We are in Bavaria. In Garmisch Patenkirchen at the Army's Edelweis Lodging and Resort on Army expense. We took advantage of the marriage retreat. This is our second retreat in half a year. I know we are lucky that we got in.
The area we are in is so beautiful that I had tears in my eyes. It is THAT beautiful. The retreat itself is pretty much the same we had last time. Same teaching material different location. However the teaching material is not too bad. There are just some things I disagree with. Have you ever heard about Laugh Your Way through Marriage ?
That guy is awesome. He is funny, he has a point and what he's saying isn't stupid at all. However, after we've watched the part where he is preaching that pre-marital sex is the stupidest thing in the world I got a little angry. Maybe it is because I am German. Maybe it is cultural differences, maybe it is because I am one of these dumb people he was talking about but I didn't get screwed up just because I had sex before we got married. He kept going on and on about that thing and that we should pass it on to our kids that they should keep their virginity for that one person they marry.
Afterwards the chaplains wanted to get feedback and that one lady said that she raises her kids like that. I could not help it but give my five cents on that topic. I believe (and I am sure that I am right on this one) that we can't keep children to have pre-marital sex. We can give them advise not to do it. We can teach them, we can preach it to them but when it comes down it is their own decision and what people should not forget is to teach them to do it responsibly. You can't lock them away until they get married. They will go out, have friends, do stupid things like we all did and maybe have sex. Even if you did preach it to them. So what is wrong by teaching them responsibility and to wear a condom? To protect themselves from deseases and pregnancy? What in the world is wrong with it? Some people looked at me like I am the devil. Hell, (I will come back to that word later HAHA) even the minister (Mark Grungor) said that it is okay to use a condom and that you shouldn't use one once you are actually married.
Another thing that made me go through the roof was the "Hell word incident". The chaplain asked for feedback on the whole marriage retreat. I loved it. Great area, good teaching material (except for one or two points but I can live with that) and overall much much better than the one we had in Villingen.
Villingen was the first one. We stayed in a 4 Star Hotel. Sounds fancy, huh?
You would expect great service but that hotel didn't deserve ANY of these stars. The service was horrible to non-existent. We accidently came in our room when the room service was in and changed the sheets on our bed and we saw big, big nastay staints on the matraze.
The bathroom was filthy and dirty and that is NOT what you want to see in a 4 Star Hotel. So I said that we went to the last one and that it was horrible as hell. I didn't even realize that I said hell. So I was told by hubby "Watch your mouth." and I was like "What are you talking about." and he was like "You know, the H word." and I honestly did not know what he was talking about. So here is the deal: Two chaplains available makes the whole retreat a church environment and "Hell" is a bad word because it's swearing. So it is bad to use the word hell because it could offend somebody but it is okay for a minister (in this case Mark Grungor from Laugh your way through marriage) to call people Nitwicks, Idiots, Box of Rocks, Dumb and Stupid? So swearing is bad but insulting people is okay?
RRRIGHT!
Nobody said anything about the minister, in fact they laughed when he called people names in general but I can't say "Horrible as hell"? I was so outraged that I kept on arguing with him during lunch and probably entertained the entire restaurant. I told him of how hypicritical I think that is and that I don't care if I offend somebody because if there is anyone that wants to be offended he/she will be offended anyway. There are people that are offended because I am German. You know, because of the whole WWII thingy. Should I change my nationality because of that?
Maybe it is cultural differencies. Maybe it is because I did not grow up the same way some very religious people in the States did. In fact to me some of these people look like they are fanatic. Fanatic like those muslims they tend to rant about. It is the same concept except for blowing things up in the name of god but it is not like there aren't any christian sekts (is that the right word?) that do other crazy things in the name of god...
So yeah. I didn't really get it and people probably think I am an idiot because of that but I don't care. Plus after our little argument we've had a great time. Went to the gorge, took tons of pictures (just took the wrong USB cable and have to upload them once we get home) and actually realized of how stupid it is to argue about things like that.
Since we drove by car we'll hit off to the Saltmines tomorrow. WOHOO!!!
4 comments:
I agree with you on some of the American religious issues, I think it is definitely a cultural thing, it took me a long time to get used to it (and I still say "damn" and "hell" a lot!) and their attitudes towards pre-marital sex absolutely blow my mind, as if telling teenagers to not do something ever works? haha. And to be honest, I don't even agree that people shouldn't have sex before they are married. I turned out just fine!
I like to think the Europe (and England) are generally much more laid back about their religion. I know I am.
The husband and i are going to try and make it out to Edelweis sometime in the winter, I have heard it is beautiful.
Well, Im the first American to comment on this post....LOL and all I can say is that Americans get stereotyped. Perhaps its because Im from California, you know HOllywood and stuff, and they just dont care about things like this. We aren't even allowed to have a manger scene on our front lawn....we California is definitely not holding any of these American religious traditions. If the preacher (and fellow people who agreed with him) had a thick back-east accent (Texas, Kansas, etc.) then thats probably why they thought what they thought. Southerners tend to be more religious. But New York! California! Are you kidding me? Please don't think that this is an American thing. Remember, Hollywood is IN AMERICA. Not Europe. Just look at the statistics of US Soldiers entering the military and where they are from....The majority are from back-east.
I will end by saying that I do agree with what you wrote. I think its a waste of time to "preach" anything. People have always done whatever they HELL they wanted to do. So this guy was wasting his time. But Im American. Trust me. My country lost most of its religious issues years ago. Especially if I get in trouble for saying "Christmas" because it has "Christ" in it. In this sense Europe is more religious or they simply don't care. And not being allowed to put out any decoration concerning the manger/Jesus in the public eye on your personal property. This doesn't sound like America is very religious to me. This is all just stereotypes. And it definitely depends on where you are from in the states.
I guess we all have stereotypes about religious Americans and Americans have stereotypes about us Europeans. HAHAHA
Gotta' say I agree with you. When my sons were teenagers, I bought condoms and put them in the upstairs bathroom. I spoke about abstinence first; then when I came home and saw my 16-year-old sons 16-year-old girlfriend run across the hall from his room to the bathroom, I bought the condoms. I told him I definitely did not approve of him having sex at that age, but that if he was going to do so, to be sure and protect himself!
Both my sons got married around age 27 and are now in their mid to late 30s and have children. None of whom came before marriage!
Also, not all Americians are religious zealots. But there are some sections of the country that are more religious than others, I happen to live in the northeast.
just stopping by from SITS to say hi; hope you'll do the same.
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