Can someone explain religion to me?

[laundromat]

My belief does not come from my disfunctional family in any way shape or form.It comes from my own experiences and the dreams my Father(Not the one who I was named after)made come true.The most enjoyed and memorable one being the healing from major epileptic sezures(grand maul,petit maul and psycho-motor types)thru experimental neurological.Being writen up in People Magazine and various newspapers regarding my "strange interest in washing machines"and finding a wonderful non-denominational church where the entire congregation shows a true "agape'"love for one another.My God is real.My needs are fullfilled,my prayers are answered and the love I have had so wanted to share with so many is taken in grace with gratitude and thanks.I sometimes feel like a vesel with fresh cold ,clean water free flowing over my boundries for all to share.

We had a birthday pary after church yeserday and somehow,I misplaced my wallet.I had no idea I didn't have it but had put $30 in it knowing I would need it to cover my meal.IU got their salad bar special and iced tea which came to $12.Gary was late due to heavy trafic he hit on I10 and when he got there,he came to me and said"I think this is yours."and handed me my wallet.When we got our checks for our meals and I opened my walle,there was $130 in $20s and 10s.I almost fainted!I gasped and said "Something's wrong here!" "There's a hundred dollars more in here than I had when I went to church earlier!"Everybody laughed at my shock and surprise.Gary's wife,Willie said it was like the fish and few loaves of bread that Jesus fed hundreds of people with with some to spare and I need to give thanks and except it as a gift from the Lord.As I went to pay for my meal,George grabbed my check and insisted on paying for my dinner.These folks are all ordinary,everyday people.They're not like a bunch of weirdos or freaks.The love and care that's in this church is the most genuine and real I myself have ever seen or experienced.Knowing of my situation with Equator and how they cut everybody's hours down to 20/week,The pastor collected money from everybody and sent a check for $498 to the rental office of my complex paying my rent for June in full!I did not ask them for it!God saw I had a need and fullfilled it.Wow!That's the God I know and love.The real one.He's there for all who call on Him.

Believe me, all of you who are reading this,this life you're living now is by no means a dress rehersal.Satan is alive and well on planet Earth and wants everybody he can get no matter what it takes.Whether it be sex drive,lust,greed,glutny,hatred,anything to take our eyes away from God and the truth,he'll do it.

As many of those here who know me personaly,
I AM NO ANGEL!!!!!
I can and have been a true bitch sometimes.I hurt many people and am still paying the price for it.I am reaping what I've sewn.I miss those I hurt and ask their forgiveness.I'm not trying to look for any excuses.I just want them to know that I was deathly ill,afraid of what the future had in store for me and afraid of death.My adrenolin was out of control and I was "imatiated?"I weighed 97 pounds!Jon LeFever,Tom Steyer,John Charles and Robert Stokes saw how I had worn down to nothing.I was sure I had AIDS.I lost everything as well as most of my friends.I am truly sorry for the actions I practiced during that horrific time of my life.I attempted suicide 3 times the last time actualy would have worked had I not already been in the ICU.But,God has a plan for me and wasn't ready to take me yet.Now that I am able to help folks in need and worship with others in my church,I feel so much more alive and more at peace with myself.

 

[earthling177]

Any Pastafarians in here? ;-)

vacuumfreeeke says: "I just wonder if the people who believe now would believe if their parents hadn't taught them to? I can't remember ever meeting a "religious" adult who had parents that weren't that same religion. "

Well, I know many people who changed religions, or became atheists/agnostics and also many people whose parents were atheists/agnostics and became religious later in life.

But recently, an awful lot of people I know have become Pastafarians -- a very interesting religion, check them out in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastafarian and their Flying Spaguetti Monster's gospel in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gospel_of_The_Flying_Spaghetti_Monster -- among other things, they show how earthquakes, global warming, hurricanes etc are due to the shrinking number of pirates since the 1800's.

Cheers and Peace to everyone,
-- Paulo.

 

[mattl]

Here is another interesting story...

QUOTE:

"America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don't feel their religion is the only way to eternal life _ even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.

