Caufman posted:

The boundaries of the story of Jesus can be deadly real, I'd say. It can be used to manipulate, harm, and abuse the self and others.

edit: I feel like I can be too severe, so I also want to add that being with Christians in person is very rad and totes liberating. I hung out with a handful again today, and it was great. I'm so thankful for that company.

I LIKE COOKIE posted:

To respond to the second part of your post: maybe I do need some new friends. I only hang out with sinners.

Never met any fun Christians though, sad to say. Most super devout Christians fear God, and therefore fear harmless sinning. Super devout Christians sit in church all day and do nothing in the world. That isn't what God wants.

HEY GAIL posted:

our prison ministry, as i said, is a dude who is in prison

System Metternich posted:

well that's convenient

fake edit: there's a Lutheran priest in Germany who literally spent 16 years in the slammer for marrying an 18yo girl and then pushing her off a cliff for the insurance money before finding God and getting ordained. I'm not sure how to feel about that.

Ceciltron posted:

I read the link. No mention of orthodoxy. Just one mention of him joining a christian fraternity to study english.

HEY GAIL posted:

ours is just a russian who murdered a guy

such is life

The Phlegmatist posted:

Oh yeah we sang an awesome hymn yesterday.

...which is in the hymnal that PCUSA uses but was actually written by a Catholic, who knew.

Bel_Canto posted:

i disagree with both of you vehemently but i'm also a curmudgeon

I LIKE COOKIE posted:

To the first part: I guess i mean the boundaries of the communication between myself and God. I'm bipolar 1 and my whole life I've had people telling me that I have a disease. Telling me I'm crazy, and that the things I've seen aren't real. I've had this deep desire to prove that it is real, because it's real to me. I saw it with my own two eyes. Yeah, my brain is different (or broken lol) but does that make my experiences any less than that of an average brained person? I'd argue no.

So Ive always wanted to prove it, is where I'm going with this.

Now that God talks to me, I almost feel like it is my purpose to prove his existence. I just want everyone to believe me!

Unfortunately only mentally ill people think God is talking to them. The world is full of doubt and skepticism. Faith truly is that. Faith.

To respond to the second part of your post: maybe I do need some new friends. I only hang out with sinners.

Never met any fun Christians though, sad to say. Most super devout Christians fear God, and therefore fear harmless sinning. Super devout Christians sit in church all day and do nothing in the world. That isn't what God wants.

God is loving God. He knows he's the poo poo. He doesn't need anyone to waste their life with his dick in their mouths. Go out there and live your life. Someone else said it best: "Ask forgiveness, not permission"

See here I go again, preaching. Wonder how long it will take before you guys get annoyed of me

HEY GAIL posted:

ours is just a russian who murdered a guy

such is life

CountFosco posted:

Harmless sinning is a logical impossibility. You might not immediately see the harm, but that's a consequence of your inability to perceive the future, not evidence that there's "harmless sinning."

You've never met any fun Christians given your own personal, subjective, perception of fun. Yes, go out there and live your life, but live it within the bounds of sobriety, respect, and love. "Go forth and sin no more." There are a number of historical heresies that I could readily compare to your attitude here, but I'm hesitant to bring them up for fear that it'll give you ideas.

The Phlegmatist posted:

Well it's mostly because our diocese trains Mercedarians. Who, in addition to the usual monastic vows of obedience, poverty and chastity take a fourth vow to sacrifice their lives to prevent a Christian from losing his or her faith. Which is pretty metal.

So they get to practice in our prison ministry until they get shipped to Iraq or Kashmir.

I LIKE COOKIE posted:

The devil literally owns the left side of your body, and Jesus (or whatever entity you pray to, Buddha, etc etc) own the right side of your body. (jesus owns the heart tho)

mythomanic posted:

Is this based on anything, or just something you came up with?

I know you fully believe you're having mystical experiences, but a lot of your posts read like the pattern-seeking behavior I see when I get particularly manic or paranoid.

I've been reading a lot of mystic writings lately, and I think you could do well to do the same. When Margery Kempe began having her visions, she sought out Julian of Norwich for advice. It's important to cultivate a group of spiritual advisers to make sure you're doing okay. I think there's a really fine and dangerous line between worshiping God and worshiping yourself/your own mystical experience ("Ayeeeee I'm a prophet bitchezzzz").

Thirteen Orphans posted:

If St. John of the Cross isn't on your shortlist, I highly recommend him.

