Religious affiliation (3 Viewers)

[waterfowl]

group affirmation of shared values doesnt encourage diversity or individuality...it also places peer pressure to conform to group values...

I don't think so. At my Church when you look around you can see all types of people. Punks, surfies, nerds, and a lot of other 'stereotypes'.

Attached to this are some photos from a youth conference at my Church earlier this year. It doesn't really show the whole diversity thing, but it does show that not all Churches are wooden pews and stained glass windows like most people think.

 

[Generator]

He didn't mean it in a superficial cardigan club sense.

 

[chelloveck]

he is not as funny as i thought he would be

he's so bloody funny. did you see last week where he did the vampire thing. christ that was hilarious. and i love it how he's not afraid to have a dig at the "left-wing pinkos" (that think they're immune to criticism) even though they make up the majority of his audience. fuck that was good when he ripped on michael moore. he is what the west needs at the moment...cynics that rip on all the over correction of a racially and culturaly intollerant west and say things that are controversial without worrying if they're politically incorrect. he is awesome.

 

[lengstar]

i watched one episode where he tore at the lefties about aboriginal land rights. apparently this suburb stated with plaques that yes this kand belongs to so-so aboriginal tribe by when the fake tribe members came back to reclaim the land aka their houses, they weren't so...charitable lol

 

[Doogsy]

I am catholic, i was baptised, and went to a catholic school from year 2 to now (year 12) however i dont beleive any of it and consider myself athiest. I don't see how you can beleive in a higher being who is watching over us. I beleive that I should live to my own set of morals, which are based on common sense.
From what I've learnt about God is that He is forgiving. The way I see it, if there is the even remotest chance of Him being real, he will forgive me and accept me into heaven (which to me sounds like a very dull place) I agree with what some one else said in this thread, we, as an entire planet, should disregard all aspects of religion, and instead make Earth a heaven.
For those who did Bruce Dawes poetry in year 12 "Memento, homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris" Remeber man, from dirt you came and from dirt you shall return

 

[waterfowl]

I am catholic, ...consider myself athiest.

Well if you consider yourself atheist, then you aren't catholic.

heaven (which to me sounds like a very dull place)

""18The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.[4] 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass""

Yeh that sounds very dull to me, almost unbearable.

 

[Doogsy]

Well if you consider yourself atheist, then you aren't catholic.

I am baptised, does that not make me catholic? I've done communion and confirmation and the rest. I thought once you were catholic you are always catholic. That was the impression i got anyway.

How does anyone know what heaven is like anyway. I know that contradicts my statement about it being dull, but your statement (bible refrence?) is so precise in all its detail for something no one has ever seen.
What I'm trying to say is what do you do in heaven that is different to what you do on Earth?

 

[Shifty]

What I'm trying to say is what do you do in heaven that is different to what you do on Earth?

What a stoopid question....

Just give me a second, while i call heaven and ask them.....twat

 

[ezzy85]

What a stoopid question....

Just give me a second, while i call heaven and ask them.....twat

while youre at it, tell hendrix to pick up his dog.

 

[Doogsy]

What a stoopid question....

Just give me a second, while i call heaven and ask them.....twat

well waterfowel seemed to have a detailed knowledge on what heaven was about. And I didnt think it was a stupid question, twat. If you don't know whats the diffrence, how on earth can you say that it is better?

 

[timrie6]

I wasn't baptised, and my friends at school thought that was weird

 

[Doogsy]

i never liked the idea of being baptised when you were a baby, you never really had a say in the matter, unlike the baptists church, where you are baptised as an adult, and only if you want to.

 

[timrie6]

does anyone else find that weird? that I'm not baptised *looks around*

 

[thejosiekiller]

are your friends that religous?

 

[timrie6]

not really.

 

[thejosiekiller]

that doesnt make sense

i love being agnostic

 

[eLmo]

i never liked the idea of being baptised when you were a baby, you never really had a say in the matter, unlike the baptists church, where you are baptised as an adult, and only if you want to.

When youre a baby isn't it known as a christening?
And when youre older then you can choose to be baptised?

 

[waterfowl]

no its not...its just a whole bunch of people reaffirming their values in a large group...all common in thought and belief...how scary...even more scary is that they are using good older fashioned tunes and songs (much like advertisers) to win people over... The church in this way is presented with some kind of pseudo coolness...

OK if you think that a large group of people gathering together to reaffirm their values and beliefs is scary, then you must hate all protest rallies, and even government party meetings.
And I don't believe I attached any songs from my Church, so how can you say that they are old fashioned? You've never even heard them.
And your comment on pseudo coolness, I don't know where that came from. Those pictures are genuine, and thats how youth Church is conducted. You may say it is an attempt to be cool, I say it is merely keeping up with the times, and being contemporary.

 

[waterfowl]

....reaffirm that LIFE values in a situation of high peer pressure where no other view is presented...

High peer pressure...LOL...thats a joke, I don't know about your experiences (if any) but I have never experienced any form of peer pressure at my Church, and everyone is free to have their own views.

 

[chookyn]

heaven is going to be a spectacular and beautiful place, beyond all imagination, but it'll only be enjoyable if you know God...

a commonly (and falsely) held idea is that "because God loves everyone, we're all going to heaven automatically"

that isn't the case, as it rules out our individual freedom of choice over our eternal destinies.
(where we spend eternity is ultimately up to us, and is impacted by the decisions we make/choose not to make here and now.

you have to want to go to heaven, realising that being in heaven also means being with God. imagine if a satanist somehow got to heaven, or an atheist perhaps. it'd be like hell to them. they'd be surrounded by God and happy members of His family... and because they'd be immortal also, there'd be no escape!! so chances are, they'd prefer being in hell.

mm.. hell. i think people emphasise the physical torture of hell too much, which is completely beside the point. The real torture of hell is for a soul to be eternally separated from its Maker.

for non-believers, earth is the only heaven they'll know

for believers, earth is the only hell they'll know