Religion vs. sorority/frat

[Sophisticated Lady]

Greetings Sorors & SF's,

I didn't see the answer to this in any of the other threads, so excuse me if I am repeating topics. I was having a conversation about individuals quiting or giving up membership because of religious beliefs and there is a constant debate going on at church now about members of sororities/frats and how this is wrong. I have heard people say that you can't be "saved" and be a member. I am wondering exactly what is the reason that people tend to believe that you can't do both? Especially preachers and "saved" people? Does anyone know exactly what the problem is? I personally consider myself to be a christian and "saved" and I don't see how my belonging to a sorority is going to send me to hell (as they ofen say in church). Oh and I also heard someone say because our organizations are similiar to cults. I don't know who they were referring to but I definitely don't agree with that statement. If anyone has any reasons, responses or input please let me know. Feel free to e-mail me as well. I really would like to hear what others think. Thanks. Skee-weee sorors!!!

P.S. Sorry this post is so long.


------------------
This is a serious matter.

[Anydaynow]

Hello Soror,
This seems to be a popular topic that I've seen on many sites including this one. I have met a lot of preachers that were members of various frats.

I never let anyone that is looking in from the outside tell me about my sorority and I hope you will do the same. The same ones that preach such non-sense never woke up 7:00am to help feed the homeless or volunteered their time to uplift our community.

I believe that being a christian is more than attending church. My Sorors of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. not only attend church but we also help uplift others & ourselves. There is nothing unholy about the bond that my sorors and I share. You can't let someone influence you because of the things that they've heard or seen on T.V.

[NUPE4LIFE]

I want to address your reference to people say sor/frats are like cults. One thing is that all of our organizations have an aspect of secrecy. The bonds that we share, is something that only members understand, and know. People always fear the unknown. I once heard a girl from school tell me that her husband was against her interest in Delta Sigma Theta or any sorority for that matter. He said anything that's a secret is an ambominaton against God. Whatever. All BGLO's have a strong influence of Christianity in their founding. Afterall, whether we realize it or not, Black people have been the moral fiber of this country for ages. And for me, one who believes in God I realize that he knows all and sees all. And he was there with all the founders, and is there with them now having an NPHC meeting in heaven. God should be addes as a founding member of all our orgs. LOL. Point is, you can't hide nothin from God as my grandma always say. Two, I'm sure that all BGLO's make an allegience or take an oath to uphold the principles of their organization. Many see this as idolism. NOT! We pledge allegience to the flag in school. Yeah and I know many might say well the line goes one nation under GOD. Still, the main thing to remember is that we are still pledging allegience to the flag and the nation. And that line i mentioned is wrong. We are not one nation under God. We have this thing called seperation of church and state. And who's God are we talking about anyway? Three, many see the actions of undergrad students in these orgs. who party and the like. Yes in undergrad partying and stuff is apart of the BGLO experience. However, as an older bruh once said there's a difference between a NUPE and a Kappa Man. These ministers fail to realize that in grad chapters, majority of the work is all about business. Like someone said earlier, they don't see all we do to uplift our community. I've seen many churches that only uplift themselves. They get wrapped up in builiding a new church or building a new that that they forget to uplift those who are in need.From time to time we might throw a social or two but never to the magnitude of the college years. And some of the things we do in undergrad, hopefully we don't do in grad. And I know this post is getting long so I'll wrap it up. How many of these ministers and people of the church do you know that are anti-sor/frat but are members of the Masonry or OES? Hypocritical I say. I have a cousin who's an AKA. About three or so years ago her and her husband became the First family of our church. He's an Omega Man and both are very proud of their affiliation. Anytime he's in a suit, you can bet your bottom dollar he has on the Omega shield. They are both very active in grad chapters. They love their orgs. That just goes to show you that not all Christians are denouncing their orgs.

------------------
KAPPA ALPHA PSI FRATERNITY, INC.
SPR 97
XI LAMBDA

[This message has been edited by NUPE4LIFE (edited September 04, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by NUPE4LIFE (edited September 04, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by NUPE4LIFE (edited September 04, 2000).]

[AKA2D '91]

Exactly,NUPE...

The whole point is, just like you said...God sees and knows ALL!!!! Whether we like it or not!

The "secrets" that each organization has are secrets from MAN!

You cannot hide anything from the LORD,GOD ALMIGHTY!

P.S. NUPE...
My minister happens to be your FRAT!

[Sophisticated Lady]

Thank you soror for your reply. I will never let anyone from the outside tell me anything about my sorority. Thanks for your response.

Thank you Nupe for your reply. My sentiments exactly! Thanks for breaking it down.

Everyone have a blessed holiday.


------------------
This is a serious matter.

[Diva_56]

I guess the issue is whether your being in a sorority/fraternity will make a person lose salvation. Well we must look at essential doctrine.