The findings, revealed Monday in a survey of 35,000 adults, can either be taken as a positive sign of growing religious tolerance, or disturbing evidence that Americans dismiss or don't know fundamental teachings of their own faiths."

And here is a very scary and puzzling quote:

"Another finding almost defies explanation: 21 percent of self-identified atheists said they believe in God or a universal spirit, with 8 percent "absolutely certain" of it."

HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News

Read the latest headlines, news stories, and opinion from Politics, Entertainment, Life, Perspectives, and more.

www.huffingtonpost.com

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

hmmmm

I didn't mean to imply that people who changed religions when they got older don't exist... just that it's pretty rare to see a (specifically conservative Christian) adult that wasn't also raised by conservative Christian parents... I know a LOT of stories (like mine) of people who were raised with religion and then became atheist or agnostic as they got older.

If your parents or society never told you that you were "supposed" to believe in God, would you still?

I do wonder how the people here who are Christian feel about their religion compared to others... do you take the Bible literally and believe that anyone who doesn't share you faith is going to hell when they die? Especially gay people, because we are usually more tolerant about everything... but in order to be a "true" member of a religion (Christianity is the only one I have experience with, but I'd assume it applies to Judaism and Islam as well), you must believe it is the ONLY correct way! Or, do you just pick and choose parts that you want to believe and not practice the parts that aren't convenient for you?

If you are Christian and gay, how do you justify the parts of the Bible that condemn homosexuality? I've heard the arguments that those passages were mis-translated (in which case, what other parts are also mis-translated), only applied to the olden days/society (typically used to defend the passage in Leviticus because it's in the Old Testament)(in which case, which parts still apply, and how do we know which ones), or were specifically referring to rape and being inhospitable to strangers (Sodom and Gomorrah, which still doesn't explain the New Testament passage(s)). Seems like to be a true member of any religion it should be all or nothing, but that many people would rather pick and choose which parts are for them and which parts aren't much like ordering something from a menu or off of the internet.

 

[earthling177]

Vacuumfreeeke:

I can't speak for other people, but I can speak for myself and tell you about people I know which describe themselves much like I describe myself.

For myself, I do not believe that religions are all that different -- the majority of the religions seem to have their foundations on stuff like "have compassion for everyone and everything", or "be nice to each other", or stuff that could very well be translated as "in the end, only kindness matters" and I'm talking here about Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity etc. A lot of those religions only talk about spiritual matters, but some others toss in a bunch of what we could say are laws in general. It varies.

My parents were religious but did not go to church unless it was a wedding, funeral or baptism. They made us learn about our religion under the principle that we should learn something about religions, they didn't care which religion, as long as it was one and we should feel free to drop any religions if we didn't care for it, but we should learn about one or more before we could drop it completely. So, as most people in the country I grew up in, we learned about Catholicism, which would be equivalent here in America to going to a generic Protestant church.

Thing is, we compared our religion to other people's, we knew plenty of people who were agnostic, atheists, or belonged to other religions, which is the reason I say I don't see much difference between the religions. If you compare them for the things they have in common, as opposed to where they differ, you'll find plenty to identify with. If you start picking apart what they tell you can/can't eat etc, then they start seeming very different.

Lots of people I know, myself included, simply don't believe the Bible is literally true -- to us, it's a bunch of fables which are supposed to teach you something. Even the names, like say, for example, "Ruth" were picked because they meant something, in this example, "kind, nice, compassionate" or "companion". Just like many names in English mean something, like say, Heather, Rose, Daisy, April, May, Faith, Hope etc. One just doesn't think about the fact that "David" means "beloved", "Peter" means "stone, foundation" and "Paul" means "Small", they seem like just regular names and we can easily miss the fact that those were fables meant to teach.

