Church Attendance Way Down

PVC said:
LOL, he wanted that $20 badly enough to read her mind and knew the answer Abraham was not going to get him that $20. Jewish people are born businessmen. Don't want to spoil the joke, but what was a Jewish boy doing in a Christian school? :confused:
Click to expand...

Lara, I know your heart a little bit from your postings here so I'm sure it was unintentional, but that's an insulting stereotype that my Jewish friends would find deeply offensive, as I do on their behalf.
 

Butterfly said:
I don't understand the part about John the Divine. What estate?? To whom are you referring? How could someone during the depression evaluate the "estate," if there was one, of someone who lived 2000 years ago, and who many dispute even lived at all??

Please clarify.
Click to expand...
Its something that was studied evidently. Back in the 80's in church it was discussed. There are historians that review records and lineages I guess. He also was the only disciple that didn't leave Jesus i.e. (mother behold thy son...) lived to old age, dying a natural death. Of course history is history and there can be a lot of different opinions just like about anything else, I guess. Research it, perhaps?
 
PVC said:
LOL, he wanted that $20 badly enough to read her mind and knew the answer Abraham was not going to get him that $20. Jewish people are born businessmen. Don't want to spoil the joke, but what was a Jewish boy doing in a Christian school? :confused:
Click to expand...
Oh, you're not spoiling the joke...my mother was raised in SDA boarding schools and she went to school with well to do Christian kids mostly, but because the school was so highly rated; the SDA's eat like the Jews do (no fish without scales, no shrimp, crab, crustaceans, pork, etc) and was a boarding school, Jewish kids attended also. It was quite common.

My grandfather was a plenty heavy deep (PhD) SDA professor!
 
Depends who you ask, rpg.

As to what you quoted, racist is a broad term, but it does indicate a prejudice, whether for or against. i.e. "All blacks have rhythm."
 
Being Jewish is basically a tribal designation. I don't think "race" really comes into the picture, as some Jews are black, most are white.

Judaism, on the other hand, is a religion. You can be Jewish by birth, tribal identity, etc. without believing in, or practicing, Judaism. Hence the term
"secular Jew." Bernie Sanders is one. So is a large number, perhaps the majority, of American Jews.

Insulting remarks, such as that one about Jews being "good businessmen, heh heh" are prejudiced and offensive. But I don't know if "racist" really applies.

All this reminds me of a joke, supposedly a true story. An American visiting Ireland gets into a discussion with one of the Irish locals. The Irish guy asks him, "I've been wondering, are you Protestant or Catholic?"

The American says, "Neither. I'm an atheist."

The Irish guy says, "Ah, I see. But are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?"
 
Sunny said:
Being Jewish is basically a tribal designation. I don't think "race" really comes into the picture, as some Jews are black, most are white.

Judaism, on the other hand, is a religion. You can be Jewish by birth, tribal identity, etc. without believing in, or practicing, Judaism. Hence the term
"secular Jew." Bernie Sanders is one. So is a large number, perhaps the majority, of American Jews.

Insulting remarks, such as that one about Jews being "good businessmen, heh heh" are prejudiced and offensive. But I don't know if "racist" really applies.

All this reminds me of a joke, supposedly a true story. An American visiting Ireland gets into a discussion with one of the Irish locals. The Irish guy asks him, "I've been wondering, are you Protestant or Catholic?"

The American says, "Neither. I'm an atheist."

The Irish guy says, "Ah, I see. But are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?"
Click to expand...


Exactly, so since it is not defined , it cannot be a racist remark. And IMO saying something good about a group or an individual {Jews being "good businessmen",} shouldn't be considered a prejudiced remark. Too me it is actually a compliment.

BTW, in my experience, they are.

Besides, I refuse to be PC.
 
rgp said:
Exactly, so since it is not defined , it cannot be a racist remark. And IMO saying something good about a group or an individual {Jews being "good businessmen",} shouldn't be considered a prejudiced remark. Too me it is actually a compliment.

BTW, in my experience, they are.

Besides, I refuse to be PC.
Click to expand...
Until the compliment becomes something society no longer values--then what? To designate an entire group as having a particular trait may not be racist, technically, but it is a prejudice and prejudice can be defined as going both ways.

In refusing to be PC, does that mean you automatically react by saying 'no' without giving an idea any credence?

BTW, in your experience? How limited, or unlimited, is that? How many examples can you actually cite?
 
rgp said:
Exactly, so since it is not defined , it cannot be a racist remark. And IMO saying something good about a group or an individual {Jews being "good businessmen",} shouldn't be considered a prejudiced remark. Too me it is actually a compliment.

BTW, in my experience, they are.

Besides, I refuse to be PC.
Click to expand...

