Society & Culture - 5 December 2007

If you had to choose and knew nothing of their political agenda, would you choose a Christian or a Mormon president?

2007-12-05 15:55:20 · 24 answers · asked by Emily S 2 in Religion & Spirituality

By being told that there are rewards in Heaven; whenever I do something good, it crosses my mind that I'm doing it for rewards.

I wish I'd of never been told that.

Any suggestions on how to change my perspective?

2007-12-05 15:54:43 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

seriously, i thinks it very possible, anyone else out there have an opinion, what do u think would happen to a person if people were to find out?

2007-12-05 15:53:53 · 14 answers · asked by aces_wild87 1 in Mythology & Folklore

I'm serious here...I'm not trying to piss anyone off (which would be ironic)...after careful inward examination, do you (the antagonistic atheist) think there are things or events in your life that have driven you to be so angry towards people that disagree with you?

2007-12-05 15:53:02 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:52:56 · 9 answers · asked by krys 4 in Languages

2007-12-05 15:52:54 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

Baptism for the dead. 1st Cor 15:29
Reception of the Holy Ghost. John 20;22, Acts 19:26
Temples. Mal 3:1
Physical Godhead. Luke 24:36-43 (Like Father, like Son)
Pre existance of Spirits. Job 38:7
Prophets/Apostles. Eph 4:11-14
Right to interpret scripture. 2 peter 1:20

I hope this clears up the confusion.

2007-12-05 15:52:39 · 13 answers · asked by scotty_84116 4 in Religion & Spirituality

...don't you think atheists come here to take a breather from answering truly difficult/mind-boggling questions such as those from
"Arts & Humanities"
"Business & Finance"
"Education & Reference"
"Social Science"
and "News & Events"

because once in a while, you can actually answer a question without being wrong or right.

So do true bible-followers shun works of evil like business and science? If not, are they pure Christian? Also, if not, can they answer those other questions too?

2007-12-05 15:52:35 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:52:25 · 10 answers · asked by 2nd Commander 1 in Other - Society & Culture

With all of the exploring that human beings are doing, I would wonder what would happen if we found such a scenario. There are surely many planets that are "suitable." It's just a matter of finding one that offers the "exchange" that humans can tolerate.

2007-12-05 15:51:40 · 9 answers · asked by In God We Trust 7 in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:49:13 · 17 answers · asked by Jesus is the best. 3 in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:47:28 · 29 answers · asked by Rachel 1 in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:46:06 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:45:12 · 9 answers · asked by Jerry T 1 in Mythology & Folklore

Why December 25?

According to conventional wisdom, Christmas had its origin in a pagan winter solstice festival, which the church co-opted to promote the new religion. In doing so, many of the old pagan customs crept into the Christian celebration. But this view is apparently a historical myth—like the stories of a church council debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or that medieval folks believed the earth is flat—often repeated, even in classrooms, but not true.

William J. Tighe, a history professor at Muhlenberg College, gives a different account in his article "Calculating Christmas," published in the December 2003 Touchstone Magazine. He points out that the ancient Roman religions had no winter solstice festival.

True, the Emperor Aurelian, in the five short years of his reign, tried to start one, "The Birth of the Unconquered Sun," on Dec. 25, 274. This festival, marking the time of year when the length of daylight began to increase, was designed to breathe new life into a declining paganism. But Aurelian's new festival was instituted after Christians had already been associating that day with the birth of Christ. According to Mr. Tighe, the Birth of the Unconquered Sun "was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians." Christians were not imitating the pagans. The pagans were imitating the Christians.

The early church tried to ascertain the actual time of Christ's birth. It was all tied up with the second-century controversies over setting the date of Easter, the commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection. That date should have been an easy one. Though Easter is also charged with having its origins in pagan equinox festivals, we know from Scripture that Christ's death was at the time of the Jewish Passover. That time of year is known with precision.

But differences in the Jewish, Greek, and Latin calendars and the inconsistency between lunar and solar date-keeping caused intense debate over when to observe Easter. Another question was whether to fix one date for the Feast of the Resurrection no matter what day it fell on or to ensure that it always fell on Sunday, "the first day of the week," as in the Gospels.

This discussion also had a bearing on fixing the day of Christ's birth. Mr. Tighe, drawing on the in-depth research of Thomas J. Talley's The Origins of the Liturgical Year, cites the ancient Jewish belief (not supported in Scripture) that God appointed for the great prophets an "integral age," meaning that they died on the same day as either their birth or their conception.