I've met some really nice people and priests in many religious organizations, but I've seen some really nasty things -- so I do not trust any church or organization, sorry. I think the philosophy of Catholicism/Christianity is nice, but so is an awful lot of other religions. You ask me if I'm not a "true" Christian because I don't believe my religion is the only way and if it's OK to cherry pick the Bible. I say to you that if I understand the fundamentals and the core of Catholicism/Christianity, I have no choice but to cherry pick the Bible and believe other religions are manifestations of other Aspects of God the way other people can perceive God and thus other alternate ways to reach enlightenment. The very name "Catholic" means "Universal" as in we are supposed to love everyone and everyone should be accepted, for God loves us all and if something says that we should hate and/or kill someone in God's name, that is not a sentiment or teaching that comes from God. One of the only interesting lines, to me, in the movie "The DaVinci Code" was when they arrest the lunatic that has been going around killing "heathens" and the person tells the guy something along the lines of "don't you realize that your God doesn't approve of murderers?" -- in fact, I have no choice but to believe that the passages I discard may have been either a mistranslation, or intentionally put in the Bible to misguide folks into doing bad stuff, for God is supposed to be all love, peace and compassion and a loving, peaceful, compassionate being would not have instructed anyone to carry on some of the terrible things the Bible tells us to do without blinking.

Another source of problem comes from the fact that many people, especially in America, equate "religious" with "decent" -- as if people would not and/or could not be law abiding, moral, decent people unless they were religious. Nothing could be further from the truth: I know plenty of remarkable people who are agnostic/atheists, and an awful lot of nasty, cruel, greedy people (who wouldn't think twice before running over other people with a steam roller) who happen to be religious or even priests. We have all seen the scores of famous people caught with their pants down (pun intended) with prostitutes, drug dealings, stealing, embezzling money from their company and/or their clients etc, all of them hiding behind a religion or another. Usually, when I see someone finding fault with everyone else and shouting about the "sins", I start getting suspicious -- often, although not always, people who cannot control their urges are the first ones to try to eliminate the "sins" or "temptations" for everyone so they don't have to be tempted themselves. It rarely works.

So anyway, depending on who you ask and how you look at it, I'm either religious but don't belong to any church/organization, or I'm doing it all wrong, or I haven't yet realized/accepted that I'm either agnostic or atheist. I don't care what religion, if any, people are. All I care about is that we should be as nice and kind to each other as we possibly can or can stand, and we should either obey the laws or get them changed in case they are out of date (really, was there ever a real problem with people keeping a donkey in a bathtub?). As a matter of fact, I think that after a law has not been enforced for say, 30 years, it should be automatically repealed from the books to avoid selective enforcement (like say, here in Massachusetts, it used to be true that a heterosexual couple could walk around holding hands but a homosexual couple couldn't, because of an old law in the books against "public interdigitation"... really?). The automatic repeal should also come into place as soon as it could be shown that the law was not applied equally to everyone, like say no heterosexual couples have been booked for "sodomy" but lots of homosexual couples? Or you only see black people being booked for prostitution? Or even worse, only the prostitutes are being booked but not the clients (in which case WTF?, if the crime is so bad, why book only one half of the problem? [not, mind you, that I think prostitution should be a crime in a country that is the largest producer and consumer of porn in the planet: how does one distinguish between porn actors and prostitutes, except for the fact that usually, but not always, prostitutes are paid to have sex with the client instead of with each other?]); selective enforcement of laws is one of the worst ways of running a country. I think there should be very few exceptions to this automatic repeal, like say, the laws against treason.

Cheers and Peace,
-- Paulo.

 

[laundromat]

"How do you justify parts of the Bible that condemn hom

vacuumfreeke,the answer to your quesion is that sin is sin.It doesn't matter what the sin is.Not one sin is worse than anyother except for blasfemy of The Holy Spirit.Suicide is a perfect example of that.The pharasees were blasfemers.When Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross and shed His blood,dying for us,our sins were washed away.Our part in this is to stop being so "sin conscious"and know that we are forgiven.Praying helps but God will,in His own time, help to guide those of us who follow Him and believe.Why is it that so many people are totaly against this?It doesn't cost a penny,it's painless,I have a lot more fun being nice to people and giving my love and time to them openly,the many blessings poured down upon us on a daily basis are sometimes unbelievable but true.

 

[jamman_98]

Well here is my 2 cents worth on religion.

I am not sure I will answer the question but here goes.

