|
Christ's Pornographically Cut Lats And Triceps
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2023 22:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 14:23 |
|
|
Ohtori Akio posted:Christ's Pornographically Cut Lats And Triceps Sometimes the beautiful Italian statue men are women.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2023 23:08
|
|
|
American Dad taught us that Jesus is always shredded.
|
|
#
?
Dec 9, 2023 23:29
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjd8E1rD3m4
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2023 11:57
|
|
|
Numbers. Leviticus 2 Electric Boogaloo. e: Lambs, rams and shekels, oh my. e: I'm cutting my reading with Hosea because Numbers is hard to read. Wow, Hosea hits different. God's in a real funky mood in this one. Prurient Squid fucked around with this message at 13:55 on Dec 10, 2023 |
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2023 13:40
|
|
|
One for Literally a Bird.
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2023 14:41
|
|
|
 it's perfect, thank you
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2023 16:03
|
|
|
Mad Hamish posted:So in Wiccan practice, or at least, in my Tradition, a libation of wine is poured for the Gods before the chalice is passed around (or used to carefully pour into Dixie cups, in these COVID times) pouring one out for my god homies NOT pouring one out (from my mouf) for that covid mf
|
|
#
?
Dec 10, 2023 18:58
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/AndromedaPip/status/1733767086328209468
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 06:43
|
|
|
The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 11:21
|
|
|
Ain't nothin sacred about my relationship with raisin cakes. Tomorrow is my first one on one meeting with the reverend at my church regarding eventual baptism now that Bob has agreed to stand for me. I've been enjoying the liturgical changes that happen in advent as compared to the Pentecost services.
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 15:14
|
|
|
Raisins are the suffering we must endure for spiritual purity
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 16:46
|
|
|
"Strengthen me with raisins"-- Song of Solomon 2:5
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 18:40
|
|
|
"raisins"
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 18:45
|
|
|
NomChompsky posted:Ain't nothin sacred about my relationship with raisin cakes. I gotta say, just based on your avatar, I keep imagining your posts as an excited Hans Landa getting pumped to go to church. Thank you for that mental image!
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 18:52
|
|
|
Shaddak posted:I gotta say, just based on your avatar, I keep imagining your posts as an excited Hans Landa getting pumped to go to church. Thank you for that mental image! "Au revoir, Hosanna!"
|
|
#
?
Dec 11, 2023 19:51
|
|
|
God gives the priesthood a magic trumpet. E: 10 Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance to their tents. The Lord became exceedingly angry, and Moses was troubled. 11 He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me? 12 Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth? Why do you tell me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries an infant, to the land you promised on oath to their ancestors? 13 Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ 14 I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. 15 If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.” Woah, calm down Moses. E: 18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” Oh you like meat do you? Have all the meat in the world! Prurient Squid fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Dec 12, 2023 |
|
#
?
Dec 12, 2023 12:51
|
|
|
Met with my reverend today. He and I discussed where I am at with my decisions, how I am liking the community, etc. I told him the books I've read so far, and he has to now go look for other stuff to have me read for council sessions through lent because I've already read most of the introductory like "Welcome to the Episcopal Church" books (I am a fast reader, I knocked out that book in like an afternoon). So we are going to do some meetings through lent to build up to it, and the plan is to go through Holy Baptism at the Easter Vigil. So I guess I'm getting dipped during the big one.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 00:34
|
|
|
Backstory: I grew up with just my mom and sisters and I never once went to church with my mom, it just wasn't a thing my family did, probably because a single mom dragging several kids to an hour of boredom every Sunday would have been miserable. My Dad saw church as an opportunity to schmooze with big wigs, when I started living with him I only attended church once a year, on Easter Sunday because all the important people would be there. I eventually attempted to start regular church attendance on my own, but I was a lazy high schooler who liked to sleep in on Sundays and after a few sessions at the local UMC (by far the largest church in the town and where my dad and late grandparents attended) a member who knew nothing about me accused me of being a drug dealer not welcome at the church. Naturally, this all led me to praise Darwin and pray to Einstein since the theory of evolution made (makes?) more sense than sky daddy let mortals mount him on a cross. That was the past. As for now, I'm reconsidering. I believe there are two types of divine intervention, beautiful happy stories that you share with everyone and terrifying ugly stories that you don't share with anyone. Mine was the disgusting ugly variety. To be honest, I've been reconsidering for a while now. Although I have previously declared myself atheist, the truth I think science can