More on religion….

[Amon-Sul]

@ncscswitch:

But seriously…
The problem, at least as I see it as a Neo-Pagan living in the Bible Belt, is that far too many of my neighbors have totally closed minds.  They will not see anyone beyond their own faith as anything more than either the “enemy” or as a target for conversion.  But MOST folks, when they are honest with themselves, actually ARE open to understanding others… if they can get past the dogma that precludes it.

It is my HOPE that people will eventually outstrip their religious leaders and move toward understanding and co-existence. 
It is my FEAR that they never will and a very small, radical and bitter few will retain control of the many who follow…

just two things i taugt its important to say

and i wont disloyal my religious leader( pope ) but that doesnt mean i dont try to live in co-existence, and that i dont live in co-existence with my compatriots, but sometimes the other side is reserved and i dont want to force anything

recently in  Europe we had a big event
Taize meeting, which is held every year
40 000 young christians from all over Europe gathered in one place and were put in families, neverthelles are they catholic, protestant, orthodox

Every day there was a prayer in each parish for all young people which came there and it was in ˝Taize spirit˝ so acceptable to both catholics, protestant and orthodox
Every day animators from the home perishes were dividing the guests into groups and then they were debating about religion, or some moral issues, mostly things connected with religion
Each day was also a chance for young guests to pick something to visit for in the town;   to go to mosque, to go convent, to visit some war veterans and to have a chance to speak to all the people they encounter

every day was several things in offer, concerts also so you could only have a chance to catch 1 or 2 activities
and neither this activities, nor the prayers in the Church,  and the debates in schools werent obligatory, people could look around the city whole day if they wanted

New year was celerated in every parish mostly at schools,  my exp is that it was something really great
personally i wanted to go to mosque, as in my country a majority of people is islamofobic, and since i respect muslims  a lot, but i wasnt able to
the muslim community in Zagreb invited all the christians(  catholic, protestant, orthodox ) to come to  mosque and they invited peple for a concert of their lady´s choir

all people had to take of theri shues, and women had to cover their hads, it was winter so i think there werent much problem with unproperly dressed women

and the reactions after this event in the mosque and after entire thing( which was 5 days ) was simply fantastic, whole 5 days passed without a single inciddent, well  it wasn perfect, but it was truly great

so what i am trying to say is that you dont have to resign your own faith to live in co-existence with others, if you live by your faith,   if its a ˝good˝ faith then you should the more you˝are in to it˝ be much better as a person, as human, you ll respect others more,

co-existence, that is it :-) 8-) :wink:

[Jermofoot]

@Amon-Sul:

I put ˝ateist˝ like this. Beacuse i believe( and many people and teologists agree) that there simply are no ateists. Every man believes, the tendecies towards faiths is implanted in every human. And there is none which hadnt had supernatural experience, who hasnt feeled God´s love, neither he is aware of it or not.

Ok, I missed the quotes, or didn’t understand their use.
I would agree that spirituality is common within humans (I feel it, for sure), but that doesn’t mean one faith is right and others wrong.  In fact, it’s an argument against organized religion.

Just if someone says he is an ateist it doesnt have to be so. He can lie, or he could be wrong

Well, I would say I’m more agnostic than atheist, but it’s somewhat a blend of both.  I know I can’t say for sure, and I’m not saying God doesn’t exist (like I said, if God exists for you, then God exists in some manner), but more that I don’t care either way - it doesn’t change things for me.

i  never said this, you can even die as an ˝ateist˝ and save maybe, God´s grace is boundless. Its just didnt all people receive the same, so all wouldnt be treated the same

i am not encouraging you to continue like this, afcorse but you are indeed condemning you with your own words, and it will turn you back in this world, hope not in the other for your sake

There are plenty of people of your faith that think I’m going to hell, just because I don’t share the beliefs that you hold.  I don’t care that they think that - they can think what they want - just leave me alone about it, especially when I find it entirely counter to their faith.

i dont know, even if he is, that doesnt mean i am going to send him PM and tell him to convert, i could do that, but i dont see it as a good solution in my heart
i respect him, and if he is a beliver, or monoteist, or even christian than i am happy for him:)

Then you have a better grasp of your faith and human relations than many of your brethren.  But what about those that don’t believe?  They could just as easily damn you with their faith because you don’t agree.

no it isnt in that, you can disagree with me here, but the way in which you act is what matters,  you are trying to sotonize the Church and even dont believe that Satan exists, well , ididnt mean anything bad here so…

