Editorials on the Church from the Talma Tribune

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I just started writing a letter-based story, using a fictional newspaper's Letters to the Editor as a medium for a discussion on the nature of Christianity. So far, all I've written is the brief intro & the initial letter; while I'll be writing more on this later, for now, I'd like to turn it over to all you Internet-people to write the editorial in response to this one:

Editorials on the Church from the Talma Tribune


The following is a collection of Letters to the Editor on the Talma Tribune; all appeared in the Editorials, and they have been pieced together chronologically into one cohesive discussion.

My View on the Church

As a child, I have always been fascinated by stories of martyrs for the church.

Here I was, sitting bored in Sunday School, going to church because my parents told me to, and I’m looking at all the stories of horrific deaths of people who chose to die for the Church.

Why?

As I grew older, I found more stories of heroism for the Church; Chinese people who would sneak out at night, once a month, and go to “the wall”; they had a piece of the Eucharist hidden behind a certain brick in a certain brick wall, and risking their lives to see it, they would wake up at 2 in the morning, just to be in it’s presence.

Why?

Christian Knighthood is something that has caught my interest most recently; in the time before the Crusades, being a knight just meant being a brute who killed, raped, and stole as he pleased. A small but growing group of Christians decided to turn Knighthood into something far more noble, and took to horses & swords for sake of protecting the innocent—including the vast amounts of people that would risk their lives on pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Why?

Everywhere I look, in the right parts of the history books, I saw people being beaten, whipped, burned at the stake, kicked out of their communities, losing everything for gaining just one thing. The candles we still use in church today remind us of the days when church services had to be held underground, to not be caught. Even in modern times, the Catholic church in Goshen, a small city near me, is designed to blend in with the surrounding Mennonite architecture, because Catholics weren’t welcome. My great-grandfather, shortly after coming to America from Poland, had an interesting set of priorities: Find somewhere to live, find a job, find a church. No Catholic church? Start building one. St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church still stands in South Bend to this day, with Polish writings on the stained-glass windows to remind everyone of its origins.

Heroism like nowhere else is seen in Christian history; the Church would take in homosexuals, Jews, whoever was being wrongfully persecuted, the Church would give a home. The Church has fed more of the hungry, donated to more of the poor, inspired more of the downtrodden than any other institution in world history. The proliferation of art was a product of the Church, when the secular world was too focused on the practical to see the value in paintings, or when the pagan world considered much art to be demonic, the Church held by the virtue of beauty. Written music was first brought out by Pope Gregory the First, since canonized as Saint Gregory the Great. Churches themselves have become great works of art, standing out from the utilitarian working-class houses, or the vast upper-class mansions, reserved for just a few people, the churches stand out as beautiful buildings filled with beautiful paintings, statues, stained-glass windows, all welcoming anyone who would like to come—and such beauty has led to no small amount of conversions.

Despite oppression by world governments, despite attacks by Communists, Muslims, Pagans, or the KKK, the Church has held strong, with heroic Christians showing up every step of the way, being welcoming into the ranks of the saints to aid us in continuing these efforts.

But where are they now?

All I see from Christians today is a vicious bunch of arguers, using Bible verses as bullets in their verbal civil war, protesting against gay marriage, and whining about how we shouldn’t go to war, fight, or lift a finger in any violent way to stop evil. What Christians have turned into is a bunch of whiners who will fight bitterly to the end when arguing why Catholics shouldn’t venerate Mary, while just tucking their heads and hoping that God will remove evil, without lifting a finger to stop evil where they see it, being too blinded by the idealistic idea of, “Why don’t people just believe in Jesus? He loves me, and I don’t have to do anything to get into heaven!”, pretty much disabling themselves to be used by him to actually do anything. Just whip out Bible verses against those evil Catholics, wave protest signs whenever a politician says that gay marriage isn’t the devil’s work, and cower in the corner when you’re asked to do something; “Faith is all we need, works don’t have anything to do with it!”.