Stereotypes are damaging even when they're supposedly complimentary. Being older folks most of us are familiar with how hurtful it is when younger people presume we are mentally infirm, poor drivers, slow moving, unable to manage modern electronics, can't put our groceries in our car, etc., etc. They believe they're being kind and thoughtful, but it's insulting. ("Baby Shark" has grandparent sharks toothless - neither amusing nor charming.)

Being PC means thinking a second time about how one's words might hurt someone else. No badges of honor are awarded to folks who insist on being old bulls in new china shops.
 
Last edited:
Pepper said:
Until the compliment becomes something society no longer values--then what? To designate an entire group as having a particular trait may not be racist, technically, but it is a prejudice and prejudice can be defined as going both ways.

In refusing to be PC, does that mean you automatically react by saying 'no' without giving an idea any credence?

BTW, in your experience? How limited, or unlimited, is that? How many examples can you actually cite?
Click to expand...


I'm not going to sit here & try to come up with numbers/percentages. I'm 70+ yrs old, worked all my adult life, and 20+ yrs of that being involved in sales.....from the buying end. So....that's my experience.......take it or leave it.
 
Last edited:
StarSong said:
Stereotypes are damaging even when they're supposedly complimentary. Being older folks most of us are familiar with how hurtful it is when younger people presume we are mentally infirm, poor drivers, slow moving, unable to manage modern electronics, can't put our groceries in our car, etc., etc. They believe they're being kind and thoughtful, but it's insulting. ("Baby Shark" has grandparent sharks toothless - so not amusing or charming.)

Being PC means thinking a second time about how one's words might hurt someone else. No badges of honor are awarded to folks who insist on being old bulls in new china shops.
Click to expand...


But.......the stereotype you note about older folks is absolutely true. Some of us do better than others at various stages of aging, others not so well.

We are slower, many/most of us are not "up-to-speed" with all current technology , we [as a group] are likely not as good @ driving as we once were, and mentally not as sharp as we were when we were 25/45/55,etc. So much of it is the truth, about so many of us.....Truth hurts.

It is a fact of life..........How many 65/75/85 yr old ditch diggers or airline pilots do you know? Yeah OK, there may be one or two out there :rolleyes: but that is not representative of our group.
 
A church I used to go to for their Bible study got a new pastor who was a shared minister (she had services at two churches). She had some women attend from her other church and when she said, "Open to the book of Matthew.", most of them didn't even know wher it was in the Bible. And these are suppose to be Christian people.
 
PVC said:
I meant is as a compliment, I've always admired their ambition and resourcefulness. I hate lazy people that expect others to support them. Compliments (admiration) can NEVER be racist. Quit looking for stones where there are none.
Click to expand...
I said I thought you were being complimentary. Your compliments are misguided. We don't need your compliments. We've seen your compliments turn on a dime. No thanks.
 
debodun said:
A church I used to go to for their Bible study got a new pastor...She had some women attend from her other church and when she said, "Open to the book of Matthew.", most of them didn't even know wher it was in the Bible. And these are suppose to be Christian people.
Click to expand...
Maybe they are New Christians. Only God knows their hearts. Maybe God caused you to notice so He could see if you were going to reach out and help them. I don't know but I know He's watching. We don't have to. He's watching us all.
 
Oldguy54 said:
College Boys next door to me think I'm to old too walk 25 feet to a garden I'm planning on growing.
Click to expand...


Well, for me, last year, not to difficult, maybe even carry my tools, push the wheelbarrow etc. Today, it's a task to make it to the coffee pot....about 12' away so?..............age/time does indeed change things.
 
Lara said:
Maybe they are New Christians. Only God knows their hearts. Maybe God caused you to notice so He could see if you were going to reach out and help them. I don't know but I know He's watching. We don't have to. He's watching us all.
Click to expand...

Usually when this happens I will help some people if they are sitting close. Some seem to resent help, though. Maybe it makes them self-conscious that I noticed. I've seem some people get page tabs to mark where the books are, like in this picture.

tabs.jpg
 
StarSong said:
Being PC means thinking a second time about how one's words might hurt someone else. No badges of honor are awarded to folks who insist on being old bulls in new china shops.
Click to expand...

Considering the negative reaction to my innocent and complimentary stereotype, I might as well never utter another word for the rest of my life. Geez, the world is currently paved with eggshells and glass shards.
 
debodun said:
I've seem some people get page tabs to mark where the books are, like in this picture.

View attachment 78334
Click to expand...
That's okay. It's a good idea for those who can't remember. Maybe they have early onset dementia. Maybe new believers. I mean we just don't know. I'm just glad they're in church with their Bible and obviously studying it if they've done tabs for quick cross-referencing. Cool.
 


Back
Top