Religion & Spirituality - 15 July 2007

I haven't but that's because there is no one around to tell if I wanted to.

I've got to go find something to eat, Take Care :)

2007-07-15 14:22:11 · 19 answers · asked by Sean 7

2007-07-15 14:20:40 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous

The Night Is Large: Collected Essays 1938-1995
By Martin Gardner pg 522
Saint Agustine has opposed the death penalty for heresy; he thought the church should limit its punishment to flogging,fines and exile." To put a heretic to death would be to introduce upon the earth an inexpiable crime". declared Saint John Chrysostom. But Saint Thomas Aquinas thought otherwise.
" If false coiners or other felons are justly committed to death without delay by worldly princes." he wrote in his Summa theologoica( II, xi), " much more may heretics from the moment that they are convicted, be not only excommunicated. but slain justly out of hand" By the end of the sixteenth century hundreds of thousands of poor souls had been savagely tortured and burned alive , or otherwise murdered, for holding opinions contrary to those of the church. Public executions of heretics and witches became festive occasions, like watching the deaths of gladiators.

Heretics don't exist, witches are mostly good

2007-07-15 14:20:21 · 7 answers · asked by zurioluchi 7

have lousy directions or information on them. Could I sue for fuel, time, and pain and suffering for looking for their stupid sale? Mmm

2007-07-15 14:19:37 · 12 answers · asked by ? 6

Bearing in mind historical facts like:

Christian anti-semitism led to the Holocaust,
Christians murdered all the muslim women and children found in Jerusalem when the Crusaders conquered it,
Christians tortured and burned heretics,
Christians tortured and burned witches,
Christians bought, sold, and owned slaves,
Christians divided slave families, separating husbands and wives, children and parents,

Would you insist that Christianity has -never- brought forward bad fruit?

2007-07-15 14:18:43 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous

- Do you agree with it? Does it disturb you? What are your religious views on it?

(This is purely a curiousity question.)

2007-07-15 14:16:53 · 21 answers · asked by redglory 5

If I want to judge the way Christianity improves one's life, what better way to judge the matter than to judge the way the average christian behaves?

While I am sure there are exceptional situations, the -average- christian leaves much to be desired on the question of spiritual improvement.

Since so many people who claim to be christian fail to practice it, would it be fair to say that christianity does very little for the spiritual growth of the average christian?

2007-07-15 14:15:17 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous

I think they did over there in science and math. LOL :-)

2007-07-15 14:13:31 · 11 answers · asked by ♥ terry g ♥ 7

Whether there is a God or not we appear to be going no where fast, actually we appear to be sliding backwards.

2007-07-15 14:12:57 · 9 answers · asked by Sean 7

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason
and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
This is fearlessness, and it is love

2007-07-15 14:12:39 · 23 answers · asked by ANyone but you 2

Whether or not you did, if you tell me it's wrong, explain your right to make a judgment on me.

2007-07-15 14:12:00 · 9 answers · asked by gm8888 2

2007-07-15 14:11:17 · 12 answers · asked by ♥Blood Rose♥ 3

Shouldnt our money as taxes go to the Church and not the goverment, we pay taxes just like everyone else yet cannot seem to get help, funding for programs, to help others.

Case in point there is a ministry that helps prisoners, and the rate of them returning to jail is less than any state run program, and the seperation of church and state stops them from getting funding, I pay taxes as well as you and shouldnt I have a say in where my taxes go.

2007-07-15 14:10:43 · 12 answers · asked by Cookyduster 4

2007-07-15 14:10:07 · 13 answers · asked by Jenny-poo 2

Last question for the day. God bless!

2007-07-15 14:06:32 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

Jesus said 'while some of you still live' not just any Apostle, Jesus Himself.
So It happened or we might as well trash the rest of the Book as garbage.
Lots of stuff happened back then which would keep the disapearance of that many people out of Roman and Jewish histories. Mnt Vesuvius, Roman Wars andrebellions and much more. The didn't have news reporters and CNN.