I’m sure there’s real Christians out there somewhere; I hear of some that still get killed for daring to build a cross in the Middle East, and the Knights of Columbus are trying to do charitable work, while reminding us of our call to action.

But until I meet a real Christian, I want nothing to do with this faith.
 

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The Church has fed more of the hungry, donated to more of the poor, inspired more of the downtrodden than any other institution in world history.

And that work continues today ... as Christians man missions to house and feed the homeless, visit the sick, minister to those in prison, bring food, clean water, and medical care to the needy overseas, etc.
 
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A_Thinker

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But until I meet a real Christian, I want nothing to do with this faith.

You may be looking too high ... and maybe are being distracted by the loudest voices. The people of God remain ... and continue to do His work and will ...
 
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Unofficial Reverand Alex

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I abandoned the editorial format, and left it just as writings from 1 person that I might eventually give a name to (but probably won't). The first section is the same, the rest is additions.


As a child, I have always been fascinated by stories of martyrs for the church.

Here I was, sitting bored in Sunday School, going to church because my parents told me to, and I’m looking at all the stories of horrific deaths of people who chose to die for the Church.

Why?

As I grew older, I found more stories of heroism for the Church; Chinese people who would sneak out at night, once a month, and go to “the wall”; they had a piece of the Eucharist hidden behind a certain brick in a certain brick wall, and risking their lives to see it, they would wake up at 2 in the morning, just to be in it’s presence.

Why?

Christian Knighthood is something that has caught my interest most recently; in the time before the Crusades, being a knight just meant being a brute who killed, raped, and stole as he pleased. A small but growing group of Christians decided to turn Knighthood into something far more noble, and took to horses & swords for sake of protecting the innocent—including the vast amounts of people that would risk their lives on pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Why?

Everywhere I look, in the right parts of the history books, I saw people being beaten, whipped, burned at the stake, kicked out of their communities, losing everything for gaining just one thing. The candles we still use in church today remind us of the days when church services had to be held underground, to not be caught. Even in modern times, the Catholic church in Goshen, a small city near me, is designed to blend in with the surrounding Mennonite architecture, because Catholics weren’t welcome. My great-grandfather, shortly after coming to America from Poland, had an interesting set of priorities: Find somewhere to live, find a job, find a church. No Catholic church? Start building one. St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church still stands in South Bend to this day, with Polish writings on the stained-glass windows to remind everyone of its origins.

Heroism like nowhere else is seen in Christian history; the Church would take in homosexuals, Jews, whoever was being wrongfully persecuted, the Church would give a home. The Church has fed more of the hungry, donated to more of the poor, inspired more of the downtrodden than any other institution in world history. The proliferation of art was a product of the Church, when the secular world was too focused on the practical to see the value in paintings, or when the pagan world considered much art to be demonic, the Church held by the virtue of beauty. Written music was first brought out by Pope Gregory the First, since canonized as Saint Gregory the Great. Churches themselves have become great works of art, standing out from the utilitarian working-class houses, or the vast upper-class mansions, reserved for just a few people, the churches stand out as beautiful buildings filled with beautiful paintings, statues, stained-glass windows, all welcoming anyone who would like to come—and such beauty has led to no small amount of conversions.

Despite oppression by world governments, despite attacks by Communists, Muslims, Pagans, or the KKK, the Church has held strong, with heroic Christians showing up every step of the way, being welcoming into the ranks of the saints to aid us in continuing these efforts.

But where are they now?