I was born and raised a Catholic. My parents were good Catholics. My Dad was Methodist and converted because he hated the hellfire and damnation sermons of his hometown church. It is the only faith that I have known. When I moved out away from home, I sought the church in my community and always felt it was home for me. I would also say I am a cafeteria Catholic meaning I choose to believe what I feel is right. I do not always agree with the Pope. I have been involved in different ministries of the church and mostly the past 18 years as a tenor in the choir.

If there is, one thing that has been a struggle for mainline churches is the acceptance of Gay’s. I know the Catholic Church is theologically neutral on the subject, even though some people and church leaders are antigay. I continue my faith in spite of it. I consider myself a man who is Gay and not a Gay man. Here is the difference, I want people to look at me for the human being I am. When you say you are a Gay man, everyone immediately focuses on the sexuality and not the person. I would rather be a good man who is Gay to show that we are not different from everyone else. I hope that this makes sense.

As for the belief in God and how I deal with that, I remember that the Church begins with the New Testament. The best analogy of the difference between the New Testament and Old Testament is that the Old Testament demonstrates life without Jesus Christ and the New Testament is what life is like with Jesus Christ. The greatest commandment is to love one another as you love yourself. What else is there to know? Anything that does not follow that rule is a moot point. Why does God let bad things happen? I am not sure anyone has a definitive answer. I do believe that no man has the right to limit the power and love of God. The bible is not the last word of God either. Look at the beauty of the world inspite of the ugly. When it comes to Gods beauty, I only have to look at my parents. My mom was a wonderful person even though she had health problems all her life and spent the last 7 years with Alzehimers. My Dad was a strong man who I looked up to. I moved back to my hometown to be near him and even though I only had 11 months with him before he died, I appreciate all the moments I had with him. My belief comforts me that they are together and happy and that makes me happy.

I hope this provides some insight. The discussion has many diverse opinions but ultimately, you have to find your own path. Best of luck in your journey.

Joe
Jamman_98

 

[little-edie]

man created god in his own image.......

men wrote the bible. i always thought of it as that days version of "DALLAS"(the TV show) but without shoulder pads. one big extravaganza!

why would a being that could do so much, shoot his wad, hang around for a while, then leave...oh...and come back & kind of have a kid.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Actually man created G-d in his own image.

It appears that Koreans have recently espoused Christianity. I find it FASCINATING that their religious icons (pictures) depict Mother Mary and J.C. as Korean! (Well at least far-east Asian! O M G.

If anything they were cinnamon complected and Middle-Eastern / Arabic in appearance.

 

[oldhouseman]

Views change

over time about this subject. As a historian I can point out that in America nobody alive in the 1600's, 1700's 1800's or even early 1900 would agree with anybody here about the christian church or religion in general today. Or Europe for that matter.

I see church signs that talk about the newly divorced group meetings and such. That was a complete taboo just 60 years ago. The same churches preached against divorce and condemned those people to hell forever. The christian church talks about divorce now as being ok and normal but being homosexual is still a sin.... Come back in 60 years and that same church will pat itself on the back for accepting fags and having little sunday school lessons on how gay people are really good people.

In the 1700's the baptist, and other, religions preached against slavery here in the south up until the plantation society was firmly in place and making vast sums of money.

In the 1790's there were sermons against the evils of that practice. By 1805 the same church and preachers have changed their tune. Those wealthy plantation owners are giving money to the church and didn't want to hear anything bad about slavery so the preachers turned the tide and changed their tune.

By 1820 the churches in the south are talking about and preaching how "negro slavery" is ordained by God himself.

Stonewall Jackson was taken to court in the 1850's for teaching a group of black people to read. He defended himself in court by telling the judge he had to teach them so they could read the bible. The court ruled in his favor. His local reverend argued against it. Jackson won and ironically did not believe in slavery or own slaves although he was a leading General in the Confederate army. He did buy two slaves at an auction once because they were an elderly couple and gave them their freedom. Yet he defended the confederate constitution.

There are many conflicts there just as there are in religion.

