Greta- something new-DKS posted on FB

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Is Dan's in with the thick devil a dense operation when thoughts are in disarray? Perhaps just loose po' ET hicks!
 
I do understand where the complainers are coming from though.
It is hard to reconcile a minister in a Christian church claiming they have no belief in god or jesus and that they are aetheist

On so many levels it doesnt make sense.

I do get that faith changes over time, hopefully it grows stronger not weaker. But this does seem to be more than that.

I understand that she has a congregation that gets something from her. But i have to believe her UCC salary and pension have alot to do with her not leaving for Unitarians or something more in keeping with her beliefs.

But it seems to be a big to do and alot of fuss over her. And giving her alot of publicity
 
Do you suppose there are Christians that believe god is an indeterminate ... including all the things we don't know from the past and those things we don't understand because we haven't got to them yet?

Some people appear awfully determinate about what god is ... when IT isn't ... sort of like the definition of manifestation, or even parable (a story that says something about something not quite the way it is) as something difficult to get a limited head about!

That is the mortal headland ... beyond that ... is there Moor????????
 
Lastpointe said:
I do understand where the complainers are coming from though.
It is hard to reconcile a minister in a Christian church claiming they have no belief in god or jesus and that they are aetheist

On so many levels it doesnt make sense.
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I think it makes a lot of sense. Faith in the claims and characters of Christianity is a difficult thing to reconcile with reality. So if you value the church, but just can't bring yourself to believe because, well, it's all so unbelievable, why not stay and try to do the good work without the silly beliefs? What is so terrible about that?


Lastpointe said:
I do get that faith changes over time, hopefully it grows stronger not weaker. But this does seem to be more than that.

I understand that she has a congregation that gets something from her. But i have to believe her UCC salary and pension have alot to do with her not leaving for Unitarians or something more in keeping with her beliefs.
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Why is that a constant complaint? Is she not doing a job? I mean, come on. How can people complain that a person wants to keep her job? If she really was mostly thinking of her salary and pension, why would she come out as an atheist? It makes no bloody sense.


Lastpointe said:
But it seems to be a big to do and alot of fuss over her. And giving her alot of publicity
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The complainers are giving Gretta the publicity. No complaints, no drama, no media coverage. The complainers who are frothing at the mouth are fueling her. They demonstrate why she is important.
 
chansen said:
The complainers are giving Gretta the publicity. No complaints, no drama, no media coverage. The complainers who are frothing at the mouth are fueling her. They demonstrate why she is important.
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My like is mostly for this sentence. Even after With or Without God, mainstream society really wasn't paying much attention to her until her opponents started attacking her. Then, all of a sudden, there are editorials on the subject right and left. Leaving her alone and letting West Hill go on its merry way would have done more to bury her than any review will.
 
If she was an engineer criticising everrything the company stood for. Or a banker who counselled those who came in about why banking is wrong! Would they still be there? Even if they also did goodthingslikesponsored hockey teams
 
Lastpointe said:
If she was an engineer criticising everrything the company stood for.
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And if she was? And the company had no evidence for the decisions it was making? She could be a hero.

Lastpointe said:
Or a banker who counselled those who came in about why banking is wrong! Would they still be there? Even if they also did goodthingslikesponsored hockey teams
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Again, if the company was holding an empty bag of promises, and she was the whistleblower.... Yes, they could fire her, but she would have a grievance.

Which brings me to an obvious point. I'm no employment lawyer, but if the UCCan tolerates Gretta for years, then fires her for being an atheist now, at least a decade after she declared herself...could this result in some form of liability if they choose to fire her now? Is putting up with her for years tantamount to accepting her, which mean firing her without cause? Just curious.
 
Lastpointe said:
If she was an engineer criticising everrything the company stood for. Or a banker who counselled those who came in about why banking is wrong! Would they still be there? Even if they also did goodthingslikesponsored hockey teams
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But a church should not be run like a company and a minister should not be just another employee. A church is, or should be, a community and if the community of West Hill United Church is happy with Gretta, that should be enough even if no other church would employ her. The decision as to who is to minister to a church should come from that church, not from on high.

Admittedly, that's a congregational viewpoint that doesn't necessarily fit the with the UCCan's model.

And after reading this, I realize that I'm kind of contradicting an earlier statement about her staying in the UCCan:

Mendalla said:
As I am sure you recall from previous conversations on the subject, I am actually not a strong supporter of Gretta being a UCCan minister and feel that she really belongs elsewhere than the United Church. I am largely of the mindset, right or wrongly, that being Christian requires some kind of faith in, and engagement with, God and Jesus, not simply rejecting them as irrelevant and the UCCan is, at present, still a Christian church. However, I also do not think that confronting her and kicking her out of the pulpit really fixes anything.
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In the end, I am kind of ambiguous on the topic, perhaps because I am currently outside the UCCan. On one hand, she seems to me to be more UU than UCCan. On the other, I think the congregation should be the arbiter of her suitability to be a minister and if the congregation accepts her views and wants her as their minister, then there is likely more at stake than just her ministry.
 
Critical analysis is not acceptable to the extremes of Liaise Faire ... could cause and engineer to blow the whistle and that's not allowed due to professional retention of the way it is ... statins?

Thus the improper religious status of people who questions "all things" ... God sometimes being "all things" and sometimes no ... as God is a bit of a slinky ... sometimes coming up like a stoat or Ermine around the monarchist neck ... quite springy like flexible stelas ... a thorn toby had ... the shadow of Pauli?
 
Waterfall said:
I would say a condescending attitude towards Christianity in general. Much the same as someone calling her "dear" or "dahling" is offensive. Christianity doesn't deserve to be patronized.
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In what way? What does Christianity deserve? It isn't a person. And can I have an example of patronizing behaviour toward Christianity? I'd say that my attitude toward it is more accurately described as "contempt", but I still don't know why that's important here.
 
chansen said:
In what way? What does Christianity deserve? It isn't a person. And can I have an example of patronizing behaviour toward Christianity? I'd say that my attitude toward it is more accurately described as "contempt", but I still don't know why that's important here.
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I'm referring to Greta functioning within the framework of a Christian church. She appears to acknowledge the church's belief system but disregards it as inferior to her own (and others) personal conclusions. To suggest that one can do good works without God is correct, but to say that within a setting dedicated to building God's kingdom? It just flies in the face of the motivation and the meaning as to why a Christian would dedicate their life towards this aim. It is condescending and belittles the church's purpose.
 
I presume Gretta answered a call to Westhill United.

I wonder what the church was looking for when they issued the call.
 
Somewhat to shake the system into cognizance that something is off kilt-Eire? Cogniso te a Latin sub mission message ...

Stuff corrupt authority would sooner the common people wouldn't know and thus we are in the dark ... but rules against critical analysis prevent one from vocalizing this ... thus the script!
 
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