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Personally I can't embrace either the new or the old Church, but I see where you went with your own faith, MoMark.
The Catholic Church as I understood it, pre-VII, didn't allow for much questioning, and very little dialogue--possibly with the exception of the Jesuits. Post-VII (and I know Mark S will come along and correct me ) no clear leadership was provided for a smooth transition.
These are just my observations and opinions, but I do recall when I lived in a small community and we had only one church, multi-demoninationally so to speak, Catholics were aghast at the participation of the Nuns (about 1984, I reckon). Yet the congregation had no avenue for discussion and exploration of this newness.
With the born-again movement, and someone can correct me here, dialogue and discussion was integral to the faith.
But, this is off topic for YapCity's question and I think he deserves the floor!
First, was I saying that radical Christians behead people? I didn't even come close. Only narrow-minded people who have a knee-jerk reaction to any points that progressives make would draw that conclusion. I was making a comparison of the negative public perception the two groups have.
Second, James Dobson is so mainstream that when he made stops in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis last fall to buck up support against those evil Democrats, he was playing to 3/4-empty arenas. He's an extremist lunatic, and if you consider him mainstream, then we're so far apart that we probably don't have much else to talk about.
You specifically compared radical muslims to radical christians in which you consider Dobson one of them.
As to not take this thread off topic, i would love for you to PM me, just a few of James Dobson positions that put him in the extremist lunatic catagory.
Ok, first i dont think your being too harsh i am not one of these hypersensitive types! My point was that it was sort of like you asking hey what do you think of this? and then when those of us with a differing opinion told you what we thought, you came back at us with how dare you say that! only with lots of pent up hostility and indignation. Like we just started cramming our beliefs down your throat, you asked! kind of like the movie,I want the Truth! You cant handle the truth! "from our point of veiw" Respectfully!
I think I might have been being overly defensive. I don't mean "how dare you say that". What I mean is, "based on what do you make your claims?". I guess I am SO fed up with "because the bible says so" lol. That line just makes me freak.
The truth is, there are MANY similarities between not only the directives of all religions, but those that many atheists follow as well. The greatest difference between all of them is the motivation behind the thought, as well as the execution. That's why I get along so well with my Christian friends. I know they believe, they know I don't, but we both know where the other's heart is. That's what counts.
They don't preach to me, and I don't make any "invisible man in the sky" comments to them either. One of them asked me one day "so what do you believe in?". I said "Well, I don't believe in any one set of beliefs. I make my own decisions with everything." He then said "Well what guides you? Do you at least believe in the 10 commandments?". I said "No, I don't believe in them as commandments per say. I believe in most of them as the rules of society." Of course he started to ask all sorts of other questions, and we eventually realized we end up at the same conclusion with many things. Of course, there are some differences, but nothing we don't mutually understand.
The key to my relationship with every one of my Christian(as well as other religions) friends is I never try to invalidate their beliefs. The same goes for them. They never try to "sell" me on Christianity, Hinduism, or Buddhism. They might tell me what they believe, and I might respond with my belief, but we don't argue, and we don't judge each other.
Thanks for sharing this. I think for me my ire is raised when I feel preached to and directed by those with differing beliefs. They are entitled to theirs, as I am entitled to mine. It is when I feel others are invalidating me that I get steamed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by YapCity
The key to my relationship with every one of my Christian friends is I never try to invalidate their beliefs. The same goes for them. They never try to "sell" me on Christianity, Hinduism, or Buddhism. They might tell me what they believe, and I might respond with my belief, but we don't argue, and we don't judge each other.
Would you share your resources? I would be very interested to know what authors, books, websites and other resources you've used to gain this information. This is a genuine request, not want to get beneath your skin...which I can be good at from time to time.
I couldn't possibly share my resources, because this is something I studied a WHILE ago and don't have anything readily available. However, here are some resources I found that may interest you, and that you might find credible...
One of the funniest threads I've ever read on the Internet was titled something like "HELP! HOW DO I STOP MORMONS FROM KNOCKING ON MY DOOR TRYING TO RECRUIT ME?" It was hysterical! It not only covered tips for keeping your door shut but also tips on how to get rid of religious fanatics once they enter your house!
One of the funniest threads I've ever read on the Internet was titled something like "HELP! HOW DO I STOP MORMONS FROM KNOCKING ON MY DOOR TRYING TO RECRUIT ME?" It was hysterical! It not only covered tips for keeping your door shut but also tips on how to get rid of religious fanatics once they enter your house!
I started talking to an imaginary friend once, and introduced him, lol. I was feeling frisky, and had a lot of fun with it.
You specifically compared radical muslims to radical christians in which you consider Dobson one of them.
As to not take this thread off topic, i would love for you to PM me, just a few of James Dobson positions that put him in the extremist lunatic catagory.
Thanks, but no thanks. That man doesn't deserve any more of my time and energy than I've given him in this thread. He makes my skin crawl, I know many others that he has the same effect on, and that's enough for me. To each his own.
I started talking to an imaginary friend once, and introduced him, lol. I was feeling frisky, and had a lot of fun with it.
-TT
I can't remember all of the tips in that thread, but some of them sure were funny. I remember one woman said her husband would yawn and start removing his clothes while talking to them. It was kind of a joke to see how much he could remove before they said they had to go!
Religious types will always want to preach and will always have the “Holier Than Thou” attitude, or try to quote you from a flawed book to prove their misguided beliefs. Religious types will always see us atheist or (antitheist like me) as arrogant and condescending. I guess using logic is condescending.
I've learned we can make this a 30 page thread (I have) and all parties will end up with the same convictions from page 1. Let technology, science and evolution take it's course. Like I said in another thread, who or whatever is alive 1000 years from now will refer to Christianity, Islam and Judaism exactly the way we view Roman, Egyptian, and Greek religion, as mythology. You are already using reasonably and logical thought, be content with that. Teach your kids and hope for the best.
Last edited by PrettyHateMachine; 02-24-2007 at 04:22 PM..
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) no clear leadership was provided for a smooth transition.
