Kramer Krazy
Member
I had a dream that was a little disturbing, but was an interesting situation. First, what lead to this dream was this article in Cleveland of guns being turned in to churches in the area (article printed below):
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4218172/detail.html
....and the fact that the wife and I have been talking about what church to attend in the area, if we decide to go, or for when we decide to send our daughter (newborn) to one in the future. Anyway.....
In this dream, I decide to go to the church my wife has chosen for us. We are halfway through the service when the preacher/pastor starts talking about a gun turn-in program he wants to start while spewing that "full automatic" firearms must be removed from the streets, that the AWB should have never been let die, and just a bunch of liberal media misinformation and political views that have no place in a church.
In this dream, I ran through different scenerios on handling this.
1) Walk out and never return
2) Stand up in front of the congregation and correct the preacher of his misinformation
3) Stand up, interupt the sermon, ask to speak with the preacher in private, and then correct him, but in private as to not embarass him
4) Sit through the sermon, getting very infuriated, then speak with the preacher after the service and ask to set up a meeting to discuss the misinformation that he just shared.
In this dream, I was stumped as to what to do. My main instinct was to interrupt the sermon and correct the preacher on the information in front of everyone. The next strong impulse was to just get up and leave in the middle of his sermon.
When I awoke, I still had this feeling of helplessness as not knowing how to handle the situation. I'd never even come close to thinking of any situation like this. The thing that bothered me the most was that, here in the South, preachers have a VERY huge influence on the sheeple and the community. Laws are made and appealed because the churches band together to sway the voting. All I could think of was all the people being influenced because "my preacher said....".
Ok, so.....I just wanted to share my dream with you on THR. I found my dream to be rather interesting, and made me think about similar situations I may find myself. It also made me look into the separation of church and state, but also into the wellfare of the community. Going back to the Cleveland churches, I'm curious if this is an infringement of keeping church and state separate. Yeah, getting these guns "off the streets" may help reduce crime, but is the church getting too political in their motives? Do they have a "right" in doing a gun turn-in if gun ownership is not a religious topic?
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Here's the article:
CLEVELAND -- Area churches are involved in a program called "28 Days of Peace" in an effort to make Cleveland neighborhoods safer, NewsChannel5 reported.
"28 Days of Peace" is a no questions asked weapons drop-off program.
Pastors are hoping God and prayer will compel residents to give up their guns.
The most recent haul of weapons brought in by pastors to Second Ebenezer Baptist Church in Cleveland included a cache of rifles, handguns and semi-automatic weapons.
This is the first year for the weapons turn-in program, which has already netted more than 80 guns and ammunition of various types.
The pastors involved are passing out and posting fliers hoping to get more residents to turn in their weapons, WEWS reported.
“It's giving people in our community a chance,†said the Rev. A.L. Owens.
The Rev. Mark Olds said he believes that the program could work in cities across the country.
WEWS reported the churches are also working with Cleveland Clerk of Courts Earl Turner to offer amnesty on arrest warrants.
More than 4,000 nonviolent misdemeanor traffic and housing-court cases have been settled after people have decided to turn themselves in, WEWS reported.
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/4218172/detail.html
....and the fact that the wife and I have been talking about what church to attend in the area, if we decide to go, or for when we decide to send our daughter (newborn) to one in the future. Anyway.....
In this dream, I decide to go to the church my wife has chosen for us. We are halfway through the service when the preacher/pastor starts talking about a gun turn-in program he wants to start while spewing that "full automatic" firearms must be removed from the streets, that the AWB should have never been let die, and just a bunch of liberal media misinformation and political views that have no place in a church.
In this dream, I ran through different scenerios on handling this.
1) Walk out and never return
2) Stand up in front of the congregation and correct the preacher of his misinformation
3) Stand up, interupt the sermon, ask to speak with the preacher in private, and then correct him, but in private as to not embarass him
4) Sit through the sermon, getting very infuriated, then speak with the preacher after the service and ask to set up a meeting to discuss the misinformation that he just shared.
In this dream, I was stumped as to what to do. My main instinct was to interrupt the sermon and correct the preacher on the information in front of everyone. The next strong impulse was to just get up and leave in the middle of his sermon.
When I awoke, I still had this feeling of helplessness as not knowing how to handle the situation. I'd never even come close to thinking of any situation like this. The thing that bothered me the most was that, here in the South, preachers have a VERY huge influence on the sheeple and the community. Laws are made and appealed because the churches band together to sway the voting. All I could think of was all the people being influenced because "my preacher said....".
Ok, so.....I just wanted to share my dream with you on THR. I found my dream to be rather interesting, and made me think about similar situations I may find myself. It also made me look into the separation of church and state, but also into the wellfare of the community. Going back to the Cleveland churches, I'm curious if this is an infringement of keeping church and state separate. Yeah, getting these guns "off the streets" may help reduce crime, but is the church getting too political in their motives? Do they have a "right" in doing a gun turn-in if gun ownership is not a religious topic?
=======================================================
Here's the article:
CLEVELAND -- Area churches are involved in a program called "28 Days of Peace" in an effort to make Cleveland neighborhoods safer, NewsChannel5 reported.
"28 Days of Peace" is a no questions asked weapons drop-off program.
Pastors are hoping God and prayer will compel residents to give up their guns.
The most recent haul of weapons brought in by pastors to Second Ebenezer Baptist Church in Cleveland included a cache of rifles, handguns and semi-automatic weapons.
This is the first year for the weapons turn-in program, which has already netted more than 80 guns and ammunition of various types.
The pastors involved are passing out and posting fliers hoping to get more residents to turn in their weapons, WEWS reported.
“It's giving people in our community a chance,†said the Rev. A.L. Owens.
The Rev. Mark Olds said he believes that the program could work in cities across the country.
WEWS reported the churches are also working with Cleveland Clerk of Courts Earl Turner to offer amnesty on arrest warrants.
More than 4,000 nonviolent misdemeanor traffic and housing-court cases have been settled after people have decided to turn themselves in, WEWS reported.
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