCA is a split-off denomination from the main Presbyterian Church - what is today known as the Presbyterian Church (USA), or just PCUSA for short - of which I'm an ordained minister and pastor. The PCA split off in around 1967-ish, in protest when the main church allowed the ordination of women, rejected the doctrine of scriptural infallibility, and committed to the Civil Rights movement. Today, the PCA still refuses to ordain women and adheres to the concept of scriptural infallibility. They have apparently conceded the correctness of civil rights, but only just in time to turn their efforts against LGBTQ+ people from full participation in the life and leadership of the church.
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So, is the take away then that French was really blind to the problems with the PCA until those problems became personal? This is a sincere question, because I’m not really sure what to make of his situation in light of this.
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@ShiroKuro when I read this article a couple of days ago, I was trying to be as empathetic as possible to the man, who suffered very real loss of relationship with people who meant a lot to him. But the unfortunate takeaway I got from the article - other than it being further evidence of the exclusionary theology and policies of the PCA - is that this man was apparently OK with, or at least willing to tolerate, when other people experienced that same kind of rejection and loss of relationship with beloved people and a church family, until he experienced it for himself. He is far from the first to have been canceled by his denomination, and my more cynical brain cells feel he's being a bit like Claude Rains in Casablanca being shocked to discover gambling taking place at Rick's. My literal prayer is that now personally experiencing it will prove to be a spiritual epiphany for him.
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@DeweyLOU thanks for your comments. So I guess my reaction wasn’t all that misplaced then.
And I like the note you end on better than the one he ended on.
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@ShiroKuro said in NYT article "canceled by the Presbyterian Church":
to me anyway, it's really just an article about what has happened in American since Trump was elected.
So, I guess the other thing this article is really about, even though the author doesn’t say this (or perhaps truly get it), is the importance of recognizing when something is wrong, and speaking out against it, before it impacts you personally, or even if it doesn’t impact you.
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"First they came for the communists..."
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Exactly!!