Jesus was certainly considered a great prophet, so those church fathers who wanted a Christmas holiday reasoned that He must have been either born or conceived on the same date as the first Easter. There are hints that some Christians originally celebrated the birth of Christ in March or April. But then a consensus arose to celebrate Christ's conception on March 25, as the Feast of the Annunciation, marking when the angel first appeared to Mary.

Note the pro-life point: According to both the ancient Jews and the early Christians, life begins at conception. So if Christ was conceived on March 25, nine months later, he would have been born on Dec. 25.

This celebrates Christ's birth in the darkest time of the year. The Celtic and Germanic tribes, who would be evangelized later, did mark this time in their "Yule" festivals, a frightening season when only the light from the Yule log kept the darkness at bay. Christianity swallowed up that season of depression with the opposite message of joy: "The light [Jesus] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

Regardless of whether this was Christ's actual birthday, the symbolism works. And Christ's birth is inextricably linked to His resurrection.

2007-12-05 15:44:08 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

just asking. i want it in an average of years, or percentage, if you could.

2007-12-05 15:43:18 · 20 answers · asked by peepoohead7 2 in Religion & Spirituality

handle an abusive spouse
I will be leaving soon ;;God willing''
but,in the meantime,I try to just pretend I am staying in a compfy shelter

obviously,when hes home(which really isnt much) this is hard to do,and all those horrible emotions come flooding back!!
I have soo much hurt/anger towards him
I know i will let go of this when i am away from him,but while im still living with him,its hard to let it go

if I didnt have a baby,I would be gone already,but in the best interest of the baby,I am waiting it out a couple months to go to a safe shelter
so please,any tips on how to handle,the horrible emotions I have when he walks in the door??

2007-12-05 15:42:44 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

I found a neckalace in our garage thats charm has an odd symbol on it. The plate that it is emprinted on is about the size of the quarter. The Symbol looks almost like an 'F' or a tree with two branches on the right side.

Here is a copy, not an exact copy. Just something I drew on Paint.
http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=symboljg6.jpg

2007-12-05 15:42:06 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Society & Culture

Im not asking why is a German speaking english sound different from a native english speaker,
But why are there different accents, of the same language?
Theres an American Boston accent, Southern, ect
Why is there a difference between American and British?
Or even in other languages, The Germans speak the same language as the Austrians, but the Austrians say things different.
I've heard there are multipul spanish accents.
Why is that?
How are there different accents?

2007-12-05 15:40:30 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Languages

Just wondering.

2007-12-05 15:38:02 · 41 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:37:28 · 2 answers · asked by amit a 1 in Other - Society & Culture

Each Sunday, the children in the church take up loose change and put it in a jar, and after they get enough, they send it to an orphanage over seas to help those children.

I am painting a money jar for them to keep their money in, right now, they use a plastic water jug.

I'm thinking this:

Little children hand-in-hand wrapped around the base of the jar, then over them, flies a white dove holding a banner that wraps around the top of the jar.......

What does the banner say?

Any biblical quotes come to mind about children helping children?? or helping those in need....

THANK YOU!

2007-12-05 15:37:13 · 16 answers · asked by photocritter 3 in Religion & Spirituality

I see Him in the stars and moon.
In a beautiful sunset
My nephews smile

2007-12-05 15:34:33 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:34:27 · 9 answers · asked by Jewels 7 in Religion & Spirituality

i know is propaganda

2007-12-05 15:34:21 · 5 answers · asked by outta~this~world 4 in Christmas

We could put in answers for
Why are there still Monkeys(apes)?
Why do or why don't you believe in God? (or put that in our profile and force people to look at that)
Golden Compass
This Question I am asking
Why are Atheists (aka Athiests) Here?
Anything Huckabee
Christian nation
Anything about Evolution is false
please add more... maybe I'll make a page and we can just link to it

2007-12-05 15:34:10 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:34:09 · 16 answers · asked by mishoney 4 in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:33:54 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

...they could be using that money to start programs that benefit the less fortunate in the community.

2007-12-05 15:33:23 · 28 answers · asked by Tru Warrior 4 in Religion & Spirituality

2007-12-05 15:33:21 · 30 answers · asked by madhatter 6 in Religion & Spirituality