explain every moment of history up to the big bang but it simply cannot explain what happened prior to the big bang. Even if the bang-crunch theory is plausible, it's kind of mind boggling to think that a universe could spontaneously exist with the right laws and conditions to allow bang crunch theory and/or life to develop. I simply don't think there is a good scientific explanation for how the universe (or other universes) could have come into existence on it's own, so some sort of outside force must be present, and that outside force must be deity thus making Christianity equally as valid as atheism. I guess overall that's a roundabout way of saying I'm still skeptical of this Jesus dude. Regarding Jesus, I think he was a fine upstanding individual and I like and appreciate his teachings, however the scientist in me doubts his godly attributes. I think when he referred to himself as the "son of God" I think every person is a child of God to some extent. Similarly, when/if he declared that he was God, I think references to the holy spirit being alive in Jesus are similar to the idea of the holy spirit being present in everyone. As for miracles, the only miracle I'm familiar with Jesus performing was turning water into wine. However (correct me if I am wrong) this is a story about Jesus throwing a kick rear end rave, he ran out of juice, and in desperation filled the To that extent, thus far I have chosen the Catholic Church. I choose Catholicism because they claim to be the one true church able to trace their heritage back to disciples of Jesus. What I admire most about the Catholic church is their strict adherence to tradition and rules, even if at times I disagree with their beliefs. The problem I have with protestant churches is that they can believe and preach anything. I could look for a protestant church that aligns with my political point of view, but what if my political point of view were to change? Would I hop to the next popular church of the day? I could join a church worshipping Trump or Joe Biden, but when they prove to be idiots, do I have to start attending another church? I think separation between political and theological points of view is important. The last thing I want is to attend Ben and Jerry's Church of the Risen Sun. So I've chosen Catholicism for their traditions. The biggest problem I have with Catholicism is their stance on birth control, while I admire the idea of abstinence and safe sex and natural birth control (my SO has an irregular cycle making natural birth control out of the question) I think it's absolutely reckless for me to not get my balls snipped. I've had my kids, I am too old and too poor to have any more kids, it's just logical for me to remove my balls. The only thing holding me back is my inability to find a doctor willing to put my testicles in a jar that I can proudly display on my desk. I admire and respect the church's stance on the issue, but I believe in the difference between moral and political points of view. For example, I personally don't ever want to have an abortion (especially not as a male incapable of pregnancy) but more so I never want to force any woman to carry a pregnancy that they do not want. I admire a woman willing to birth a rape/incest baby, but I hate the idea of forcing a rape/incest/whatever baby onto a woman with no choice in the matter. TLDR; can I, a former atheist, join the Catholic Church, get my balls snipped, and still declare myself to be a follower of Catholicism?
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 06:32
|
|
|
Not Wolverine posted:Backstory: I grew up with just my mom and sisters and I never once went to church with my mom, it just wasn't a thing my family did, probably because a single mom dragging several kids to an hour of boredom every Sunday would have been miserable. My Dad saw church as an opportunity to schmooze with big wigs, when I started living with him I only attended church once a year, on Easter Sunday because all the important people would be there. I eventually attempted to start regular church attendance on my own, but I was a lazy high schooler who liked to sleep in on Sundays and after a few sessions at the local UMC (by far the largest church in the town and where my dad and late grandparents attended) a member who knew nothing about me accused me of being a drug dealer not welcome at the church. Naturally, this all led me to praise Darwin and pray to Einstein since the theory of evolution made (makes?) more sense than sky daddy let mortals mount him on a cross.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 06:48
|
|
|
I was in a somewhat similar intellectual place, and I found Tolstoy's religious writings to be a very helpful ladder towards the faith. He was not big on the large institutional churches however. Vasectomies and orchiectomies are different and you should understand the side effects of an orchiectomy before pursuing one. Actually, you are not likely to find a urologist who will perform an orchiectomy for strictly family planning purposes.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 07:37
|
|
|
Avoid his writing on marriage and women
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 07:42
|
|
|
Gaius Marius posted:Avoid his writing on marriage and women 
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 07:59
|
|
|
Ohtori Akio posted:I was in a somewhat similar intellectual place, and I found Tolstoy's religious writings to be a very helpful ladder towards the faith. He was not big on the large institutional churches however.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 12:53
|
|
|