All I see from Christians today is a vicious bunch of arguers, using Bible verses as bullets in their verbal civil war, protesting against gay marriage, and whining about how we shouldn’t go to war, fight, or lift a finger in any violent way to stop evil. What Christians have turned into is a bunch of whiners who will fight bitterly to the end when arguing why Catholics shouldn’t venerate Mary, while just tucking their heads and hoping that God will remove evil, without lifting a finger to stop evil where they see it, being too blinded by the idealistic idea of, “Why don’t people just believe in Jesus? He loves me, and I don’t have to do anything to get into heaven!”, pretty much disabling themselves to be used by him to actually do anything. Just whip out Bible verses against those evil Catholics, wave protest signs whenever a politician says that gay marriage isn’t the devil’s work, and cower in the corner when you’re asked to do something; “Faith is all we need, works don’t have anything to do with it!”.

I’m sure there’s real Christians out there somewhere; I hear of some that still get killed for daring to build a cross in the Middle East, and the Knights of Columbus are trying to do charitable work, while reminding us of our call to action.

But until I meet a real Christian, I want nothing to do with this faith.







I read once that, several centuries ago, in the time that the Roman Empire began to accept Christianity & persecution greatly diminished, the Church faced the problem of people converting to the faith who didn’t really have the spirit of the faith; that’s to say, they became Christian, but as soon as something went down, they left.

I see this today, where the Church is something we participate in out of habit & because our families do it. The Church is being hit with the scandal of priests committing homosexual abuse of children—certainly not an act that the Church, or any logical religion, would ever allow. And people are falling away from the faith because of it.

The Church has never been free from scandal! The Church today holds true to Apostolic Succession, and thank God the Church is acting better than the Apostles ever did! The Apostles were the most doubtful, fearful, downright cowardly group of Christians to ever live! As soon as something went down, when Jesus was being persecuted, they made a run for it, denying to even know him! And that’s not even mentioning the betrayal of Christ Jesus by Judas, deliberately selling him to people who would torture & kill him.

Later in their lives, the Apostles finally got their crap together, but even so had fights, doubts, failures, and so much more that we can’t even imagine that didn’t get written down.

I suppose this should give me a sense of hope; if the Christians today are acting so doubtful & unmotivated, and the Apostles were worse, then I can’t imagine how high the Church could rise in the next few years.

The Apostles really didn’t improve much until the descent of the Holy Spirit…I suppose that’s what we need right now. I hear that faith is a gift, and if we ask, it will be given.

Too bad Christians are too busy playing games on their phones to put the effort in to pray.





People say I’m pessimistic, that I’m too focused on the negative side of Christianity. They tell me that there’s lots of Christians worldwide that do wonderful things.

I know there are. I’ve done work with the Knights of Columbus, and seen the incredible things that they make possible—just a group of Catholic guys that volunteer their time, talent, and cash to help make the world a better place. The Knights are one of the few organizations that give me any hope for modern Christianity.

I’ve also seen churches of all denominations offer free food, or support a local “safe place” for teens, or do work in that way. I’m not denying that there’s nothing good going on, I just have serious doubts about how many Christians are actually willing to do anything like this.

There’s more than 2 billion Christians worldwide; what would happen if all 2 billion actually did their job?

“But wait”, they say, “It’s not about what we do, it’s all about faith! You just need to believe!”

If you glorious Paul from the Bible followed that philosophy, I’m not sure if Christianity would have left Jerusalem. The amount of work he did, beatings he endured, people he inspired, all for you to say that what you do is irrelevant? Right. He should’ve sat on his phone & texted memes to his buddies, content that his fate in heaven is sealed because he believes that Christ is Lord.

And the martyrs? Well, looks like they would’ve just locked themselves in a room and hid. Joan of Arc never would’ve made the history books. Thomas Moore would be just another guy who went along with a selfish split from the Church, because an angry fat man wanted a divorce. The Crusaders would’ve stayed in Europe, slaughtering other Europeans, and eventually let Europe be taken over by Muslim extremists.

“But their fate in heaven was sealed because they believed!” Maybe so, maybe not, I’m not interested in a theological debate, I’m interested in Christians who actually put effort in to improve the world. This kind of self-defeating mentality may be okay for somebody who still goes out & does things, but gives a very lazy excuse for people who don’t.
 
