Thread: Burning your stuff for Jesus Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


To visit this thread, use this URL:
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=70;t=029289
Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :
 
In his misspent childhood and early teens, my husband was an avid reader and collector of Marvel comics. He was also the chief contraband supplier of same to his boarding school.

In about the mid-eighties, his parents converted to evangelicalism and decided that the supernatural content of these publications meant they were demonic or something and got rid of them all. We’re not sure what happened to them – binned probably.

Thirty years on, we are kind of bummed about this because had his collection stayed intact it would probably be worth quite a lot of money today. It was pretty encyclopedic with all the original X-men, Avengers, Spiderman etc.

Did anyone else piously burn/dispose of something they now wish they’d kept?
 
Posted by North East Quine (# 13049) on :
 
My daughter was born with a caul. The midwife prepared two pieces as lucky charms, one for us and one for herself. I was a bit iffy about lucky charms (I hadn't envisaged going home from hospital with both a baby and a charm!), and, besides, I'd just had a baby and had other things on my mind, and I let ours get dried out and dessicated.

I didn't set out to dispose of it, but I didn't make any effort to look after it either, partly because I thought it was superstitious, and it disintegrated.

I wish I'd looked after it now; it would have been an interesting thing to have.
 
Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
Did anyone else piously burn/dispose of something they now wish they’d kept?
Does an internet history count?
 
Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
I am amazed that people believe this - it is the 'satanic forces' e.g.the Nazis. ISIS, that burn books.
 
Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
Round about 1970 I gave away all my sixties folk-revival vinyl LPs.
Not that there was anything remotely evil about them, but because they had become far too important to me.
I have often regretted it, although at this distance I can't remember what most of them were. Some of the better known have been issued on CDs, so one or two favourites have been replaced.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
You can find lots of stories of parents getting rid of comics, books, toys etc. which then turn out to be vastly valuable. Of course it is this very scarcity that =makes= that comic book valuable.
 
Posted by Bob Two-Owls (# 9680) on :
 
After University my girlfriend moved in with me and found my collection of 1970s-1980s Citadel/Games Workshop Miniatures alongside some very rare 1930s German flat figures and some 1920s Britains models. She had recently got involved with the 9 O'Clock Service and someone had advised her to destroy the lot so she melted them all down in an old saucepan and presented me with three five pound ingots of whitemetal. I calmly expressed my disapproval but that weekend I waited until she was out and shredded all her shoes in the woodchipper. She left that day and we haven't spoken since.
 
Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :
 
I can't wait for Starman to get home so that I can read this to him and watch the colour drain from his face. He has all his 70's and 80's white metal D&D figures.
 
Posted by Pine Marten (# 11068) on :
 
I don't have any white metal figures but even I could feel the colour draining from my face at the mere thought of melting them down...I am a hoarder and have never given in to any temptation whatever to burn/destroy/melt anything down.

We still have stacks of DC comics that the first Mr Marten collected. He had occasionally thought of flogging them off, but alas didn't get the chance in the end.
 
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
Round about 1970 I gave away all my sixties folk-revival vinyl LPs.
Not that there was anything remotely evil about them, but because they had become far too important to me.
I have often regretted it, although at this distance I can't remember what most of them were. Some of the better known have been issued on CDs, so one or two favourites have been replaced.
Of all the tales I have read this one I have to admire. [Overused]
 
Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :
 
At uni, I did wipe some of my taped music. Because, in the group I was with, Hawkwind was not considered acceptable.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
These people have no sense of history. If you wait long enough, and keep stuff long enough, it becomes not only valuable, but okay. Common, even. Casanova's works were hot tamales in the day; you can kick them up now on Gutenberg. Those dirty paintings, hung for the gentlemen's delectation in the billiard room so that the women and children wouldn't sully their morals by contemplating nekkid people? National Gallery. Vaguely porny stereoscope cards? Antique store.
 
Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
..although if you have really porny stereoscopic cards, they are worth a pretty penny.

