Religion & Spirituality - 18 October 2007

I have heard very few voices in strong opposition to pagan religions at large. Mathematically, I realize that pagans are a small minority within the community, so they naturally produce far fewer questions and answers than do the major religions.

Does this fully explain why I do not witness heated debates concerning paganism? Is this perceivedly moderate level of tolerance of paganism due simply to its low visibility within the public sphere, enabling it to sort of "fly under the radar?"

Or, is there something fundamentally different about pagan worship that discourages opposition from both atheists and monotheists, or at least encourages indifference from these other groups?

2007-10-18 09:21:15 · 28 answers · asked by Anonymous

for "religious" reasons?

Unclean!

2007-10-18 09:20:11 · 34 answers · asked by PediC 5

God in us ge 2:7 it isnt our flesh so what is in the place called purgatory. our spirit is gods to begin with and returns to him when the flesh dies what is sitting in the purgatory

2007-10-18 09:19:36 · 23 answers · asked by mairszee 3

christian
catholic
baptist

they all belive in god.i'm catholic and i just don't get the difference/

thanks for carifying!!

2007-10-18 09:19:19 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous

For those of you who didn't watch, religious fundamentalist terrorists attacked imagination-land last night on South Park. Today, some of the most highly imaginative R&S users have "died" (been suspended.)

I don't know who "killed" them, but based on the belief systems of those deleted, I would bet money on religious fundamentalists. (I'm not trying to attack religion, I'm just putting forth my own hypothesis as to what happened. If it turns out another group is responsible for the reporting I'll happily apologize to my fundamentalist peers.)

We've lost a cookie monster, a skittle-eating cat, and an Earle, among others. Several R&S users have gone "undercover" to protect themselves. Is our imagination under attack? How do we stop such an attack?

Should we call Chuck Norris?

2007-10-18 09:19:02 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous

Do you feel ashamed? Bad? Sad? Guilty? Are you worried about your reputation being stained? How do you go on in your life once you've been disapproved of?
How do you get over this feeling?

2007-10-18 09:18:21 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous

Don't lie to me.

2007-10-18 09:18:21 · 16 answers · asked by skrdude8389 5

Like Children of the Corn for example?

2007-10-18 09:18:02 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous

Everyone says that god created the earth and the universe, but what do you created him?

2007-10-18 09:17:47 · 20 answers · asked by abc 1

1.What are the important holidays and traditions of Christianity?
2.How has religion shaped your life?
3.What are the challenges, if any, to practicing Christianity?
4.What are your thoughts of Christianity vs. Hinduism?
5.What is the difference between meditation and prayer?
6.Is it wrong to kill organisms that we can’t see?
7.Do Christians believe in a “Universal Power”?
8.Where do the other religions 'fit in'?
9.How can an average person practice christianity and still live in this world Surrounded by much negative energy
10.What are feelings of war?
11.Is there a God vs. other religions debate within the religious teachings?
12.What made you convert or thoughts of christianity?
13.What are you views of other religions?

2007-10-18 09:17:39 · 14 answers · asked by smilez 2

give Scripture reference with answer.

there are those who believe Jesus' walked on ice.

2007-10-18 09:15:22 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous

The deal is this;
You stop telling lies about atheists. And we'll stop telling the truth about your religion.
How's that for a deal?

*with apologies to Adlai E. Stevenson*

2007-10-18 09:15:14 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous

thanks for all answers xxxx

2007-10-18 09:14:14 · 94 answers · asked by ? 3

my 15 yr old son just informed me that he's interested in a student exchange to another country FOR A YEAR!!!! i almost started crying because i couldn't imagine a year without my son.

anyway, how would you feel about your child doing this and staying with a family who would raise him for a year and you know nothing about them?

if the family is from a different religion, how could he keep up the practice of his faith, which is important to him?

2007-10-18 09:13:33 · 37 answers · asked by Anonymous

This nice elderly lady lives down the street and she stops by and I sometimes give her homemade cookies or squash from the garden but she is Catholic and everytime she leaves she says that she will be praying for me. Well I love her a lot and she is really sweet, but I know that Catholics don't believe in all the commandments in the Bible and believe the pope is their father which is very wrong and I know her prayers are an abomination to God because she doesn't want to listen to the Law but instead the pope and I don't want to be any part in that, you know? I don't want to be mean though.

2007-10-18 09:10:37 · 42 answers · asked by Anonymous

Most people believe so. Why...I dont know, maybe its our foundation of Christian morality (love the enemy, turn the cheek) and Disney-endings.

The scary part about our simplistic way of seeing the world is that Islam is the perfect test of it. While some Muslims are decent people, the whole of Islam is without any question a steady and implacable movement of intolerance itself.

The vast majority of Mosques teach Muslims to hate unbelievers and push Islamic culture. Now, to western people this sounds like exagerration, or impossiblity. Thats because of our naive notions of the world. But if you actually research what Im saying, read the poll data, study history, you will find every word true.

Its true, they do we our tolerance as weakness, although they dont tell us as much. Am I espousing hatred? Yes...and I do so in the finest tradition of survival...just as I was wired to do.

2007-10-18 09:09:56 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous

In this passage, we see that heathens (or "sons of Noah") must be killed by decapitation when they break the Noahide laws.

GEMARA. … Our Rabbis taught: [Any man that curseth his God, shall bear his sin. (3) It would have been sufficient to say], 'A man, etc.:' What is taught by the expression any man? (4) The inclusion of heathens, to whom blasphemy is prohibited just as to Israelites, and they are executed by decapitation; for every death penalty decreed for the sons of Noah is only by decapitation.(5)


— Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 56a
Soncino 1961 Edition, page


.

2007-10-18 09:08:09 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-10-18 09:07:41 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous

I am just interesed in what and when you declared to be an Atheist.....Tell me your story.

