Where The Yummy Mummys Are

Noosa's hip young mamas may sip lattes and do yoga like yummy mummys the world over. Only instead of chanting "Ohm Shanti", they're saying,  "Praise Jesus." I found out (quite accidentally) that for many young families in the area, Hillsong Church -- an evangelical, born again Pentecostal congregation-- is the place to be on Sunday mornings. 

The story begins with my meeting a super friendly, gorgeous, stylish mom in Big J's gymnastics class.  She seemed great, so when the class ended, we decided to keep in touch.  She even invited me to join her weekly mom's group. Great.

We decided to have a coffee after she attended church this past Sunday, and she suggested we meet there since we had previously established that it is a block from my house.  Call me naive, but I assumed it was a meeting place, and that we'd continue from there to a cafe.  But upon my arrival, she practically threw a coffee in my hand, and it became clear that I was attending the after service social hour.  In what felt like a whirlwind, she whisked me around and introduced me to a bunch of people, in an almost too friendly way.  Everybody was perfectly lovely, and surprisingly, also young, hip, and gorgeous. Designer handbags and outfits were noted. I even recognized several kids who attend Big J's day care, and their parents.

 When it became obvious that she knew everyone, I said something like, "It seems like you're really involved in the community".  To which she laughed, "Oh, we're the pastors!".  She had never once mentioned this before.  And fine, maybe it never came up specifically.  But I immediately felt taken advantage of, and lied to.  M. feels that I should have put the fact that I am Jewish out there immediately.  But the whole interaction was just so fast and confusing, and there really was no natural entry point at which to do that.

 I have absolutely no problem with religion (heck, I even studied the stuff and got an undergraduate degree out of it). I do, however,  have a problem with a church that operates like a multinational corporation.  Hillsong is a massive machine.  It has tens of thousands of congregants, and megachurches in Cape Town, New York, London, Paris, and Sydney.  There are extension services all over the place (like the one in Noosa), and in multiple languages.  There are CDs and DVDs and clothing and books, all of which the faithful are expected to buy. This is in addition to the10% of their incomes they are expected to give to the church (even as they are preached the "Prosperity Doctrine" - -that God will give it back to them later), while the top preachers make it rich. It's not surprising that scandal often surrounds the church. They have been accused of influencing the Australian Idol competition, and their senior pastor was was forced to resign after he was accused of sexual abuse years after the fact.

The pure frenzy of it all - -the megatrons, the smoke and lights, the speaking in tongues and the saving of souls-- is a bit much for me. But one could argue that ecstatic practice can be found within most of the world's established religions.  Even as I write this, I feel it's wrong to judge what one person does to nourish his or her soul.  And yet, I am so troubled by the feeling that she was dishonest with me.  I did attend her mom's group, but clued into the fact that it was essentially a meeting of the church Sisterhood.  Which again, she never mentioned.  I just can't seem to get rid of that nagging feeling that she should have just been up front about everything from the beginning. 

This all comes on the heels of my having attended a  Mindfulness Meditation session here in Noosa.  I'm interested in Buddhist thought, and looking to find a little spirituality.  Mostly, I'm looking for ways to be more present, more kind, and a better person.  One of the messages of that session was that seeing ourselves as separate from others causes us pain.  If we can understand that we are one, we will inherently want for others what we want for ourselves, and in doing so, stop judging and create peace.  Perfect. 

But how do I reconcile the fact that her faith understands me to be a sinner (until I am baptized and reborn), my friends who are gay to be sinners, and preaches that women do not have a right to an abortion?  No sir, I feel like I  truly cannot "accept" these beliefs, and I suppose, by extension, anyone who believes them.  But I know that makes me close minded and judgemental.  And I know that she is her own entity;  a multifaceted individual who's separate from her church.  But she's a pastor, who preaches all this stuff. 

What would Buddha do? I know that there has to be a peaceful and loving way to think about this, but I am struggling. Nirvana is a long way off for me, it would seem.

What do you think?