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forlovingHim

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I abandoned the editorial format, and left it just as writings from 1 person that I might eventually give a name to (but probably won't). The first section is the same, the rest is additions.


As a child, I have always been fascinated by stories of martyrs for the church.

Here I was, sitting bored in Sunday School, going to church because my parents told me to, and I’m looking at all the stories of horrific deaths of people who chose to die for the Church.

Why?

As I grew older, I found more stories of heroism for the Church; Chinese people who would sneak out at night, once a month, and go to “the wall”; they had a piece of the Eucharist hidden behind a certain brick in a certain brick wall, and risking their lives to see it, they would wake up at 2 in the morning, just to be in it’s presence.

Why?

Christian Knighthood is something that has caught my interest most recently; in the time before the Crusades, being a knight just meant being a brute who killed, raped, and stole as he pleased. A small but growing group of Christians decided to turn Knighthood into something far more noble, and took to horses & swords for sake of protecting the innocent—including the vast amounts of people that would risk their lives on pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Why?

Everywhere I look, in the right parts of the history books, I saw people being beaten, whipped, burned at the stake, kicked out of their communities, losing everything for gaining just one thing. The candles we still use in church today remind us of the days when church services had to be held underground, to not be caught. Even in modern times, the Catholic church in Goshen, a small city near me, is designed to blend in with the surrounding Mennonite architecture, because Catholics weren’t welcome. My great-grandfather, shortly after coming to America from Poland, had an interesting set of priorities: Find somewhere to live, find a job, find a church. No Catholic church? Start building one. St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church still stands in South Bend to this day, with Polish writings on the stained-glass windows to remind everyone of its origins.

Heroism like nowhere else is seen in Christian history; the Church would take in homosexuals, Jews, whoever was being wrongfully persecuted, the Church would give a home. The Church has fed more of the hungry, donated to more of the poor, inspired more of the downtrodden than any other institution in world history. The proliferation of art was a product of the Church, when the secular world was too focused on the practical to see the value in paintings, or when the pagan world considered much art to be demonic, the Church held by the virtue of beauty. Written music was first brought out by Pope Gregory the First, since canonized as Saint Gregory the Great. Churches themselves have become great works of art, standing out from the utilitarian working-class houses, or the vast upper-class mansions, reserved for just a few people, the churches stand out as beautiful buildings filled with beautiful paintings, statues, stained-glass windows, all welcoming anyone who would like to come—and such beauty has led to no small amount of conversions.

Despite oppression by world governments, despite attacks by Communists, Muslims, Pagans, or the KKK, the Church has held strong, with heroic Christians showing up every step of the way, being welcoming into the ranks of the saints to aid us in continuing these efforts.

But where are they now?

All I see from Christians today is a vicious bunch of arguers, using Bible verses as bullets in their verbal civil war, protesting against gay marriage, and whining about how we shouldn’t go to war, fight, or lift a finger in any violent way to stop evil. What Christians have turned into is a bunch of whiners who will fight bitterly to the end when arguing why Catholics shouldn’t venerate Mary, while just tucking their heads and hoping that God will remove evil, without lifting a finger to stop evil where they see it, being too blinded by the idealistic idea of, “Why don’t people just believe in Jesus? He loves me, and I don’t have to do anything to get into heaven!”, pretty much disabling themselves to be used by him to actually do anything. Just whip out Bible verses against those evil Catholics, wave protest signs whenever a politician says that gay marriage isn’t the devil’s work, and cower in the corner when you’re asked to do something; “Faith is all we need, works don’t have anything to do with it!”.

I’m sure there’s real Christians out there somewhere; I hear of some that still get killed for daring to build a cross in the Middle East, and the Knights of Columbus are trying to do charitable work, while reminding us of our call to action.

But until I meet a real Christian, I want nothing to do with this faith.







