tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post8702239321287954778..comments2023-10-18T02:03:42.145-07:00Comments on LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: Lara's Story Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-31289396485980034342018-09-02T22:03:17.523-07:002018-09-02T22:03:17.523-07:00AgreedAgreedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-10287473346064321452018-08-27T14:04:22.932-07:002018-08-27T14:04:22.932-07:00I'm glad you're here, believer. We get so ...I'm glad you're here, believer. We get so few comments defending the OALC or fundamentalism in general. It is helpful to see the thought processes, the habits of mind, you could call them, that many of us once shared: casual denials, appeals to authority, whataboutisms, putdowns, etc. <br /><br />But they don't really interest me, so I don't have anything interesting to say. (The word "bitter," though, why does it holds such power in the OALC? It's definitely a top-ten insult. Who's most "bitter," the slave who breaks his chains and tells others how and why, or the slave who prefers bondage and wants y'all to stop drawing attention to it. "For your health.") <br /><br />Anyhoo, look around, read the archives, and feel free to weigh in. Yes, I moderate comments -- as time permits, so there are often delays. Spam, personal attacks, and hate speech get 86'd. If you'd like a blog that is NOT moderated, please start one. Seriously, an OALC blog would be interesting, and probably well-read. Like this blog, not necessarily for the reasons you'd expect.<br /><br />Cheers, FreeFreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14779418481668841114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-39949824748988666792018-08-24T00:16:24.615-07:002018-08-24T00:16:24.615-07:00Ahhh, someone filtering comments. If that's no...Ahhh, someone filtering comments. If that's not authoritarian.... none of this free speech. Just a bunch of bias then. OkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-89670957952470559952018-08-24T00:15:02.129-07:002018-08-24T00:15:02.129-07:00"For example, Bob punches Joe in the nose. Bo..."For example, Bob punches Joe in the nose. Bob then asks Joe to forgive him for raising his voice. Joe is then supposed to ‘move on’ from Bob punching him in the nose because Bob ‘had it forgiven’"<br />This is not correct if you're speaking of OALC. <br /><br />"And preachers regularly talk about every other church as ‘dead faith churches’, etc and so forth, they don’t HAVE to come right out and say, All other churches are going to hell"<br /><br />There is one true faith. Says so in the bible. Nobody can say anyone else is going to hell though. However, when you're taught the wrong doctrine, how can your heart be in a good condition?<br /><br />" if a child grows up knowing they should only be friends with people from the church. They should only marry a ‘true believer’ and true believer is always understood to be ‘in THE church’."<br /><br />Human nature is to befriend people who are like you, believe like you, talk and look like you. Just the same as extoots become friends. Commonality. Its not "only be friends with people from the church". Birds of a feather flock together. Its nothing new and nothing to do with our specific religion. <br />Yes, we're taught to marry a Christian. Do you know how much easier it is to stay married when 2 people have a similar belief system? Marriage is already a lot of work. Why marry someone who disagrees and finds fault with a faith or belief system you hold close? Would you? <br /><br />As far as people "shunning". Some is true. There is self righteousness in every type of group, religious or not. Try to leave a gang once. See how dead you get. However i think a part of it is also the "leaver" projecting onto the church member their own thoughts and insecurities and bitterness. Its awkward. It gets all pretentious when a leaver and a church member meet up because there's an elephant in the room. If both parties would just relax and respect each others beliefs (yes, the leaver must respect the church members beliefs too) then its much more comfy. <br />Yes, the church members are concerned for your soul. If you know a parent or are one yourself, you can understand that concern can come out as anger. <br /><br />Good luck to all you people who think you've been traumatized by a religion that's basically old fashioned morals. If you've honestly been abused thats another thing and its absolutely not ok but for most of you "oppressed" people, just chill. victim mentality is self destructive and not helpful. Even though you all act like warriors you keep pointing back to the apostolic church as your abuser, keep hanging onto it and that's not healthy. It harbors bitterness and resentment. Let go. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-83745728191777698062018-01-07T12:33:21.562-08:002018-01-07T12:33:21.562-08:00CVOW said, "...and he was an arrogant holier ...CVOW said, "...and he was an arrogant holier than thou little twit of a cousin of mine." Hmmmm......we might have the same cousin now that you mention it!!! It would be interesting if some one translated a list of Laestadian 'newspeak' terms into the vernacular. Put it this way, I have seen supposed Laestadian teetotalers sipping ethanol (aka booze at restaurants when they thought no one would see them), others with secret TV's, others who were sports aficionados, movie goers, money moguls with shady deals etc... and it is not that I necessarily care as I know that a lot of members tended to treat things with 'a grain of salt' as CVOW observed. My issue is really with their attitude that they are somehow 'different' than the world and that they possess a special doctrine, "the forgiveness of sins" (i.e. personal confession and absolution) that makes them the only true faith. You were lucky that only one male shunned you. In my case the whole church shunned me EXCEPT for one male. Old AP Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-23911591574961487762018-01-06T11:55:41.507-08:002018-01-06T11:55:41.507-08:00Old AP, I had not thought of the "newspeak&qu...Old AP, I had not thought of the "newspeak" aspect of Laestadianism, but you're spot on, as usual. One thing that was my experience was that the men didn't typically engage in a lot of gossip or even discussion of these issues. I don't know if that was because they really didn't care, or perhaps more likely, they just made their judgement and forgot about it. Perhaps my experiences are because I came from a "backsliding" locality where, except for a couple of hardline family cliques, most people took things with a healthy grain of salt. I only experienced "shunning" by one male toward me, and he was an arrogant holier than thou little twit of a cousin of mine. CVOWAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8088717.post-18946667815245750062017-12-31T01:58:28.172-08:002017-12-31T01:58:28.172-08:00The posting is well written and it is yet another ...The posting is well written and it is yet another summarization of a person who has seen the contradictions of modern day Apostolic Lutheranism. I would agree that women in particular are told to pursue a degree in husbandry while the young men are told to pursue a career using a hammer and saw. It is sort of like an institutionalized 'dumbing down' process to keep blinders on people. In the book '1984' they use a term called 'newspeak' where war is called peace. It sort of works the same way within Laestadianism where guilt is called God's Peace, doubt is called faith, hate is called love, gossip is called "concern" etc... The hush, hush about incest like so many other subjects was just understood not to be openly mentioned. But of course it was okay to discuss it ad nauseam at the coffee klatch. The writer also mentioned her commission of the ultimate sin which was visiting another church denomination & realizing that their 'truth' might just be more accurate than what she had grown up with. The writer stated, "It’s important to note that the Laestadian’s have split into many different churches. So what was true for one person in one group is not necessarily true for another person in another group." But it might be worth adding that the one belief which they ALL have in common is that theirs is the only right group. Thanks for the posting Free. Old APAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com