Modern religion holds no interest for me. I have many documents at hand to read that tell a great deal about the history of various churches and religions in my state, the nation and other nations. All religions are included.

It is interesting to read the actual sermons preached in the last 270 years here in Georgia. Very telling about a vast number of things.

Politics and control of the population is very evident. Very evident indeed.

A much hated 19th century writer once said "religion is the opium of the masses" (Carl Marx).

I may not quiet agree with him but, from what I have learned as a student of history, religion has played a very great role in the misery and suffering of humankind. It has indeed been at the root cause of most of that suffering.

Our current state of affairs is just one of many examples.

Yet many people still gravitate to it.

Let them have it that need and want it.

I have moved on.

 

[fltcoils]

And after all that....

Everyone hates to follow some acts. But I did enjoy reading everyone's posts, almost, so I guess I have to chime in even if it falls at this point in the thread.

I guess I'm a bit old to find fault or problems where simple solutions lie. You see, behavior issues, to me, are different from philosophy.

 

[fltcoils]

So I'm posting my long winded ideas

So I'm posting my long winded ideas, just my opinion remember

Background:
My mind has been strongly influenced by childhood exposure and events. Those things included the presby church with church ladies and men and other kids. Sci AM had an article on childhood brain formation in march. It seems that neuronal specilizaton and speed optimization is mostly irreversable. Base feeling and motor skill by age 8, logic and reactions by age 18. Surely that puts some things into perspective. I am what I was made into by my parents and experience.

Church memories, those formative experiences, what were they?
Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world
He's got the whole world in His hands
When morning guilds the skies, my heart awakening cries, may Jesus Christ be praised.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory devine.

Anyone else recall good memories with these ideas and songs? I hope so. That's what rings in my heart when I think of God. Love and a challenge to be more than what comes naturally. Church as an outlet to commune with a person who is far far greater than who/what I am. And that’s an important point – thru worship one communes with a real person God Jesus, it’s a real experience and it’s fullfilling and it’s expanding and it’s life giving.

All these things I learned as a child, plus as a young adult I learned the lessons of a supreme creator “Who is there and is not silent” (Frances Schaffer book) lessons which simply fit my mental state. Schaffer’s and Lewis’s philosophy meshed well with how my parents formed my mind and attitudes, and still mesh well when more difficult adult questions of philosophy and personal responsibility arrise.

Is that too obscure to make sense? So what does it mean?

Well, so many controversies with religion and practice seem to be non-religious , seem to be instead about behavior, relations and consequences. Things which are not really about "Does the deity exist and what does Diety expect from us".

God expects you to not commit suicide or murder. DUH. IMHO

Really now, does discussion of religion have to turn about lifestyle, the consequences of bad behavior, or bad upbringing? I didn't brush my wisdom tooth, it rotted, I'm going to have it out in a few hours. What exactly does a Diety or religion discussion contribute to that? If I fail to bathe, or choose to not take time to wash my clothes can I complain if others choose to distance themselves from me, a person who is wearing stuf which is unwashed and full of crud/insects?

What if it's my mind that hasn't bathed lately, that is full of crud?
Or what if it's my spirit that is unkept and crappy?

You see, one does have a body and spirit, or at least many many persons wiser than I have explained things so. Together they make one a living soul. It’s up to you what shape that soul is in. Not religion, not God. Up to you, it’s your soul, it’s you who faces the consequences for your choices. The consequences for self-inflicted injury to body soul spirit are one's own. That sounds rather harsh, but thank goodness Jesus Christ gave an example prayer to people which adressed this (cause God gives a shit)

"..give us this day our needs
and forgive us our sin, as we forgive those who sin against us
Remove from us that which can be tempted
and get us out of trouble we get ourselves into"

There are 1000s of writings concerning how to be healthy in body soul and spirit. A huge variety of faiths with communities leading people in directions seeking such. I live with the results of my upbringing, and find that knowing a God who manifested as Jesus Christ to be the way leader to fit who I am. I’m lazy, I don’t want to grab a rug every few hours and bow down. I pray sitting at the computer, driving, assembling solenoids, walking in the park. I love the creation and all the variety in the world, I sing those "Jesus loves the little chidren" songs during the day. And I can smile knowing Jesus deeply wants to commune with me, no matter how stupid or dumb I’ve choosen to be. So much so that he’s not afraid of my dirty clothes or spirit. But he'd rather I took a bath, and brushed my teeth.

