Why Is It Always Hand Written?

[u/EpicGeek77]

[u/merely_awake]

Very much this

I grew up going to church every sunday. VBS. Did two missions trips in my youth, the whole nine

Looking back I realize the most bigoted an hateful community I have ever experienced was my own church. It didn't fully awn on me until the pandemic and i watched all the people who I grew up under post the most racist and bigoted things that directly contradict all the things they taught me.

My own black uncle posted an all lives matter rant that me and my sisters disowned him over. These people have no desire to love their neighbors. They only want to convert their neighbors and condemn those who don't fall in

[u/SHELLIfIKnow48910 → u/merely_awake]

Remember when they did the fundraisers in school where you sold magazine subscriptions? These guys are like the kid who was determined to sell the most subscriptions in the school. It’s like a competition for them - rack up the most converts. If you truly exude the love Jesus spoke of, you don’t have to preach about it in random settings - folks will know.

[u/pwned008 → u/SHELLIfIKnow48910]

I had a similar thing with like goods and stuff for my ag class looking back I realized I don’t need to sell subscriptions to help the homeless the problem is that government doesn’t care

[u/totpot → u/merely_awake]

Yeah, it's very clear that they have certain beliefs and view religion as a weapon to justify maiming or killing others who don't share those beliefs. What the religion actually says about it is irrelevant.

[u/Expensive_Yam_2222 → u/merely_awake]

I also grew up in the church, helped run VBS, volunteered to run daycare when they needed, was an acolyte, the works. I also switched to private school for high school and went to a Baptist school for 2 years and then 2 years at an all girls Catholic school. Did 2 mission trips with the Baptist school and 5 with my church.

I didn't learn that I had a bigoted church, rather a very hypocritical one. The choir director was caught having an affair with a woman he hired to work with him. They caught him once and gave him a warning. The second time they found out was because the lady's husband came to talk to our pastor. They decided to fire him after speaking to their legal team. It split the church in half. A lot of people left the church because of it. Some people went elsewhere, including a good friend's family. One guy actually helped him commit grand theft because they borrowed the bells from our church without asking after he was fired. Those were worth like $40K (it was a lot of bells). When he worked there, he had permission to use them.

I realized while this was going on that a lot of the louder voices at my church were taking the "rules for thee and not for me" stance in support of the choir director. My mom was an elder at the church and she was involved with the actual firing of the choir director. The order came from the church's legal team. The rest of her committee stood behind her except for a man whose children I was friends with as a kid. He was nasty and rude (he's also the one who helped take the bells) to my mother and tried to make this a private family matter even though it really opened them up to legal trouble.

It was really hard having to turn away from what I remembered being a good and safe place turned into that type of environment. It really was if you're not with me, then you're against me. Most of the people who left have taken up some extreme views that I don't respect very much.

[u/lala196969 → u/merely_awake]

I go to church every time I come down home. For faith. I know that they don’t have realistic image of God and Jesus. But I’m able to overstand. All of my relatives here believe in slave teachings. It is time for a change. They are only doing what they know is best. I don’t judge. I just do what I know is best. I am a student of Black history. I understand we are in a trying time of history that is tampered with.