Our village church is holding a teddy bear blessing on Sunday morning. They are dedicating and blessing a new bear to be given to a children's hospice. Also, villagers both old and young are encouraged to bring along their own teddies to be blessed.
Comments?
It reminds me of the "blessing of the animals" that goes on in some places during the Feast of St.Francis.
I get why they'd do it, it's kind of a cute idea (and the church is always struggling to find ways of getting the youth involved). I can't say that it seems to be very relevant to church doctrine, though. And, of course, it's not something I would ever bring my kiddo to. I'd rather bring him to a regular ol' teddy bear picnic.
Seems like much ado about nothing to me (people spending time and energy "blessing" stuffed toys? What? What does the blessing do exactly, since presumably they don't believe stuffed teddies have souls...) But all in all it seems like a rather harmless way for the religious to spend their time. To put it more bluntly, I would prefer that more Christians spent more time blessing teddy bears and less time campaigning against gay marriage. :)
Meh no harm done, just a bit of harmless fun I just guess the priest didn't grow out of there teddy bear picnic phase. They should hurry up and give those teddies to the children as some might be dead by the time the ceremony takes place and that teddy might make a massive difference to those children.
Quote from: Crow on June 28, 2012, 03:21:44 PM
Meh no harm done, just a bit of harmless fun I just guess the priest didn't grow out of there teddy bear picnic phase. They should hurry up and give those teddies to the children as some might be dead by the time the ceremony takes place and that teddy might make a massive difference to those children.
For a minute I forgot that one of the teddies was going to a hospice and I was thinking that you were kind of a weirdo for speculating that some of the local kids may be dead by Sunday.
I suppose that some parents may feel better if their children have "magical" teddy bears. And did I read the post correctly that they are giving this hospice a (as in one) teddy bear. I wonder would a hospice even except something as difficult to sterilize as a plush toy.
I can't see a lot of harm in it, except that it's helping a little bit to keep the superstitious nonsense alive in the next generation, as DJ said.
It feels all gooey and cuddly and imparts a nice aura to the church. Yuk!
Quote from: markmcdanielI wonder would a hospice even except something as difficult to sterilize as a plush toy.
I think that's OK, they've got shedloads of toys already.
Quote from: OldGit on June 28, 2012, 12:15:39 PMOur village church is holding a teddy bear blessing on Sunday morning. They are dedicating and blessing a new bear to be given to a children's hospice. Also, villagers both old and young are encouraged to bring along their own teddies to be blessed.
Comments?
What they're not telling us is that the children must accept Jebus as their lord and savior or the bears will be thrown into a fire to illustrate the children's souls burning in hell for their lack of faith.
It could happen. :P
^ It could, though probably not in the Church of England. ;D
If they are getting just one bear I hope it is a really big one.
Kids love cuddling big bears, I think it is nice of them to do this, a bit of community spirit and something nice for the sick kids.
As long as they don't sew a bible or a picture of Jesus on it then it is a great idea.
I think blessing the teddy bears make perfect sense. Anybody see Child's Play, when the cute Chucky doll was possessed by a serial killer? It's obvious to me more children's toys should be blessed to prevent such atrocities.
I was actually invited to a 'stuffed toy' blessing/service when I was a child. Kids were invited to bring their favourite stuffed toys (teddies, cats, dogs, you name it) so because I was only 5 or 6, my mother took me. The general gist of it was harmless, as I recall; it was really more a way to get kids into a group with other children so we could ooh and aah over one another's stuffed toys, and the person doing the service (pastor, I guess) asked a special 'blessing' on the children playing with the toys, and that the toys themselves would continue to bring joy to the kids. I know it's magical thinking, as well as very narcissistic (in a world where people go without food, we ask blessings for toys!)... but most people seem to see activities like this as harmless.