1. Have you given your heart, mind and soul to Jesus... for God's biggest extension of grace to the world was the gift of salvation.
Acknowledge him as your savior from death and destruction and guess what.... Your saved... plain and simple.


there are no forms to fill out... just start getting to know God's will and his purpose for your life and see whether a sorority/fraternity fits in. Granted I do consider a sorority a worldly thing, but you must question your commitment to God if you would let your membership disturb your walk with him... Maybe you can use the sorority for the good will of God. But see to it that the Devil does not cloud your intentions and you will be fine...


May the blessings of God be with you always

------------------
In complete darkness we are all the same... It is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us... Don't let your eyes deceive you

Janet Jackson

[Lynn Luckett]

People need to think before they speak.

The church is a good organization;however, there are some people who are corrupt and have only personal gain in mind. Question? Since the church consists of people, is the church infected, or are the people infected? Alpha Kappa Alpha, my wonderful sorority has nothing to do with my salvation. I am saved by the grace of God.

I have had people to say things like greek organizations are of the devil. I guess we can take some of the blame for the negative stigma. I say this because some of our sorors and frats have not represented us favorably. When a fraternity or sorority beats a person near death, do people say MR.X or Ms. X did an awful thing. No! Most people say, "Did you hear what the AKA'S, Delta's, Kappa's, Omega's, Sigma's, Zeta's, S G Rho's, Alpha's... did." It's hard to seperate the person from the organization.

I encourage all organizations to stand worthy of the call.

Peace!

Conskeeted Skee Wee

You are the master of your own destiny!

[This message has been edited by Lynn Luckett (edited October 03, 2000).]

[Diva_56]

Originally posted by Lynn Luckett:
[B]People need to think before they speak.

The church is a good organization; however, there are some people who are corrupt and have only personal gain in mind. Question? Since the church consists of people, is the church infected, or are the people infected? Alpha Kappa Alpha, my wonderful sorority has nothing to do with my salvation.

I totally agree hon, there are many people out there that call themselves Christians that give a bad name to the church. Jusus has a purpose for all that follow him and I will follow him to the ends of the Earth... Many people are corrupt and use their stature as a church goer to say their "saved"
Ask Jesus and he'll tell you the real deal...

------------------
In complete darkness we are all the same... It is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us... Don't let your eyes deceive you

Janet Jackson

[lluvmook98]

Greetings all,

I agree, one of my "big sisters" was a gung-ho AKA. Then she got heavily involved in her church. She denounced and said that we were all the devil. But no one is every satisfied. She would speak on campus but that was it. Well, to make a long story short. All she ever talked about was her pastor. The quote from the bible never actually addressed exactly what she was against. Well needless to say she had a nervous breakdown. Thought she could talk to God and everything. I told her later that we (sorors) never turned our backs on her but people at her church did. She was listening to HER PASTOR and NOT HER LORD. I believe that too many people are RELIGIOUS and not SPIRITUAL and there is a difference. I am lead by God. Very often I tell people that if the Lord is truly in you you don't condemn you help. You don't avoid you reach out. Anywho (I meant to say that) why are "Christian greek orgs." ok. I don't see any difference in reverence to God between Greeks or Masons. My father is in the American Legion, he cant tell me about all of their ceremonies. Is that demonic too?

Where does it all end? God knows me and he knows my soul. That will be my fate. Not the opinion of any man. I know for a fact that may churches even say that other denominations are the devil. In my honest opinion I think that most churches have moved out of the realm of God and into the realm of man. Any person or group that takes care of Gods people without false pretenses is alright with me. (most of the people who talk about greek orgs. can't live right themselves.)

People in glass houses...

I'm sorry that this was so long but I'm tired of people downing each other!

[Lady_Tenor]

Thank you all for these responses. I was nervous about applying for membership into SGRho because my family has the same sentiments about GLOs. Members of my church have called them cults, demonic, and so on. This summer I was on an internship in Washington, D.C. and I met two people who are of the same faith as me (7th Day Adventist). One is the daughter of a pastor, and she is an AKA. The other guy was a Sigma, and he told me that his sister an SGRho. They said that their church comes first no matter what, but through their orgs they are doing great community service. I am glad to know that there are good Christians in my church who are also members of BGLOs. They all have inspired me. you all keep up the good work and it's also great to know that this is a friendly message enviornment. I have met too many negative greeks in my day, but I continue to meet the most positive of greeks as well! Sorry for the length of this post! God bless you all!!

[focus]

I thought this was interesting so I did a lot of research and this is what I found. A lot of people have got it all wrong as far as why people who are truly Christian (people who try to actually be living examples of Christ, sort of like walking the walk instead of talking the talk), denounce greek life.

I wanted to give some real concrete reasons from the bible about why Christians dont feel like they can be apart of sororities and fraternities.

The first question that needs to be asked is why a person would want to join a fraternity / sorority. Motives in Gods eyes are all important. (1 Samuel 16:7). Only you truly know what your motives are. Depending on your reasons, different issues come to the forefront. If one wants to join a fraternity/sorority because they have the best parties, the bible says that such a life should belong in one's unsaved past, not in the present life of a believer (1 Peter 4:3).