AG
 
Posted by Twilight (# 2832) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
After University my girlfriend moved in with me and found my collection of 1970s-1980s Citadel/Games Workshop Miniatures alongside some very rare 1930s German flat figures and some 1920s Britains models. She had recently got involved with the 9 O'Clock Service and someone had advised her to destroy the lot so she melted them all down in an old saucepan and presented me with three five pound ingots of whitemetal. I calmly expressed my disapproval but that weekend I waited until she was out and shredded all her shoes in the woodchipper. She left that day and we haven't spoken since.
Whoa! Did the 9 O'Clock Service say nothing of stealing and destroying other people's stuff? I suppose it doesn't matter at this late date but her shoes could be replaced and so aren't even in the same category as your collection.

I'm appalled by her actions and I say this as the ultimate unhoarder who loves the catharsis of a good clean-out so much that I throw away things I really should keep on a daily basis.

[My husband is sick about this and the comic collection. I shouldn't have read it to him.]
 
Posted by Trudy Scrumptious (# 5647) on :
 
The furthest I ever went in this direction was in Grade Eight, when I was briefly convicted that reading mysteries might be sinful, and I gave away my entire collection of Trixie Belden books to my friend Linda. My conviction did not last long and I often regretted the loss of those books, but I have no illusions that they were ever worth anything, and if I hadn't given them away for Jesus, I would probably have given them away a few years later just in the process of clearing out my room. However, in order to post the link above I just read the description of the series and characters on Wikipedia and was overwhelmed with nostalgia.

[ 22. October 2015, 00:22: Message edited by: Trudy Scrumptious ]
 
Posted by Uncle Pete (# 10422) on :
 
Dinky toys. I didn't quite burn them for Jesus, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. When I look at prices for 1930s and 1940s cars, I blink. Even the 50s ones I collected personally. I hope the kids who got them were smarter than me.
 
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
My sister and I were among the first addicts of The Mickey Mouse Club show. We had a charter subscription to the MMC magazine; we had the first-ever mouse ears and personalized t-shirts and whatever else was available.

Then my family moved when my sister was 14 and I was 11. It all went in the incinerator, not for religious reasons, but because we were decluttering, and we were too old for those things.

I could probably retire to the Caribbean now if it hadn't all gone up in smoke.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
It is a cinch that your aged auntie tossed the cards long ago.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
In this day of Internet and Ebay almost nothing is lost forever. If you really wanted to, you could replace those lost childhood items.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
The house moving and the tidying mother were more a threat than religious zeal. My elder brother is still mourning his run of The Eagle, and I my shelf of green Penguins.
 
Posted by Bob Two-Owls (# 9680) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
Whoa! Did the 9 O'Clock Service say nothing of stealing and destroying other people's stuff?
I don't know, I only went once and thought it all a bit weird and slightly creepy. A lot of her NOCS friends were into anti-materialism and spiritual warfare so I assumed it was part and parcel of the NOCS message. Another friend who got sucked into it ended up on my doorstep without a penny to his name so I'm guessing it was a bit of a NOCS thing to get rid of material possessions.
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
In the 1980s I had a signed photo of Paul Darrow as Avon from Blake's Seven that I kept in a special box.

One day I took it out and looked at it for a long time before tearing it up on the grounds that sentimentality was weakness (I felt Avon would have understood) and dumped the box as well.

Intermittently over the years I regretted this as it would have been worth something (Avon would have understood that too). However, I discovered recently they're only worth a fiver on eBay these days, so I feel quite relieved.

Looking through the selection available, I had to smile at youthful enthusiasm and how keen I used to be on Blake's Seven.
 