I agree it's harmless. It's not hurting anyone. The problem I have is, it's not helping too many people, either. In OldGit's town's case, it's nice that they're donating a toy to the local hospice, but really, I'd sooner see a 'teddy bear event' where they ask the town's people to bring new or gently used toys in good condition to donate, so that several children get a cuddly, soft toy when they're sick.
We have a tradition here we do every year that I like very much - a hockey game called the 'teddy bear toss'. You go to the game, bring a teddy bear, and at the designated time everyone tosses their teddy bears down onto the ice and they're all collected up to be given away to children in need of a new little 'friend'. :)
I think I'm feeling extra grumpy this morning, because as I re-read this post, I couldn't help but think of all of the youth church groups that I saw at the pretty extreme anti-abortion protest a few months back. First it's all, "Oh look! There are other kids here! See! The church can be fun!" then it's all "Hey tweens! You should come to this march! It'll be a lot of fun, all of your friends will be there! There'll be a singer singing Taylor Swift songs! oh and by the way, it's a pro-life march and we're going to yell at some women and wave signs of bloody fetus' around. It's going to be a lot of fun! Yaaayyy!"
Probably not a totally fair comparison. But, as I said, I'm grumpy this morning. >:(
Quote from: DeterminedJuliet on June 29, 2012, 02:32:48 PM
I think I'm feeling extra grumpy this morning, because as I re-read this post, I couldn't help but think of all of the youth church groups that I saw at the pretty extreme anti-abortion protest a few months back. First it's all, "Oh look! There are other kids here! See! The church can be fun!" then it's all "Hey tweens! You should come to this march! It'll be a lot of fun, all of your friends will be there! There'll be a singer singing Taylor Swift songs! oh and by the way, it's a pro-life march and we're going to yell at some women and wave signs of bloody fetus' around. It's going to be a lot of fun! Yaaayyy!"
Probably not a totally fair comparison. But, as I said, I'm grumpy this morning. >:(
Not too far off from the truth. Except that the churches I grew up with that were into public demonstrations had even the tweens indoctrinated into the closed-minded one-sided point of view of the protest. Many of the tweens could even regurgitate biased information in a pinch. I remember as many of the ones I knew grew into teens, they justified breaking their abstinence vows by saying it was okay since they planned to marry their bf/gf, because sex was simply marriage in god's eyes.
Quote from: DeterminedJuliet on June 29, 2012, 02:32:48 PM
I think I'm feeling extra grumpy this morning, because as I re-read this post, I couldn't help but think of all of the youth church groups that I saw at the pretty extreme anti-abortion protest a few months back. First it's all, "Oh look! There are other kids here! See! The church can be fun!" then it's all "Hey tweens! You should come to this march! It'll be a lot of fun, all of your friends will be there! There'll be a singer singing Taylor Swift songs! oh and by the way, it's a pro-life march and we're going to yell at some women and wave signs of bloody fetus' around. It's going to be a lot of fun! Yaaayyy!"
Probably not a totally fair comparison. But, as I said, I'm grumpy this morning. >:(
No way near a fair comparison there is a saying about the Church of England "no god please we are C of E". I can totally understand why it sparked that memory though and they really piss me off.
That reminds me, most of my experiences with Christianity have been via the church of England and I have always thought that was a bit nuts, the other week I went to a secular funeral which was hosted by a Methodist priest/minister/whatever and I have never heard such depressing slavery infatuated bull shit in all my life, not once was the person in question mentioned and the only reason they were asked to speak was because they were such good friends with the deceased, I left the funeral fuming, as it was everything the person who had died didn't want. It made me realise how tame the C of E actually is, it must get really tiresome and infuriating having to deal with the not so tame believers on a daily basis. The majority of church speak is out of sight out of mind on a regular basis over here, unless you actually go looking you never really here much about them, when you do its always the C of E showing how decrepit and utterly useless they are (which is a good thing) or its the rare but extreme cases of people getting killed for being a witch and religious honor based killing.
