Now, please don’t take this the wrong way, okay? (And please delete it if you feel like you have to move it somewhere else).
I am not an agnostic (I was raised a Cathaholic), but I don’t take everything written in the Bible as gospel;).
But here’s my question: With all those buyers suddenly popping up everywhere, do y’all think someone’s making a biblical “connection”?
Not necessarily apocalyptic, but maybe the part about Jesus throwing the money-changers out of the temple, maybe someone somewhere’s goin’, “Uh-huh, see?”
Again, please delete this if you feel like placing it in GD, 'cause I ain’t going through another “Our Kids” thing again!
Well, I certainly never thought about that! Interesting question. I live in a town where we have roughly 1000 people…and, if my count is correct, Church #6 is about to open up. This will be our 3rd grocery store-to-independent church conversion. We have a really hard time keeping grocery stores in business… Anyway, I suspect these are the sort of churches that really study on “Uh-huh, see?” issues, and if they weren’t such scarey places, I’d be tempted to do a tour of each of them* to see if the subject comes up.
*Of the former-grocery store ones, I mean. I doubt that the others ponder these things much. Particularly the Methodist one. I always thought that seemed like a dignified church. Actually I don’t know that much about it, but when I was a kid in a Baptist Church where they had an inside baptimal font but made it clear that they really thought it counted more if you got baptized in a creek, my mom told me that the Methodists used sprinkling. It made them seem so sophisticated.
I’m with you on the grocery store to church conversions. Happens here too, except mostly in strip malls where I guess the rent is more affordable.
I have been to some of the so-called “primitive” churches, and yeah, the preacher is apt to take a current even and turn it into something he can use in his sermon to scare the bejesus (I keep making these religious puns in this thread, don’t I? ;)) out of people.
My visits to one of these churches were when I we had just moved here from Germany and I remember running out of there, when that guy at the pulpit “got the spirit” and begging my parents not to ever make me go there again. I had been invited there by a neighbor, but looking back on my childhood, I’m not so sure that was sucha “friendly neighor” kinda gesture.
If you don’t get it, then… you’re lucky enough to appreciate the importance of rational thought and the study of economics over superstitions believed thousands of years ago by unwashed, uneducated goatherds?
Granted goatherding was pretty economically important in those days, I’ll admit.
Mr. SP just pointed out that of the grocery/convenience stores that haven’t yet become churches, all feature displays of Christian music c.d.'s. Evidently it’s spreading.
Quasimodem–And here you worried this question would be controversial! Now you know, avoid controversy by asking questions no one understands.
OK, let’s try the OP again. I think I got Quasi’s ideas pretty well straight.
Fact setup:
Today the low-end demographic TV channels are full of adds for rip-off outfits who will buy your gold for a pitttance. The promise is just mail it in and get a fan of beautiful crisp 20s to ogle at.
Five years ago there were no such ads.
Question:
Are preachers making a connection between this fact and the various apocolyptic biblical passages, trying to motivate their flocks to become more fervent in their beliefs, and / or to attract more members?
Related implied question:
Is there any correlation between how much this is going on and what sort of preacher they are; e.g. main stream Catholic / Episcopal / etc. versus TV megachurch versus small town revivalist tub-thumper?
I thought he was talking about the WoW gold spammers that keep getting banned (“throwing the money changers out of the temple,” “suddenly popping up everywhere [after we got Google indexed. Ed note: I’ve noticed it too].”)
I only assumed that it because it’s Quasi.
Edit: On further review I think LSL Guy is more correct than me, but I’m not 100% sure.
Here’s the deal. Nearly everything in the Bible is a metaphor designed to impart wisdom on the stupid and ignorant.
I’m not intimately familiar with most of the Bible (especially New Testament since I’m jewish) but if there are significant passages about Jesus throwing money changers out of the temple, it is probably a warning against getting involved in complex financial transactions you don’t understand. The inference being that the “money changers” will use your ignorance to make sure the transactions are advantageous to their ends. All in all, not bad advice.
The reference to the “Golden Calf” (which is basically a violations of Commandments One and Two) is basically a warning to not seek validation or moral guidance from material things or false prophets. Again, taken in a certain non-literal context, not bad advice.
The reason so many people are trading in gold has more to do with modern economics than biblical references. In uncertain economic times, people tend to buy gold because it tends to be a good hedge against inflation. With our high levels of debt, low interest rates and weakened dollar, inflation is very likely. The danger is that the price of gold has risen very quickly almost like a speculative bubble. An increase in consumer confidence and a rise in interest rates may cause the price of gold to fall very quickly.
I got it on a different level. One of those traveling gold-buying groups massed-mailed our Synod with this offer (basically) - set up a day with us for your members to bring in all their old gold and silver jewelry. We’ll send a representative to buy it and kick back x% to the church. I objected to Council on two grounds
scripture made the whole thing feel hinky.
no matter what the group was or where they were based, I could name 10 local coin or jewelry shops who could do the same. Or allow the people to just bring their stuff into their shop during a given week. All of these would have paid higher to our congregants and hence more to the congregation. Even that felt hinky ----- but better than a border-line scam.
Mr. SP just pointed out that of the grocery/convenience stores that haven’t yet become churches, all feature displays of Christian music c.d.'s. Evidently it’s spreading.