Posted on 03/15/2021 4:20:00 AM PDT by Kaslin
At the independent, fundamentalist Baptist church I grew up attending in the 1980s, legalism was a staple, and the ‘rules’ were seemingly endless. Skirts (or something called ‘culottes’) for women and girls, long pants only for men and boys, and dresses and ties on Sunday morning. Good Christians didn’t dance or go to Hollywood movies. They didn’t smoke, cuss, or drink or hang around with those who did. Music wasn’t allowed unless it was Christian, and regardless of the lyrics, it wasn’t ‘Christian’ if it had drums, an upbeat tempo, or was written after 1895 (or thereabouts).
And the “thou shalts” were just as onerous as the “thou shalt nots.” Regular church attendance (three times a week), soul-winning, tithing (at least 10% of ‘gross’ income because we need a new auditorium and hey, you can’t outgive God!), and daily Bible study and prayer were all expected, at a minimum.
Aside from the rules and requirements, the belief system one had to adhere to in order to be a ‘good Christian’ was, shall we say, specific. From a six-day creation 6,000 or so years ago to the pre-tribulation Rapture of the Church to the King James Bible laying it all out in the very words of God himself, my particular religious neck of the woods had it ALL figured out, and we weren’t shy about patting ourselves on the back about it.
Rule-making, of course, isn’t just for fundamentalist Baptists. To the Pharisees, the Puritans, and countless other sects, cults, and religions throughout history to the present day, the establishment of such rules, requirements, and belief systems are typically meant to help bring the follower closer to the Creator. Follow these, it is reasoned, and the faithful will at the very least stay ON the right road and avoid falling OFF the proverbial cliff to eternal damnation.
Granted, sometimes there existed a solid reason for some of the rules. One can make a strong case, for example, for keeping sex - and especially children - within the confines of a loving, committed marriage. Other times - like dress codes and the absurd prohibition against going to movie theaters when everyone knew good and well we were all renting them - not so much.
Ironically, Jesus himself didn’t seem to be much of a rules guy or even someone who cared all that much whether everyone’s theology was 100 percent correct. In fact, the object of Christian worship summed up the entire law and prophets in two simple commands: Love God and love your neighbor. Do those things, in any culture or religious background, and the ‘rules’ don’t matter so much, do they?
Ah, but a proper love of the Creator means you’ll WANT to obey all the rules, they say. True, but how many came from man, and how many came from God? For example, I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t mind me having the occasional glass of wine, especially considering he once MADE IT HIMSELF at a wedding. Clearly, there’s a difference between rank legalism and living one’s life in line with general principles of morality and doing good to others.
Which brings us to the other side of this hellish coin, Puritans of another stripe altogether. You see, the religious aren’t the only ones hellbent on establishing and following dumb rules and strict belief systems. Indeed, the woke left has its own set of requirements and regulations its adherents must follow, and the belief system it demands fielty to is just as rigid and unyielding, if not more so, as the cultiest Christian cult.
From speech codes to microaggressions to the broad spectrum of toxic, punishing censorship known as cancel culture, it’s become impossible to point out even blatantly obvious truths without drawing the wrath of the woke left. And unlike religion, you don’t have to be a ‘member’ to be ‘forced’ to assent to their insane beliefs and obey their ridiculous dictates on pain on social ostracization, job loss, and even physical harm. Like fundamentalist Christianity, fundamentalist wokism purports to justify their rules as a way to keep people on the proverbial ‘road,’ not to heaven, but to what they consider a better, more utopian society. Read a Dr. Seuss book, they reason, and the next thing you know you’re putting on a white hood and joining the Klan. But just like rules-obsessed Christians, they’re missing the point.
Like fundamentalist Christianity (I’m ‘picking’ on them only because I was one!), needless legalism and illogical Puritanism tend to provoke rebellion. When you hear about the woke left wanting to ban a book, what’s the first thing you want to do? Why locate and BUY THAT BOOK, obviously, right? We knee-jerk WANT to defy them just because they are lame, insufferable prudes and usually the things they are trying to force people to do or believe are counterproductive, dumb, and often objectively evil.