Not Wolverine posted:I will look into Tolstoy soon. Regarding testicles, I had no idea orchiectomies were a thing, I included the bit about putting the balls on display purely as a joke. I assume that at the very least I would still need my testes to produce testosterone even if I severe my vas. Trans woman here, assuming you're a cis guy looking for birth control options you want a vasectomy. It's significantly less invasive, easier to perform, cheaper, has a shorter recovery time, and will leave you feeling more or less intact downstairs. An orchiectomy is the straight-up removal of one or both balls and usually only performed as either a treatment for testicular cancer or for gender dysphoria.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 14:09
|
|
|
Not Wolverine posted:To that extent, thus far I have chosen the Catholic Church. I choose Catholicism because they claim to be the one true church able to trace their heritage back to disciples of Jesus. What I admire most about the Catholic church is their strict adherence to tradition and rules, even if at times I disagree with their beliefs. The problem I have with protestant churches is that they can believe and preach anything. I could look for a protestant church that aligns with my political point of view, but what if my political point of view were to change? Would I hop to the next popular church of the day? I could join a church worshipping Trump or Joe Biden, but when they prove to be idiots, do I have to start attending another church? I think separation between political and theological points of view is important. The last thing I want is to attend Ben and Jerry's Church of the Risen Sun. When you get down to individual parish levels the Roman Catholic Church is not as monolithic as it appears at the papal level. You won't get any change to the eucharist, or the sacred tradition and liturgy, but you will have a variety in politics in homilies and sermons depending on the parish. There are non-Roman Catholic churches that maintain a strict liturgy, while having some more palatable social views, like most ELCA Lutheran churches. If you are worried about apostolic succession (claiming lineage back to the apostles) you could look into Eastern Orthodox, or Episcopalian, which are both also very liturgical. Not every "protestant" church are those big evangelical, do whatever, liturgy allergic churches. I live in one of the most conservative Catholic diocese in the country, where every Sunday has a message against abortion and LGBT people. I have friends who live in more liberal diocese, and those issues are never brought up during service. In another life in another place I'd have converted to Catholicism, but in the area I am, I would never attend mass. The politics of the time and place will always be a part of church at the individual church level. It sounds like you mostly want a church that maintains tradition; you don't need think that only the RCC does that.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 14:21
|
|
|
As a recent convert who chose the Episcopal church for many of the same reasons you have chosen the Catholic Church, I agree with the post previous mine. Some Protestant denominations are much more like the Catholic church in liturgy, prayer, and services than a lot of the other denominations. Anglicanism (which is what TEC is) is famous, reformation-wise, for choosing a "middle-way." When the church of England was formed they didn't want to go all the way in the direction of Calvin or Luther, but were no longer interested in staying with the Roman Catholic Church. Frequently in texts explaining Anglican worship you get the three guiding precepts of our faith: Scripture, Reason, and Tradition. From the Anglican Communion doctrine site: "Anglicans, however, do agree that their beliefs and practices, their authority, derive from an integration of Scripture (the Holy Bible), Reason (the intellect and the experience of God) and Tradition (the practices and beliefs of the historical church). This ‘three-legged stool’ is said to demonstrate a ‘balance’ in the Anglican approach to faith contrasting it with Roman Catholic and the Protestant doctrines. The term via media when used in reference to the Anglican tradition generally refers to the idea that Anglicanism represents a middle way between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. Rather than saying Anglicanism is Protestant – like Lutheranism or Calvinism – rather it would be more accurate to say it is catholic (believing it is still part of God’s one Church and having bishops as Church leaders) but reformed (in that it shares the principles of other Christian Churches that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in 16th Century) in what has become known as the Protestant Reformation." I'm not trying to tell you to join the Episcopal Church or any other church, but I did think it might be important to demonstrate that there isn't really a one size fits all description of how Protestant churches are organized vs the Catholic church. Another book I picked up recently that I thought had some great insights re: being a recent Christian is "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis, which was originally an apologetic aired on the BBC radio in the midst of the Second World War when Christianity was coming under fire in the wake of the destruction. It's actually a joy to read it, and his pragmatic, reasonable breakdown of spiritual thought and practice without relying on mere dogma is refreshing and thought provoking.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 14:45
|
|
|
I am a little curious about the air of contempt for Christianity/Catholicism that is pretty evident through your post despite your clear interest in connecting with Divinity. Is that deity particularly speaking to you, or are you defaulting to the binary of "if atheism = false, YHVH = true"?
