Comments | hatter_anon: ritual and celebration

hatter_anon

ritual and celebration

Jan 11, 2009 13:13

I went to my cousin's wedding yesterday. She's 21, married a 24 year old, and the young couple are both evangelical Christians. There was a lot of talk about giving one's life to Jesus Christ in both the ceremony and reception, but provided you could cope with that it was quite a beautiful day. Her three older sisters were bridesmaids and matron ( Read more... )

family, stuff

Comments 8

ticklethepear January 11 2009, 03:25:37 UTC

Too true.

We'll see if I actually run a marathon for my 40th birthday!

hatter_anon January 12 2009, 09:05:01 UTC

I didn't know that was on the cards. Good luck!

ticklethepear January 13 2009, 00:42:49 UTC

Ta! I mentioned it in a blog entry, hoping that a public announcement would motivate me, but it hasn't happened.

elowena January 11 2009, 20:41:22 UTC

I've always liked rituals, and always joke (perhaps with bad taste) that if I were to convert to a religion, I would become a Catholic or a Jew. I really enjoy Church services and occasionally envy the community some people find in their congregations. I will never know what it feels like for, say, a Mormon, an Adventist, or a Methodist to be baptised, but I can imagine it being a pretty profound rite of passage ( ... )

hatter_anon January 12 2009, 09:08:14 UTC

It's not a standard thing but many churches and church run schools have similar sorts of camps or classes. If you don't go to church though, and you attend a state run public school, you could theoretically go through life without any exposure to any major theological discussions.

I wasn't aware of the other use of Evangelical. I have always used evangelical in the sense of those who ascribe to a belief that they should actively try to convert others to their religion in order to save heathen souls.

(The comment has been removed)

hatter_anon January 12 2009, 09:12:23 UTC

Yes I've wondered about that as well. I have too much doubt in my heart to sign up for any major religion completely, but one positive thing I do think many religious organisations can provide is that sense of community and support. I can see how positive it is for some of my relatives, and how destructive for others. I guess once again it's all about avoiding a 'one size fits all' approach and steering clear of dogma.

bushwalker January 24 2009, 23:48:57 UTC

Yeah... what they all said. The problem being that in order to have rituals, there does need to be some focal point in terms of values that are affirmed. I have been to international gatherings where we Australians deny we have this. Most ingenuous. We do of course but are not so good at articulating this... One may also wonder whether the actual practised values in capitalist society are actually worth affirming explicitly. Still there is probably a lot of hypocrisy in all societies between what they say and what they do.

elowena February 12 2009, 21:06:28 UTC

This feels like a stupid comment to make - I was just talking to Mum about how bizarre it is everyone always thinks it'll never happen to them but also always presumes it must be their relative, friend, etc. that got kidnapped in Thailand - but I hope you and yours are okay. As one Aussie said, Australia making the front page in foreign newspapers is just wrong.

I'll be sending over warm thoughts!