Posted by beatmenace (# 16955) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Bob Two-Owls:
quote:
Originally posted by Twilight:
Whoa! Did the 9 O'Clock Service say nothing of stealing and destroying other people's stuff?
I don't know, I only went once and thought it all a bit weird and slightly creepy. A lot of her NOCS friends were into anti-materialism and spiritual warfare so I assumed it was part and parcel of the NOCS message. Another friend who got sucked into it ended up on my doorstep without a penny to his name so I'm guessing it was a bit of a NOCS thing to get rid of material possessions.
Being NOS, I think its more likely to have been the casual Militarism of such a collection. Its just the thin end of the wedge that will end with you wearing Nazi regalia at weekends. You can't be too careful. Cut it out now before its too late.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I thought it was because it was all part of Gaming which is the same thing as playing wizards and mages and spell-casting which in turn leads directly to demonic possession, suicide and going to Hell. (I've read Chick tracts; I know these things).
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Don't leave out the sexual immorality, that's very important.
I have a friend whose wife insisted that he burn all his fantasy novels. Fired up the barbie in back and had him throw them on. He had to burn my first novel (it was an original paperback edition, quite combustible), and I told him I was perfectly cool with it. Buy as many copies as you like, and burn them all. The key word here being 'buy'.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Don't leave out the sexual immorality, that's very important.
Obviously our Gaming evenings are tamer than many.
 
Posted by Mark Wuntoo (# 5673) on :
 
In my young (GLE) days I collected stamps and had a good collection of British ones dating from the earliest days. On the way home from school one day I had discovered a haberdashers shop which had a basket of penny reds on the counter. At a penny each, IIRC, I gradually bought several hundred as I spent my saved pocket money. At a later date, in a moment of 'enlightenment', I sent the album to a missionary society, thinking what a good fellow I was.
I have often wished I had had more sense.
[Ultra confused]
 
Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :
 
I can get the idea of getting rid of things that are "sinful" - in the sense of things that might lead you away from God. I am not saying it is right, but I get it.

I don't get that someone else defines what these are. That someone else says "fantasy novels are bad - get rid of them" or "D&D figures are bad - you must get rid of them". But for some people these are fine, and for some people, the thing that is their problem is their adherence to the Bible. Suggesting that they should dispose of their Bible would be taken badly.

I also don't get that anyone should encourage another person should impose these rules on a further person. It is stupid legalism.
 
Posted by St. Gwladys (# 14504) on :
 
I've burnt a skirt made for me by someone I now know is into some very dodgy things, spiritually.
 
Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :
 
I had a subscription to Sports Illustrated as a teenager, which came with the annual swimsuit issue. I guess I tried to give my collection to a friend once when I became convinced that the feelings 13 year old me had while looking at bikini models were a one-way ticket to hell, but he refused them. Not because he was worried about what God thought, but because he knew his mom would have a fit if she found them.

But other than that, I am rather pleased to have grown up in a church where one kid in every cabin brought a copy of CDs by the Beastie Boys and the Wu Tang Clan to camp.
 
Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
...Not because he was worried about what God thought, but because he knew his mom would have a fit if she found them.
The wrath of Mom is a lot scarier than the wrath of God at that age.
 
Posted by Karl: Liberal Backslider (# 76) on :
 
Back in 1987 I had all the important AD&D 1st Ed. books - the DMG, PHB, MM, Unearthed Arcana (OK, the important ones and Unearthed Arcana [Biased] ) and an official set of DM Screens.

Then there was a fit of Soundness and I didn't have them any more.

I miss them.
 
Posted by Mark Wuntoo (# 5673) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pigwidgeon:
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
...Not because he was worried about what God thought, but because he knew his mom would have a fit if she found them.
The wrath of Mom is a lot scarier than the wrath of God at that age.
My mum was married to GOD - a double whammy.
 
Posted by Philip Charles (# 618) on :
 
Something I have not burnt. The Christchurch Press for 22 July 1969.
Go figure!

[Yipee]
 
Posted by Sparrow (# 2458) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
In the 1980s I had a signed photo of Paul Darrow as Avon from Blake's Seven that I kept in a special box.

One day I took it out and looked at it for a long time before tearing it up on the grounds that sentimentality was weakness (I felt Avon would have understood) and dumped the box as well.

Intermittently over the years I regretted this as it would have been worth something (Avon would have understood that too). However, I discovered recently they're only worth a fiver on eBay these days, so I feel quite relieved.

Looking through the selection available, I had to smile at youthful enthusiasm and how keen I used to be on Blake's Seven.
So was I ... I would have killed for that photo!
 
Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Philip Charles:
Something I have not burnt. The Christchurch Press for 22 July 1969.
Go figure!