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 14:57
|
|
|
Not Wolverine posted:some sort of outside force must be present, and that outside force must be deity thus making Christianity equally as valid as atheism. I guess overall that's a roundabout way of saying I'm still skeptical of this Jesus dude. Not Wolverine posted:Regarding Jesus, I think he was a fine upstanding individual and I like and appreciate his teachings, however the scientist in me doubts his godly attributes. I think when he referred to himself as the "son of God" I think every person is a child of God to some extent. Similarly, when/if he declared that he was God, I think references to the holy spirit being alive in Jesus are similar to the idea of the holy spirit being present in everyone. As for miracles, the only miracle I'm familiar with Jesus performing was turning water into wine. However (correct me if I am wrong) this is a story about Jesus throwing a kick rear end rave, he ran out of juice, and in desperation filled the The miracles of Jesus are pretty thick on the ground in the New Testament, and an important component of the theological underpinning of Christianity in my (non-Christian) view. I've never heard that interpretation of the water-wine story, but there's also the feeding of the multitude, the raising of Lazarus, the healing/raising of Jairus' daughter, tons of exorcisms, healing of the blind/lame/sick, walking on water, the Transfiguration, and oh yeah the Resurrection. The modernist secular spin on Jesus is kind of vague "be excellent to each other" philosophy, but that elides so much of the NT as to make it unrecognizable from the standpoint of major pillars of the Christian creed. If you don't believe in the extremely literal Divinity of Christ, I would not choose Catholicism personally. Not Wolverine posted:To that extent, thus far I have chosen the Catholic Church. I choose Catholicism because they claim to be the one true church able to trace their heritage back to disciples of Jesus. What I admire most about the Catholic church is their strict adherence to tradition and rules, even if at times I disagree with their beliefs.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 15:06
|
|
|
LITERALLY A BIRD posted:I am a little curious about the air of contempt for Christianity/Catholicism that is pretty evident through your post despite your clear interest in connecting with Divinity. Is that deity particularly speaking to you, or are you defaulting to the binary of "if atheism = false, YHVH = true"?
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 15:09
|
|
|
Nessus posted:This is a good point; while there is nothing wrong (on a sacramental/ritual basis, at least) with the Catholic Church, there are a range of other religions out there, and it remains fully legal to look into your options. Buddhism is arguably an atheist faith, or at least lacks belief in a singular Creator. Heck I'd even argue, as someone raised Protestant but who has spent a decent chunk of the last year dipping her toes in the water of other faiths, that there's not even much reason to treat Christianity and Buddhism as incompatible. Certainly once you start getting into the more spiritual and metaphysical aspects of the body of Buddhist writings you'll find lots of contradictions, but if you look only at the Buddha's teachings as a way to escape suffering you won't find a Biblical reason to reject, say, the Noble Eightfold Path. (This being said I do recognize this is a very western view of Buddhism, approached as someone with no formal instruction in that belief system, and you should take my opinions with as many grains of salt as you deem appropriate)
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 15:23
|
|
|
quiggy posted:Heck I'd even argue, as someone raised Protestant but who has spent a decent chunk of the last year dipping her toes in the water of other faiths, that there's not even much reason to treat Christianity and Buddhism as incompatible. Certainly once you start getting into the more spiritual and metaphysical aspects of the body of Buddhist writings you'll find lots of contradictions, but if you look only at the Buddha's teachings as a way to escape suffering you won't find a Biblical reason to reject, say, the Noble Eightfold Path. It's super interesting to me that you say this, actually, because I have been thinking off and on about western religion and eastern spirituality and thematic differences between those schools of thought. I have begun developing the impression that if panentheism is the most accurate model for understanding the relationship between Divinity and reality, which I think it is, religion that focuses on dualities like sin and redemption or order and chaos is primarily attempting to tackle and understand the reality we live and exist in, the Universe-within-God; spirituality that emphasizes nondualism and oneness of being, or lack of individuated self, develops from looking into the Greater Beyond, the body of God or Reality that exists without regard for our lived, perceived, communal reality. I have been feeling as though they simply focus on different halves of the whole that Is, and our modern dynamic of picking one or the other to study and perceiving the one we do not choose as incompatible or forbidden affects our development and depth of vision -- both personally and as a society. One of them searches out up close knowledge, and the other greater perspective, either of which may be more relevant and affecting to an individual at a given moment in their life; but really it would behoove the majority of us to commission personal pairs of spiritual/religious bifocals for use as needed.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 15:48
