Perhaps I’m being unfair to the actually-quite-latitudinarian attitudes of the New Life Apostolic Church(I’m not 100% sure what their actual social positions are); but in this context I’m inclined to suspect that ‘DL poly’ may have been the kind where one or more spouses also doesn’t know; rather than the sinful, degenerate, ultra-liberal type where everyone involved does know and at least at one point was one board with it. A little adultery among theological authority figures is practically a tradition; a poly arrangement that isn’t mostly concubines? Less so.
(snark aside, I have been astonished in a few cases when outright adultery, violation of vows made before god and man etc. has received much warmer acceptance(once the relevant pieties about being prayerfully sorry and whatnot were recited) than polyamorous arrangements where everyone was in the know, a consenting participant, etc. but an arrangement considered suspect, executed to ethical standards; was seen as more dubious than an arrangement considered normative; blatantly violated. Seemed weird, if less than surprising.)
I do not know why for this particular person, but there is a subset of Jewish women who make a point of wearing bad wigs, virtue signaling to their peers that they have covered their heads before God (a good wig wouldn’t be as obvious, you see). It might be something like that. A lot of the anti-Christ Christians in the U.S. will steal from Jewish traditions to make themselves appear more fully biblical.
It’s not my original observation, but there is a notion that people who suffer from problems related to an external locus of control may be especially attracted to evangelical Christianity. And I think the story in the OP and the attitude you relate here both illustrate that idea.
There is a bit of nuance that is missing… the people aren’t really carrying weapons into church because of mass shootings, but because there have been a lot of robberies of churches. Several heavily armed toughs will come into the church with weapons, and pass the plates and demand wallets, jewelry, watches, and all that stuff. Normally it goes down without anyone being hurt… but then they started killing people to show how serious they were.
West Virginian churches don’t have the money to hire security guards, and it happens infrequently enough that the cops can’t provide the security; so some congregations are going to having certain members of the congregation armed so they can hopefully help before someone other than the thieves get shot.
Although Christian churches are normally targets of economic availability, other groups of religious people have had to start arming themselves during rituals because they have become targets of violence from groups who don’t believe the same way they do. It is a sad state of affairs when people have to worry that they are going to be attacked while worshiping their God(s).
Who’d have guessed untaxed corporations who especially like to tell lower and middle class people to give them cash donations, are too cheap to employ competent security.
Here’s one from Baltimore on Aug 15th, but this was during choir practice:
I am having trouble locating news articles about church robberies in WV; but even as far back as the '80s I knew people who were in the congregation when the churches got knocked over.
It’s a sad thing. Churches are supposed to be places of refuge and safety. It’s a huge cultural no-no to bring a weapon to church, at least in WV; probably why they started getting robbed, since they could mug 100+ people at a time and no one would be armed.
(To LDoBe: I don’t know for sure how large this church is, but most churches in the WV area are barely scraping by, with just enough money for the pastor to not starve and the building to be basically maintained. Many of these churches have perhaps 100 members who donate to the upkeep, so they don’t have nearly the amount of cash that you’re thinking. Let’s say there are 100 members, 50 of whom are employed, with an average income of $24K. Let’s say that they give 7% of their salary to the church- which, for an average, is probably very high. That would be $84K a year to pay the preacher, possibly a secretary, maintain the church, pay for the utilities, provide for the costs of doing service work, maintain a food pantry, ect.)
(Edit: I would be surprised if the church in question has 100 active members.)