[Yipee]
Not quite your name, but close!
 
Posted by Sacristan&Verger (# 17968) on :
 
This has reminded me of an incident from my childhood. I must have been 5 I reckon and our church were having a toy service just before Christmas - say, 1962 - we must have been given a talk on poor children in orphanages with no toys. I insisted on taking and giving away my best doll Janet whom I loved. My mother says I wept for a long time afterwards but she didn't dissuade me as I was so certain I should do it.
I remember it to this day - sounds rather pious now.
 
Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
I had a beautiful leather hand bound copy of the works of Shakespeare that had belonged to my father that II gave to a church fund raiser. I have missed it for years, but would do it again as it raised a goodly sum.

I told my husband to transfer all his 45 records to reel to reel tape which he did and threw out the original recordings. Very dumb idea.
 
Posted by Banner Lady (# 10505) on :
 
When I became a follower of Jesus I destroyed all the astrology and numerology books I had - have never regretted that and they were probably badly written schlock anyway.

TP, being fascinated by military history, had a lot of Hitler's recorded speeches on cassette tape. He used to listen to them at high volume quite often - especially after a hard day at work. One day I arrived home to find he had used our best iron casserole pot as an incinerator for them out in the garden.

I think we tipped the lot into the garbage. I still don't know what convicted him to get rid of them after so many years, but I appreciate not having to listen to the infamous German ranting any more.
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
When I was in high school, I was given a rather beautiful little idol as a travel souvenir from my grandparents. It was a nice art object, but I just couldn't feel comfortable with the thing around. I found a foreign language teacher of the right culture and asked if he wanted it for a visual aid. He looked at me rather strangely--it was obviously worth something--but was glad to take it off my hands.
 
Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
quote:
but that weekend I waited until she was out and shredded all her shoes in the woodchipper
Bob, you're a legend. That's done more for this week's build-up of marital-inner-rage than any amount of prayerful meditation [Smile]
 
Posted by Tubbs (# 440) on :
 
Rev T regrets giving away his collection of orginal Star Wars mini-figures and models. He had the Bobba Fett and a few of the ships that are now worth a small fortune.

Tubbs
 
Posted by Humble Servant (# 18391) on :
 
My first wife had built up a massive collection of soft-toys since her childhood. When there was a charity collection of toys, I persuaded her to part with about half of them (2 suitcases full). Even though she pretended to agree, I was never forgiven, and the incident cropped up in the divorce petition many years later.
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
If it will help: my son has a large collection of STAR WARS things. He has lost interest (moved on to politics and girls) and I am selling them for him on Ebay. No, they are not valuable. Just sayin'.
 
Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :
 
Not sinful, and not given away – but who else began collecting stamps at the age of 9 or 10, and religiously for many decades bought every new issue and First Day Cover because they would become worth more and more?

And now has cartons of albums that a dealer wouldn't accept even if you gave them to him for free.

GG
 
Posted by Tubbs (# 440) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
If it will help: my son has a large collection of STAR WARS things. He has lost interest (moved on to politics and girls) and I am selling them for him on Ebay. No, they are not valuable. Just sayin'.
He claims he had the rocket firing Bobba Fett. That's worth quite a bit.

Tubbs
 
Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on :
 
I had a globe of crystal from the Baccarat factory, just a pretty thing, but everyone who visited my house and saw it thought it a fortune telling "crystal ball" and picked it up peering into it asking "what am I supposed to see?"

I thought the item was making people think I endorsed fortune telling, or the item was attracting them to be interested in fortune telling, so I threw the ball in the trash to avoid "tempting my weaker brother" or however that phrasing goes.

I now know absolutely anything can be used for fortune telling or for innocent things. The attitude, not the item, is the issue. But the pretty ball of crystal is long gone. Replaceable, at a price that does not interest me.

I suppose the baseball cards my Mom threw out are replaceable too, at a price I can't afford; I had some great's in that collection, like Eddie Matthews and Hank Aaron.

