Weekly Roundup (The Best of the Internet).

Occasionally, I like to do link roundups, either of great websites/blog posts I encounter, or sometimes, YouTube channels. I always like to share great material I encounter with my blog audience, especially great post for fellow bloggers. You never truly appreciate how much work goes into a great blog post until you become a blogger, and so it’s always good to lend a hand to a great blogger, and send some people their way.

Here’s my favorites for this week:

Are ministers more depressed than the general population?

A recent post by The Friendly Atheist talks about a recent study of Methodist pastors by Duke Divinity school. They surveyed and interviewed over 1,700 pastors from the United Methodist denomination in the US, and found that of the pastors they contacted, 8.7% had depression to some extent, compared to 5.5 % of the general US population.

I wonder if the same holds true for other denominations, and I have a feeling that it’s probably worse in fundamentalist denominations. My feeling is probably that it’s due to the fact that many congregations have a tendency to run their minister ragged, expect too much from him (or her), and don’t give them a break when they really need it.

Congregations can be very demanding on pastors, people get too emotionally connected to their minister, look to them to provide for their feeling of spiritual and emotional well being, and put them on a pedestal. Then there’s the constant stress, long hours, and middle of the night phone calls telling them about some disaster or another that has come upon a member of the congregation, or a friend/family member of a church member.

The last full time pastor at the church I am undercover in had his share of this. He would often visit members and their relatives in nursing homes and hospitals, many younger ministers today don’t do that (he was the son of a pastor, and his father taught him to do that). Then, on top of being a pastor of a church that averaged about 350 people each Sunday at the time, he was also one of my town’s 3 volunteer police chaplains.

American Jesus

It's been a while since I have checked for new posts at Commandments of Men. I usually don't like it when bloggers post rather infrequently, but there are a few blogs I make an exception for, because when they do come out with new content, it is well worth the wait for a new post. The writer of Commandments of Men, Lewis, sure didn't disappoint me with one of his newest posts, The American Jesus.

It was a rant written shortly after the July 4th holiday about how for some people, Christian fundamentalism and nationalism end up becoming intertwined to the point that they become inseparable in their minds. This has resulted in a highly Americanized form of Jesus that the rest of the world has a hard time recognizing as Jesus.

Here's an excerpt from the post:

We've apparently cornered the market on Jesus in this country. We've turned him into a flag-waving (flag-wearing, as the photo shows), gun-toting, GOP-voting conservative Republican Tea-Partier who believes in State's Rights, no taxes, deregulation, who hates Obama, and who makes sure the gays know how sinful they are.  

We've made him the whitest Jew on the planet.No wonder the rest of the world is amused by The American Jesus. He doesn't look or act anything like the Jesus they know. He's kind of an ignorant redneck, actually.

For the rest of the post, click here.

When I was reading the post, it kept reminding me of this classic song from the band Bad Religion:

Here's some more great sites and blogs that I would like to share with everyone:

Why can't fantasy just be fantasy?

Speaking of fundamentalism, I ran across a great post by South African blogger Christian Kemp on his blog I Am An Atheist and This is Why. He was talking about how fundamentalists often can't handle fanstasy fiction of science fiction when anything is brought up about spirituality, they see it as evil (for example, Harry Potter, etc).

Luckily as an atheist I can just appreciate fantasy for what it is......Fantasy. For theists however if you believe in invisible gods then magic, ghosts and demons all become real too. And anything that does not seem normal too you, which is pretty much anything in fantasy land, is evil. 

Undercover Agnostic (Update 14): Personal Space Invaders

I have noticed a pattern after spending 24 years now inside the world of Christian fundamentalists here in the Midwestern United States. In many Protestant churches, it's typical for the opening of the Sunday morning services to start with an announcement from the pastor or music director, then there will be an opening song that the choir or praise band will sing.

As this opening song starts, the pastor or music director will say to the people to shake hands with everybody and introduce yourself if you see someone you don't recognize. The people all get up, chattering amongst each other, making the rounds around the sanctuary. This happens all the time across the US, but in the 3 churches I have been either a member of, (or at least a regular attending person for a few years), I keep noticing that during this period of time that no matter what church I was in, there always seems to be the same cast of characters that show up in each congregation.

First you have the elderly woman (or women) that play the part of "everyone's Grandma". They've been in the congregation for many years, they know everyone, and if you don't know you yet, well, believe me, they will get to know you. During this time period, they will always insist on hugging and kissing everyone they meet.

Second you have the "always happy guy" character. He is usually a deacon or Sunday School teacher, or just simply an well established and respected member of the congregation. He's usually a large, middle aged guy who always seems happy, has to greet everyone, and if he knows you, he will insist on saying, "Hi (your name)" rather loudly, and will give a strong handshake before insisting on a big "brotherly hug".

Third, you have the pastor himself. He's always in a suit, or at least a shirt and tie, will give you handshake so strong you are wondering if he's trying to see if he can break a finger or two. After the painful handshake, he will insist on putting his hand on top of your shoulder, or on the back of the shoulder, and act like your therapist or your caring older brother, and ask in a very concerned voice "How have you been doing this past week, are you alright?"

There's always some variation on these characters, but they will show up in one form or combination or another, and they all have one thing in common: They have to touch everybody they see, and get into your personal space. They mean no harm by it, but they feel like they aren't a proper Christian church member if they don't touch and get into the personal space of everyone they meet on a Sunday morning.