*delurking*
I blame the mega-church trend. There's one down the street from us, with facilities that include not only the church and Sunday school classrooms, but a snack bar, a teen club, a gym, a bowling alley -- the idea being that the church members never have to spend time around people who don't think exactly like them.
And to expand this beyond Christianity -- the megachurch trend goes hand in hand with the gated community trend. The residents don't have to see or talk to anyone from outside, because there's a big fence and a gate and a security guard. No doubt if they could get a moat put in, they would.
In this situation, how can the church members (or the gated-community residents) see that the poor need assistance? That social ills need to be taken care of? That not-like-you is not bad or threatening, but just different? They can't. And actually interacting with open-minded people from outside might taint them. So they stay in.
(This is NOT true of all churches, or even all mega-churches, of course; there are many churches who make a point of service to the community by helping the poor, etc., and many wonderful Christians who are open to -- delighted to -- have grand discussions with people not-like-them. But this withdrawal is definitely a trend I'm noticing.)
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 2 |
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