Why do a lot of people now have a 'Burger King' religion?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kouyate42
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Kouyate42 said:
This is something I used to encounter all the time back in my days of campus evangelism, and even now when I’m talking to people about Islam.

I use the term ‘fast food theology’ or ‘Burger King religion’ to describe the situation where people have chosen to pick and choose their set of religious principles from the whole religion, whether this be from one religion or many.

But what I’m wondering is why it seems more and more common for people to pick and choose the bits of religion that suit, and why it seems that those who stick to the whole of the deen (faith) are often ridiculed for doing so.

To my mind it is pure arrogance. It seems to assume that God has somehow ‘made a mistake’ or that God does not know what is best for us, and so we replace His will with our own. This is purely my view though…

I’m putting it here because I think it would be interesting to have some inter-faith/denominational perspective upon this. 🙂
Click to expand...
Yes, I call this cafeteria theology, but my take is to question the person who holds up a tray and declares to all those present “THIS is the One True Holy Revealed Tray!!!” and expects everyone to ignore any other offerings save what’s on that one’s plate. Good idea, huh?

But that is why in either your “fast food” analogy or mine, I consider the important element not what the selection on the plate is, but what is nutritious and needful for that individual. And that may change. Even for the carrier of the O.T.H.R. tray.
 
Kouyate42 said:
This is something I used to encounter all the time back in my days of campus evangelism, and even now when I’m talking to people about Islam.

I use the term ‘fast food theology’ or ‘Burger King religion’ to describe the situation where people have chosen to pick and choose their set of religious principles from the whole religion, whether this be from one religion or many.

But what I’m wondering is why it seems more and more common for people to pick and choose the bits of religion that suit, and why it seems that those who stick to the whole of the deen (faith) are often ridiculed for doing so.

To my mind it is pure arrogance. It seems to assume that God has somehow ‘made a mistake’ or that God does not know what is best for us, and so we replace His will with our own. This is purely my view though…

I’m putting it here because I think it would be interesting to have some inter-faith/denominational perspective upon this. 🙂
Click to expand...
It’s a sign of the times. Every generation has its fads. Renaissance Christians in Renaissance Italy would have had a Renaissance outlook. Christians who lived through the Black Death would have had a morbid, death bound outlook. Christians who lived in the times of the Crusades would have had a Crusades outlook. Orthodox Christians who lived during and shortly after the 4th Crusade would have had a strong anti-Roman outlook.

These days in the West, particularly America, the whole culture is permeated by a supermarket ethos, with everything geared to give the individual a sense of being able to pick and choose. It’s not just churches where the “consumers” chop and change - they routinely change utility providers, supermarkets, insurance companies, car brands, telco’s, holiday deals and all the rest.

And whether we like it or not, Christians are affected by the surrounding culture as much as anybody else. Fifteenth century Christians would have thought nothing of a murderer being hung, drawn and quartered. These days we bend over backward to keep them alive at significant cost to the taxpayer. Why? Because we’ve been affected by the surrounding culture and the surrounding culture has been affected by us.

To paraphrase John Donne in another context - “No man is an island, but is a part of the main.” Or as my old pastor put it, “One bunch of sinners is pretty much the same as the next”.

Christians are subject to the same whims as anybody else.
 
I think it’s because people have choices in other areas of life, and bring it into their religion. Choices are not bad, but of course people are sinful and stupid and make the wrong choice most of the time, much like how we eat fast food even though we know it will make us fat and unhealthy.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
It’s a sign of the times. Every generation has its fads. Renaissance Christians in Renaissance Italy would have had a Renaissance outlook. Christians who lived through the Black Death would have had a morbid, death bound outlook. Christians who lived in the times of the Crusades would have had a Crusades outlook. Orthodox Christians who lived during and shortly after the 4th Crusade would have had a strong anti-Roman outlook.
Click to expand...
Thing is though that Christians of all ages and periods have always held a common set of beliefs. Certain elements might have been emphasised MORE than others, but that does not mean other beliefs were discarded.

While as now you see people say ‘well I agree with ‘X’ church on ‘A’ but not on ‘B’ but I’m still a X church member’.
These days in the West, particularly America, the whole culture is permeated by a supermarket ethos, with everything geared to give the individual a sense of being able to pick and choose. It’s not just churches where the “consumers” chop and change - they routinely change utility providers, supermarkets, insurance companies, car brands, telco’s, holiday deals and all the rest.
Click to expand...
Yep!
And whether we like it or not, Christians are affected by the surrounding culture as much as anybody else. Fifteenth century Christians would have thought nothing of a murderer being hung, drawn and quartered. These days we bend over backward to keep them alive at significant cost to the taxpayer. Why? Because we’ve been affected by the surrounding culture and the surrounding culture has been affected by us.
Click to expand...
To paraphrase John Donne in another context - “No man is an island, but is a part of the main.” Or as my old pastor put it, “One bunch of sinners is pretty much the same as the next”.
Click to expand...
Christians are subject to the same whims as anybody else.
Click to expand...
Is that anything to do with culture or simply that as human knowledge about the world has changed, so has their outlook?

Using your murderer example, little was known about criminal psychology, sociology, criminology and there was little of the rigorous legal rulings for presenting evidence or examining evidence in court in the Middle Ages.

Now we know of the factors that affect the likelihood of a murder happening, as well as the many personal and social factors which cause a person to kill, including mental illnesses and disorders or things such as gang culture. In court there are rules to admit, present and examine evidence, and the criteria that are needed to prove a case of murder are also strict. There is also a distinction between an accidental killing and a deliberate one (manslaughter as opposed to murder).

All of this comes because our understanding of the criminal process has massively changed, along with our understanding of science.
 