2007-10-18 09:06:03 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous

Presbyterian Church?

Or from attending the wedding, if not in the wedding party?

****************PLEASE DO NOT ANSWER IF YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND THIS QUESTION OR WHY I'M ASKING***********************

2007-10-18 09:05:10 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous

2007-10-18 09:04:31 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous

Since you believe that Catholicism both Orthodox and Roman are false systems and that Catholics whether Roman or Orthodox are "unsaved Christians" and "false Christians" who are partaking of a "cult" then which branch is the true church since you are saying that only non Catholic Christians such as Liberal Protestants, Fundamental / Evangelical Protestants. Restorationists, and Non denominationals are going to heaven? I don't ask to start a fight but I really truly am curious as to your stance and position and to why you feel this way is all?

2007-10-18 09:04:29 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

we dont die and go to heaven you say it your selves every week in your church

2007-10-18 09:03:31 · 13 answers · asked by mairszee 3

Do you think it's harder to witness to a family member than it is to someone you may never meet again? If so, why?

2007-10-18 09:02:00 · 10 answers · asked by Virginia B (John 16:33) 7

What do you do if you do not feel you have
the necessary guides for decision
making? abdicate??

2007-10-18 09:00:09 · 5 answers · asked by andre 1

...and REBEL, and God has to destroy everybody (like He did in Noah's time) ....

WOULD THAT MEAN THAT GOD SOMEHOW MADE A MISTAKE?

of course, if you simply say, "no... God doesn't make mistakes" or "There is no sin in Heaven..." Then please... please.. I hope you somehow enjoy your vapid, incurious and unthinking life... and please do us all a favor and don't breed.

2007-10-18 08:59:47 · 11 answers · asked by John Galt 2

Our downtown illumination ceremony in Chattanooga has featured a live Nativity Scene every year since I can remember. This year, however, they opted to take out that part of the Grand Illumination. This sparked a question in my mind. How do you explain to young children about the TRUE meaning of christmas while still keeping in Traditions of the Holidays.

i plan to tell my son when he's old enough the Christmas Story and explain how Jesus made Santa and then go into what all Santa does on Christmas. Is this a good idea? I dont want to confuse him, but i don't want to burst his Santa bubble at an early age, either! What would you do?

Also, how do you feel about taking away the Christ in Christmas. It seems it's been becoming a major problem in the last 5- 10 years.

2007-10-18 08:59:20 · 18 answers · asked by *DiZzLe* 4

When I came to you, I was young and pretty and impressionable, looking for a
relationship with God, my Creator. But through slick words and empty
speeches you convinced me that I was not really a child of God, that my
duty was to the Organization ----- that THEY would tell me what to do and
how to think. Through years of domination and manipulation I began to
accept "the meagre food that was being offered to me, and became willing to
accept it as the true "spiritual" food from the Master, while all the time
feeling the gnawing pains of starvation which wracked at my body. Finally,
I discovered that I had been robbed of my joy, my love, my compassion, and
my mercy, and it was replaced with a legalistic, doctrinal formula which
provided me with fear, guilt, and anxiety to fill my hungry heart --------
and when I said, "I want more than this"...........you slapped me with your
soft little hand, which had now turned into an iron fist of oppression.

Yes, you fooled me all along, and the reason you were so good at your
deception was because you had been fooled too, a long time ago by others who
had taken you captive to their dictatorship, a reign of terror. You
convinced me that the words of men were the words of God because you really
thought it was true. I believed you because you were gentle, soft spoken,
and carried the Bible under your arm.


.....You may not remember me, but I know you very well. I met you a long time
ago when you came to my door with your smiling faces, your neat clothes, and
your soft voices, and a Bible tucked neatly under your arm. You told me
many beautiful stories of a "paradise earth" and a righteous new system
which would be established shortly. You beguiled me.....................I
listened and I let you teach me your form of Christianity.

I loved you. I devoted most of my life to you. I was loyal and obedient,
never realizing that one day I would come to disagree with everything you
had to say. When I first learned of you and the "paradise", little did I
know that I would be trained to believe that in order to get to that
paradise, I would have to walk over the dead bodies of beloved family,
cherished friends, and casual acquaintances, because they didn't want to be
JWs. With your soft, sweet voices, and gentle manner, you convinced me
that everything and everyone who did not agree with you was "evil". I came
to believe that other Churches were bad and of the Devil, and so were their
members. I became convinced that all the governments were wicked, including
my own, and that I was not to support the country in which I lived. I
believed you, I love you,

You told me that you had "freedom", and it was only later that I tried to
escape your brand of "freedom" that I discovered that the iron bars of the
gate had been shut and I was at your mercy because, by this time, you had
already gained control of my mind and my emotions. I cried and begged you
to please let me go, and you said with your firm, roaring voice, "not until
I have stripped you naked," and you did...............oh, yes, you did. You
stripped me of my dignity, my self respect, my honour, and my FAMILY. You
told all my friends and family that I was demonic, evil, an apostate, a
spiritual fornicator, and good for nothing better than total destruction by
your angry God, whom you had tried to pass off as a God of Love. They
believed you, and they still believe you, because their eyes are blinded by
the promise of "paradise" and they cannot see the "hell" that surrounds
them. The ever illusive "paradise" is held out to the gullible like a
carrot in front of the nose of a rabbit and causes them to sacrifice their
family, friends, careers, education, hopes and dreams on the altar of the
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

2007-10-18 08:59:17 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous

to live eternally on earth?

2007-10-18 08:59:11 · 9 answers · asked by My account has been compromised 2

I've heard both, just don't know which is true. Serious answers only, please. Thanks in advance!

2007-10-18 08:59:08 · 4 answers · asked by Ashley 1