2007-07-15 14:06:11 · 8 answers · asked by capekicks 3

The way they used to teach the origin of the species to high school students in this sleepy town of 1,800 people in southern Pennsylvania, said local school board member Angie Yingling disapprovingly, was that "we come from chimpanzees and apes."

Not anymore.

The school board has ordered that biology teachers at Dover Area High School make students "aware of gaps/problems" in the theory of evolution. Their ninth-grade curriculum now must include the theory of "intelligent design," which posits that life is so complex and elaborate that some greater wisdom has to be behind it.

The decision, passed last month by a 6-to-3 vote, makes the 3,600-student school district about 20 miles south of Harrisburg the first in the United States to mandate the teaching of "intelligent design" in public schools, putting it on the front line of the growing national debate over the role of religion in public life.

The new curriculum, which prompted two school board members to resign, is expected to take effect in January. The school principal, Joel Riedel, and teachers contacted by The Chronicle refused to comment on the changes.

The idea of intelligent design was initiated by a small group of scientists to explain what they believe to be gaps in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, which they say is "not adequate to explain all natural phenomena. "

On an intelligent-design Web site (www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org), the theory is described as "a scientific disagreement with the claim of evolutionary theory that natural phenomena are not designed.''

Critics such as Eugenie Scott, director of the Oakland-based National Center for Science Education, say the Dover school board's decision is part of a growing trend. Religious conservatives, critics say, have been waging a war against Darwin in classrooms since the Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925. Tennessee schoolteacher John Scopes was convicted of illegally teaching evolution, but his conviction later was thrown out on a technicality by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

"There's a constant impetus by conservative evangelical Christians to bring religion back into the public schools," said Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The end goal is to get rid of evolution. They view it as a threat to their religion."

The intelligent-design theory makes no reference to the Bible, and its proponents do not say who or what the greater force is behind the design. But Yingling, 46, who graduated from Dover High School in 1976, and other supporters of the new curriculum in this religiously conservative slice of rural Pennsylvania say they know exactly who the intelligent designer is.

"There's only one creator, and it has to be God," said Rebecca Cashman, 16, a sophomore at Dover High. She frowned when asked to recollect what she learned about evolution at school last year.

"Evolution -- is that the Darwin theory?" Cashman shook her head. "I don't know just what he was thinking!"

Patricia Nason at the Institute for Creation Research, the world leader in creation science, said her organization and other activist groups are encouraging people who share conservative religious beliefs to seek positions on local school boards.

"The movement is to get the truth out," Nason said by telephone from El Cajon (San Diego County). "We Christians have as much right to be involved in politics as evolutionists. We've been asleep for two generations, and it's time for us to come back."

Emboldened by their contribution to President Bush's re-election, conservative religious activists are using intelligent design as a new strategy of attacking evolution without mentioning God, Scott said.

"There is a new energy as a result of the last election, and I anticipate an even busier couple of years coming on," Scott said.

She called intelligent design "creationism lite" masquerading as science. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1987 banned the teaching of creationism -- which holds that God created the world about 6,000 years ago -- in public schools on the grounds of separation of church and state.

John West of the Discovery Institute in Seattle, the main sponsor and promoter of intelligent design, defended the theory he says addresses "evolution follies."

"Mainstream criticism should be raised in classrooms," West said.

The Dover school district's challenge to the primacy of evolution is not isolated. In Cobb County, Ga., parents sued a local school board for mandating that biology textbooks prominently display disclaimers stating that evolution is "not a fact." A federal court is expected to rule next month.

In Grantsburg, Wis., a school board revised its science curriculum to teach "various scientific models of theories of origin." In Charles County, Md. , the school board is considering a proposal to eliminate textbooks "biased toward evolution" from classrooms. Similar proposals have been considered this year in Missouri, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

"There is nothing random about this," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "You might say it's a planned evolution of an attack on the science of evolution."