(I suppose if I had kept everything I sometimes wish I had, I'd need a second house to store it all, which would cost more than the stuff is worth because a few items have appreciated dramatically but most haven't. Doesn't stop me from occasionally wishing for specific long gone items)
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Ugh! Yes, I've a pretty glass ornament some fool called a "witch ball" in the hopes of selling more of them (I think). I have kept the thing, but instead of hanging it as advertised to deter evil I've put it in a bowl of other round pretty gewgaws. That way anyone who's picked up on the so-called "witchiness" will at least be forced to notice that it is not being used as advertised.

There's so much of this crap going round, I'm thinking of making a sign that says, "Give me your occult narrative about my possessions NOW so I can subvert it, thank-you-very-much."
 
Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
On my mantel I have a statue of some Indian goddess. It is not a religious item -- you can buy them in tourist shops across the subcontinent. Nevertheless a Christian friend came into the house and assured me that it was an idol. I suppose, at one point for somebody, it was. Not for a long long time, though. (Same with the image of Athena on a reproduction plate from Athens.) I refrained with difficulty from clouting him.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
I think I've come across some pious young thing denounce African carvings on the same basis - as if they had been snatched from some blood-boltered altar instead of being, as is more likely, mass-produced tourist tat. I expect there is a spiritual buzz in being the one to point to a Masonic symbol or motif borrowed from pagan antiquity or modern literary reworking of folklore and go AHA!

There is a discussion to be had - probably beyond the scope of this thread - about the power of objects: whether one can say it is intrinsic, or in what we bring to our perception.
 
Posted by Schroedinger's cat (# 64) on :
 
The thing is, these same people will be happy with Christian imagery that is just as much an idol.

The problem is with idols, not with other cultures idols. An idol is something that focusses your worship away from God, which is about attitude, not object. One of the prophets (can't remember or find where) about people who take a piece of wood and burn half of it and worship the other half. That is idolatry. It is precisely NOT the object, but the attitude.
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
This is the passage you were thinking of - it's magnificent.
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
The thing is, these same people will be happy with Christian imagery that is just as much an idol.
Folk aren't going to like me for saying this, but I think that's a very real danger with the flags and regimental colours that will be so prominent at Remembrance services tomorrow.

I had a French Mennonite friend who refused to stand when the Boys' and Girls' Brigade colours were brought into church at a Parade Service (not a Remembrance one). Knowing the fuss we had years later when we decided how best to "lay up" said colours after the BB company had closed, I think he had a point.

[ 07. November 2015, 09:25: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 
Posted by leo (# 1458) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
The thing is, these same people will be happy with Christian imagery that is just as much an idol.
Folk aren't going to like me for saying this, but I think that's a very real danger with the flags and regimental colours that will be so prominent at Remembrance services tomorrow..
Well, I like you for saying that.
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
I think I've come across some pious young thing denounce African carvings on the same basis - as if they had been snatched from some blood-boltered altar instead of being, as is more likely, mass-produced tourist tat. I expect there is a spiritual buzz in being the one to point to a Masonic symbol or motif borrowed from pagan antiquity or modern literary reworking of folklore and go AHA!

There is a discussion to be had - probably beyond the scope of this thread - about the power of objects: whether one can say it is intrinsic, or in what we bring to our perception.
I figure, if it's bugging you and you think you shouldn't keep it, you should get rid of it. But other people might not have the same difficulty, and there is no need to try to push them into getting rid of something.
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
Oh entirely. But so often the zeal is fuelled by a shallow and inaccurate knowledge of what the objects represent or the cultures they come from.

It doesn't have to be cross-cultural of course: there are plenty of examples of inter-generational or majority vs subculture doom spotting ('These crazy beat combos young people listen to! Where will it all end?')
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
Yep. My son came home yesterday telling me his math teacher had said that some song with the lyrics "watch me whip, watch me nae nae" was "inappropriate," which is usually code for "sexual." I did some googling and as far as I can make out it's basically "watch me do these dance moves," so I conclude that his worldview is far more exciting than the song writers'!
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
The song is obscene beause it is the most obnoxious earworm ever. Maybe that is what the teacher meant by inappropriate, [Big Grin]

[ 08. November 2015, 01:08: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 
Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 
You could try and dislodge it by listening to this which is the Victorian equivalent 'Jump my partner round' eh? What does that mean?
 
Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
We had a teacher who banned from assembly the hymn "The Church's One Foundation" as inappropriate.
 
Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :
 
Let me guess-- all the kids went into convulsions at the line about "consummation."

[ 08. November 2015, 07:55: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
 
Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :
 
They'd have to be astounding literate kids--I think ours don't recognize that word!
 
Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
The thing is, these same people will be happy with Christian imagery that is just as much an idol.
I think that's a very real danger with the flags and regimental colours that will be so prominent at Remembrance services tomorrow.
Local Methodist church uses Veterans day and two other "patriotic" days of the year to "celebrate" veterans, asking them to wear their uniforms to church, and stand up and announce where they had been stationed. Several times a year. The hymns include at least one patriotic song. (I refuse to sing the war song "Star Spangled Banner" in church.)

The years I went there, I skipped the patriotic days because the pastor said no to my proposal to stand and state "I marched with anti-war groups to bring our troops home."

Why is fighting an undeclared war admirable but trying to stop a war is not?
 
Posted by beatmenace (# 16955) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Belle Ringer:
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
The thing is, these same people will be happy with Christian imagery that is just as much an idol.
I think that's a very real danger with the flags and regimental colours that will be so prominent at Remembrance services tomorrow.
Local Methodist church uses Veterans day and two other "patriotic" days of the year to "celebrate" veterans, asking them to wear their uniforms to church, and stand up and announce where they had been stationed. Several times a year. The hymns include at least one patriotic song. (I refuse to sing the war song "Star Spangled Banner" in church.)

The years I went there, I skipped the patriotic days because the pastor said no to my proposal to stand and state "I marched with anti-war groups to bring our troops home."

Why is fighting an undeclared war admirable but trying to stop a war is not?
Agree - If I hear 'I vow to Thee My Country' again in a Church context , I may not be responsible for my actions and I don't care who I upset.

Particularly the two lines in verse two about standing over the 'dying and the dead' with a big sword, with the clear suggestion that your country has slaughtered them. These lines belong in Game of Thrones not in anything associated with the Prince of Peace. Horrendous.
 
Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by beatmenace:
If I hear 'I vow to Thee My Country' again in a Church context , I may not be responsible for my actions and I don't care who I upset.
It's an awful hymn.

(a) Our allegiance to God trumps allegiance to any country.
(b) Vowing to our country in a hymn is blasphemous.
(c) The tune was never designed to be sung to and - like "Land of Hope and Glory" - had too wide a range for singers' comfort.

If you come to our church I can guarantee that we won't be singing it.

[FWIW, here's what we did sing yesterday (the service as based around Psalm 46):
1. "Behold the mountain of the Lord" to "Glasgow".
2. An Iona setting of "Be still and know that I am God", interspersed with prayers.
3. "Thy Kingdom come, O God".
4. "Lest we forget" by Michael Forster to "Finlandia".
5. "God is our strength and refuge" by Richard Bewes to the "Dambusters' March".]

[ 09. November 2015, 12:33: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]
 
Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :
 
I think there's mileage in a separate thread for appropriate hymns for the occasion, if someone wants to start one: it would probably get a lot of takers.

Meanwhile, back to other incendiary declarations of faith...
 
Posted by M. (# 3291) on :
 
Carrying on the tangent for a bit, I hold no candle for 'I vow to thee my country' but it really doesn't put country above God - it is 'all earthly things above'.

Now, back to our regular service.....


M.
 
Posted by cosmic dance (# 14025) on :
 
I belonged to a Pentecostal church in my youth which disapproved of popular secular music as likely to inflame the passions of the young. Rebel me - I had quite a bit of it, until the day a very spiritual friend informed me that I should get rid of my vinyl collection. And I did and have cursed myself for it ever since. Why did I ever listen to the woman? In retrospect she was a total nutcase.
Recently for a big important birthday, my husband gave me a new turntable. Boy, do I miss my old vinyl.....
 


© Ship of Fools 2016

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.5.0