Quote from: Crow on June 29, 2012, 03:53:56 PM
No way near a fair comparison there is a saying about the Church of England "no god please we are C of E".
I've had my morning coffee, so I'm feeling more reasonable again. ;D
Nobody can be reasonable without coffee.
Quote from: OldGit on June 29, 2012, 04:33:33 PM
Nobody can be reasonable without coffee.
i never drink coffee, it is a foul brew.
But then again there are people who may think I am unreasonable.
Grumpy DJ is kind of fun though. ;)
Quote from: OldGit on June 28, 2012, 12:15:39 PM
Our village church is holding a teddy bear blessing on Sunday morning. They are dedicating and blessing a new bear to be given to a children's hospice. Also, villagers both old and young are encouraged to bring along their own teddies to be blessed.
Comments?
I have to admit I think it's both cute and harmless -- a blessed bear might perk up the people who believe in that sort of thing and it certainly won't harm the people who don't. I can also see a lot of the kids who got their teddies blessed laughing at the silliness of it 10 or 15 years from now, and having a good time dining out on the story with more secularly raised friends.
Does make me wonder what other uses a blessed teddy can be put to. I know some cops make a practice of carrying teddies in the trunks of their cars just in case their days work includes a little kid who needs something comforting. It must get expensive buying all those bears on a cops salary, so what if a church asked for donations of teddies to be blessed and given to the local PD? Rather more useful than one symbolic bear to a hospice, altho that's nice too.
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on June 30, 2012, 07:52:25 AMI have to admit I think it's both cute and harmless -- a blessed bear might perk up the people who believe in that sort of thing and it certainly won't harm the people who don't.
Suuure. That's just what they want you to think. Start small with something inocuous like blessing teddy bears. Before long they talk you into attending service, then you start believing in god and before you can even see it happening, you're tithing 10% of your income, telling people how they can be saved too if they just come to Christ and speaking in tongues. Blessing the bears is just the seemingly harmless first step in their master plan to rule the world.
This would also make a great plot for a James Bond movie.
Quote from: MadBomr101 on July 01, 2012, 01:17:24 AM
Suuure. That's just what they want you to think. Start small with something inocuous like blessing teddy bears. Before long they talk you into attending service, then you start believing in god and before you can even see it happening, you're tithing 10% of your income, telling people how they can be saved too if they just come to Christ
Been there, done that, didn't stick.
QuoteThis would also make a great plot for a James Bond movie.
While I have no problem imagining Daniel Craig and teddy bears, somehow I can't seem to work the Bond thing in there.
The name's Bear - James Bear.
Well, here's one project I can get behind: http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/1341453--church-knits-teddy-bears-for-children-in-need
A Toronto United (typically pretty liberal) church is doing a lot of sewing/knitting projects, and when this article was written, they were focused on knitting bears for children in need of them.
QuoteA few months ago, they put their knitting needles together for the Big Scarf Project, which saw almost 200 scarves donated to shelters and social service groups.
Now, the knitters are churning out knitted teddy bears, which will eventually be donated to Toronto Fire Services so firefighters can hand them out to frightened or traumatized children.
"I think it's a great idea. The whole church is community oriented and we do the best we can for the community," said Joe Bills, a member of the congregation.
"I think it's a wonderful thing if a fireman goes to a house and pulls a child out of a house and settles them down with a teddy bear."
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.mmgcommunity.topscms.com%2Fimages%2F60%2Fae%2Fb7f20b0c482cb9ba13e85236c772.jpg&hash=458e6d0084e6d523ab1cccaf3ff2fa1e93f888dc)
I happen to think that this is pretty awesome. It's far more of a "blessing" to the kids to get something practical they can hold and cuddle that'll comfort them and help them feel a bit better. I wouldn't have even thought to donate teddy bears to a fire department, but it makes total sense - especially since if a child's pulled out of their own burning home, their toys may have been destroyed by fire. Good for these folks for doing something practical and helpful. I found this by Googling 'teddy bear blessing' and I'm glad I did.
