So today I did the housewife thing and watched “daytime TV” before Charlie took his nap. Trading Spouses was on, and it was a rerun. Some friends of mine have told me about this episode, I think, but I had never seen it until now.
Wow. Here’s a sneak peak.
In this first clip, you meet Jeanne. She’s a Unitarian hypnotherapist from the East coast and she seems very well balanced and open to other people’s views. Unfortunately, she’s been dropped into a den of bloodthirsty wolves in Christian’s clothing. I won’t call these people Christians because they are so far from Christ it’s pitiable.
Throughout the episode you see her making efforts to connect with the Perrin family, and she manages to do so fairly successfully by the end of the episode. It seems that everyone in this episode eventually finds a way to survive, grow and learn from the experience except Margaret.
Speaking of the devil… Meet Margaret.
Seriously after watching this woman rant and spaz and blame all of her sinful pride on the holy spirit I wanted to run screaming from the living room. I know that Christians don’t behave this way. The sad thing is that there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians who act this way.
I’ve been a practicing pagan for over ten years now. Granted… these days I practice about as much as some Christians do (Yule, Beltaine, Samhain and sometimes potlucks) but overall I’ve changed my spiritual practice quite a bit. After all this time, I still remember and hold true the teachings of the church that brought me wisdom when I needed it or gave me that feeling of connectedness with the “holy spirit”.
I grew up Evangelical. My parents didn’t go with me to church, and I wasn’t forced to believe in or participate in anything I didn’t want to. I stayed as long as I did (about age 17) because I believed in a higher power and wanted to find a way to get closer to it. For me, even as a kid, church was a way to find spiritual meaning and guidance in a world that needed a lot more love. Although I’ve moved on to different methods, I still respect any person who has a spiritual belief, no matter how different. Sometimes the destination IS the journey.
How do people act this way and call themselves Christians? Isn’t it the main responsibility of a Christian to be Christ-like? When did Christ ever throw a person out of his house for being “dark sided”? How many psychics and prophets are there in the bible? Hell, there are even instances of spirit communication (check out David’s story sometime) therein. Still, part of me wants to blame the bible because people have used it to justify so many atrocities (both socially and politically) in human history. This behavior is just another example of how dangerous religion becomes when someone with little to no understanding of divinity and even less empathy for others gets unleashed upon a new environment.
I had a lot more to say about religion and the dangers of ignorance, but I’ve waited to long to write it and I’m beginning to think this topic needs a blog of it’s own -aside from the wacky antics of the demonically posessed Margaret Perrin. Seriously, watching this woman blame her prideful self-righteousness on the Holy Spirit reminded me of a scene from The Crucible. When do the hangings begin, so I can plan my escape? *shudder*
