What it’s Like to Go to an Evangelical Church

Subtitle: Fear and Darkness

On June 26, 2005, I attended the 9:00 a.m. service of the first Evangelical Free Church of St. Louis County as an amateur anthropologist. The large physical church is a spacious modern structure that appears to seat about 2000 people. As I approached the parking lot I encountered the “Church police.” Wearing safety vests marked “police,” they directed traffic into the large parking lot. Large and expensive automobiles populated the parking lot. I attended the early service. Another service was scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m.

I sat toward the right side of the pews, facing across the large expanse toward the large stage where the services was to be held. I immediately noticed the large stage and extensive stage lighting of the nine musicians on duty. They performed several songs at the beginning of the service, many of these having a gentle beat and lush harmonies characteristic of 70’s folk rock. The 70’s were probably the era during which many of the worshipers in came of age. Most of the adults looked to be between 35 and 55, all of them squeaky clean and looking content. There were almost no elderly people to be seen. That’s too bad, since the evangelicals have invested good money on first rate cushions are kind to old bones.

Every churchgoer I saw (there were probably 1500 people in the building) was Caucasian. Several hundred of the worshipers were wearing T-shirts printed with a quote from Proverbs 9:10: “The fear …

Share

Continue ReadingWhat it’s Like to Go to an Evangelical Church

Is One’s Choice of Religion Really a Choice?

Many of us don’t consciously choose some of the most important aspects of our lives.  This includes the choice of religion.  Many people claim that we don't really choose the religion we end up following.  After all, many of us end up adopting the religion of our parents. Is there…

Continue ReadingIs One’s Choice of Religion Really a Choice?

I Give Homage to God. I am Morally Superior.

People who don’t believe in God are constantly disparaged as immoral by those who do.  Many conservatives believe that most of what they perceive to be wrong with the world can be traced to secular humanism, a phrase they can barely utter without spitting.  For them, secular humanism is a…

Continue ReadingI Give Homage to God. I am Morally Superior.

Hell is Unconstitutional – Boycott Heaven

When my friend Doug wrote that “God loves us like an abusive parent,” it sounded so very harsh, but it then reminded me of that most troublesome of concepts:  hell.

I was raised Catholic, where hell was portrayed to be a very bad place to go.  Many Catholics, however, and many liberal Christians, don’t believe that hell is a place where people are literally tortured.   Check out today’s conservative Christians, however, on your local AM radio station.  You’ll hear them fervently arguing that the version of hell taught by moderate Christians is way off the mark.  Hell is not a metaphor or a mere figure of speech.  Here’s what it is:

The reality of hell is the most horrifying, terror striking, fearful truth known to man. It encompasses the worst possible fear and the meanest conceivable existence, continual never-ending torture. “And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10).”

Therefore, many fundamentalists believe that someone sent to hell will be (literally) tortured (literally) forever.  It will be like being forced to go to Dachau, the Rape of Nanking, Abu Ghraib or worse, for eternity.

Share
Share

Continue ReadingHell is Unconstitutional – Boycott Heaven