All The Tropes

Christianity: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Christianity (view source)

Revision as of 17:25, 21 December 2016

1 byte removed ,  7 years ago
m
→‎Anabaptists: fixed bullet levels
VisualWikitext
(→‎Orthodox Christianity: split into subsections)
m (→‎Anabaptists: fixed bullet levels)
Line 170:
==== Anabaptists====
An extreme Reformation sect that practiced an extreme heresy in the eyes of the rest of the rest of Christianity: "believer's baptism," a re-baptism for people when they join the church, regardless of whether they were baptized as infants. In fact, Anabaptists didn't believe in baptizing infants at all. This ended up going badly for the Anabaptists it turns out that infant baptism is the kind of issue that makes strange bedfellows. In between killing each other, the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans teamed up to burn and drown the Anabaptists on this issue... Didn't really work, as the existence of modern day Amish and Mennonites can attest. A lot of Anabaptist descendants believe in nonviolence and separation from modern societies and countries. Anabaptists are not to be confused with Baptists, which are descended from more "mainline" Protestantism. Anabaptists are survived in the modern day by a number of different denominations including the Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites. These groups tend to be almost exclusively based in rural communities, though there are plenty of exceptions. To qualify the rosy portrait given above, it must be noted that many Anabaptists were violent theocrats. Incidentally, the Mennonites (from whom the Amish split in the 17th century) were always pacifists and separatists, which was the reason they survived persecution, not a result of persecution.
** [[Amish]]—Probably the most well known of the Anabaptists, they are most well known for their disavowal of technology. They aren't hostile to technology per se, only its tendency to get in the way of leading a good Christian life. So they do allow [[Schizo-Tech]]—case in point: horse drawn buggies with blinkers. Also famous for their barn raisings, quilts, and oddly enough, wild teenagers. They are also [[Incredibly Lame Pun|sects maniacs]], schisms within schisms (based as often on what technology and/or dress is permitted as actual beliefs), to the point where many sects consist of a single congregation, and more than one of a single family. Outsiders tend to collectively refer to the horse-and-buggy, no-buttons sects as "Old Order".
 
On the wild teenager issue: it is referred to as ''Rumspringa'' or ''Rumschpringe'', a method to short-circuit the "teenage rebellion" phase by giving said teens free reign to rebel for a short time (as many tropes on this site will tell you, teenagehood and strict religious moralizing are not the best combination for producing a mentally healthy adult). At age 16, teens are allowed to leave the Amish community and experience life outside, and unsurprisingly, the experience usually consists of a combination of sex, drugs, and rock and roll (at least, that is the Hollywood version of event, in most communities, Rumspringa tends to be quite tame, it simply involves the parents giving the teen more space to act out, be slightly more tolerant of "the lip", letting them wear "English" clothes, drive, drink alcohol. and such. The outrageous things are usually done more out of symbolic "been there, done that" idea then in actual defiance). The period ends when the teen is ready to return to receive baptism to join the church as an adult, or with him deciding to leave the church. Moral indiscretions in this period are usually quietly forgiven and forgotten. All things considered, leaving the church (which is not the same thing as getting the shunning treatment) is a very rare event. This practice also means that for a subculture that shun technology, every Amish knows how to drive.
** Mennonites—Another modern day Anabaptist group, the Mennonites have much in common with the Amish, including similar beliefs (such as nonviolence, believers baptism, and the separation of church and state) and a penchant for sects and schisms. Their views on technology and interaction with the outside world are much less strict than the Amish, however, and run the gamut from complete isolation to immersion. They sometimes serve as the "Shabbat Goy" for their more resticted Amish brethen, providing services that the Amish cannot do themselves. Any two given Mennonite congregations could live drastically different lives, from communities indistinguishable from the Amish, to those who live in cities with modern technology such as cars and computers. The Mennonite Church in North America consists mostly of the latter kind of Mennonites; the conservative, Amish-looking Mennonites are a minority. Also, thanks to missionaries there are fast-growing Mennonite populations outside of North America, and Africa as a continent now has more Mennonites than North America does.
 
====Quaker====
The correct name is Religious Society of Friends. At the very core they believe that God (or Jesus, or the Light, depending on where you are and who you ask) is in everyone. From this comes a number of other, better known values, such as nonviolence (would you kill God?), simplicity (so you can better hear the light), equality (well if God's in everyone...), and integrity (would you lie to God?). Very non hierarchical; they do not believe in ministers and "meeting for worship" consists of any one who wants to coming up and talking about whatever they want, amid vast amounts of silence (yes it's ''supposed'' to be "awkward"). Quakers show up in some of the most unexpected places; for instance, would you believe that [[Richard Nixon]] was a Quaker? (He wasn't particularly religious, though).
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1447610"