Okay, I had this girlfriend that was NOT religious when she was with boyfirend #1. Then boyfriend #2 is the son of a preacher and all of the sudden, my gf is in bible study, at church every night, planning church activities etc. Then boyfriend #3 went to a completely different church and she dropped the first church that she loved 'so much' and joined bf #3's church.
Now, I have another friend whos church just started a college age youth group thing where they get together Wed. nights. and talk about God and religious issues. Instead of telling me the messages that are learned there all I hear from her and my other friend that attends is "Katie goes. And so does Paul, Beth, Ashley, Anna, Jamie, etc. Like, everyone goes." Okay, so is this thing to learn about God or is it a social thing?!
And don't even get me started on celebs turning to kaballah or Tom Cruises science crap. To me, religion is very, very personal. It's not something to do to be seen. It's not something to pick up or put down when you switch boyfriends. It's not something to push on other people. It just makes me mad and I had to vent.
Yeah, I remember that sort of thing in HS when everyone was all into Young Life and that. And in college in Boulder there were tons of people trying to recruit for their college youth group things... they'd try to pick you up in the supermarket!
I think in your friend's case there's a lot of trying to fit in, "trying on" of different ideas... and that's all ok. You have to find out what you believe. And religion has always played a very social role - people do meet friends and even spouses there. But it's disingenuous if that's the ONLY reason you're there. I mean, is your friend there because of the common interest in christianity, or because she just thinks being chirstian is cool?
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~ dc
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde
Umm, yeah, they go because of the people that are there. That's why it angers me. If you want to try new things-great. But when your using church as an excuse to hang out with the 'cool' kids that's just sad.
I understand what you mean. To me, religion should be personal, between self and God, not found through what someone else says I should believe. But if someone, especially a youth, finds religion through community, then I also say that's good for them, because it's their journey, not mine.
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