Church ...

• ernest_t_bass

  

  wkfan;1851891 wrote:Agreed....but cannot be applied equally to all.

  In Heretic's stereotype, it can be applied to the majority.
• wkfan

  ernest_t_bass;1851896 wrote:In Heretic's stereotype, it can be applied to the majority.

  I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion....even someone like you.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  wkfan;1851897 wrote:I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion....even someone like you.

  I'm not offended by your opinion.
• HitsRus

  

  Hey, don't you know you can stereotype Christians? But other groups...why that's bigoted!
• Heretic

  

  ernest_t_bass;1851896 wrote:In Heretic's stereotype, it can be applied to the majority.

  I don't know I'd go that far, as I don't think enough people really put enough thought into what they're doing with church other than "social obligation" or "if I go, I'll get to heaven!" to really be worth stereotyping in that manner. They're more like the sort of person who talks about working out and getting fit like they're serious, but skips half their workouts and has tons of diet cheat days. It's more the types like Belly who forget about things like "judge not lest ye be judged thyself", so they can judge you for not being into church despite having family who'd like it if you went, that deserve that treatment. And, honestly, I personally don't know that many people like that. Closest is a co-worker who occasionally says something to the effect that she's trying to be a good Christian, but spends all her time gossiping, complaining and, in general, being a gigantic bitch.
  

  HitsRus;1851899 wrote:Hey, don't you know you can stereotype Christians? But other groups...why that's bigoted!

  Right-wing Christians: No problems stereotyping other groups (REGRESSIVES!!!!), but do it to them and you can see the tears from orbit!
• ernest_t_bass

  

  Heretic;1851905 wrote:I don't know I'd go that far,

  I, personally, would go that far. In my opinion, all bible verses begin and come back to: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god."
  
  Christians aim to live a righteous life, that of Christ. So one who wants to live a righteous life will focus on that which makes him or her righteous, rather than the 'sin' that clouds said righteousness. It's no different than your "workout" example, I guess. People will focus on the good things they do, and ignore the skip days and cheat days, b/c then they don't feel like good workouters. Can probably be said about anything, really.
• SnotBubbles

  

  This is getting deep.
• queencitybuckeye

  SnotBubbles;1851917 wrote:This is getting deep.

  It can be, but for me, it can be simplified. If you believe your religion makes you a better person, go for it. If you believe your religion makes you better than someone else, you're doing it wrong.
• vball10set

  queencitybuckeye;1851918 wrote:....If you believe your religion makes you a better person, go for it. If you believe your religion makes you better than someone else, you're doing it wrong.

  
  this
  
  /thread
• BRF

  

  queencitybuckeye;1851918 wrote:It can be, but for me, it can be simplified. If you believe your religion makes you a better person, go for it. If you believe your religion makes you better than someone else, you're doing it wrong.

  That is great, imo.
  
  I'm going to use that.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  queencitybuckeye;1851918 wrote:It can be, but for me, it can be simplified. If you believe your religion makes you a better person, go for it. If you believe your religion makes you better than someone else, you're doing it wrong.

  Damn, this is good shit.
• isadore

  gosh a ruddies, is that from 2nd Corinthians?
• HitsRus

  

  Right-wing Christians: No problems stereotyping other groups (REGRESSIVES!!!!), but do it to them and you can see the tears from orbit

  You mean like when progressives can't say "radical Islamic terrorists" because it might offend moderate Muslims, but have no problem lumping the most benign community serving Christians in with the "right wing" fundamentalists.
• Cat Food Flambe'

  

  Council President for one of those "hippie dippie liberal" congregations. But - I don't go every Sunday. Parking my butt in a pew doesn't make me faithful - instead, I try to get out do do things for others. I tend for focus on food programs - I probably average about one day a week at some sort of kitchen or produce bank.
  
  And I stay out of politics! We have stark raving vegan semi-communists working side by side with "Trump is God" conservatives to feed a few hundred people who would otherwise not eat that day.
• like_that

  

  HitsRus;1851962 wrote:You mean like when progressives can't say "radical Islamic terrorists" because it might offend moderate Muslims, but have no problem lumping the most benign community serving Christians in with the "right wing" fundamentalists.

  This.
  
  I consider myself agnostic and not religious by any means, but the hypocrisy here is a joke.
  
  The same people who want to trash on "bible thumpers" and their praise for Jesus are the same people who will cry and go out of their way to defend Islam any chance they get. If you hate religion as much as you pretend you do (there are a lot of reasons to imo) at least be consistent.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  like_that;1851977 wrote:This.
  
  I consider myself agnostic and not religious by any means, but the hypocrisy here is a joke.
  
  The same people who want to trash on "bible thumpers" and their praise for Jesus are the same people who will cry and go out of their way to defend Islam any chance they get. If you hate religion as much as you pretend you do (there are a lot of reasons to imo) at least be consistent.

