DaVinci Code Protesters

[Tiggernut_jadie]

We spend the first 20 years of our lives (give or take a few years depending on our individual situations) trying to determine what to do with our lives. If we don't die young, the last few years of our lives may be spent in physical decline or illness. For most of us, the years in between are a constant struggle. What I am getting at is even when things are good in this world, they aren't THAT good. The thought of a greater existence thereafter is much more appealing to me.

And therein lies the rub as they say! Religion in gnenral and faith is all about what you BELIEVE and WANT to be true. It is much more palatable to think that any suffering in this life is removed and rewarded in another life and it is this BELIEF that you life your life by. On the other hand I BELIEVE that it is our job to lead a worthwhile life and treat others how we would like to be treated ourselves - simply in order to be happy and content whilst we're here. Once our time here is finished we return to the earth to help fertilise the soil and we leave behind a legacy of good works and kindness to others.

 

[IndianaDVCMember]

And therein lies the rub as they say! Religion in gnenral and faith is all about what you BELIEVE and WANT to be true. It is much more palatable to think that any suffering in this life is removed and rewarded in another life and it is this BELIEF that you life your life by. On the other hand I BELIEVE that it is our job to lead a worthwhile life and treat others how we would like to be treated ourselves - simply in order to be happy and content whilst we're here. Once our time here is finished we return to the earth to help fertilise the soil and we leave behind a legacy of good works and kindness to others.

We can agree on the last part about how to treat others, but you are merely dissecting semantics if you think my religious beliefs are based solely on whay I want to believe. If you really want to challenge your non-beliefs, I would recommend Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. Granted, Lewis isn't around to debate you on the internet, but I can't match his writing ability. If you have already read this book, then it's suffice to say that neither one of us is going to change the other's mind in the near future. If you haven't read it, you will get an infinitely better perspective then you would from all the historical deceptions and exaggerations of Dan Brown.

 

[ford family]

I went to Wikipedia and could not find the passage you quoted, but it doesn't surprise me at all that "the church" was using the word "catholic" as a description of itself back in the second century. The word catholic means universal. Of course they were the universal church, at that time there was just one church -- there were no divisions, there were no denominations.

On another note, I would be very interested to know where you got the quote -- or information -- you posted:

Originally Posted by ford family
"Both sides had large followings, the viewpoint roughly spilt between Western Europe (Roman) going with "divine" and Eastern Europe (Greece) going with "subordinate to God". There were gangs of thugs to reinforce those views and plenty of dirty tricks."

Was this from Dan Brown's book? Or some other source?
And I am truly curious; not trying to be contentious.

The Wikpedia quote came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Church .

As far as there being only one church, no divisions, I would respectfully disagree. There was quite a number of widely differing "christian" sects and a number of hybrid "judeo-christian ones. I am short of time today but will try and amplify later if the thread continues.

As for the other comments, they came from reading Richard Rubenstein's "WHEN JESUS BECAME GOD: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome ".

ford family

 

[ford family]

We spend the first 20 years of our lives (give or take a few years depending on our individual situations) trying to determine what to do with our lives. If we don't die young, the last few years of our lives may be spent in physical decline or illness. For most of us, the years in between are a constant struggle. What I am getting at is even when things are good in this world, they aren't THAT good. The thought of a greater existence thereafter is much more appealing to me.

I find it sad that your life on earth is so unfulfilling that you have to look forward to the next life as compensation. Is that the secret of organised religion? Keep people poor, keep them uneducated, keep them dissatisfied so that they will do whatever the church asks of them in order to qualify for the better life to come. What a waste of great people and their enormous potential.

ford family

 

[IndianaDVCMember]

I find it sad that your life on earth is so unfulfilling that you have to look forward to the next life as compensation. Is that the secret of organised religion? Keep people poor, keep them uneducated, keep them dissatisfied so that they will do whatever the church asks of them in order to qualify for the better life to come. What a waste of great people and their enormous potential.

ford family

Let's drop the personal attacks and try to engage in a civil and intelligent discussion. You are way off the mark in assuming that my life is unfulfilling. I believe I said "most" people, not that I have to justify my personal life in order to engage in this discussion. I have a successful business and a great family of which I thank God daily, but the majority of the world IS suffering from starvation.

The secrets to organized religion are helping the poor, educating them, and giving them a sense of satisfaction because all that we have comes from God.

Doing whatever the church asks is a good thing. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Give shelter the homeless. Visit the sick and imprisoned. Instruct the ignorant. And yes, great rewards will come to those who follow.

In regards to your comments about a "waste of great people and their enormous potential", I don't suppose you have ever met a religious person who has made great contributions.

 

[ford family]

Let's drop the personal attacks and try to engage in a civil and intelligent discussion. You are way off the mark in assuming that my life is unfulfilling. I believe I said "most" people, not that I have to justify my personal life in order to engage in this discussion. I have a successful business and a great family of which I thank God daily, but the majority of the world IS suffering from starvation.

The secrets to organized religion are helping the poor, educating them, and giving them a sense of satisfaction because all that we have comes from God.

Doing whatever the church asks is a good thing. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Give shelter the homeless. Visit the sick and imprisoned. Instruct the ignorant. And yes, great rewards will come to those who follow.

In regards to your comments about a "waste of great people and their enormous potential", I don't suppose you have ever met a religious person who has made great contributions.

I think a thread has run it's course when people cannot even look back to see what they wrote but prefer to loudly defend what they thought they said.
Your statement said

For most of us, the years in between are a constant struggle. What I am getting at is even when things are good in this world, they aren't THAT good. The thought of a greater existence thereafter is much more appealing to me.

As for the rest of your post, yes, this thread has run it's course.

ford family

 

[sha_lyn]

Doing whatever the church asks is a good thing. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Give shelter the homeless. Visit the sick and imprisoned. Instruct the ignorant. And yes, great rewards will come to those who follow.

So only churches/Christians can do volunteer work LOL. That is a good one.
The only thing a church ever asked me to do was give them $$$

 

[IndianaDVCMember]

I think a thread has run it's course when people cannot even look back to see what they wrote but prefer to loudly defend what they thought they said.
Your statement said
As for the rest of your post, yes, this thread has run it's course.

ford family

I fail to see the contradiction, but you are correct in that the thread has run its course.

 

[IndianaDVCMember]

So only churches/Christians can do volunteer work LOL. That is a good one.
The only thing a church ever asked me to do was give them $$$

There are very worthy volunteer work organizations without religious denomination.

The works that I mention do come from church teaching. If a non-religious organization helps the poor, that is great too. That is not the same thing as stating that church teachings are wrong.

 

[noodleknitter]

So only churches/Christians can do volunteer work LOL. That is a good one.
The only thing a church ever asked me to do was give them $$$

Do a study on what private groups have done the majority of the charity work with the Katrina catastrophe. What private groups run the soup kitchens, shelters? Looks like you picked the wrong churches.

 

[cardaway]

We went to see X3 over the weekend, and as expected, the local protestors gave up.

But some of those bunnies are still going. Good for a least a laugh or two...

http://www.tfp.org/