Quote from: Amicale on July 01, 2012, 01:06:22 PM
Good for these folks for doing something practical and helpful. I found this by Googling 'teddy bear blessing' and I'm glad I did.
I second your "good for them" but I have to know, did you find a teddy bear blessing?
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 01, 2012, 01:45:22 PM
Quote from: Amicale on July 01, 2012, 01:06:22 PM
Good for these folks for doing something practical and helpful. I found this by Googling 'teddy bear blessing' and I'm glad I did.
I second your "good for them" but I have to know, did you find a teddy bear blessing?
I did. A 'progressive' (liberal) church called St. Matthew's in New Zealand seems to have held a teddy bear blessing: http://www.stmatthews.org.nz/nav.php?sid=95
I noted, with some amusement, that aside from teddy bear blessings, they also offer same-sex/civil union blessings, too. ;)
Quote from: Amicale on July 01, 2012, 03:08:19 PM
I did. A 'progressive' (liberal) church called St. Matthew's in New Zealand seems to have held a teddy bear blessing: http://www.stmatthews.org.nz/nav.php?sid=95
I noted, with some amusement, that aside from teddy bear blessings, they also offer same-sex/civil union blessings, too. ;)
I think they're a cat of a different color in a number of ways. I found this quote on another page:
QuoteIf we are to believe that God deliberately sent his only son into the world to be brutally tortured and crucified, then I take that to be transcendental child abuse, and I will not have it.
John Dominic Crossan
Crossan used to be a Catholic priest until he came to America (apparently we broke the man with our alluring women :-*) but he's still a heavy hitter in the religious world.
A friend in Yorkshire sent me this clipping from his local rag:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi647.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu198%2FRamblingSyd%2Fcowling.jpg&hash=3b052f677a27c70cbc8489ee64edb583df2ee249)
I know that animal services are nothing new, but they strike me as just as silly as teddy-bear ones. Here I notice they don't state any purpose - such as a blessing - to bringing the animals in.
Quote from: OldGit on July 03, 2012, 08:34:36 AM
I know that animal services are nothing new, but they strike me as just as silly as teddy-bear ones. Here I notice they don't state any purpose - such as a blessing - to bringing the animals in.
Isn't it something to do with St. Francis? There's a big one at the church on Olvera St. every year -- people line up for hours. Cops with a K-9 officer or rescue dog get to go to the front of the line, and I understand many of them take advantage of that.
Quote from: OldGit on July 03, 2012, 08:34:36 AM
A friend in Yorkshire sent me this clipping from his local rag:
(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi647.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fuu198%2FRamblingSyd%2Fcowling.jpg&hash=3b052f677a27c70cbc8489ee64edb583df2ee249)
I know that animal services are nothing new, but they strike me as just as silly as teddy-bear ones. Here I notice they don't state any purpose - such as a blessing - to bringing the animals in.
Because, as we know, the animals are incidental to the real purpose of getting the humans to show up for the sales pitch. Also, it looks cute as a feel good piece on the 6:00 News. If it were me, I'd offer to bless people's cars. That'll get em' there.
"Bring your vehicle in to be cloaked in the divine insurance of God's Holy Blessing." I guarantee I'd be blessing cars all day while simultaneously increasing my flock because I'd look like a caring and thoughtful religious leader concerned with the safety of you and your family even if you're not a member of my church...yet.
To me, it's like an auto dealership offering free pony rides for the kids. What's the real purpose of the free pony rides? ::)
Quote from: MadBomr101 on July 04, 2012, 02:07:14 AM
If it were me, I'd offer to bless people's cars. That'll get em' there. "Bring your vehicle in to be cloaked in the divine insurance of God's Holy Blessing."
I haven't done the web search yet, but I'm fairly sure I've heard of this being done.
