Inappropriate Conversations

Talkback: Walk The Earth 2

As the old saying goes: the church is not a building; the church is the people. Well, I've been interacting with some of those people in new/old ways lately. The early episode of Walk The Earth was about walking away from one congregation. We had not yet found a new one yet. Now, years later, the church I've since joined is planning to start a podcast. Some of our sessions have been planning, others recording. I'll share links to Harmony Springs Gives Voice when podcasts are posted, probably on TalkBacks like this one. I've also recently joined a panel discussion on the podcast This Week In Gay with religious freedom/liberty among the topics. I'll share that the same way at the appropriate time. 

For now, I did need to define "church" if I wanted to talk about walking away from one, either permanently or on the way to something better.

http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/walk-the-earth-2/

 

225: Some Assembly Required, chapter 3

Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)

 

Chapter 3

"Gone, But Not Forgotten"

Timed Test

Hostile Takeover Bid

Fine Tuning

Replay

"If you cannot address the concerns of one increasingly irate customer, then those concerns ultimately may cost you the business of other customers as well."

 

Different Drummer: Bob Walkenhorst

The Rainmakers in Norway

TalkBack: Walk The Earth 1

When a new member of a church pledges to join a congregation, the public statement is often about supporting the church with prayers, presence, gifts, and service. At the point of deciding to leave a particular church, though, that pledge gets called into question. For some, leaving a congregation can reflect an abandonment of everything, all of that plus belief itself. For my family, though, the tension was more about whether the commitment was to a particular local church or something different, something more.

This episode, #wte 001, started the series of questions in a spinoff podcast of Inappropriate Conversations
simply called Walk The Earth.

224: Some Assembly Required, chapters 1 & 2

Some Assembly Required (A NeoSurrealist Forsaking a Habit for Lent)

Note: explicit language throughout

 

Chapter 1

What the Anti-Formalists Thought

Bennie's Got It

Pop Quiz

Homegrown

My Brunch with Nicole

"You always do this to me. First, you bring up something offensive. Then, you tell me to stop you before you go too far. But how can I?"

 

Chapter 2

R.S.V.P.

Cat Burglar

Diary of a College Graduate

Backroads

Telemarketed

"Film Break"

"Whether the goal is to become a member of the Christian Community, or the cat-killing community, or simply the campus community, there is a compelling degree of comfort to be found in membership."

 

Different Drummer: Ze Frank

Dear Kitten ads

Walk The Earth 58

Whether a mission statement is necessary, and what role does it play in the mission itself?

 

July 2010 on Inappropriate Conversations

A conversation from before Inappropriate Conversations existed

TalkBack 138: Missing Someone I Never Knew

Now that I've committed to TalkBack episodes being part of the structure going forward, along with new episodes of both Inappropriate Conversations and Walk The Earth, it's a good time to note that no past podcast I've ever recorded seemed quite as set for a reprise as this one, #IC #138. I am surprised that six years have gone by since I was slightly shaken by the news that someone from my high school graduating class had died. Hillary wasn't the first, there have been others since 2014, and inevitably more to come. It seems that Hillary took the chance to tell her story, though, on stage, a year earlier. We are blessed to live in an era where missing that event, and missing the actual events even at school, isn't the last word. To some degree, podcasts and YouTube videos are preserving a record. For now. 

http://www.inappropriateconversations.org/e/138-missing-someone-i-never-knew/

 

223: Torment As Tactic

Seems to me, our society collectively complains about how the quality of our discourse has devolved while also avoiding even talking about potential solutions. Some seem just as legalistically obsessed with the First Amendment being a hard-stop to even common-sense standards of decency as they, or perhaps others, are about the Second Amendment. Just as you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater where there is no fire or danger, you also cannot threaten to attack someone merely to silence their opinion or prevent them from raising their voice. Here we are, though, living in a society where harassment is accepted with a shrug and bullying is almost praised when it is an effective tactic. The situation is deplorable, but we have learned in recent years that using that particular term to denounce horrible misbehavior doesn't seem generate appropriate attention toward the problem. 

I would humbly suggest that we have the tools, the technology, to address this issue. Despite our discomfort about law enforcement overreach and spying on citizens, it is possible to identify the people chasing families off their phones and out of their homes. The time is coming when such investigations may be crucial, if it is not already too late. I recommend prison time and heavy fines for the offenders, too. Unfortunately, it's hard to find better, more nuanced answers at this time. We are, after all, at the start of a national election year in the United States. Safe to say this situation is going to get worse before it gets better.

Different Drummer: Sarah Bessey