God gave us the gift of our sexuality and in the early Church priests were married. God never demanded celibate priests, the Church of Rome run by old men did that. Why?
the candlesticks!
Seems that some widows of priests considered the gold altar candlesticks their own. Rome was displeased and celibacy was their solution.
Sometimes I wonder if Rome ever thinks to compare the saved candlesticks to the ruined lives of molested children?
Religion, religion, religion!! My gawd people this re-stating of the fallacies of man to make a very poorly stated point is getting old! Rome was/is corrupt..NOT new news! The Reformation was to fix that....no, wait, corrupt to! Hmmm, what's the common denominator there?........tell me not!..it's man again!
While the plight of molested children is a favorite topic of hate to pile on the Catholic church there are much worse atrocities laid down throughout history by this fine institution of "man". Don't get me going on the "Reformers"!!
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A nobody telling everybody about Somebody.
Religion, religion, religion!! My gawd people this re-stating of the fallacies of man to make a very poorly stated point is getting old! Rome was/is corrupt..NOT new news! The Reformation was to fix that....no, wait, corrupt to! Hmmm, what's the common denominator there?........tell me not!..it's man again!
While the plight of molested children is a favorite topic of hate to pile on the Catholic church there are much worse atrocities laid down throughout history by this fine institution of "man". Don't get me going on the "Reformers"!!
You and I agree on most you have said in this thread.
I went to a Christian (non-denominational) school for most of my life. I have read the Bible cover to cover. I have memorized damn-near whole pages for 'testing' while in school. I had a whole hour, every day, devoted to 'praise and worship'.
Am I Christian today? No. I raised my BS flag when I was a kid. I mean, really... a TALKING, BURNING bush? A man LIVED in a whale? Ten rules were literally 'set in stone' by God? After I left this school and joined a large public high school, I realized I wasn't alone in thinking religion is just a vice for power and control. Ever seen the Book of Eli with Will Smith?
I have no problem with any religion. Just don't try to shove it down my throat.
My take on this is that it is up to God to decide which religion is appropiate. I would think he would accept all religions that recognize him, but I don't know.
Ref, I went many years agreeing with that till it hit me I'd reversed the equation.
If any religion is what God intended He wouldn't be left to sort out which is near enough to His intentions to get included with it. This is God we're speaking of and I have little doubt he'd have cleaned out more than a few Temples by now making his point as to which he meant us to follow.
Nor do I see religion often as interested in serving His wishes as it's own priorities.
"but I don't know."
Nor do any of us but we sure try hard to sort out his wishes and do the best we can. I thank Catholicism and the Commandments for giving me a good outline as to behavior. I have little use for hidden pedo priests and the Old Boys Club of Rome anymore.
In the end I simply noticed I was growing spiritually better outside religion than I had within. I like it and I'm pragmatic. As long as this seems to work for myself and God I remain irreligious and aglow within.
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I'll believe corporations are persons when Texas executes one.: LBJ's Ghost
Ref, I went many years agreeing with that till it hit me I'd reversed the equation.
If any religion is what God intended He wouldn't be left to sort out which is near enough to His intentions to get included with it. This is God we're speaking of and I have little doubt he'd have cleaned out more than a few Temples by now making his point as to which he meant us to follow.
Nor do I see religion often as interested in serving His wishes as it's own priorities.
"but I don't know."
Nor do any of us but we sure try hard to sort out his wishes and do the best we can. I thank Catholicism and the Commandments for giving me a good outline as to behavior. I have little use for hidden pedo priests and the Old Boys Club of Rome anymore.
In the end I simply noticed I was growing spiritually better outside religion than I had within. I like it and I'm pragmatic. As long as this seems to work for myself and God I remain irreligious and aglow within.
Great points Blucher! I have not attended church in a while. I do have a personal relationship through prayer. I guess you could call me a christian without a religious tag attached to me. There are just too many interpretations causing different religions. My dentist is a member of a religion that I will not point out here in the open forum but they believe only their flock will go to heaven. I wholeheartly disagree with that, it just does not make sense to me.
I like this quotation from the following link......
this is how I live my life...you can
read this in the writings of the link...
hope everyone takes the time to read it..
...
QUOTE:
“I would rather live my life believing there was a god, and when I died find out there wasn’t, than live my life believing there wasn’t a god, and when I died find out there was."
why can't someone be good all on their own and be fine? Is god really that spiteful?
Define good. Without some standard to judge against, there can be no idea of good or bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedJeepXJ
I can't imagine living like you do thinking you are living in sin and everything that an imaginary mythical being you've never said thinks is bad as determined by modern day people from a 2000 year old book written by man..... seems it would be an awfully depressing way to live
I find that the opposite is true. I can't imagine having no hope for life beyond what i can grasp in my hand. If there's really nothing but black emptyness after death, why bother to live at all.
Also, why would the age of the bible matter? Truth will remain true regardless of the changing opinion of society. If people start not to believe in gravity, will that change the fact of it's existence?
Define good. Without some standard to judge against, there can be no idea of good or bad.
doing things that are ethical, that help other people live together as a community instead of harming them or dividing them from society, that would be good
however a book that encourages stoning women who have unmarried sex and encourages all other kinds of attrocities or at least anti-social behavior that divides a community is bad.
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I find that the opposite is true. I can't imagine having no hope for life beyond what i can grasp in my hand. If there's really nothing but black emptyness after death, why bother to live at all.
so fear of death drives you to religion as it encourages you that there is more despite no evidence of such "afterlife"
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Also, why would the age of the bible matter? Truth will remain true regardless of the changing opinion of society. If people start not to believe in gravity, will that change the fact of it's existence?
gravity is a scientific theory (observable fact), nothing in the bible has done anything to prove the religion is the "one", yes it's an old book but there is nothing that makes it "the" truth, in fact a lot of the stories are borrowed from other religions and cultures not to mention all the inaccuracies in the bible itself that would destroy any credibility from a logical perspective.
doing things that are ethical, that help other people live together as a community instead of harming them or dividing them from society, that would be good
so forcing your ideals on someone else to keep them in society as opposed to separated from it would be "good"?
you also need to define ethical. without either perfect good or evil to compare it to, there is no way to determine what is good or bad.
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Originally Posted by RedJeepXJ
so fear of death drives you to religion as it encourages you that there is more despite no evidence of such "afterlife"
Nope, fear of death keeps me from becoming a daredevil. It's the emptiness that the world offers and the holes in modern scientific theories that makes me search for a higher purpose to life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedJeepXJ
gravity is a scientific theory (observable fact), nothing in the bible has done anything to prove the religion is the "one", yes it's an old book but there is nothing that makes it "the" truth, in fact a lot of the stories are borrowed from other religions and cultures not to mention all the inaccuracies in the bible itself that would destroy any credibility from a logical perspective.
The bible has been found to be the most historically accurate tome known to man. Time and again the inaccuracies therein have been proven to be true after discovering physical evidence. (eg-the longheld view that Pontius Pilot never existed, proven wrong with the discovery of coins that held his image.)
Logic is not the enemy of faith, but it's champion.
I have not attended church in a while. I do have a personal relationship through prayer. I guess you could call me a christian without a religious tag attached to me. There are just too many interpretations causing different religions. My dentist is a member of a religion that I will not point out here in the open forum but they believe only their flock will go to heaven. I wholeheartly disagree with that, it just does not make sense to me.
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