Mom made reservations for lunch at a new Japanese restaurant today after church, but when we got there we found that the prices were more than double what she had been quoted on the phone. I was really in the mood for the hibachi, but had to settle for a soup and sandwich at the adjacent Panera Bread instead.
The guy who taught Sunday School today insisted that the recent shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church was the natural and almost inevitable result of public schools indoctrinating kids in evolution rather than teaching the truth of creationism. He shared the opinion that humans cannot possibly be moral unless they believe in an omnipotent god who decrees moral absolutes and eternally punishes those who do not conform, and that Darwinists have no grounds on which to disapprove of murdering those who aren't close relatives. He said the shooter's problem was probably that he had not been raised in a christian home or taken to church regularly growing up. When I pointed out that the Dylann Roof and his family were actually members of a Lutheran church, he said that what was important here were not any details of this specific case but rather the general state moral decay in today's society.
The pastor's sermon today did not contain anything really objectionable, although before the message began he did express the opinion that the shooting being in a church means that it was not only a racist act but also part of the general trend of anti-Christian persecution plaguing this nation today.
I have found recently that the least offensive days at this church can be the most stressful, as I keep anticipating a turn for the worst even if it never comes.
(One of the worst messages I have ever heard from the pulpit was actually among the best for the first 15 to 20 minutes. That was before he revealed a strange twist, that loving one's neighbor and seeking justice in society actually means getting the Federal government to stop poor immigrants/refugees from overrunning our communities and fighting the culture war against those sexual deviants at the ACLU who since the 1920s have been conspiring to undermine the rights of Christians to freely exercise our religion.)
I still really don't want to go back this church or any similar to it, but am still not sure how to go about explaining that to my family.
(I came close to broaching the topic with my mother when we were going to lunch together before grocery shopping on Wednesday, but then she decided that instead of the quiet Thai restaurant where I thought we were going she would rather eat at a traditional southern cafeteria. It was too noisy for any serious conversation, and we ran into several members of the church there.)