Julian of Norwich posted:

In all the tyme that He shewed this that I have seid
now, in ghostly sight I saw the bodyly sight lesting of the plentious bledeing of
the hede. The grete dropis of blode fel downe from under the garland like
pellots semand as it had cum out of the veynis, and in the comeing out it were
browne rede, for the blode was full thick, and in the spredeing abrode it were
bright rede, and whan it come to the browes, than it vanyshid; notwithstondying
the bleding continuid till many things were seene and understondyn. The faire-
hede and the livelyhede is like nothing but the same. The plenteoushede is like
to the dropys of water that fallen of the evys after a greate showre of reyne that
fall so thick that no man may numbre them with bodily witte; and for the round-
hede, it were like to the scale of heryng in the spreadeing on the forehead. These
three come to my mynde in the tyme: pellotts, for roundhede in the comynge out
of the blode; the scale of heryng, in the spreadeing in the forehede, for round-
hede; the dropys of evese, for the plentioushede inumerable. This shewing was
quick and lively and hidouse and dredfull, swete and lovely.

mythomanic posted:

Is this based on anything, or just something you came up with?

I know you fully believe you're having mystical experiences, but a lot of your posts read like the pattern-seeking behavior I see when I get particularly manic or paranoid.

I've been reading a lot of mystic writings lately, and I think you could do well to do the same. When Margery Kempe began having her visions, she sought out Julian of Norwich for advice. It's important to cultivate a group of spiritual advisers to make sure you're doing okay. I think there's a really fine and dangerous line between worshiping God and worshiping yourself/your own mystical experience ("Ayeeeee I'm a prophet bitchezzzz").

mythomanic posted:

(I can't find the translated text online anywhere):

Tuxedo Catfish posted:

middle english is for losers and frenchmen, old english or gtfo

HEY GAIL posted:

look at this fuckboy who doesn't want five synonyms for the same drat thing, look at his wrong opinions

Tuxedo Catfish posted:

i could go on

Tuxedo Catfish posted:

if we spoke in kennings Smoking Crow would be WAR-GULL FIRE'S SON, Tuxedo Catfish would be LAWYER-SKIN RIVER-SAGE, Hey Gail would be HAIL, BREAKER OF TREES

i could go on

Thirteen Orphans posted:

quote:

New PRRI analysis, drawn from a data set of 40,509 interviews conducted throughout 2016 as part of PRRI’s American Values Atlas, reveals that most American religious groups support same-sex marriage and oppose religiously based service refusals.

Overall, a majority (58 percent) of Americans support allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally. Among religious groups, Unitarian/Universalists (94 percent), Buddhists (85 percent), Jews (73 percent), Hindus (67 percent), white mainline Protestants (63 percent), white Catholics (63 percent), Hispanic Catholics (62 percent), and Orthodox Christians (59 percent) all have majorities supporting same-sex marriage. Black Protestants (45 percent), Muslims (44 percent), and Hispanic Protestants (41 percent) are somewhat divided. Only three religious groups–Mormons (37 percent favor, 55 percent oppose), white evangelical Protestants (31 percent favor, 61 percent oppose), and Jehovah’s Witnesses (25 percent favor, 53 percent oppose)–show majority opposition for same-sex marriage. Combined, these three religious groups comprise only 19 percent of the general population.

There is near consensus among religious groups on the issue of religiously based service refusals. Roughly six in ten (61 percent) Americans oppose allowing a small business owner in their state to refuse to provide products or services to gay or lesbian people, if doing so violates their religious beliefs. That includes not only large majorities of groups who strongly support same-sex marriage, including Unitarian/Universalists (87 percent), Buddhists (76 percent), and Jewish Americans (72 percent), but also majorities of even major religious groups who are divided over or opposed to same-sex marriage.

mythomanic posted:

It's important to cultivate a group of spiritual advisers to make sure you're doing okay. I think there's a really fine and dangerous line between worshiping God and worshiping yourself/your own mystical experience ("Ayeeeee I'm a prophet bitchezzzz").

HEY GAIL posted:

i like that as far as tuxedo catfish is concerned, old english is in all caps

Tuxedo Catfish posted:

do you have some evidence of case existing in futhorc that i don't

Caufman posted:

Whale road as a kenning for the sea is about as good as language has gotten.

Tree Bucket posted:

Wow. How does that work out in practicality? Are they basically expected to minister in places that come with a pretty high chance of death? Do they have... difficulty finding recruits...?

(Long-time lurker finally posting in this kickin' rad thread. Thanks everyone!)