tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621896105561151063.post6027853373014715631..comments2023-07-22T07:06:04.405-05:00Comments on Fragmented Notions: Personal Reflection (to be continued)Ted Michael Morganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424215086135215006noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6621896105561151063.post-37724147621427778772008-08-29T04:25:00.000-05:002008-08-29T04:25:00.000-05:00During the more than fifteen years that I have bee...During the more than fifteen years that I have been a member of our congregation, I have found it effectively not viable to voice what I think and feel in our small groups and classes. Members have actually shouted down people who do voice what I think and feel. Members have told me not to discuss what I find important in groups or classes. Members have insulted those who share what I believe and belittled opinions similar to my own. <BR/><BR/> Members of our congregation have acted even more appallingly during the past decade and a half than some Disciples I knew in Georgia during the sixties acted in response to the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War struggles. <BR/><BR/> Some people wonder why our the growth of our congregation essentially stands still. I don’t. We are a closed shop. And I don’t know how to react to the recurrent verbalization of fanaticism and impoliteness. <BR/><BR/> At university, I was a member of a literacy society, which was one of two such societies on our campus constituted to foster debate. We debated the university debate team which was and still is one of the best in the United States. I am used to diversity of outlook and forceful disputation in small groups. I have belonged to two other congregations with a rewarding sense of involvement in each. But I found neither an arena for discussion in our congregation nor a rewarding feeling of participation. <BR/><BR/> I presume that there are people in our congregation who are traditional political liberals or classic political conservatives. I presume that a few people have a background in liberal religion simply because we are a Disciples of Christ congregation with a large number of university educated members. However, I don’t really know because I rarely hear anything progressive expressed in groups or classes. <BR/><BR/> I agree that e-mail is probably not a good medium to voice one’s opinion or belief, though I have not found any alternative mode of expression within our congregation.Ted Michael Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11424215086135215006noreply@blogger.com