I believe that a church can become a social club in additon to or instead of concentrating on God.
Religious organizations are inherently social organizations, as they are made of people, and people are social animals. I think that it is good for friends to see each other, whether in a religious space or elsewhere, but I think that if the main point of going to a religious space has become seeing friends who gather in that space, that it is easier to just throw a party instead.
Can religious people celebrate, and can they celebrate together? Certainly, and they should; that's one of the main fuctions of a religious venue and a religious congregation! (As far as I'm concerned, I think celebration during worship is Biblically condoned for Christians; Jesus' first miracle ended up with saving all the good wine for last at a party.)
I think it is problematic when as a self-labeled professor of a faith, time after time, the only reason you ever go to your place of worship is to see your friends, rather than professing said faith.
Now that I have said that, I am going to backtrack a little: I think that sometimes it is ok to start out with the idea that you are going to a religious space to see your friends. I know that sometimes having that rationale got me to a religious space--literally a building, as well as figuratively, inside my head--when I very much didn't feel like worshipping. The act of being surrounded by friends who also were there to worship, in a space designated for worship, started focusing me on worship once I got there. That, I found very valuable, even life-saving.
This may be different for people who do not profess a faith but come regularly to a place of worship to see friends of faith, or who profess a different faith from the one in any particular house of worship, but I won't presume to speak for those people, since I don't know the inside of their head and mind. (I know I have felt simulntaneously both welcome and unwelcome in spaces of worship--with a different Christian, or non-Christian, tradition than my own--but I wasn't going back every week to see friends while I was in those spaces).
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16/10/09 14:17 (UTC)Religious organizations are inherently social organizations, as they are made of people, and people are social animals. I think that it is good for friends to see each other, whether in a religious space or elsewhere, but I think that if the main point of going to a religious space has become seeing friends who gather in that space, that it is easier to just throw a party instead.
Can religious people celebrate, and can they celebrate together? Certainly, and they should; that's one of the main fuctions of a religious venue and a religious congregation! (As far as I'm concerned, I think celebration during worship is Biblically condoned for Christians; Jesus' first miracle ended up with saving all the good wine for last at a party.)
I think it is problematic when as a self-labeled professor of a faith, time after time, the only reason you ever go to your place of worship is to see your friends, rather than professing said faith.
Now that I have said that, I am going to backtrack a little: I think that sometimes it is ok to start out with the idea that you are going to a religious space to see your friends. I know that sometimes having that rationale got me to a religious space--literally a building, as well as figuratively, inside my head--when I very much didn't feel like worshipping. The act of being surrounded by friends who also were there to worship, in a space designated for worship, started focusing me on worship once I got there. That, I found very valuable, even life-saving.
This may be different for people who do not profess a faith but come regularly to a place of worship to see friends of faith, or who profess a different faith from the one in any particular house of worship, but I won't presume to speak for those people, since I don't know the inside of their head and mind. (I know I have felt simulntaneously both welcome and unwelcome in spaces of worship--with a different Christian, or non-Christian, tradition than my own--but I wasn't going back every week to see friends while I was in those spaces).