I take it on a person-by-person basis. I neither admire nor hate clergy purely based on... ummmm... occupation? I mean, if I met someone who said she was, say, a bank-teller, I wouldn't have any predisposition to like or dislike her. I can't imagine doing the same thing to a clergy member.
They scare me, all of them, and make me feel uncomfortable. Even Buddhist monks make me feel like they're somehow walking around with this, "Oh, I'm so quiet and unattached" chip on their shoulder. I run from any and all religious figures. If I saw Jesus or the Buddha or Moses or Mohammed or any of them fellas, I'd sock 'em in the jaw, just to be mean, and for all the trouble they caused.
From my point of view, clergy are essentially people who are making a living out of lying to people about the nature of existence. I find them intellectually dishonest as well as degrading people who are basically telling you that as a human you are broken and depraved and cannot be whole or good without buying into their particular brand of BS. As such, they stand against everything I hold to be true and good and the world would be a better place if clergy didn't exist (that's not me saying the people themselves didn't exist but the role they decide to undertake). I could write a lot more, but that's the short end of it. Happy days
It depends. I feel like some of those people are two faced, and are just horrible people outside of the church. This is based on experience.
I've gotten to that point, HP. ---------- Post added 21st Jul 2014 at 12:12 PM ---------- But, in a way, if they are horrible outside of church, then they're frauds when they're IN church. Interesting viewpoints. Thanks. Keep them coming,
I used to attend Sunday school and I loved being a part of it, but when they found out I has kissed my same sex friend, (we were just experimenting) they asked me not to come back. They said my kind wasn't welcome. That was 30 years ago and I have never forgotten, it made me feel unwelcome and bad. As an adult I have met some very nice religious people and I think I like Buddhism best
You do make a good point. However, they poll the public and see how they look at different occupations in terms of integrity and respect. Some get high scores. Others get low scores. Take used car salespeople. A lot of people don't like them. I've met some who aren't pushy. However, most are. I once walked onto a used car lot because they had a model that interested me on an informational level and I had a fairly new car parked at the curb. I told the guy I was just looking at the car and not in the market. I would only be spending 5 or so minutes. He got aggressive and told me "You don't think you're going to walk onto a car lot and walk off without buying a car, do you?" I told him that he just insulted my intelligence and added a few not so pleasant words. I walked off the lot. So, it goes to an overall impression. I've met more people I disliked in the clergy than people I liked.
I'm no longer religious and I have a negative view of clergy in spite of having an uncle who is a Catholic priest and another uncle who is a Carmelite brother.
I've not met many, but at worst, they were people. At best, their message was love, and they truly cared for everybody they met.
I don't dislike clergy people per se, it's just... it seems like a waste, spending so many years of one's life in a philosophical ditch.
I'm not religious and I'm neutral for the post part; despite the clergy being behind a lot of screwed up things--mostly the Vatican.
I identify myself as a Christian and I think neutrally of clergy members. Clergy members are not superhuman, they are just as human as you and me. Some are bad, some can become better people, and some seem more like Christ than most people. But you can be more like Christ without having to identify as a Christian. ---------- Post added 21st Jul 2014 at 09:40 PM ---------- Jesus, Buddha, Moses, and Mohammed are not to blame here. It is their modern day followers who are to blame, they mess with and misinterpret statements in their holy books. The forefathers of these religions are not to blame.
I don't identify with any religion but feel neutral towards them. They are humans like everyone else, I haven't met one who was a jerk towards me yet but if I did I'd treat them just like they were any other jerk.
Ehhhh... disclaimer: this is going to get pretty inflammatory, because there is really no nice way to criticize a religion. But I point you to Leviticus 25:44-46, Numbers 31:14-18, Deuteronomy 21:10-14, and 22:23-24, which are all pretty terrible laws or directions promulgated by Moses, not to mention the 'stoning LGBT people to death' thing. I also don't accept the 'OT doesn't count' handwave, because Jesus endorses at least the Pentateuch in John 1:17, 7:19 by supporting Moses as the giver of [divine] law. He does this more subtly elsewhere in the gospels. Further, I'm not as familiar with Islam or Buddhism, so I can't give a good substantive critique of it, but I can say that modern day followers of Moses and Jesus are doing well in spite of these repugnant teachings.
I am very religious and think highly of clergy. In general, they are nice people who are willing to share their devotion to God with others and help parishioners be better people. Of course, there are the kind of clergy that rape children, but I'm not going to let one bad apple ruin the barrel. Toss the bad apples and leave the good ones alone.
I am a Christian and think positively of them because they led me to a positive relationship to the Lord. I do not have to believe everything they believe for me to have positive feelings towards them. Even if I was not a Christian, I recognize how many feed and clothe the poor. They are an asset to society.
Oh dear. I -must- resist commenting on this. Sorry. That quote just rubs me all the wrong ways. But to each their own. This is where I -must- comment. They are not any more of an asset than anyone else helping other living beings... Do you have -any- idea how many non-religious (or at lest non-christian) people feed and clothe the poor? Do you have -ANY- idea how much GOOD non-religious people do? I would like you to recognise THAT. Gosh, we better not continue discussing that topic. There's no hope of it not ending in a mess.
He never denied it, he just talked about the topic at hand. That religious groups feed and clothe the poor doesn't mean that others do not. It means exactly what was said. A Christian having qualities does not detract from the qualities of an atheist. People co-exist, and there need be no competition of "who's more moral" here. Where did he fail to recognise the unnecessarily passive-aggressively capitalised "that?"
He didn't, I'm just mad. I completely admit to that. I can't help it. One-sided praise of clergy, religious people and religion itself just gets me. And the first sentence I quoted makes me personally feel rather... sick. No matter how much I try to respect people regarding religion, I just can't take some things. A pet peeve, so to speak. There are so many nasty, mean but true things I could and would like to say about that "asset" to humanity, but I preferred not taking the completely furious route of "just" pointing out that there are others doing the same and more.
I think quite low of organized religion. I think it has brought lots of pain to the world. It has been used and it is still used as a tool to discriminate and judge other people based on biased moral standards. It just convinces people not to fight for their happiness now with the promise of an afterlife or something similar. I dissuades people from looking for real explanations for things and just adhere to primitive beliefs. I have no problem with a person being religious or spiritual. I think it can be a very positive thing for many people and help them deal with challenges in life and with other people from a beneficial perspective. But having said that, I still think that it is just an easy fix that might work. I would rather respect other people and be a good person because I value other human being and that is how I would like to be treated, than out of fear of eternal punishment or because "God" tells me so. So while I know priests who are wonderful people, they often are because the defy the norm within their institutions in favor of common sense and just being a good person. So I am neutral towards each member of the clergy individually, but sadly what the media feeds us and what I have encountered is mostly vain people who just use their status to make a life out of it and get undeserved respect.