Of course, they’ll tell you that political correctness, cancel culture, and wokism are just ways to build a ‘tolerant’ society. Being kind and respectful to people is one thing, and yes, it’s the right thing to do. But when some pencil-necked dweeb in a “Yes I am a male feminist” t-shirt condescendingly lectures us about the 9,673 microaggressions we must not commit in order to be considered a “good person,” most Americans who live in the real world roll their eyes and gets back to work. I mean really, WHO NEEDS all that guilt?
The overarching pattern here is this: people are always trying to make life more complicated than it needs to be. To paraphrase someone the left hates very much (for some reason), it’s a good thing to treat others as we would want to be treated. Whatever your religious and political background and baggage, my advice is to follow that general principle, ignore the modern-day woke Puritans, and give the rest to God.
Don’t waste time reading Town Hall anymore, mostly because of BS like this...
Yep
For all of you saying “my church wasn’t like that”, I grew up in Fort Lauderdale under the shadow of Dr. D. James Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.
I did not attend, but my Boy Scout Troop met there and I dated girls that attended the affiliated Westminster Academy.
It was pretty much as described. The seniors at the high school had to have a Senior Banquet because a prom meant dancing and that was not allowed. No drinking. No rock music. Movies were frowned upon, if not outright forbidden. Sunday worship, Wednesday night Bible study, and a weekly prayer group were mandatory. If you didn’t tithe you got a visit from an Elder who wanted to know why.
The author of the piece clumsily compared such a church to the modern woke movement. The error is that few churches that he described still exist, but the looney left is ascendant. The church, at the time described, had little real influence in the government and could not impose the restrictions they placed on their members onto society at large. It is the woke movement’s desire to do just that...impose their rules on society as a whole. They used “separation of church and state” to keep fundamentalist Christians from imposing their will. We do not have that tool, however applicable it may be.
The most important difference is that fundamentalist Baptists, indeed any literalist religious sect, Christian or not, exercises no real political authority, financial power, or social influence. The “Woke” culture has immense social influence, is a strong force in corporate boardrooms, dominates the Democratic Party, and largely intimidates the Republican Party into silence.
Anytime a conservative parrots the language and insults of the left, an innocent doggy dies.
Stop using the language of the people who are trying to destroy the United States for god sake!
Don’t waste time reading Town Hall anymore, mostly because of BS like this...
**********
Townhall is getting overrun with leftist news and comments like this. What gives?
I too attended an Independent Baptist Church in the 80’s. It was nothing like this article depicts. The Southern Baptist Church was becoming very liberal while the Independent Baptist were trying to remain Godly. But that was the problem, religion is vain, true worship is in the heart, not dress and rules. People even today still don’t get it. God is Holy and that means we cannot approach to worship without being washed in the blood of Christ. To know Christ Jesus is life changing.
Laodicea on steroids!
Wokeism is a new gospel, with a new deadly sin, a new guilt, a new self-flagellation, new high priests.
Minus the grace, love, mercy, cross, blood, forgiveness and eternal life.
Idon’t think this guy understands either christianity or critical race theory—which is what that woke are about. critical race theory just gives the intellectual framework for a black racist ideology.
Idon’t think this guy understands
Matthew 5
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven
“I was reading about Matthew Hopkins, the witchfinder general and the times and place he lived in, and the atmosphere of Puritan England reminded me a lot of the the Social Justice Warrior climate we are living in today.”
Who wrote what you were reading?
I don’t see a problem with student body rules for a school or college if you know them in advance. No card playing might be an infraction that is upsetting to avid poker players. Here’s a simple solution — go somewhere else to school.
Malcolm Gaskill as I recall.
Thanks
You are much arguing like a liberal.
Really?
Amen
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.