|
|
|
LITERALLY A BIRD posted:It's super interesting to me that you say this, actually, because I have been thinking off and on about western religion and eastern spirituality and thematic differences between those schools of thought. I have begun developing the impression that if panentheism is the most accurate model for understanding the relationship between Divinity and reality, which I think it is, religion that focuses on dualities like sin and redemption or order and chaos is primarily attempting to tackle and understand the reality we live and exist in, the Universe-within-God; spirituality that emphasizes nondualism and oneness of being, or lack of individuated self, develops from looking into the Greater Beyond, the body of God or Reality that exists without regard for our lived, perceived, communal reality. I have been feeling as though they simply focus on different halves of the whole that Is, and our modern dynamic of picking one or the other to study and perceiving the one we do not choose as incompatible or forbidden affects our development and depth of vision -- both personally and as a society. One of them searches out up close knowledge, and the other greater perspective, either of which may be more relevant and affecting to an individual at a given moment in their life; but really it would behoove the majority of us to commission personal pairs of spiritual/religious bifocals for use as needed. To me the dichotomy seems more to be divine-as-external versus divine-as-internal. The Abrahamic faiths are a good example of the former: the dominant theologies of these faiths usually say that God is some entity that is distinct from an individual human, usually off in His heavens and concerned more with the judgment of the dead and the coming end times than anything else (Judaism is a notable exception, since most Jews reject the idea of an afterlife--but they still very much would argue that YHVH is a different entity from a person, and that we can only seek understanding rather than apotheosis). Other examples might include something like ancient pagan religions: Thor is some guy with a hammer and power over lightning, his essence is distinct from yours as a mortal. Divine-as-internal faiths, on the other hand, encompass faiths like Buddhism as well as many animist faiths and pantheistic faiths. They argue that the divine is in some way an inherent part of being and that each person carries within them some essential divinity, and generally they argue that the goal of mortal life should be to cultivate that inner divinity in some way. This is all hugely reductive, naturally, and I'm sure the more knowledgeable people in this thread can point to lots of examples of faiths that don't separate clearly into this binary, but I've found it to be a significantly more useful way of comparing and contrasting belief systems than "western" vs "eastern".
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 16:07
|
|
|
Aah! No, that is perfect, thank you. I certainly agree there are some faiths which blur external and internal -- mine being one, to some degree -- but Divine-as-external and Divine-as-internal is much better phrasing than what I had used. That is a really helpful reframing to think about for a while, I appreciate you 
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 16:12
|
|
|
quiggy posted:Heck I'd even argue, as someone raised Protestant but who has spent a decent chunk of the last year dipping her toes in the water of other faiths, that there's not even much reason to treat Christianity and Buddhism as incompatible. Certainly once you start getting into the more spiritual and metaphysical aspects of the body of Buddhist writings you'll find lots of contradictions, but if you look only at the Buddha's teachings as a way to escape suffering you won't find a Biblical reason to reject, say, the Noble Eightfold Path. Hey Guns and I chatted about how the Jesus Prayer in orthodoxy is drat similar to a mantra. Some interchange in Manul Country.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 16:12
|
|
|
quiggy posted:Trans woman here, assuming you're a cis guy looking for birth control options you want a vasectomy. It's significantly less invasive, easier to perform, cheaper, has a shorter recovery time, and will leave you feeling more or less intact downstairs. An orchiectomy is the straight-up removal of one or both balls and usually only performed as either a treatment for testicular cancer or for gender dysphoria. NomChompsky posted:Rather than saying Anglicanism is Protestant – like Lutheranism or Calvinism – rather it would be more accurate to say it is catholic (believing it is still part of God’s one Church and having bishops as Church leaders) but reformed (in that it shares the principles of other Christian Churches that broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in 16th Century) in what has become known as the Protestant Reformation." Neon Noodle posted:You were raised in a Christian cultural milieu but you could just as easily embrace Islam, Judaism, Vedanta Hinduism, etc. from the argument for a supernatural creator. There are many other possibilities between total naturalistic atheism and the God of the Bible. For example, the outside force you refer to could be impersonal (i.e., not a Person), or multiple deadlocked forces (not a single Being), or a morally ambiguous alien lifeform, or a computer simulation. You could opt for Deism. Neon Noodle posted:The miracles of Jesus are pretty thick on the ground