you are all going to hell

[TheLorax]

I had to deal with this crap all the time when I was in college. I was trapped like a rat because I worked at one of those kiosk places out in the middle of the mall. It was some kind of a loony magnet. There is just no reasoning with these people and I am hardly ignorant about religion. I was about 3 hours shy of a religion minor. I choose to be a heretic.

I tried everything from arguing them into a corner to singing the praises of Jebus just to get rid of them. Nothing works. If you are not a Christian, then you simply must give your heart to Jebus right now, this very minute here in the middle of the mall while on the clock – wildly inappropriate. If you say you are Lutheran or something normal, then they snort about how the “high churches” are all pomp and ceremony. What I need it would seem is good ole fashioned fire and brimstone. Would it be to much to ask for you to just fuck off and die. There is such a thing as decorum. I am not a Christian and I don’t pretend to be but the times I have been in a church the pomp and ceremony was frankly quite soothing and meditative.

I get religious about things like this:

[DanaC]

That was a fascinating piece Lady Sidhe. I would like to add to that if i may the legend of Odin, who is often pictured in a pose not disimilar to the crucifixion scene. According to the Norse mythos Odin from the Tree of Life for 9 days and nights. When the 8th and 9th century Nordic peoples began to adopt Christianity the two images of Christ on the Cross and Odin on the tree were often merged in art.

[DanaC]

I am not a Christian and I don’t pretend to be but the times I have been in a church the pomp and ceremony was frankly quite soothing and meditative.

I have generally been quite iritated by that stuff when I have encountered it in my life. My Gran was a devout Catholic and I spent way more time than is strictly healthy escorting her about various Christian shrines in England and France.....She insisted on answering the Priest in Latin and was the only one in Waltham Abbey doing it.....*sigh*

There are notable exceptions however when I was very very moved by the gravitas of the ceremonial. The candlelight procession at night from the steps of the main Basilica in Lourdes....dont ask me how, but my mum and I ( another ardent Atheist) were chosen to be standard bearers which meant standing on the steps looking out over the huge congregation as it intoned Ave Maria to the dance of thousands of candles.

I bathed in the waters. Gran thought it might cure me.....I did feel a rush of emotion....Which I later realised was a response to the gravity of others' belief.

The experience made me angry though. Another family in our group had a son with a nasty heart condition. Their profound hope was shattering. Sitting there listening to them talk in speculative whispers about the possibility of a cure broke my heart. Their acceptance of God's will should no cure be forthcoming was even more heartbreaking.

Since that pilgramage I feel only a sense of cynical irritation at the lies I here from the man in cloth. Since I mainly only go into churches at funerals this increases my sense of religion as a con trick for vulnerable people. Stagemanaged to the 'nth degree.

The only time now I really see the beauty of any of it, is when I am looking at it in the conext of an earlier time. I really do feel like we should have made some progress on this by now....But the monks in 1200s I still admire.

[Lady Sidhe]

Actually, I WILL say this: If I ever went back, I'd be Catholic. I love the ceremony and drama, the incense, candles, and singsong chanting of the mass. It's as close as you can get to being pagan while still being christian

What the people who down pomp and ceremony don't understand is, that THAT is EXACTLY what causes the change in consciousness that enhances a spiritual experience. Candles, incense, and drama all serve to remove one from everyday existence and bring about an "aura" of mystery or an altered state of consciousness. That's how drumming works, and chanting, and whirling....

I was raised southern baptist, converted to catholicism, then became pagan. Go figure.


Sidhe

[Bullitt]

See now, i really dislike all the pomp and ceremonies and all that filler crap that people invented to praise God and blah blah. I'm not Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pagan, or atheist. I am a mere Christian and my personal faith is based upon the fact that in some situations while others break, I stay steadfast because I know that God will not place me in a situation that I cannot handle and be at peace with. Even if I was on one of those planes that flew into the WTC, I would be completely fine with it because that is not His will and others can only be inspired ot renew their friendship and shunning of evil that comes with such an atrocety.
It's not that i don't care, it's that I have no reason to be dissatisfied with whatever situation I am in. I ahev free will and therefore I alone am responsible for my own actions.
What Christ taught was that you should not follow Him, not have wafers placed on your tongues at mass, he taught forgiveness and faith. Without the faith that I place in Him, I would have broken long ago.
It's the most amazing thing ot be totally at peace within your heart.

[Perry5]

I am going to hell,just as soon as i find out where it is.

[Yelof]

If I had a "Road to Damascus" event and I had to choose a Christian sect I'd choose The Society of Friends

I mean I could just about swallow the idea of a God, but what exactly is the point of an organised religion where some have the power to create-interpet doctrine and others don't?

Low on my lists of sects to join would be The Catholic Church, although I have great respect for some in it, my Uncle for instance is a missionary in Peru and being a Catholic missionary in a mostly Catholic country (although it is fun to get him worked up at the mere mention of evengalical churches) most of what he does is build community in shanty towns. He personally disagrees with much the mother church teaches, why he stays in it then I don't know?

If I could choose a non-Christian religion it would be the Buddhists

Although an atheist I am obsessed with religions and learning more about their histories. The Mormons are a fasinating study of a group making it from the Waco nutty phase to some level of acceptability all in recorded history. Fun thing is because the Mormon phrophets lived in historical record it is easy to disprove what they said, but that doesn't seem to have affected the growth of the Religion

[Perry5]

Jesus is comming,lets all hope that his dad gets him a better wardrobe and a shave this time.