"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." - 2 Timothy 4: 3-4
Even as an atheist, I admit the bible, as I'm sure is true for many/most religious texts, contains some great wisdom. It's that it's also loaded with contradictions and nonsense which can be exploited by the opportunistic and the ignorant that concerns me.
Brought up in the Church of Christ, this was a favorite preacher's assessment of...the Roman Catholic Church.
Now, an atheist, I see it as the description of religion in general. Mark Twain's "Letters From the Earth" should be required reading to earn a high school diploma in America. He gives the bible credit, when it deserves credit, and criticism when it needs to be criticized, which is the case in much greater proportion of the time.
Why is belief in a supernatural cosmic entity with absolutely zero evidence not regarded as psychotic? IтАЩm serious. тАЬGodтАЭ is a preposterous idea.
That explains why, over 50 years ago, my late husbandтАЩs grandfather was aghast when we entered the Catholic Church after heтАЩd been raised in the Church of Christ.
There is still a lot of anti-Catholic sentiment in a variety of Protestant and Evangelical cults. My father did not really see Catholics as true Christians... and CERTAINLY did not see Mormons as Christians.
Looking at the current Supreme Court (not to mention the 'judge' in Texas) and its actions there might well be a lot of anti-Catholic sentiment (morally and politically, not personally) in the general population.
It is ironic that it is always the Jews who are accused of having divided loyalties . . .
Just wait till the issue of which date Easter should be comes up. Or whether the host is the transubstantiated body of Christ. Or whether salvation is by faith or good works. We already KNOW of the wars fought over such things.
And the Catholic Church reciprocates those feelings, hence, among other things, the restriction on who can receive the Sacrament of Communion from a priest.
True, that. My wife is Catholic and has been denied communion in her home church for over 31 years. A year or two ago, her best friend introduced her to a young Catholic priest in Ft. Worth who assured her that restriction had been rescinded. It took a few months, but the Catholic church in the community where we now live does allow her to participate.
Good point. History unfortunately is replete with examples of that. Social systems are very slow to change; technology moves increasingly rapidly. We are losing our ability to control the advent of technology and in many ways already have. As technology continues to change our daily lives and casts us into uncharted waters, our defense is reactionary rather than proactive. But for us to rationally manage technological "progress", we need to be well-educated and rational. We (and I mean humans, not just Americans) are neither.
From the Chicago Tribune: When Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson was running for president in the 1950s, a supporter purportedly said to him: "Every thinking person in America will be voting for you." Stevenson replied, "I'm afraid that won't do тАФ I need a majority."
Here's another Adlai S joke: He was in his Senate office and an aide walked in and said "Gale Sayers is here to see you sir." He looked up and asked "Who's she?"
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." - 2 Timothy 4: 3-4
Even as an atheist, I admit the bible, as I'm sure is true for many/most religious texts, contains some great wisdom. It's that it's also loaded with contradictions and nonsense which can be exploited by the opportunistic and the ignorant that concerns me.
Brought up in the Church of Christ, this was a favorite preacher's assessment of...the Roman Catholic Church.
Now, an atheist, I see it as the description of religion in general. Mark Twain's "Letters From the Earth" should be required reading to earn a high school diploma in America. He gives the bible credit, when it deserves credit, and criticism when it needs to be criticized, which is the case in much greater proportion of the time.
Why is belief in a supernatural cosmic entity with absolutely zero evidence not regarded as psychotic? IтАЩm serious. тАЬGodтАЭ is a preposterous idea.
I believe it was either Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins who said that forcing religion on children was child abuse.
That explains why, over 50 years ago, my late husbandтАЩs grandfather was aghast when we entered the Catholic Church after heтАЩd been raised in the Church of Christ.
There is still a lot of anti-Catholic sentiment in a variety of Protestant and Evangelical cults. My father did not really see Catholics as true Christians... and CERTAINLY did not see Mormons as Christians.
Looking at the current Supreme Court (not to mention the 'judge' in Texas) and its actions there might well be a lot of anti-Catholic sentiment (morally and politically, not personally) in the general population.
It is ironic that it is always the Jews who are accused of having divided loyalties . . .
There's nothing more ludicrous than a standard Christian throwing shade at Mormons for their bizarre beliefs.
Just wait till the issue of which date Easter should be comes up. Or whether the host is the transubstantiated body of Christ. Or whether salvation is by faith or good works. We already KNOW of the wars fought over such things.
And the Catholic Church reciprocates those feelings, hence, among other things, the restriction on who can receive the Sacrament of Communion from a priest.
True, that. My wife is Catholic and has been denied communion in her home church for over 31 years. A year or two ago, her best friend introduced her to a young Catholic priest in Ft. Worth who assured her that restriction had been rescinded. It took a few months, but the Catholic church in the community where we now live does allow her to participate.
Limbo a dealbreaker for sure. We kids in catholic school were like What? Nope
Many of us Jews see Jesus as an outstanding rabbi (teacher) whose story was hijacked by a man named Paul.
If Jesus suddenly appeared on earth today, he would feel much more at home in a synagogue than in an evangelical super-mega church.
Or an AA meeting. Or a voter registration drive. Or a farmer's market. Almost anywhere except a church.
But would the synagogue welcome Him? A jobless hippie is a dress?
It's funny how the MAGA Christians accuse everyone else of doing this with the MSM.
The Fox Dominion case sort of is the slam dunk of proving that truly Fox is literally willing to lie in order to keep its viewers' ears tickled.
It's amazing how people don't change. Over a thousand years ago, people knew their deal. We just need the wisdom to heed the warnings.
We don't change and we aren't that different from one another. That's why 'it' (whatever that is) CAN happen here.
Good point. History unfortunately is replete with examples of that. Social systems are very slow to change; technology moves increasingly rapidly. We are losing our ability to control the advent of technology and in many ways already have. As technology continues to change our daily lives and casts us into uncharted waters, our defense is reactionary rather than proactive. But for us to rationally manage technological "progress", we need to be well-educated and rational. We (and I mean humans, not just Americans) are neither.
I wish you were not right about that.
From the Chicago Tribune: When Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson was running for president in the 1950s, a supporter purportedly said to him: "Every thinking person in America will be voting for you." Stevenson replied, "I'm afraid that won't do тАФ I need a majority."
Here's another Adlai S joke: He was in his Senate office and an aide walked in and said "Gale Sayers is here to see you sir." He looked up and asked "Who's she?"
Ain't that the truth
Well, I agree my comment was simplistic, since I was looking at it from one side only. To look at it comprehensively, one would need to write a book.