  I agree. The past few months, I've actually been voraciously soaking up Douglas Murray, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris. Not because I'm a sycophant of their beliefs, but because they are reasonable, thought-provoking and interesting. And fair. They don't really believe in any faith, just philosophy and morals, really. I'm ok with that.
• Heretic

  

  like_that;1851977 wrote:This.
  
  I consider myself agnostic and not religious by any means, but the hypocrisy here is a joke.
  
  The same people who want to trash on "bible thumpers" and their praise for Jesus are the same people who will cry and go out of their way to defend Islam any chance they get. If you hate religion as much as you pretend you do (there are a lot of reasons to imo) at least be consistent.

  Well, since I look at organized religion in general to be a cancer on society, regardless of which religion we're talking about, I have teh consistencies!!! Nothing wrong with people having faith, but when they put organization to it, it turns into an excuse to discriminate or, eventually, a reason for open hostilities.
• Heretic

  

  HitsRus;1851962 wrote:You mean like when progressives can't say "radical Islamic terrorists" because it might offend moderate Muslims, but have no problem lumping the most benign community serving Christians in with the "right wing" fundamentalists.

  Cool. Both sides have hypocrisies. Which doesn't lessen your side's.
• like_that

  

  Heretic;1852019 wrote:Well, since I look at organized religion in general to be a cancer on society, regardless of which religion we're talking about, I have teh consistencies!!! Nothing wrong with people having faith, but when they put organization to it, it turns into an excuse to discriminate or, eventually, a reason for open hostilities.

  I wasn't referring about you. I am well aware of your consistency lol.
• Wally

  I go to church most Sundays. I don't feel like it's a necessity. I think how you treat people and how you act and react to things is more important than attendance in church.
• bigdaddy2003

  

  I've never been much for religion. I don't knock people who are religious though. I have probably been to church 3 or 4 times in my 32 years. I have a friend who is really religious and he asked me to go, so I did.
• O-Trap

  

  I attend most weeks. I love my current church far more than any other of which I've been a part, so it's really not a chore or anything.
  
  As for involvement, I'm part of a small group of men who meet every other week, and we all take turns leading the group discussion. Beyond that, I helped write the statement of faith, and I regularly eat with, hang out with, and talk to other church members during the week. It's something of a community within a community, and it's refreshing.
  

  OSH;1851747 wrote:Majored in Bible/Theology: Pre-Seminary.

  
  

  Belly35;1851859 wrote:Philistine

  Erm ... I doubt he's from the region of Philistia.
  

  justincredible;1851865 wrote:No, I don't believe this is correct.

  I knew it! You're a Jebusite!
  

  ernest_t_bass;1851909 wrote:I, personally, would go that far. In my opinion, all bible verses begin and come back to: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god."
  
  Christians aim to live a righteous life, that of Christ. So one who wants to live a righteous life will focus on that which makes him or her righteous, rather than the 'sin' that clouds said righteousness. It's no different than your "workout" example, I guess. People will focus on the good things they do, and ignore the skip days and cheat days, b/c then they don't feel like good workouters. Can probably be said about anything, really.

  A degree of this is true. While I might say that the crux of Christianity is actually the acknowledgement of our shortcomings, the fact that they reflect failure to live righteously makes such shortcomings the sorts of things people don't want to accent with specificity.
  

  queencitybuckeye;1851918 wrote:It can be, but for me, it can be simplified. If you believe your religion makes you a better person, go for it. If you believe your religion makes you better than someone else, you're doing it wrong.

  What if you think religion makes you a better person, but it actually doesn't? What if it just ends up being an excuse for you to be an asshole, regardless of what you think it does?
• justincredible

  

  O-Trap;1852226 wrote:I attend most weeks. I love my current church far more than any other of which I've been a part, so it's really not a chore or anything.
  
  As for involvement, I'm part of a small group of men who meet every other week, and we all take turns leading the group discussion. Beyond that, I helped write the statement of faith, and I regularly eat with, hang out with, and talk to other church members during the week. It's something of a community within a community, and it's refreshing.

  What do you generally talk about in the group discussions?
• O-Trap

  

  justincredible;1852228 wrote:What do you generally talk about in the group discussions?

  Typically, we start with a portion of the Bible. We discuss the setting and context of the passage, tease it out, and try to put it into a contemporary application (if it has one). Beyond that, we often let the rabbit trail go where it goes. Sometimes, it veers off and we end up just enjoying hanging out and discussing other topics (food, drink, music, culture, etc.). Sometimes, it goes into a different part of the Bible. It depends.
  
  I enjoy it a great deal. It's not stiff or formal. We do it in a coffee shop, so nobody's worried about tidying up or anything along those lines. I've never enjoyed a Bible study so much I looked forward to the next one until I got involved with this one.