Sotonize?
I’m not sure what you mean there, but I was saying that settlement wasn’t out of line because the Diocese mishandled multiple cases for decades.  I wasn’t saying that the Church really is a bunch of pedophiles.

what is snark? i dont suggest anything, i dont want to destroy you or anybody else, and when did i mentioned you to convert to christianity, so what if i say something about my faith ii immediately means i wont to convert you, man,  if your country has been 400 years under torture of Otoman rule you would know what means forcing to convert
this is simply ridiculous

Snark can often seem rude, but I often rely on it for humorous effect, albeit at your expense.  You could describe it as a sarcastic or blunt remark that ridicules another’s comment, roughly.  You don’t see it so much in person, especially with people you don’t know, for obvious reasons.
I’m sorry about your occupation, but you can then understand how many Christians act in the US, such as Switch describes.

again you are acusing me for something i have never said, or even if i said earlier on this forum what i wihdrawn

i respect other religions, other people, and dont hate ateists

take the Holy Father´s words, and tell me what he damns, if you are refering to that speach about islam, it was put out of context, pope was in fact said several times what he thinks about islam and muslims, so…

How was I accusing you?  I was speaking generally about many religions.

and sorry, but i dont have more will for this beacuse it simply takes much time

I understand that, you’ve done enough to try to smooth the situation, thank you.  I think our cultural and language barriers are getting us into something that we weren’t trying to go to.

i just hope the priests if they are guilty will be sentenced and that Church will strengtheen, and fight against pedofila and other evil with more decision

Well, I hope the Diocese has learned its lesson…

@ncscswitch:

Hey, no sweat.  I have lost 2 jobs in NC because of religion.  I lost 1 for wearing a pentacle ring.

Dude, that wasn’t about religion, that was about bad taste.  :-P

[Guest]

I would say that wearing a dead guy nailed to boards around one’s neck is far poorer taste…

[Jermofoot]

@ncscswitch:

I would say that wearing a dead guy nailed to boards around one’s neck is far poorer taste…

Oh, I know and agree.  I just don’t like jewelry and was razzing you a bit.

It reminds me of the Bill Hick’s routine about how wearing a cross is creepy.  Like wearing an electric chair.  Or, in the case that you’d meet Jackie Kennedy, a rifle (if you liked JFK).

[Guest]

Well, a Pentacle is not a dead guy.  Just an elemental and Earth Mother representation (in many of the Wiccan and other Neo-Pagan traditions anyway, I would not presume to speak for all of them).

[balungaloaf]

its mostly just the cross that people wear.  sometimes they do have Jesus on it though.

[Jermofoot]

@ncscswitch:

Well, a Pentacle is not a dead guy.  Just an elemental and Earth Mother representation (in many of the Wiccan and other Neo-Pagan traditions anyway, I would not presume to speak for all of them).

On that note, how many people called your pentacle a pentagram and accused you of Satanism?

[balungaloaf]

they look similar.  kind of like the crucifix and the cross.

[Yemble]

symbols are forever changing and being interperated differently.  For a long time the main symbol for christianity was not the cross but a fish.  Most people do not associate the cross with a method of execution anytime.  Indeed many people do not know that crusafixion was a popular form of punishment back then.  They identify it soley with jesus.  Same as how people associate the swastika to nazis now.

[Guest]

Like the upside down cross is a satanic symbol, so too in many neo-Pagan traditions is the upside down pentacle (or pentagram) a perversion.  Not all though, at least a few use the Pentagram as a symbol of attaining 2nd Degree.  And to them it makes no matter, since Satan is not a part of most neo-pagan religions.

As for symbols changing…
Are y’all aware of how many schools attempted to ban Stars of David about 6-8 years ago because it was a “gang symbol”?  They quickly ran afoul of various groups like the ADL and lost repeatedly in court.

[balungaloaf]

and yet they can ban the girls chastity ring as being too religious.

damn the liberal hypocracy.

[Guest]

Chastity ring?

Please explain…

[NoMercy]

I think he is referring to the girl who believes in Sex after marriage (Christian Faith) and she wore a bracelet to represent that she believed in it.

[Guest]

OK, I knew the concept, but never was aware of a particular jewelry identifier.

[Jermofoot]

@ncscswitch:

OK, I knew the concept, but never was aware of a particular jewelry identifier.

Pretty ironic to me.  Ring + finger = sexual mimicry