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 04, 2012, 06:24:44 PM
Quote from: MadBomr101 on July 04, 2012, 02:07:14 AM
If it were me, I'd offer to bless people's cars. That'll get em' there. "Bring your vehicle in to be cloaked in the divine insurance of God's Holy Blessing."
I haven't done the web search yet, but I'm fairly sure I've heard of this being done.
Sounds like a brilliant way to test "blessing". Get a priest to bless one lot of 100 cars, and leave another lot as a control. Monitor the number of accidents the vehicles encounter over their lifetimes and the injury/death rate. Let's see if there's a difference.
The blessing of the cars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5fQG6kpfuo)
I knew I'd heard of this! I also found sites for the event in LA, NY, MD but none of them had a cool video.
Quote from: Dobermonster on July 04, 2012, 07:05:17 PM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 04, 2012, 06:24:44 PM
Quote from: MadBomr101 on July 04, 2012, 02:07:14 AM
If it were me, I'd offer to bless people's cars. That'll get em' there. "Bring your vehicle in to be cloaked in the divine insurance of God's Holy Blessing."
I haven't done the web search yet, but I'm fairly sure I've heard of this being done.
Sounds like a brilliant way to test "blessing". Get a priest to bless one lot of 100 cars, and leave another lot as a control. Monitor the number of accidents the vehicles encounter over their lifetimes and the injury/death rate. Let's see if there's a difference.
If more people die in the blessed cars, this is because God has listened to his earthly representative and has allowed the victims to enjoy heavenly bliss ahead of the queue . If more people die in the unblessed cars, this is because God has listened to his earthly representative and is demonstrating his divine mercy by sparing the drivers in the blessed cars. . If an equal number die in the blessed cars and the unblessed cars, then He must have been away on His holidays at the time.
Quote from: Dobermonster on July 04, 2012, 07:05:17 PM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 04, 2012, 06:24:44 PM
Quote from: MadBomr101 on July 04, 2012, 02:07:14 AM
If it were me, I'd offer to bless people's cars. That'll get em' there. "Bring your vehicle in to be cloaked in the divine insurance of God's Holy Blessing."
I haven't done the web search yet, but I'm fairly sure I've heard of this being done.
Sounds like a brilliant way to test "blessing". Get a priest to bless one lot of 100 cars, and leave another lot as a control. Monitor the number of accidents the vehicles encounter over their lifetimes and the injury/death rate. Let's see if there's a difference.
This is so worth doing.
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 04, 2012, 07:25:55 PM
The blessing of the cars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5fQG6kpfuo)
I knew I'd heard of this! I also found sites for the event in LA, NY, MD but none of them had a cool video.
Why am I not surprised?
That video is kinda hysterical.
Quote from: En_Route on July 04, 2012, 09:47:45 PM
Quote from: Dobermonster on July 04, 2012, 07:05:17 PM
Quote from: BooksCatsEtc on July 04, 2012, 06:24:44 PM
Quote from: MadBomr101 on July 04, 2012, 02:07:14 AM
If it were me, I'd offer to bless people's cars. That'll get em' there. "Bring your vehicle in to be cloaked in the divine insurance of God's Holy Blessing."
I haven't done the web search yet, but I'm fairly sure I've heard of this being done.
Sounds like a brilliant way to test "blessing". Get a priest to bless one lot of 100 cars, and leave another lot as a control. Monitor the number of accidents the vehicles encounter over their lifetimes and the injury/death rate. Let's see if there's a difference.
If more people die in the blessed cars, this is because God has listened to his earthly representative and has allowed the victims to enjoy heavenly bliss ahead of the queue . If more people die in the unblessed cars, this is because God has listened to his earthly representative and is demonstrating his divine mercy by sparing the drivers in the blessed cars. . If an equal number die in the blessed cars and the unblessed cars, then He must have been away on His holidays at the time.
These sound like reasonable conclusions to draw.