April
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> From: Jerry D McDonald <jerrydmcdonald@juno.com>
> To: errancy@infidels.org
> Subject: Re: Other Perks
> Date: Saturday, July 05, 1997 12:48 AM
>
> I think we are beginning to see what happened to Farrell. He was this
> way and when he didn't advance as he thought he ought, he quit (sour
> grapes). I have already responded to Robson's charges Farrell, go back
> and read my response. As far as the preacher getting asked out to dinner
> that doesn't happen that often. I was at Sullivan for 6 years and only
> got asked out once.
>
> In Christ's Service,
> Jerry D. McDonald
> jerrydmcdonald@juno.com
>
> On Fri, 4 Jul 1997 20:04:01 -0500 (CDT) jftill@midwest.net (Farrell Till)
> writes:
> >ROBSON
> >However, even if you discount the ministers who are in it for the
> >money,
> >there are other reasons for wanting to "preach the word". Firstly a
> >preacher
> >often likes to have power over a group of people, and preachers
> >(especially
> >the more fundamentalist ones) often have a great deal of influence
> >over
> >people's lives. (Often they use this influence to gain money for their
> >particular church)
> >
> >TILL
> >You are so right. When I was a preacher, we rarely ate at home on
> >Sundays,
> >because someone was always asking us out. Joe Blow, who was just an
> >ordinary pew warmer, was left out. He had to go home and take care of
> >his
> >own meal. Who wants to invite Joe Blow home; it's the preacher that
> >gets
> >the invitations.
> >
> >ROBSON
> >Secondly, there is the feeling of importance a religious teacher may
> >gain
> >from having his or her views taken over seriously, or actively sought.
> >In my
> >part of the world, the views of the clergy are often taken far too
> >seriously
> >on subjects they have no expertise on, simply because they are the
> >clergy.
> >All (bar one) of the Preachers I have known have been incapable
> >arguing
> >intelligently for their religion, usually ending up in some waffle
> >about
> >Faith. (belief without evidence). It amuses me, for example, to see
> >preachers dishing out ideas on how to bring up children while their
> >own run
> >riot in the background.
> >
> >TILL
> >I call all of this the big-fish-in-the-little-pond syndrome.
> >Preachers love
> >to bask in the adulation of the group that they preach to. It may not
> >be
> >much, but it's better than no attention at all. When I was a
> >preacher, I
> >received that attention, but it ended when I quit. In all of the 30
> >years
> >that I taught English after that, I never once had a member of the
> >board of
> >trustees ask for my opinion or invite me home for conversation or
> >lunch. It
> >was the president who got that kind of attention. So I agree with Mr.
> >Robson, there is more than money that's involved in motivating one to
> >be a
> >preacher. In the preaching profession, one can get attention and
> >respect
> >that he is unlikely to find in other jobs.
> >
> >ROBSON
> >Lastly, there is the huge stake they have in not changing. For a
> >Preacher to
> >turn round and say to his or her flock "Sorry, I don't believe it
> >anymore"
> >would require enormous courage, it being much easier just to keep
> >quiet about
> >it and plod along anyway. It doesn't require much courage to quash the
> >feeling that you might have got it all wrong (or perhaps view it as
> >the voice
> >of Satan ?)
> >
> >TILL
> >Yes, very definitely. It's just human nature.
> >
> >ROBSON
> >Finally, there is the usual claimed reason. "I want to spread the word
> >of
> >God" (in various forms). I would bet the vast majority of preachers
> >claim
> >this reason and no other... including the obvious frauds, and many of
> >them
> >honestly believe it, and would decry the reasons I have listed above.
> >However, I am of the opinion that for most preachers there are
> >elements of
> >these reasons present.
> >
> >TILL
> >Yeah, they all say that they want to spread the word, but look where
> >the
> >preachers go. Only a fraction of a percent go to the mission fields.
> >The
> >rest spend their lives preaching to the converted in established
> >congregations.
> >
> >
> >
> >Farrell Till
> >Skepticism, Inc.
> >jftill@midwest.net
> >
> >