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gomedome
I am here giving you the link to my promised article. Just have a look and l'll be happy to know your views.
posted by
Bhaskar.ing
on May 26, 2007 at 7:12 AM
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labeling people sinners puts them in their place
as being of a lower nature
and you of course are so much better than they are
posted by
Xeno-x
on May 25, 2007 at 1:01 PM
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Troosha - I absolutely agree - it is a cop out or an "easy" button
The entire excercise of confession was by far the most ridiculous religious tradition that I was ever forced to partake in. I've mentioned before that all the religious talk in the world doesn't mean squat to me if people are incapable of living their own underlying religious message. You can teach a parakeet to recite words from the bible, show me instead.
posted by
gomedome
on May 25, 2007 at 9:05 AM
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Thanks gome tomorrow then?
posted by
Bhaskar.ing
on May 25, 2007 at 8:59 AM
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gomedome
What irks me the most is that within the structure of Christianity – born again or Catholic or…) people go to church, say a few prayers, do confession perhaps, and then feel a great sense of absolution. But how do they live their Monday through Saturday? It lends itself to an attitude of “My ethics and morality throughout the week doesn't really matter because I can be absolved on Sunday”. It's a cop out.
posted by
Troosha
on May 25, 2007 at 8:55 AM
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Bhaskar.ing - thank you, I look forward to reading that post
posted by
gomedome
on May 25, 2007 at 8:55 AM
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gome - your comment to sannhet contains such great truth. Yes, I agree.
Maybe this will inspire me to do a post on the politics of the Church.
posted by
Bhaskar.ing
on May 25, 2007 at 8:26 AM
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sannhet - I admire the cleverness of the original sin concept
It really is the best sales job I have ever seen. Convince people that they are born with an invisible plague and that your church has the only cure. The cure of course is joining the church, then the real hilarity comes in when it is revealed how the plague is cured. Simply with water and words. Talk about cost efficient selling and on top of all of this it is legal, those early church folks were brilliant, its the greatest scam of all time.
posted by
gomedome
on May 25, 2007 at 8:12 AM
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strat - most people don't know the half of it about the catholic church
Currently they are facing lawsuits pertaining to child molestation and abuse in numerous jurisdictions around the globe that will eventually settle collectively in the billions of dollars. The one I have first hand knowledge of settled for $312 million amongst approximately 1,500 plaintiffs, half of them posthumously. Once the monetary settlement was reached, it was conditional on an ironclad, court enforced gag order with court records permanently sealed. In other words the entire episode and the catholic church's criminal complicity have been wiped from history. That is their method of dealing with it. Send in tough legal negotiators, pony up a pittence of their mega cash and nail anyone who talks about it to a cross (if you'll pardon the expression). Meanwhile they are busy screwing up the third world with the financial clout to spread a religious message that prohibits birth control.
posted by
gomedome
on May 25, 2007 at 8:07 AM
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Pat_B - similarly I love the phrase: "the big fantasy novel"
posted by
gomedome
on May 25, 2007 at 7:55 AM
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Jenasis - not only being pressured to think of things we did not do but
also things that are ancient history.
posted by
gomedome
on May 25, 2007 at 7:54 AM
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bandanafish - I remember the last time a religious type told me that Jesus
died for my sins.
I couldn't help but think that life always has decent people accommodating the lowest common denominator. Seriously, I've never done anything so wrong in my life that someone needed to sacrifice themselves for it. Like I returned that squirt gun I stole when I was 7 years old. Someone who wants to insist that I am a sinner is simply accusing the wrong person and maybe should take a look in the mirror.
posted by
gomedome
on May 25, 2007 at 7:52 AM
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Gome -
I'm with you on this. Original sin might have been an original thought at one time, but it certainly isn't what got us into this mess that we call life.
posted by
sannhet
on May 25, 2007 at 6:59 AM
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I have never understood how anyone
could attribute any credence to anything the Catholic church ever said. Then again, I have the same problem with churches in general.
posted by
strat
on May 25, 2007 at 6:08 AM
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Lots of words and literary references from the big fantasy novel
serve as handy references. We know that "sin" means bad or harmful. And "heaven" means not here, possibly a place where life is fair and all things equal.
Love the "fruit chomping floozy" phrase.
posted by
Pat_B
on May 25, 2007 at 6:00 AM
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Yeah, I think it's a bad trap, being pressured to think of something you didn't do. Once I was pressured about whether my fainting spell was due to my medication. I wasn't on medication. But after the lady was finished pushing the "Where are your meds" button, I had a non-existent doctor and was put on medication.
posted by
Jenasis
on May 24, 2007 at 4:13 PM
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I absolutely agree with you.
If anyone were to say to me, "you have sinned", or anything close to that, I'd be very angry (and promptly plan my revenge.) I think it's extremely offensive for anyone to accuse another as a "sinner". Just who do they think they are?! Geez.
posted by
bandanafish
on May 24, 2007 at 4:06 PM
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