in the New Testament, and an important component of the theological underpinning of Christianity in my (non-Christian) view. I've never heard that interpretation of the water-wine story, but there's also the feeding of the multitude, the raising of Lazarus, the healing/raising of Jairus' daughter, tons of exorcisms, healing of the blind/lame/sick, walking on water, the Transfiguration, and oh yeah the Resurrection. The modernist secular spin on Jesus is kind of vague "be excellent to each other" philosophy, but that elides so much of the NT as to make it unrecognizable from the standpoint of major pillars of the Christian creed. If you don't believe in the extremely literal Divinity of Christ, I would not choose Catholicism personally. Neon Noodle posted:You could also become Orthodox Christian I guess. They claim equal lineage to the apostles and woah do they have traditions and rules. But again, if you don't have a firm belief in the supernatural claims of Christianity, and you're not a cradle Catholic/Orthodox, can you really adopt such a religion as an adult for philosophical or aesthetic reasons? I get that you are seeking truth, trying to find beauty and order and tradition and such, and I suppose you could choose to pursue liturgical Christianity because you WANT to believe what the Church says is true. But you also show from your narrative that you value empirical science, are skeptical of supernaturalism, and that might result in some uncomfortable doctrinal compromises. LITERALLY A BIRD posted:I am a little curious about the air of contempt for Christianity/Catholicism that is pretty evident through your post despite your clear interest in connecting with Divinity. Is that deity particularly speaking to you, or are you defaulting to the binary of "if atheism = false, YHVH = true"?
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 19:57
|
|
|
You might get some value from Stephen Jay Gould (evolutionary biologist, non-religious Jew)'s essay "Nonoverlapping Magisteria" https://caspar.bgsu.edu/~courses/4510/Classes/48A078B0-8402-4995-9161-A2C418612C75_files/Gould_97.pdf which discusses the interplay between religion and science, specifically in the context of Gould meeting with some Catholic priests in Rome while at a scientific conference. edit: also it sounds like you're trying to "logic" your way into choosing a faith tradition that aligns with your values and has a good sense of community, and that you value the community aspect most of all? There are lots of organizations that are not I would encourage you to just start doing some reading on Christianity and Christian history, visit some Christian churches. I'm not trying to be rude here, but you're pretty ignorant of history of the Reformation for example. Which is fine! Most people are! But you've made some assumptions that are incorrect and in fact are pretty uncharitable toward the Catholics  Also I'm not sure what the NRC is. The Roman Catholic Church? I feel like you're getting your information and understandings in a very second-hand, abstracted sense and I would encourage you to just jump in the deep end! Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Dec 13, 2023 |
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 20:08
|
|
|
Yeah I’m not sure I follow a lot of that. If you’re looking for just community that’s a different story but may require less theology than you might think
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 20:27
|
|
|
Have you considered the Unitarian Universalists? They've got a long history of social activism and I don't know that I've ever run into a UU congregation (not sure that's the proper term but whatever) that isn't doing some kind of social justice work. The reason I bring this up is that the churches you are mentioning being interested in are creedal churches and so during their liturgy, the worshippers will profess certain beliefs, usually via the Apostle's Creed but occasionally the Nicene Creed. If you're participating in worship, you don't need to understand all of this stuff right off the bat, but simultaneously, it shouldn't be something you're just paying lip service to either. There are noncreedal Christian churches as well, but even then what you describe sounds closer to Unitarianism than one of the Protestant denominations. That said, this also depends on how much you're interested in growing your faith. Exploring one's own theology in a group can be an immensely fulfilling experience, but if you're not interested in that, you might want to look towards groups that place less emphasis on doctrine. As I type this, something that might be useful is to ponder what you specifically think about Jesus. You don't have to have all the answers, but basic things like "was Jesus divine in some fashion or just a really good human", because most any Protestant church is going to require some kind of understanding that he is. Even the noncreedal churches are going to tell you to read the Bible and come up with your own ideas on what Jesus was up to, and the Bible is pretty clear on his divinity, if not exactly clear on the specifics. Note, there's a lot of different theories on exactly what Jesus was up to, and being a sacrificial lamb is only one of many possible interpretations, so don't get too hung up on trying to figure that out yet, just focus on figuring out what you think of Jesus and from there, folks can help with recommendations.
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 20:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 3, 2024 14:23 |
|
|
Very big in Christian thought, this Jesus fellow
|
|
#
?
Dec 13, 2023 20:30
|
|