The drive to bring more religion and what have been labeled "moral values" into the classroom goes beyond challenges to Darwin's theory, Scott said. The Charles County school board also proposed to censor school reading lists of "immorality" or "foul language" and to allow the distribution of Bibles in schools. In Texas, the nation's second-biggest school textbook market, the State Board of Education approved health textbooks that defined abstinence as the only form of contraception and changed the description of marriage between "two people" to "a lifelong union between a husband and a wife."

"The religious right has a list of topics that it wants action on," Scott said. "Things like abortion, abstinence, gays are higher up in the food chain of their concern, but evolution is part of the package."

This drive has found fertile ground in this part of Pennsylvania, where billboards reading, "Many books inform but only the Bible transforms" line the road, and family restaurants offer free booklets titled "What the Bible says about moral purity" and "The Bible is God's word" at the door.

"These brochures give you an idea where some people in this community are coming from," said Jeff Brown, 54, who, along with his wife Carol, 57, resigned from the school board after they voted against changing the biology curriculum.

Yingling, who voted in favor, said she believes God created the world in six days and doesn't believe in evolution "at all." Another board member who supported the measure, William Buckingham, refused to say what he believes but has identified himself as a born-again Christian.

But religious beliefs or motivations should be beside the point, said Richard Thompson, an attorney who represents the board members. Thompson is the president of the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., a pro-bono firm whose Web site promises "the sword and shield for the people of faith."

The decision was "supportive of academic freedom more than anything else, " Thompson said.

While not talking about his own religious convictions, Thompson added, "When you look at cell structure and you see the intricacy of the cell, you can come to the conclusion that it doesn't happen by natural selection, there has to be intelligent design." Thompson said he is ready to represent the board in the Supreme Court if it comes to that. Some parents and teachers in Dover already have asked the Pennsylvania ACLU to sue the board on their behalf. Walczak said the organization's legal team is studying the case before deciding whether to go to court.

Brown, the former school board member, says he is not arguing with other people's religious beliefs.

"Don't get me wrong: I don't have a problem with having these booklets where people can pick them up. But I do have a problem with people shoving this down the throats of our children on taxpayers' dollars," Brown said.

"I happen to believe both in God and evolution," he said, and his wife nodded: "Hear, hear."

The Browns appear to be in the minority. Although public schools have been teaching evolution for decades, a national Gallup poll in November 2004 showed that only 35 percent of those asked believed confidently that Darwin's theory was "supported by the evidence.'' More than one-third of those polled by CBS News later in November said creationism should be taught instead of evolution.

"A guy came up to me and said, 'Wait a minute, you believe in God and evolution at the same time? Evolution isn't in the Bible!' " said Brown, nibbling on a deep-fried mozzarella stick at the Shiloh Family Restaurant on Route 74. As he became more agitated, his voice grew louder, and other customers -- mostly gray-haired women and elderly men in baseball hats -- turned their heads to look at the couple. Carol Brown kept putting her index finger to her lips, gesturing for her husband to be quieter.

After the Browns left the restaurant, a waitress in her 30s slipped a note to a Chronicle reporter.

"Beware," it read. "God wrote over 2,000 years ago that there would be false prophets and teachers. If you would like to know the truth read the Bible."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recent actions in the teaching of evolution
Tennessee, April 2003: Blount County's Board of Education votes not to adopt three high school biology textbooks because they do not present creationism alongside evolution.

California, September 2003: The Board of Trustees of the Roseville Joint Union High School District (Placer County) decide not to enact a district- wide policy on teaching evolution. Science teachers have told the district that they do not want to add anti-evolutionist materials that are not state- approved.

Oklahoma, April 2004: Textbook legislation passes after it is stripped of a provision that all textbooks include a disclaimer describing evolution as "a controversial theory which some scientists present as scientific explanation for the origin of living things" and "the unproven belief that random, undirected forces produced a world of living things."

Pennsylvania, October 2004: A Dover, Pa., school board votes to include intelligent design in the district's science curriculum, making it the first such school district in the country.