That’s my points on, What is religion? Just my opinon of course, subjective and all that

1) God is there and is not silent, God cares and wants to commune with you
2) Maintainence of good health, (body soul spirit) and the consequences of same have little to do with religion, it just falls out from cause effect. But God offers to help despite one’s mistakes for carrying on in daily life.
3) Various faith communities attempt to facilitate these necessities, and they can be found in as many forms as there are locations/people.
4)Brush or your teeth will rot and fall our, or worse infect your jaw and kill you.

I'm off to the tooth puller. bye

 

[spankomatic]

Religion a Myth?.... Anyone read The Power of Myth? Bill Moyers interviews Joseph Campbell. You can get it in book form or DVD. Pretty interesting...

Jim

 

[toggleswitch2]

Now, at my age it's a term of endearment... *LOL*

The Power of Myth?

Jeez and I used to become upset when I was called..

"Oh Myth...."

 

[irishwashguy]

I grew up in church

I even attended a big and private University in Provo, Utah where I came out of the closet. Since that time leaving my church,and yet taking the some of it with me, because of it being so ingraned in me, even being an out gay man. They did not approve of my lifestye, what if it was that I did not approve of theirs? I do not want to off on a tangent like that at this moment. I served a full time mission for the LDS church and was quized alot. I also had alot of time to think about what the scriptures say. I guess I have come to the conclusion that if someone wants to condem me for being gay based on somethings that were written several thousand years ago, that is there problem. It also talks about not eating seafood and pigs, What does that have to do with anything? I like to think that it is up to me and you to really put a value on that. Or the first food fight in the bible ----I looked up and I beheld a flying roll----so that is ok, or what am I really looking at, I believe that God is way bigger than I could explain in a sentence, a book, a scripture. That we are closer to God that we have ever realized.. That Heaven is within and Hell if you want it. We are on a journy of discovery of who we are really in unfolding concisness of that laying itself out for greatness.If i find it in prayer, or meditation, Phabulous! Or in a Mosque, or waling down the street whistling a tune,or the humming of a Lady Kenmore, God's currency is Ideas...... if I listen, i know that I will hear what I am really seeking.Is it happiness, or Happiness! I get to choose. What do I feel lead twards and by? What do I and everyone think?What ever church one belongs to is not as inportant to me, and the principal of it. Your atitude will always follow your altitude. I do attend church, where everyone is embraced, gay or straight. Where ever you are on lifes journey, you are welcome here, I hear it every Sunday.I have a few friends that call themselves recovering Cathorlics, or as one of them says, Expanded Catholic. i guess that I would be an expanded Mormon, i still don't drink coffee. All and all, one does not have to go to church to be close to God, although, it is nice to have a group of people for support, kind of like our group here, same thing. i believe that it can all be a path to God.

 

[neptunebob]

I never dreamed I would learn so much on a washer web site!

Religion, psychology, history, English writing, Greek history, social studies, political science - boy am I learning a lot from this thread and I don't have to pay thousands of dollars in student loans!

You would never learn all this in an MBA program!

 

[gizmo]

A couple of semi-religious anecdotes...