I do not see disagreeing with some of your church’s doctrine as necessarily being a bad thing. Most people want to follow the Bible as closely as possible. They want to follow the laws of the prophets or the teachings of Jesus. If a person’s church has an interpretation of scripture that does not seem right, why go along with it. Or if your church has doctrines that you think contradict the bible, why follow them. Churches are man made institutions. I don’t think any church has it 100% and that is how a lot of other people feel. I like the Catholic church the best, but I don’t agree with all of it. My differences in opinion are rather insignificant, so it is not a problem for me. When it comes to clearly established morals from the Bible, I do not think it is ok to pick and choose.
 
Because it is far easier than accepting the true doctrines of God. More over, we mistrust the graces God will provide us to accomplish living for Him.

Edit
I realize there might be a “Merton contraversy” in so far as some really dislike him. But I find something from Seven Story Mountain expresses this so very well.

"The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin.

Merton, Thomas (1998-10-04). The Seven Storey Mountain: Fiftieth-Anniversary Edition (pp. 29-30). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition."
 
I see an implication in some of these posts that anyone who rejects the Catholic/Christian version of “God’s will” does so simply because he doesn’t want to be burdened with any restrictions on his behavior. That may well be true in many cases, but it’s not accurate to make such a blanket asssertion. Some of us really do want to carry out God’s will, but don’t believe that God has exclusively granted to a particular faith the authority to speak for Him.
 
We do it that way because we’re essentially “shopping” for a church. It’s the same sort of mindset we have when we look for a car or a computer or a house. If you don’t like it, there’s one across the road. So you go from church to church.

I find that Orthodox and Catholics to be water in the desert as you aren’t changing your message to appeal to some demographic. Either you accept all of the Church or you accept none of it. Marketing is Ok in business, but not in eternal matters.
 
ExCatholicGuy said:
I see an implication in some of these posts that anyone who rejects the Catholic/Christian version of “God’s will” does so simply because he doesn’t want to be burdened with any restrictions on his behavior. That may well be true in many cases, but it’s not accurate to make such a blanket asssertion. Some of us really do want to carry out God’s will, but don’t believe that God has exclusively granted to a particular faith the authority to speak for Him.
Click to expand...
In the face of overwhelming evidence, history and tradition to the contrary, one should then ask themselves where their disbelief is really coming from, when it has no legs to stand on other than “but I don’t believe it”.

The answers are often a surprise. Satan is sneaky that way.
 
Lochias said:
In the face of overwhelming evidence, history and tradition to the contrary, one should then ask themselves where their disbelief is really coming from, when it has no legs to stand on other than “but I don’t believe it”.

The answers are often a surprise. Satan is sneaky that way.
Click to expand...
I don’t find the evidence “overwhelming”. Far from it.
 
ExCatholicGuy said:
I don’t find the evidence “overwhelming”. Far from it.
Click to expand...
The Old Testament is obvious about the fact that God chose the Jews to be His Chosen people.

The New Testament may be more obscure about the fact that Jesus established the Catholic Church to succeed the Jewish Covenant upon His fulfillment of it on the Cross; however, it doesn’t take much of a history lesson to realize that Jesus established Peter as chief shepherd of His Church (John 21:15-19) and that Peter stands at the head of an unbroken line of Popes ever since that day.

I can understand people who’ve never heard of these things not knowing which religion is that which was established by Christ, but for Catholics, there is very little excuse.
 
jmcrae said:
The Old Testament is obvious about the fact that God chose the Jews to be His Chosen people.

The New Testament may be more obscure about the fact that Jesus established the Catholic Church to succeed the Jewish Covenant upon His fulfillment of it on the Cross; however, it doesn’t take much of a history lesson to realize that Jesus established Peter as chief shepherd of His Church (John 21:15-19) and that Peter stands at the head of an unbroken line of Popes ever since that day.

I can understand people who’ve never heard of these things not knowing which religion is that which was established by Christ, but for Catholics, there is very little excuse.
Click to expand...
All of that assumes one believes the Bible to be the true record of God’s interaction with man, and that the Catholic Church’s interpretation of it is correct.
 
ExCatholicGuy said:
All of that assumes one believes the Bible to be the true record of God’s interaction with man, and that the Catholic Church’s interpretation of it is correct.
Click to expand...
Yes - yes, it does. We have to start somewhere, so we might as well start with the things that gave us civilization, democracy, universal education, modern medicine, functional roads, and clean running water.

It seems to be as good a place to start as any, and better than most. 😉
 
ExCatholicGuy said:
All of that assumes one believes the Bible to be the true record of God’s interaction with man, and that the Catholic Church’s interpretation of it is correct.
Click to expand...
Well, one would naturally assume that, because it’s true. 🤷

There’s too much evidence to support, and not enough to tell against it. That’s how it is.
 
I don’t know that the why of it, necessarily, is wrapped up in capitalism, but it does seem believable, that when we consider adherents to various religions: there is a pick, and choose, mentality. I don’t know, but there must be something naturally repulsive to the soul in many religions, and what is taught, but possibly arrogance is the root of it, we simply lack the skills to adhere to all of what is offered through our own particular religion: we begin as Catholics with faith, because we must begin somewhere, then we do progress through God’s will to faith, and love, and the depths and the bredths of these virtues, we do develop skills to act these virtues out sometimes skillfully, sometimes arrogantly. We’re human. Still, some aspects of other religions, just seem intrinsically repulsive to God’s Ten Commandments. It must be repulsive to ridicule those whom have more than “Burger King” through their religion, but for some, it’s their top pick. You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out … you do the hokey pokey. That’s what it’s all about … .
 
I would like the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, your honor, but you outlawed it: we’re legislated into “Burger King”, or ostercized, or we’re honest: okay, yeah, I get The Apostle’s Creed – to a point! Then it’s like: born of a virgin, whom?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top