# Do some of your co-religionists embarrass you? How? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166 "2005-05-17T00:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/1 "2005-05-17T00:30:43Z")
The way some Muslims behave embarrasses me. Even though I no longer identify as a Muslim, I am still part of their society especially because all of my relatives are still Muslims. Do some of your co-religionists embarrass you? How? WRS ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/2 "2005-05-17T00:42:42Z")
I was raised Catholic. The embarrassment is self-explanatory. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/3 "2005-05-17T01:01:53Z")
I’m a Christian. Baptist, even. Nowadays when people ask me what denomination I am, I say “Baptist-not-Southern-Baptist-in-fact-quite-the-opposite-please-don’t-hate-me.” I remember once in high school telling a girl who happened to be lesbian that I was a Baptist, and she squeaked and ran across the room. She’d known me for years and we were in the Gay-Straight Alliance together. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/4 "2005-05-17T01:05:11Z")
I’m a Christian. These days, you name it, I’m embarrassed by it, and not the least by my own wussiness in standing up to some of the crap I hear and see. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/5 "2005-05-17T02:13:14Z")
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I constantly find myself explaining that we’re the “fun” Lutherans. The biggest controversy we have is what fruit to put in the Jello molds, not biblical inerrancy or creationism vs. evolution. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/6 "2005-05-17T02:22:12Z")
Some of the stuff militant atheists or non-religious people do is pretty embarrassing, such as making tasteless jokes about Jesus, wearing pins or stickers with crossed-out crosses, or calling God with a magical pink sky fairy. Even though I’m not a Christian or a theist, I think it’s rude and disrespectful and sure doesn’t help foster relations between religious folks and non-religious folks. Rhetoric and mindless jingoism are bad no matter which side of the debate they’re on. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/7 "2005-05-17T03:02:04Z")
I call it “Catholics Behaving Badly,” I’m always watching out for it. Mel Gibson’s antics almost put me over the edge last year. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/8 "2005-05-17T03:36:56Z")
I’m a bleeding-heart conservative Republican, moderate evangelical, tongues-speaking member of the Assemblies of God who hopes the vast majority of humanity ends up in Heaven, except for the total POS’s who abuse children & similar scum. Oh yeah. I get embarassed at least monthly. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/9 "2005-05-17T05:17:31Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I constantly find myself explaining that we’re the “fun” Lutherans. The biggest controversy we have is what fruit to put in the Jello molds, not biblical inerrancy or creationism vs. evolution. Presbyterian, and “fun Christians” is exactly how I describe my church. “We’ve got a gay music director and have lots of potlucks” is sentence #2. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/10 "2005-05-17T06:59:33Z")
The most recent round of weaselling about not “condoning the practice of homosexuality” in the General Conference of the United Methodist Church has made me not only embarrassed to admit I’m a member of the church, it’s led me to rethink my membership altogether. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/11 "2005-05-17T07:17:13Z")
Pagan. There you have it. We call them ‘fluffies.’ ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/12 "2005-05-17T11:28:09Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I constantly find myself explaining that we’re the “fun” Lutherans. The biggest controversy we have is what fruit to put in the Jello molds, not biblical inerrancy or creationism vs. evolution. I’m “Evangelisch” (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany) also. We are definitely the “fun” Lutherans. My wife actually converted from Catholicism and our kids are baptized Lutheran, because she was pleasantly amazed at how liberal the Evangelical Lutheran church is. She could never understand why the Catholic church insists on celibacy, and then lectures its members on sex. Most of our pastors are happily married with kids. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/13 "2005-05-17T12:13:31Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > Most of our pastors are happily married with kids. I want to pint out that my two pastors are married to grown women. 😉😃 Another ELCA member here. How about combining “fun” denominations? The assistant pastor at my church is really Presbyterian, and serves us through some kind of communion sharing agreement. Not much about Lutherans is embarrasing, unless you count the menu at a church potluck… ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/14 "2005-05-17T12:34:30Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > Most of our pastors are happily married with kids. > [@VunderBob](#): > > I want to pint out that my two pastors are married to grown women. :smack: What can I say: “English’ Sprach’, schwere Sprach’” > [@VunderBob](#): > > Not much about Lutherans is embarrasing, unless you count the menu at a church potluck… Where I live, the Catholics have the much better potlucks and picnics, but I think they feel a lot guiltier afterwards. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/15 "2005-05-17T12:45:45Z")
**Mycroft** , after making the juvenile joke, I should point out that the grammatical gotcha was a missing comma. If you had written “_Most of our pastors are happily married_\*,\*\* with kids.\*” instead, I couldn’t have taken the cheap shot. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/16 "2005-05-17T12:58:47Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Pagan. There you have it. We call them ‘fluffies.’ ditto. And Hi! (Notice how I carefully did NOT say “Merry Meet!” My usual reply to that is “Merry Meet Pippin. Smoke pipeweed.” Confuses the hell outta people.) ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/17 "2005-05-17T13:13:19Z")
Looks like we’ve got enough “fun Lutherans” here for an impromptu potluck. I’ll bring the lutefisk-flavored jello. 🆒 Last I checked, the ELCA is in full communion with most of the rest of Christianity, with the exception of the Catholics (although we are on speaking terms now) and the “other Lutherans”. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/18 "2005-05-17T13:37:43Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > Last I checked, the ELCA is in full communion with most of the rest of Christianity, with the exception of the Catholics (although we are on speaking terms now) and the “other Lutherans”. By the way, who are some of the other “Lutherans”? In Germany there is only one Lutheran church, but the [“Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland”](http://www.ekd.de/kirche/3221_zusammenschluesse.html) does also have some “reformed” churches amongst its members. [This](http://www.ekd.de/ausland/834_1158.html) is the church I used to go to, and [here](http://www.dike.de/pfungstadt/kirche.htm) is a picture of the church where I was married and my children were baptized. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/19 "2005-05-17T13:48:03Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > By the way, who are some of the other “Lutherans”? . . . Here in the US, the next biggest Lutheran denomination is the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). They’re the “conservative Lutherans” (at least, more conservative than ELCA Lutherans), and take a more literalist view of the Bible. I believe there’s also a Wisconsin Synod Luthera Church, and I think they’re at least as conservative as the LCMS, but beyond that I don’t know much about them. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166/20 "2005-05-17T15:37:00Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > Here in the US, the next biggest Lutheran denomination is the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). They’re the “conservative Lutherans” (at least, more conservative than ELCA Lutherans), and take a more literalist view of the Bible. I waver between liberal LCMS and conservative ELCA congregations as my choice. I’ve been fortunate that the two types are just about at the same point. My mother gave me a lot of good-natured crap for a lot of years when I went over to the LCMS. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-some-of-your-co-religionists-embarrass-you-how/304166.md?page=2)