If one wants to join a fraternity/sorority because of a status symbol, it becomes an issue of pride. The Bible repeatedly encourages humility both in life and in the choice of one's companions (Romans 12:16; 1 Peter 5:5-7), even as Christ lived. The Bible mentions pride as a MAJOR sin and as something God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19; 8:13; 11:2; 16:18; Daniel 4:37; 1 Peter 5:5; 1 John 2:15-17).

A Christian's closest compansionship should be with fellow Christians, and not companionship based on some other external tie such as belonging to the same fraternity / sorority, having gone to the same school, coming from same race or social class, etc. (Galatians 3:28; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13; 12:24-26; Galatians 6:10; John 13:34-35). This is because who one has as his closet companions is a major issue in scripture whether they be fraternity brothers, roommates in a dorm, classmates, etc. Here are a few of Scripture's admonitions concerning this issue: "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33). The people around you can really hurt or help your walk with God and if your sorority/fraternity brothers aren't trying to live a Holy life then they can bring you down easier then you can bring them up. "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed" (Proverbs 13:20). "I am a companion of them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts" (Psalm 119:63).

I hope this helped everyone understand a little more. Please know that I am not trying to judge but instead trying to clear up some misconceptions between two groups of people with different beliefs. At the end of the day it comes down to whether you think your relationship with God is ok or is it being hindered by your involvement with a group of people.

But in undergrad the biggest issue is HAZING. No matter how people try to turn the wheel to make the hazing process out to be some kind of test to see if you have what it takes, its still wrong in the eyes of God to physically or mentally abuse another person in the name of brother/sisterhood simply to see if "they have heart" as I have been told. No Christ-like man or women can accept that kind of process because it would be going against the love the Bible says we should have for all our fellow brothers and sisters.


Here is a great website if you would like more info.
http://www.gotquestions.org/fraternity-s...

[The Original Ape]

One's personal relationship with GOD is exactly that. It IS-whether the person in question wants it to be or not---the focal point of his/her life. Being in a fraternity or sorority has its place in one's life; but it will never supersede the relationship between that person and GOD--even if that person doesn't believe in HIM. HE has a way and time for revealing HIMSELF; and when HE does, all confusion will cease.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion; but people need to leave GOD'S work for HIM. Only HE can make the call as to whether or not it is cool to join a sorority or fraternity.

[btb87]

focus,

I see your point. . . to a point.

I looked at a couple of the websites that you posted for the Christian Sorority. And from what I've seen, and if I'm reading what you're saying correctly, one of the "legitimate" reasons for not joining a secular sorority/fraternity is because the majority of the people that you're with may not be Christians, but in the Sororities that you've listed, they are Christians.

But really, how much of a difference in the two organizations is there when the people in the organizations appear to be doing the same things as the secular ones? I visited one of their brothers' sites, and they're throwing up their sign just like many other fraternities. I would wonder why many of these people decided to form/join a Christian Sorority or Fraternity. Was it not enough to go to Sunday morning/evening and Wednesday night services and do community service or whatever through their church? Could they not have done the same things under the umbrella of their churches without having certain symbols, etc. on a crest or coat of arms? Maybe because of certain teachings, they thought that they were going to burn in hell for joining another organization - who knows?

I can only speak for my chapter, and I do know that many, if not most, of my chapter Sorors are saved. I can't vouch for all of them, and if those that are professing to be Christians aren't and are only "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" then they have to answer for that.

Before joining Alpha Kappa Alpha, I asked my sponsor, who is a saved woman, if she thought joining compromised her beliefs, and she told me empatically "no!". I give my time and service to Alpha Kappa Alpha, but I give even more to my church. I know who I am, and Whose I am, and for me, there's no compromise.

[focus]

Originally posted by btb87
focus,

I see your point. . . to a point.

Im not trying to judge anyone. By what I have researched and read about being Christian and in a greek org. it is very possible to be living a Holy life and be in a greek org. You can join the org. for great unselfish reasons (like service), you can not participate in events that would sacrafice your morals (like wild parties), not be prideful, and you can choose as your closest companions those who are living Christ-like. But the reality is that its hard to do and be all those things when the people you call your brothers/sisters are almost exactly the opposite. But it is possible, someone just has to be strong enough to do it, and be an example for other possibly greek Christ-like people to follow.

As far as Christian Greek organizations. Yeah, they have signs they throw up, they may step, and do community service like other greek orgs. but it all comes down to the purpose of their organization. Which is not to service others (but is a part of what they do). Their enitire purpose and meaning for existing is to minister to other people and glorify the name of God, not themselves, their group, or other people. Thats why they have chosen to be apart of that greek org. instead of a more popular one.

By like I said, its all about you and your relationship, if you feel your walk with God is ok and what you are doing is pleasing to the Lord then please don't let others discourage you. Because no one will be able to speak for you when you stand before Him.

Be Blessed and stay strong.

[focus]

Originally posted by The Original Ape


Everyone is entitled to an opinion; but people need to leave GOD'S work for HIM. Only HE can make the call as to whether or not it is cool to join a sorority or fraternity.

Your right, only He can make that call. But God does have messengers to do His work here on earth.