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Land of the Believers: Evangelical America
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Lary9 Avatar
Lary9
Posts: 49
Posted: 10.27.10, 06:34 PM
Not All There
I have often shared before that one of the eerie and unsatisfying experiences that I almost always have around Evangelicals is the feeling that they're not really all there---like there's something missing in the interaction between us. And, of course, there is. I eventually discerned why---it's as if these people are carrying a supervising Jimminy Cricket on their shoulder, in the person of Jesus Christ, watching every word, every gesture, judging it for its moral content. Jesus always seemed to be getting in between us, monitoring the interaction. The other person's demeanor would be self-conscious...as if they knew they were being watched. It seemed more a performance than a conversation.
Two things occur to me about the reading: #1. The vulnerable, articulate, sensitive author of this book was completely present. She was 100% 'there'...in the moment... and clearly she was 'there' during the research at Thomas Rhodes Church. I prefer her style of personal availability. It's more real. #2. If you are a believer and you expect the Holy Spirit to act across the gap between people to evangelize the other, why is it so necessary to choreograph the action with trifold guides? Doesn't that negate the whole idea?
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Moochie Avatar
Moochie +
Posts: 4
Posted: 05.14.10, 02:11 PM
I guess the audience for this book is anyone interested in learning how someone joins an evangelical church without being or becoming a believer. Rather boring, I would have thought. If you live in a country like America or Australia, chances are you would have had some exposure to evangelical Christians. In my case it was members of my own family. What I learned from them is that they didn't utter a burp without first passing it by the "God filter," and that they would often end statements with "Praise the Lord." Altogether prosaic and parochial to this enquiring mind.
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Pess Avatar
Pess
Posts: 10
Posted: 04.18.10, 05:27 AM
christ, ummm ahhh umm how annoying. no continuity.
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Frankystein123 Avatar
Frankystein123
Posts: 16
Posted: 04.10.10, 01:39 AM
Haha, the evangelicals must had thought being Christian will save you from eternal pain and damnation before this. Well... they are wrong! Trying to get a mythological savior to take pity on you and forgive your sorry and undeserving ass is as successful as trying to win a lottery ticket in that you might get lucky in winning against a horrendous probability, but over 99% percent of the time you are just wasting your time.
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redtaperecorder Avatar
redtaperecorder
Posts: 1
Posted: 04.07.10, 03:17 PM
@ invictus: rest assured that it paid off. i'm sure ms. welch is laughing all the way to the bank...
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stevesrebelclone Avatar
stevesrebelclone
Posts: 5
Posted: 04.05.10, 02:48 AM
I loved this interview. Your immersion into evangelical life and culture sounds spectacular. I look forward to buying your book.
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Invictus_88 Avatar
Invictus_88
Posts: 92
Posted: 04.04.10, 05:40 AM
She justifies her deception on the grounds that it was necessary to get the information necessary for the book, but the things she claims to have learned from these false friendships are so superficial as to be almost worthless.

Perhaps if someone with a keener mind had done this, it might have paid off, but as it stands this seems quite a waste.
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vansky Avatar
vansky
Posts: 1
Posted: 04.02.10, 09:33 AM
Um, you know, umm, uhh, aand, I mean, ummm, soo, you know.

What have we really learned here? That a secular Jewish woman with an irrational predisposition against Christianity finishes where she started? All the phenomena she mentioned, from valuing revelation over reason, salvation over works, and community over the individual, is not news to anyone who's cracked open a book about Christianity. She should have thrown in the fact that most Christians today derive their faith from the books of Paul and John, decidedly the least Jewish books of the NT, just to round out the lack of interesting information in her presentation.

Who knew that evangelical Christianity (just look at the name) is a bit cultish, very political, and not prone to rationality? Most successful social movements retain these characteristics, just like Ms. Welch's secular progressives, fundamentalist Muslims, and conservative Jews.

What a waste of two years.
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sandorski Avatar
sandorski
Posts: 4
Posted: 04.02.10, 03:17 AM
Being former Evangelical and now Agnostic/Atheist, I can relate a lot with what was spoken here. Seems quite fair on the whole and I find myself agreeing with her conclusions. I think they are misguided and a source of concern on the whole, but they are neither evil nor sinister in their intent.

The members of my family(Mother and siblings) are still Evangelical and though I now find many of their opinions/views to be rather odd and in conflict with my own, they are still some of the finest people I know. At least in the sense of being honest, well intentioned, and consistent in their principles.

Sounds like a good book.
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