Thursday, October 13, 2011

"Fields of Faith" for Paranoid Christians Only

The "Fellowship" of Christian Athletes came up with idea to take over an athletic field in order to prosletyze and call it a "community" event to get around the Religion Clause.  One such event took place in lovely Muncie, Indiana today.  I didn't go.

According to a spokesperson who was quoted in the local paper, I was welcome.  You don't have to be an athlete to come to this.  Well, duh... it's not an athletic event, it just rents an athletic field so it can have a cool name.  It could just as well be a tent meeting.

They make sure that students run it, so they can split that hair and stay out of legal trouble too, though adults (including coaches) can help push this thing.

http://www.fieldsoffaith.com/adultleader/yourrights.php

•The FCA has the right to access an athletic stadium, field, and/or gym for Fields of Faith just like other community organizations.


•Coaches and teachers have the right to participate in Fields of Faith as private individuals.

•Coaches and teachers have the right to actively participate in Fields of Faith if it is characterized as a community event and not a student group meeting. This includes praying, reading the Word of God, and freely expressing their religious beliefs.

•Students have the right to pray, to read the Word of God, and to freely express their religious beliefs at Fields of Faith.

•An outside speaker has the right to lead prayer, share the Word of God, freely express his/her faith, and give an invitation.

•Students have the right to distribute Fields of Faith brochures and posters to other students on the same terms as they are permitted to distribute other literature of community organizations.

•Students have the right to wear clothing and accessories advertising Fields of Faith if clothing is permitted to contain other types of speech.

•Students have the right to use religious words on the advertisements for Fields of Faith

uhhh So you can call it a "community" event because why?  Because there isn't one specific church that's sponsoring it?  From their webpage on "partners:"

We desire to see athletic fields covered on one night with students challenging each other to read the Word of God and come to faith in Jesus Christ. We embrace this ministry purpose. We believe that partnering together with other ministries and churches can only strengthen the impact in communities across the country for Jesus Christ. As Kingdom-minded co-laborers, we realize that we can not do it alone, but together we commit to the following agreements:


"Kingdom" minded? Uhhh we're a democracy, not a monarchy.  Is this some dominionist code?  They repeat it again:  "We agree to help students become lifelong followers of Jesus Christ through active involvement with a local church. We are Kingdom-minded, which serves the purpose of the Church."


I really can't wrap my mind around this doublespeak.  WTF is "Kingdom-minded?"  How can something be community based and student led but yet partner with a bunch of churches with the goal of getting kids to join these churches?

The part I found particularly chilling: 

Fields of Faith follows the method used by King Josiah. Most modern rallies are built around entertainment with professional speakers and this tends to create a separation. Fields of Faith highlights local students in the program creating a powerful connection. The success of this event is rooted in its simplicity:
•Bring many people together at one time.

•Read Scripture and share personal testimonies.

•Be challenged by fellow students to read the Word of God and to follow Jesus Christ

In case there's any doubt, they explicitly state on the "overview" page: Students invite their own classmates and teammates to meet on their school’s athletic field to hear fellow students share their faith testimonies, challenge them to read the Bible and to come to faith in Jesus Christ

This sounds like peer pressure to me.  What a rotten thing to do.  We had a small group in my high school.  Out of like 4,000 students there were at most about 50 in the "God Squad."  One of them invited me to a house meeting and it was the most laughably stupid thing I've ever seen.  Apparently they've sharpened their tools and now they have "faith bands" and their own rap stars.

Student athlete doesn't really have an option to resist this pressure.  I look at it like the military prosletyzing.  Can a soldier really decide to be the only member of a unit not to participate in prayer and still be part of the unit?  Can a college football player really be a concientous objector when the prayer starts?  If you were a football player at the University of Georgia, how comfortable would you feel saying thanks but no thanks to this? 

5 comments:

Infidel753 said...

Let's see how many people they actually convert. My guess is, not many. It will be full of religious nutters all agreeing with each other, leavened with a few regular people who resent being pressured to go there.

krissthesexyatheist said...

If Gawd was all powerful and all mighty, then why do his peeps halfta be so sneaky and deceptive.

Kriss

LadyAtheist said...

Kriss, God made them stupid, which was convenient.

Infidel, there is a tally on the national webpage now. Rather pathetic, actually.

Here's the write-up of the local event afterward: Write up of lame event

Note the comments threads. Some poor atheist took on the task of debunking claims for the historical jebus but then gave up :-(

Anonymous said...

YOU guys are soooo stupid have you no sense, obviously sence you are not christian. When they said" kingdom minded they ment the kingdom of God. If you are going to ridicule someones religion actuallyt reaserch the religion so you can make a comment that makes sence. Sure they may not have been too smart, but this thing is a bonding time for Christians and their faith. What makes you want to ridicule Christianity? What is your purpose? Why do you hate it?

Anonymous said...

You can not see. IF you want to ridicule a religion reserch the subject first. When they said "The Kingdom of God" They ment spiritualy. HE is the Lord do you realize? YOu must see from the other side. If you want to ridicule someones religion do it intelegently. Why do you chose to ridicule Christianity? Do you resent it for some reason? What is your proof that there is no God? Tell me.