Georgia, November 2004: A lawsuit is filed against the Cobb County School District over this disclaimer inserted into textbooks: "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

2007-07-15 14:03:38 · 16 answers · asked by ♥Mігanԃa♥ 2

Tell me your experience please and how you felt about it...

Thanks for your answers.............

2007-07-15 14:03:35 · 29 answers · asked by Anonymous

I want to ask some serious Q's here and my 1st one has had some rude answers I know we all have our own opinions but there is no need to be disrespectful...............

2007-07-15 14:00:56 · 32 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-07-15 13:58:50 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous

What exactly is the point to wearing that weird look long john shorts. They look really weird and uncomfortable. Is it true that you wear them to restrict yourselves from masturbation and sex that is not for reproductive purposes.

2007-07-15 13:58:23 · 9 answers · asked by Alan M 1

I know it's so but I'd like to see who agrees/disagrees and why.

I realize it's hard to put yourself into anothers shoes but try, also remember genius isn't centered on one thing in life but everything at once most of the time.

Is intelligence a good thing or a bad thing in life? I'd say it's like shooting a shotgun, kills on one end and wounds on the other.

2007-07-15 13:57:56 · 9 answers · asked by Sean 7

What exactly is the point to wearing that weird look long john shorts. They look really weird and uncomfortable. Is it true that you wear them to restrict yourselves from masturbation and sex that is not for reproductive purposes.

2007-07-15 13:57:51 · 5 answers · asked by Alan M 1

...then why do we even still have primitive tribes whose peoples have never even heard of the Bible, Jesus and the Christian god? I mean, why haven't they killed each other off?

2007-07-15 13:55:25 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

The Catholic Church has been shown to help undocumented workers enter the U.S. illegally.

Diocese to settle sex-abuse claims for $660 million
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/14/church.abuse.ap/index.html?iref=topnews

2007-07-15 13:54:59 · 7 answers · asked by a bush family member 7

Of course i dont respect their beliefs since they are absurd...i would respect them if they didnt stand on the way of legalization of gay marriage, if their priests never molested any child, if there were no wars promoted by so called "christian" countries...
In "respecting other people´s beliefs" should we include the beliefs of those who crashed a plane into the Twin Towers???

2007-07-15 13:53:52 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-07-15 13:53:14 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous

Could someone please help me find in the book of Luke where God explains that the death can not hear us and we cant not here them? I’m trying to explain to my friend that Mary (Jesus’ mother) can not hear our prayers. Also in the book of Hebrew’s it says a passage that Jesus prays for us (if I am wrong, please correct me). Could someone please help? Thank you so much in advance.

Be Blessed!

2007-07-15 13:51:31 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous

Ok lets start from the beginning. Your born onto earth. Not a choice or anything you just start feeling.

First thing you do, look for reasons for everything...including your self. Science doesn't answer enough for you. So you choose Christianity. It explains far more with cute little stories. If you don't believe in it you go to hell for eternity. Even though Jesus teaches forgiveness, but of course lets not question the holy book.

Ok ok well it was written 2000 years ago by priest or monks or something right? Sounds creditable...It was written 200 years after Jesus died. Only became a major religion because it was illegal not to in Rome because the king had a dream, and said it meant to fight for Christianity.

Also it offers a relation ship with jesus. (Basicly you talk to your self and think un till you know whats right).

Back to the book. So God made people write a book, that stands for everything he thinks is right. Also god is a he so I guess he's got a penis...

2007-07-15 13:48:43 · 4 answers · asked by Mysterious 2

I was just reading on Yahoo about the $660 million lawsuit against priests accused of sexual abuse. Do you think the answer might be for the Catholic church to allow priests to marry and therefore have a more suitable sexual outlet? There don't seem to be (maybe not as publicized) cases of abuse by preachers and rabbis who are allowed to be married. I mean no disrepect to anyone's religion, just wondering if this would solve some of the problem.

2007-07-15 13:47:58 · 23 answers · asked by RJ 1