I read once that, several centuries ago, in the time that the Roman Empire began to accept Christianity & persecution greatly diminished, the Church faced the problem of people converting to the faith who didn’t really have the spirit of the faith; that’s to say, they became Christian, but as soon as something went down, they left.

I see this today, where the Church is something we participate in out of habit & because our families do it. The Church is being hit with the scandal of priests committing homosexual abuse of children—certainly not an act that the Church, or any logical religion, would ever allow. And people are falling away from the faith because of it.

The Church has never been free from scandal! The Church today holds true to Apostolic Succession, and thank God the Church is acting better than the Apostles ever did! The Apostles were the most doubtful, fearful, downright cowardly group of Christians to ever live! As soon as something went down, when Jesus was being persecuted, they made a run for it, denying to even know him! And that’s not even mentioning the betrayal of Christ Jesus by Judas, deliberately selling him to people who would torture & kill him.

Later in their lives, the Apostles finally got their crap together, but even so had fights, doubts, failures, and so much more that we can’t even imagine that didn’t get written down.

I suppose this should give me a sense of hope; if the Christians today are acting so doubtful & unmotivated, and the Apostles were worse, then I can’t imagine how high the Church could rise in the next few years.

The Apostles really didn’t improve much until the descent of the Holy Spirit…I suppose that’s what we need right now. I hear that faith is a gift, and if we ask, it will be given.

Too bad Christians are too busy playing games on their phones to put the effort in to pray.





People say I’m pessimistic, that I’m too focused on the negative side of Christianity. They tell me that there’s lots of Christians worldwide that do wonderful things.

I know there are. I’ve done work with the Knights of Columbus, and seen the incredible things that they make possible—just a group of Catholic guys that volunteer their time, talent, and cash to help make the world a better place. The Knights are one of the few organizations that give me any hope for modern Christianity.

I’ve also seen churches of all denominations offer free food, or support a local “safe place” for teens, or do work in that way. I’m not denying that there’s nothing good going on, I just have serious doubts about how many Christians are actually willing to do anything like this.

There’s more than 2 billion Christians worldwide; what would happen if all 2 billion actually did their job?

“But wait”, they say, “It’s not about what we do, it’s all about faith! You just need to believe!”

If you glorious Paul from the Bible followed that philosophy, I’m not sure if Christianity would have left Jerusalem. The amount of work he did, beatings he endured, people he inspired, all for you to say that what you do is irrelevant? Right. He should’ve sat on his phone & texted memes to his buddies, content that his fate in heaven is sealed because he believes that Christ is Lord.

And the martyrs? Well, looks like they would’ve just locked themselves in a room and hid. Joan of Arc never would’ve made the history books. Thomas Moore would be just another guy who went along with a selfish split from the Church, because an angry fat man wanted a divorce. The Crusaders would’ve stayed in Europe, slaughtering other Europeans, and eventually let Europe be taken over by Muslim extremists.

“But their fate in heaven was sealed because they believed!” Maybe so, maybe not, I’m not interested in a theological debate, I’m interested in Christians who actually put effort in to improve the world. This kind of self-defeating mentality may be okay for somebody who still goes out & does things, but gives a very lazy excuse for people who don’t.


Great points you raise. The last paragraph was beautifully written. I have been thinking about exactly this kind of thing, and the issue is so large that it overwhelms me; I wouldn’t know where to start. You have done a fantastic job with that, though!...

Having peace is one thing but how does anyone actually feel COMFORTABLE unless they’re actively involved in ministry, somehow? We all have gifts (talents) and Jesus expects us to use them. I honestly don’t feel spiritually well unless I’m working hard for Messiah. And are some Christians called to be flogged while others are called to sit on their butts and enjoy all the comforts of *the WORLD* while never doing anything requiring MUCH (a lot!) of their effort to further the Gospel? The more Jesus gives us, the more He expects us to do!

-Sarah
 
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