When Christian Means Intolerant

I'm very glad that you brought up the Phelps Phreaks. When even fraternity brothers find the anti-gay message of the WBC to be abhorrent, that's saying something! Kudos to that frat. (When I was in college, most of the frats were more concerned about drinking and scoring babes than protesting.)

The growing intolerance of the Catholic Church is one of the many things driving people away. I left the church in the '80's, when I couldn't reconcile my growing feminism to the fact that they treated women like second-class citizens. My husband, who is still a practicing Catholic, regularly comes home pi**ed off because there was another homily against abortion, birth control, or gays. Meanwhile, they hid the molesting priests for decades and let them go on molesting. And going back to the Tridentine Mass and Latin is NOT going to help matters. People are quite used to hearing the mass in their native languages. It's going to drive away all but the really strict Catholics. Which may, in the long run, be a good thing.

Maybe (and it pains me to say this) CCNL is right on one count. The RCC needs some definite airing out and Febrezing. Excuse me while I go slash my wrists now for admitting that. :D

I agree with you Susan, the ever intolerant religious right
should be called the religious wrong.
I would be embarrassed to be mistaken for a christian
and I wouldn't be caught dead reading the wholly babble.

Religion is slowly going the way of astrology and alchemy
and other ancient superstitions, where it should have gone years ago.
But better late than never.

If we stop teaching our children
that gods exist it would help enormously.
Because - after all - as far as we actually KNOW -
there are no gods, and there is no life after death.
All else is clearly wishful thinking.

I tell my children that we are non-practicing Catholics. I also tell them we are Humanists. If Faith mean believing in something that has no test in reality and following someone without questioning, then we are Secular Humanists. If Faith means using the stories from Holy Books to read stories on how to live a meaningful, moral lives, then we are Christains.

macaristan'da atlara cekic ile vurulmasi, koyunlarin ineklerin domuzlarin tavuklarin bogazlarinin kesilmesi, sanirim ailelerin kulturlerine dayaniyor.

http://zaman.com.tr/yazar.do?yazino=828335&title=themisin-tuhaf-gunlugu

adalet denge ve tuy hakkinda, hukukun dayandigi temel konu, iskandinav misir grek mitolojilerinden olusmus tez-antitez-sentez gibi bir gosterim adalet.

http://zaman.com.tr/yazar.do?yazino=828464&title=esek-filozof-mu-ahmak-mi

so, is america losing weight? or in other words, is America losing fat?

either in Catholics or not, in case we intake meat not, there shall not be murder, there shall not be decay, there shall not be hunger, there shall not be lust. on the body, there shall be what is on the Earth and in the soul.

on EArth, there is love, You meet and withness while growing vegetables. Russia is professional in plant seeding (in datchas, summer houses?).

yes there is not weight on Earth, as astronauts are weightless. weight is hospitality of EArth. so is America losing faith? in case You intake meat not, You shall be feathers, soulfully fullfilling (feeders).

thank You, Professor Thistlethwaite
lerant : from Hungarian, to scarify

CCNL (Church of Clancy, Nusbaum, and Luigi)

We hear again from our representative from the Church of Clancy, Nusbaum, and Luigi (CCNL).

The impending demise of his fellow embryonic stem cells has all but frazzled
CCNL's potential brain (cell). And we though of a different biostratum, extend our heartfelt condolences.

I see you have either not seen the Sainted Archbishop Luigi of the Lasagna for pastoral counseling or that you have, but need to go again.

As you now know, he has returned from his visit with the Holy Sauce.

You should not be embarrassed to go again to him for guidance. These are perilous times for you and all your fellow embryonic stem cells.

Until you see him, ask yourself WWLD (What would Luigi do?). You can then ask him directly, but do not ask, WWLD, since you are no longer speaking to yourself. Say instead, WSID (What should I do?). If you wish, you can later compare answers (yours with his).

Until you see him, why not say the famous Luigian chant, with which you were wont to begin your posts: "Hmmm"

May you have peace in the name of the Pasta, the Meatballs, and the Lasagna.

Hmmm

To Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite. A well written, thought provoking post. I particularly liked your comment:

"What does worry me is if institutionalized religion finally is composed only of the intolerant and those who are willing to overlook hypocrisy. Then we're really in a mess."

You are exactly right to be worried because these are precisely the people who will not be going away.

So how do "tolerant" Christians deal with these abominations? You need a new game plan.

Respectfully...Cecil |

It is not about losing faith but all about being smarter and not buying into the mumbo-jumbo that has been fed to us for many a millennium:

To wit:

Judaism, 6000 years of supposed human history (when it actually is at least 60,000 years). There is no proof that Abraham even existed. Ditto for Moses. And David was not some rock-throwing hero but a minor king in a minor kingdom embellished by the scribes of the OT.

www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.html

Christianity- 2000 plus years of a simple preacher man being the son of god who rose from the dead. Both bogus as per a thorough analyses of the records.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

Islam- 1400 years of a "pretty, wingie (gay?) thingie" aka Gabriel talking to a womanizing, warmongering, hallucinating Arab who wanted to conquer the world. His followers still do!!!

(Angels/devils are the mythical creations of ancient civilizations, e.g. Hittites, to explain/define natural events, contacts with their gods, big birds, sudden winds, protectors during the dark nights, etc. No "pretty/ugly wingy thingies" ever visited or talked to Mohammed, Jesus, Mary or Joseph or JOE SMITH. Today we would classify angels as fairies and "tinker bells". Modern devils are classified as the demons of the demented. )

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/a/angels.html

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07049c.htm

Contemporary biblical and religious scholars have relegated these "pretty, wingie thingies" to the myth pile. We should do the same to include deleting all references to them in our religious operating manuals. Doing this will help eliminate the prophet/profit/prophecy status of the founders of Christianity/MORMONISM and Islam and put them where they belong as simple humans just like the rest of us.