To ask my brother and family not to go to church when we visit

[Trifle]

I plan on visiting my brother, sil and their 2 children for a weekend in September with my 2 ds's. All the children get on fabulously and really enjoy eachothers company although, due to distance apart, we dont meet up as often as is liked.

My brother and sil are deeply religious to the point of fanaticism. They read the bible every day, pray religiously, attend church at least 2 if not 3 times a week, sometimes twice on a sunday (obviously the message doesnt get through first time).

Now, if we visit at the weekend and stay overnight, would IBU to ask them not to go to church on a sunday morning as the whole thing takes about 3 hours and we just end up hanging around waiting for them to come back. This defeats the object of the whole trip if we are there to see them plus I also think it is rude to abandon your guests.

Lol at explaining what God wants. God wants you to forsake all worship and stay home getting pissed with your mates.

[my kind of God]

It's what we believe. Truth as revealed. It's why we must proselytise. We must save souls.

"Jehovah's Witnesses fullfil the biblical requirements of Christianity"

Yes, that's the JW position. Now, find a church that agrees. It's no good asserting your member ship of a group if no-one else takes you seriously.

The Nicene Creed isn't biblical, and the production of it (at, unsurprisingly, the Council of Nicea) was a compromise and a fudge to deal with various schisms in the early church. You can claim to be a Christian based on other, often biblical, positions, and you can argue it until you're blue in the face. This covers the JWs and the various Unitarian splinters. Unfortunately, the only group that believes each of those claims is themselves. And it isn't even a matter of two groupings, Nicene and non-Nicene: I don't believe that Unitarians regard JWs as Christian or vice versa.

The Arian heresy, which is what JWs essentially believe, will get you booted out of the Catholic Church or any Protestant Church that has the inclination to worry about doctrine (jokes about the CofE here, please). The only organised religion that accepts Jehovah's Witnesses as Christian is the Jehovah's Witnesses, because the criteria used by the JWs aren't recognised elsewhere.

Riven

If you you take your spirituality to extremes then you are being weird. If you have visitors who have travelled far to see you then use the common sense that God gave you and spend precious time with them. You can pray at any time - it doesn't have to be in church.

KERALAI

Why does spending 3 hours out of an entire weekend at a Service mean religion trumps everything. Some people on this thread seem to think that if you don't drop absolutely everything when your relatives come to stay you're being unreasonable. If they came to stay on a week day would you say it was unreasonable of OPs brother to still send his kids to school because they wouldn't be able to play with their cousins?

Paggy - I'm afraid it's the black devils for you.

you say that as if it is a bad thing.

It is nasty, Paggy. You will be a colander e'er nightfall. People will put their peas in you (not in a good way)

exactly swanandduck.

OP knows her brother goes to church every week. she knows how much his faith means to him yet she still chose to visit on a weekend when he will be going to church. she is being unreasonable to expect him not to go.

Hullygully

Ah - you're being a wind up merchant - good weeze.

No I'm not. JW's believe exactly that.

Paggy is doomed.

Riven - what does going for a run mean?

Surely God would want his believers to spend time with their families. Or would he rather they worshipped him instead?

OP - YANBU
God - YABU!

Hullygully - well maybe you're doomed and just don't know it.

I am one of the chosen. I'm just hunky dory, thanks.

I think Riven means that when she visits her mother goes out for a long run.

I think Riven is illustrating that people leave guests for a variety of apparently acceptable reasons but attending church seems to be unacceptable for some other reason.
But I may of ccourse be talking bollocks.
I am after all doomed

YABU

I'm wondering about this 3 hr service...the OP seems to be holding a grudge and seems inclined to sarcasm, so possibly exaggeration. We are out about 3 hours at church, but a lot of that time is chatting aroud afterwards, which we wouldn't do if we had guests.

OP...Surely the actual service isn't 3 hours if they have dcs! Mine would go bonkers being enclosed for that long.

Church has always been used as a handy avoidance destination for unwelcome rellies. As has running.

@ Toko

Totally agree with you about the hellfire stuff - seems totally wrong to me and an untterly perverse reading of the teachings of Jesus in the gospels.

Hellfire and brimstone these days is not mainstream christianity though. I don't think I have ever heard Hell mentioned in our church (the closest we got to it was in a sermon when the vicar was talking about how we can make a hell for ourselves on earth by some of the choices we make).

Bumps x

Yes YABU. And, in my opinion, it would be polite to go with them. Unless you are strongly opposed obv.

IN general, it is a bit rude to leave guests (even family) at a loose end for that long. But as Tokyo said, when people are hung up on their hobbies (and religion's just another hobby, like football or whatever) they often get very twitchy if asked to sacrifice time that is regularly booked for pursuing the hobby, for anything else.
So OP YANBU in being a bit put out by their prioritising their silly hobby, but there's not a lot you can do about it: just work round it.

Must say am quite amazed at the number of YABU on this thread - illuminating.

Pagwatch - well then Riven is being irrelevent. If the MIL wants to go for run good on her - that's another issue - probably trying to tell you something.