Call me old fashioned but I still believe there is only one true God. And he lives in this lake. And his name is Zorgo.
there is a reason why satan (in literature) is alway mote sympathetic. Even in writings that are not supposed do it (Paradise Lost for example) Satan is the hero fighting against an oppressive being. I got “better to reign” tattooed on me because of that/him.
My original comment was more of a joke, but yes, this is correct. Non-theistic satanism essentially amounts to “do what thou wilt” so long as it doesn’t impinge on the rights of others.
Then those guys vote republican and talk themselves into a policy of separating kids from their parents at the border and still think they're following the teachings of Christ.
Grew up Catholic and went to a Church of Christ private school. Just always felt BS to me and I never bought in. Seen too many religious people be some of the most hateful evil people on this earth. If you find comfort/joy in religion I have no problem with it, but when you try to control others and pass laws controlling the lives of others then I have a problem. I do enjoy Church Hours though. I try to get out on Sundays 9am-1pm before churches let out.
I grew up going to a church almost every Sunday, raised by parents who met at a Christian college, even went there myself before transferring the best university in the state, and i was always taught that the Bible is a book of stories to guide and teach
If you have the patience, read the Master and Margarita sometime. The tense conversation that Woland has with Levi Matvei towards the end of the book is one of the more memorable and lasting passages I've ever read.
grew up in a southern baptist church and basically hated every second of it. there were some people who meant well but i heard a lot of shit that i just couldn’t square. also my youth pastor told me my favorite teacher was going to hell because he was a mormon. kindest, most selfless and devout person i’ve ever known but he wasn’t good enough to make the cut for pastor dan. the church existing as like a communal space i can get behind tho.
Have spent an decent amount of time in 2 european countries and its a breath of fresh air on this front.
So back in August 2013 I was at my wife's cousin's wedding, a tortuous 2+-hour Catholic affair with lots of Latin. Afterwards, at the reception, I was seated with my MIL, a devout Born-Again, who was absolutely livid at having been forced to sit through a CATHOLIC wedding, as if the day was all about her instead of the happy young couple. I chided her gently, and as we talked the conversation naturally tended toward religion and differing beliefs and whatnot. She proceeded to tell me that I, as a militant agnostic, was the closed-minded one, because I refused to open my mind up to the possibility (in her mind, the certainty) of the Supernatural. So I asked her, if I did decide to discard what I thought of my intellectual integrity and believe in a non-evidentiary system of celestial creation and social order, why should I believe in her particular God, and not the Catholic one, or YHWH, or Allah, or Ahura Mazda, Amon Ra and Osiris, Zeus and Hera, Odin and Thor, Vishnu, etc.? She laughed and leaned toward me, slightly drunk, and said reassuringly, "Because they're crazy."
Pantheism is the best way for me to describe what you're saying. It's something a lot of astronauts come back to Earth with a sense of spirituality. There's a good little book and documentary for it. Would ask that anyone watch this video. One of my favorites
Are Catholic weddings generally dry? Because I've been to quite a few Protestant weddings that were dry in my younger years and I've basically decided that if you're gonna do that I can't be bothered to show unless it's immediate family.
Having to sit through a service like that is fucking awful but the receptions are usually a shit show. My one friend's I ended up using couch cushions as a blanket because getting up to find a blanket was too much of a challenge.
Atheist checking in. Been interested in checking out the local Unitarian Universalist Church for a couple of years now, but have yet to do so.
Organized religion is nothing but a racket and a way for people to defend their shitty beliefs. Grew up Catholic. I'm whatever now. I end up dragged to church a few times a year by my parents or in-laws. I'd like to think there's something bigger than us out there and that death isn't the end. But it sure as fuck isn't anything organized religion is pedaling. Jesus would be left of most Democrats.
Well then I can't see the hate on them. I'll sit through a religious wedding if there's an open bar afterwards. Catholic weddings >>>>> Baptist weddings
I've been to long ass catholic ceremonies with only bud light/miller/shitty wine and have been to a short catholic ceremony with a 12 hour reception and 82 bottles of liquor, depends. Just depends. Thankfully, my family believe in the latter.
Catholic weddings often have a full mass with communion in addition to the wedding ceremony aspects. They're interminable. But everybody gets drunk afterward.
Along this line of thinking, I’m reminded of Mars Hill Church and how rapidly this sort of shit can grow from nothing. Thankfully, it ended up crashing and burning. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Hill_Church
lol my son us getting married on September 5th. Hopefully it will be a short ceremony. Thanks to NYGator I have a nice bottle of 10 year michters for it
Yes. In 2011 I became Catholic. My wife was a cradle Catholic and I went to Catechism classes every Monday for three hours every week for twelve months. I love it. Changed my life. We went to Church most Sunday’s up until the Pandemic.
Went to church every Sunday growing up and was active in youth group, went on multiple mission trips including one to Mexico. Have zero interest in organized religion and never will, I view it as a scam that wastes valuable property in cities and should be taxed. I'm somewhere between agnostic and atheist. The amount of people who tried to fuck as many girls as possible in college and partied a ton suddenly pretending they're religious when they reach their 30s is just stupid.
Wife was a bridesmaid in a traditional Mexican Catholic wedding in Palm Desert in October 1997. During the reception one of the other bridesmaids had a newfangled portable TV underneath her table on her lap so she could watch Game 7 of the World Series. While they were doing some dollar dance or something a bunch of us stole away to go down to the hotel bar and watch Edgar Renteria hit the game-winner and enter Baseball Lore. Much alcohol was consumed
We had a full hour or so Catholic Mass. I mean we paid for cocktail hour, dinner and a reception. You can sit there for an hour.
I know there are. My own experience has been greatly colored by the fact that my parents (and I assume my only sibling) voted for Trump because he was "pro life." Nothing else. That was it. They are all "devout Catholics." I just can't reconcile how that one issue matters so damn much to "religious" people.
the even stranger part is religious groups largely used to be ok with and often supported abortion pre-1980 its so arbitrary
There's been a couple good docs out there lately about this. It's fascinating how everything got nicely tied together.
I’ll start this off with the caveat that I just covered two days worth of absolutely horrifying foster child sex abuse stuff, so I’m feeling quite jaded right now, but fuck these types of people; either start adopting or sit down and shut the fuck up (or at the very least, pick a different single-issue schtick to care about).
I was an atheist until about 2.5 years ago. I was kind of in a weird spot for a while and couldn't figure out why I wasn't happy when I thought I had everything I could possibly need in life. I found myself at a Catholic Church for Mass and it turned out to be the most moving and peaceful 1 hour of my life. I had no idea what was going on but I just enjoyed the silence of it all. I started going to Mass every Sunday and would sit in the way back. It was kind of like my weekly therapy if you will. And then one Sunday after Mass I asked one of the priests about becoming Catholic and he told me about a class called RCIA the church put on starting in the fall. It lasted 8 months, once a week for 2 hours. I absolutely loved it. I was in a small class of about 4-5 other people led by a young priest who has changed my life and my outlook on life. The class consisted of drinking wine, eating dinner, and discussing the Catholic faith together. I've been Catholic for over a year now and I love it.