She's big, she's brassy and she's enough for any smothered Christian to breathe a sigh of relief. Who knows how long Nadia Bolz-Weber can keep 'em coming back for more, but for the moment, this no-fooling-around Lutheran minister is packing them in, according to an article passed along in email today.
“I never experience God in camping or trees or nature. I hate nature,” she told the Austin crowd as she paced the stage. “God invented takeout and duvets for a reason.”If even 1/100th of the article represents some truth about this woman, then my heart dances to share the same planet with her.
This emphasis on experience over rules challenges conservatives, but it also bothers progressives who have turned church into what she views as essentially a nonprofit organization.
“This isn’t supposed to be the Elks Club with the Eucharist,” Bolz-Weber said in a taxi ride before her Austin talk. Religion should be “something that’s so devastatingly beautiful it can break your heart. Instead it’s been: ‘Recycle.’ And ‘Don’t sleep with your girlfriend.’ ”
Bolz-Weber says she abhors “spirituality,” which she sees as a limp kind of self-improvement plan. She prefers a cranky, troublemaking and real God who at times of loss and pain doesn’t have the answers either.
Informative. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe elders of the Orthodox church would agree with every word.
ReplyDeletePious and devout member of my church to our priest
'Father this global warming thing is a worry '...priest in mock horror
'Natasha ! You have become an atheist ! Do you think that the world will end one second quicker than God intends because you leave the light on when you leave the room ? '