Dealing with Religious Jerks (A Review of Antagonists in the Church:)

[icymist]

If you are a Neopagan leader, community organizer, online forum moderator, or just someone bewildered by the astonishingly destructive behavior that people in our overlapping subcultures can inflict upon one another — run, do not walk, to your nearest Christian bookstore (yes, that’s what I said) and buy this book!

Antagonists in the Church: How to Identify and Deal with Destructive Conflict is a paperback from Augsburg Fortress Pub. (at 426 S. Fifth St., Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440, for those of you who prefer mail order), a company that specializes in training and educational materials for (mostly Liberal Protestant) clergy. It will be the best $13 you have spent in a long time (less if you use my Amazon link above).

Haugk discusses in detail the motivations, styles, and attack procedures of the people he calls “antagonists:”

“Antagonists are individuals who, on the basis of nonsubstantial evidence, go out of their way to make insatiable demands, usually attacking the person or performance of others. These attacks are selfish in nature, tearing down rather than building up, and are frequently directed against those in a leadership capacity.”

http://www.neopagan.net/HaugkReview.html

[tama]

1. The antiauthoritarian anarchist in me

is very suspicious of all religious and other institutional hierarchies and leaders.

[icymist]

2. Yeah. When I was doing the druid thing I found some of those guys to not have a sense of humor.

I pretty much work alone anymore. But then again, I can really crack myself up sometimes by making up new comics.

example: High Priest put a collar around new persons' neck for initiation He says "Breaking the trust of this group will Intel that you be stabbed, hanged, torn apart by horses, and burned." I look at the woman next to me in the circle and say, "Wow! You guys are really strict!"

[tama]

3. Heh

For some reason Monty Python's Life of Brian came to mind...

[murielm99]

4. My father gave me that book years ago.

It is very useful to anyone in a religious group of any type. I recommend it.