LOL and you are the authority Why?
I know christians who will swear YOU are the very lost and will quote you bible chapter and verse backing them up.
so I'll say backatcha. You may call yourself one yet doesn't make you one either.
LOL and yet one wonders about the decline in attendance for organized religion here in this country? Personally I think maybe those who are "lost" as you call it are probably better off.
I find it so ironic that after "Christians" finish insulting you they turn right around and tell you how sorry they feel for you and how they are "praying" for you. LOL Go figure.
LOL and you are the authority Why?
I know christians who will swear YOU are the very lost and will quote you bible chapter and verse backing them up.
so I'll say backatcha. You may call yourself one yet doesn't make you one either.
LOL and yet one wonders about the decline in attendance for organized religion here in this country? Personally I think maybe those who are "lost" as you call it are probably better off.
I find it so ironic that after "Christians" finish insulting you they turn right around and tell you how sorry they feel for you and how they are "praying" for you. LOL Go figure.
Yes, you are being offensive, You have the hubris to tell others what their religious beliefs should and should not be, that you are the only one with true faith and that the rest of us...who believe very strongly in our own religions...are wrong because you are the only one who can be right.
I am not a Christian, but it's my understanding that there are many Christian faiths with varying views. For you to tell someone else who professes to be a Christian that they are "wrong" is hubris. How can any of us know with any degree of certainty who is "right" and who is "wrong" until we die and are confronted with the afterlife?
I definitely can understand why you'd be upset with your father's history and his sudden desire to pray. What I don't find clear is, were you celebrating Easter? If so, I don't see why a Christian prayer would be offensive (provided the words in it were not inclusive or were offensive in themselves). Most people I know who pray before meals only do so aloud when they're with their own family or if they're with friends who they know share their faith. If they're unsure, they'll usually just bow their heads and say a silent prayer.
As I'm sure you know, the United States is very diverse from one area to the next (even just a couple of miles at times!) and I'm often argued with that I'm not a Christian because I don't believe the bible is literal or because I accept other religions as being a way to God and heaven. So, there is a lot of misunderstandings here just between conservative Christians and liberal Christians, not to mention those of other faiths or agnostics or atheists.
I just want to add that in general, I feel that my kids being exposed to others who have differing beliefs than our own is a very GOOD thing.
It gives us the chance to discuss (often after the fact) the varying beliefs and what WE believe and how we feel about the others things they saw or experienced.
It is a great conversation opener and a fabulous way for us to examine our beliefs more deeply--and to help our children form their own beliefs (and demonstrate to them that we still love people who feel differently than we do--so hopefully one day if they as adults or even teens do not share my religion or politics or whatnot they are not afraid to tell me or think I might not want them around, etc).
I thought religious discussion wasn't allowed on the DIS boards.
Pretty much what my response would be. If the prayer bothered me , I'd pick another day for the gathering. For the record, we didnt say a prayer at my house at Easter. It just would sem an awfully odd occasion on which to object to a prayer, regardless of your beliefs or lack thereof. If the beef is more with your dad over his personality, that's another story altogether.
But you claim that you know what God is saying and that the rest of us do not.
My ancestors made a covenant with God at Mt. Sinai. He chose us to be His people, promised to be our God so long as we obeyed His Torah. It was a covenant for all eternity, not until something "better" came along. I believe we have survived all these eons because we honor this covenant.
Two basic tenants of our faith are that we do not proselytize, and that we recognize that the other nations of the world will have their own relationship with God, their own customs and practices and ways to honor Him.
If you believe in your heart that yours is the only way, that's fine. but to tell the rest of us that you are right, that we are wrong, is rude.
Ok, I'm really sorry that I wrote without thinking, I didn't think that I would have to explain a personal feeling. I don't care if you think it's odd as feelings are usually subjective, right?
Pretty much what my response would be. If the prayer bothered me , I'd pick another day for the gathering. For the record, we didnt say a prayer at my house at Easter. It just would sem an awfully odd occasion on which to object to a prayer, regardless of your beliefs or lack thereof. If the beef is more with your dad over his personality, that's another story altogether.
I agree with everything you posted, and I'm Catholic. As a funny aside, that was your 666th post, which made me laugh.
FWIW -- I don't think it is at all odd that you would host an Easter meal and not have it be religious--plenty of people, even in the US, think of Easter as just a secular holiday.
FWIW -- I don't think it is at all odd that you would host an Easter meal and not have it be religious--plenty of people, even in the US, think of Easter as just a secular holiday.