I was raised pentecostal from about age 7 or 8 till 18. We had to go to church like it or not. Although my mother experienced what she perceives as a miracle (major health problems which rapidly went away after being prayed for), it was never as real to me. However I would never argue against its reality to her.
Our family were catholic till my mother's experience, then she changed to the pentecostals. I went to catholic school till grade 2, then changed to the local state school. When my mother went in to the catholic school to un-enroll my sister and me, the nun said to her, "I don't care about you, but you are sending your children to hell."
I had been friends with a girl called Carmel at the catholic school. I never saw her when I changed to the state school. The two schools met at one corner, each recess and lunch a pile of kids at each corner would shout religious insults across the fence. All hate taught by their loving Christian parents.
When I went to high school, I met up with Carmel again. As there was no catholic high school nearby, the catholic kids all went to the state high school. I said, "hi Carmel." She said, "you know as far as God is concerned, you are still a Catholic." We became very good friends through high school. In the later years of high school we had a "senior wing" where the newest building at the school was reserved for the last two years students. It had a student lounge where we could sit and hang out, drink coffee. Nearby was the stairs to the upper floor, at times you could see a pair of shoes coming down the stairs, then more as the person came lower down the stairs. One day Carmel and I were sitting in the lounge, a pair of light blue levis started coming down the stairs. As more of the person came into view, Carmel giggled to me, "Oh I love how Greg fills out a pair of levis." She was right, that denim was under strain. His face was not yet visible but you knew it was Greg.

As a late teenager I started to realize I was gay. One of the giveaways was when we all mingled after the church service, I couldn't keep my eyes off the fantastic bulge in my friend's jeans. Gorgeous guy, really filled out a pair of tight levis. (It was the late 1970s, tight was in) The church was very anti-gay, preached some horrible junk about how homosexuals coined the term "gay" to disguise how miserable and empty their lives were. Nasty stuff.
They had a time in the service where people would speak in tongues, or call out that they had been given a message for the congregation. (that someone had a particular problem, and they should go forward to be prayed for.) One day the pastor called out that it had been "laid on his heart" that a young man or men in the room had been indulging in (pause for dramatic effect...) Masturbation! Well duh! There were about 15 young guys in the room, that was a pretty good bet. All sinking down in their seats trying to be invisible.

When I was 17 there was an exchange student at my school who was from the USA. We were very good friends and his parents offered I could be an exchange student next year and stay with them. My parents agreed on condition I find a similar church to ours and attend each week. When I went over, my host mom helped me find something that sounded OK. I went once, towards the end of the service the pastor noticed I was a new face and asked me about myself and my church. I told them I was an exchange student from AU and what flavour of church I went to at home. In front of the whole congregation he asked me, "your church, do they believe that the father, son and holy spirit are three aspects of one being, or three separate beings?" I replied, "I'm not sure what they believe, does it really matter?" He almost exploded. "Does it matter? we split from the (XYZ church) over that very issue. Of course it matters!"
I never went back.

I never could get back into it when I got home. All the talking love and compassion out of one side of their mouths, and hate and damnation from the other. I am happier away from it.

chris.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Orthodox Christians cross themselves- spectacles, testicles, right the left. Catholic Christians S, T, left, then right.

In a country that has those two religions and Islamic inhabitants, if you did not know how or did it "the wrong way" (at some government inquiry; think "Ethinic Cleansing") you were executed. This was done to children as well.

This is not what spirituality is about.

 

[jeffg]

What's spooky is the similarity between "evangelical" Christians and "fundamentalist" Islamics. They're two sides of the same fascist coin, and both groups are more than happy to see the Earth destroyed rather than open their minds and hearts. IMO it's genuinely satanic in both cases.

I think I posted this interview link a few weeks ago, but it's worth the time to understand the desperate mentality behind these "religions".

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=204675-1

 

[volsboy1]

I have always had TONS of Problems when it comes to religion.I grew up on a huge Dairy Farm in Tenn and my family are Church of Chirst.This is NOTHING like the united Church of Chirst at all(No offence).Our church goes by the motto speake were the bible speaks silent were it dont.I am gay and also suffer from Left-Temprol Lobe Epilepsy other wise the GOD Center.I have Religious feelings alot I can't explain it but its a Wonderful feeling but it also means a sezure is near(Grand-Mal)I feel like I leave my body my soul that is and is being pulled into another realm of light and assended to another plain.Its very Scary but its the most beautiful thing in the world.I have been told that alot of the Prophets/Saints from the ages had Sezures or Fits.So I know from going through it over and over where they would feel like God was there cause that is how it feels for me.I have my own releationship with God but I do have so many questions about so many things.For me though Love and Light is what its all about and this life is only the begining.