The schism over music in church–The Churches of Christ do not allow musical instruments or recorded music of any kind in church because there’s no mention of it in the bible–occurred around the turn of the century (1900).
No offense intended. The people I met in these churches were perfectly nice people. They also tended to be very assured that they had found the one true Christian religion.
I don’t claim that my experiences are representative of these denominations in general. I was merely relating a personal experience with what some people mean when they claim to be “just” Christians.
I go to a Vineyard church. I’m pretty sure those are non-denominational. They are conservative in some ways, but much better than fundie churches.
Anyway, I don’t like applying denominations to myself. I’m a christian, what else matters? If people really want to know, I tell them I’m a liberal christian.
So my experience with non-denominationals is the opposite from most of yours I guess. It’s strange.
Yeah, the Jewish mom was kind of a bitch and her kids were annoying, but the Christian mom couldn’t even conceive of the fact that bickering could be anything but negative (siblings? Fighting? What’s going on? Next thing you know they’ll be wrestling and giving each other wet willies! They must truly hate each other!).
Just a question- I know the Christian family surrounded themselves with similar people, but are all Californians really so clueless about Judaism? They didn’t even know what lox was, fer chrissakes. At least they didn’t send a black woman- ‘Ooh, so these are called ‘Plant-ayns’? But they loook like bananas! Can I touch your hair?’
(I know that it’s not everyone’s fault that they didn’t grow up in multicultural communities- I only really realized that some Americans had never even MET a Jewish person a few years ago)
Was it Rosalyn Carter who said, when asked about being born again, “I got it right the first time”?
Me too. I tried to do it again and it didn’t work. And, Kittenblue, our friend KK asked Rev. T. if she was okay and he said yes. So we are in. In line for eternal life. Because Rev. T. said so.
Yep, that’s how I feel. Got it right the first time. Back when I was a young girl and had just had my confirmation, I went on my first date, to a movie night at a Baptist church. After watching the (forgettable) movie, we were asked to put our heads down to pray, and we were asked to raise our hands if we wanted to be saved. All around me I could hear hands going up. And the minister kept asking, and asking. And then it dawned on me: I was the only one without my hand up. So I thought, “should I just be polite and put it up? No one can see me anyhow.” But I had just been confirmed two weeks before. And Rev. T had told me then I was saved. And I hadn’t done anything evil in those two weeks, so I figured I was good to go, so thanks anyways, but I don’t need to be saved tonight.
They waited about 4 more minutes and then gave up on me. I don’t know if my date peeked and saw that I was the heathen holdout, but he never spoke to me again.
Well, it’s tough, 'cause there are so few Jews living in California. Especially in the Los Angeles area. I blame Hollywood: those damn gentiles have a stranglehold on the entire media industry.
Seriously: I don’t have a cite, but it’s my understanding that California has the largest Jewish population outside of New York. Heck, before they gave up on religious instruction entirely, the Catholic middle school I went to only taught from the Old Testament, so as not to offend the parents of all the Jewish kids enrolled there. Every summer, I’d go to the camp run by the Marin Jewish Community Center, which was about as Jewish as my Catholic school was Catholic, because it was the best one in the area. The woman in the TV show is an anomaly, in my experience as a life-long Claifornian.
‘Course, California is also a frickin’ gigantic chunk of geography. What holds true in San Francisco and L.A. does not hold true for Bakersfield or Eureka. Not an easy state to make generalizations about.
No, not all Californians are that clueless. Did you forget that Hollywood is ruled by the Jews? (JOKING, just joking ;))
In all seriousness, the California airport that she flew into was Long Beach, and by the look of the neighborhood and some of the scenery I saw while they drove around, I’d guess that the family was living in Northern Orange County. Orange County is one of the few big Republican strongholds in Southern California, and it’s pretty common to see Christian families like that in that area.
I live up in the San Fernando Valley, which has a pretty large Jewish population, and trust me, I know what lox is. Heck, I can make a pretty kick-ass kugel and I’m definitely not Jewish.
