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Posted on: Wed, Aug 27 2008 11:24 PM
Posted by: DSB Posts: 767
As an artist and activisit an old one at that I am often put off by those of faith that wish to tend to my needs as if I am some poor SOB God frowned upon. Well I need no tending and in the words and song of Johon Lennon I have free choice it is America.
Posted on: Thu, Aug 28 2008 1:16 AM
Posted by: shellGVchick Posts: 1,261
Posted on: Thu, Aug 28 2008 9:50 AM
Posted by: unrepentantpigsnatcher2 Posts: 0
It seems the world does contain a lot of hate based on religion. There is a lot to be said for faith however. It can comfort one in the darkest of times and lead one to reach out to others who need to share that comfort.
Posted on: Thu, Aug 28 2008 10:29 AM
Posted by: Lisa Posts: 411
Imagine giving the same USA back to the Native Americans and everyone else being shipped back to the land they ran away from not so very long ago !! Just a thought of course !! My son is a Pagan, he is happy with his choice and I love him no less for it... My parents attend a Unitarian 'church' which supports Wiccan, a 'witch' based religion, the Military of the United States of America has to offer a Wiccan based service to members around the world at the base chapels... Imagine !! We have come so little of a way in our world...
Posted on: Thu, Aug 28 2008 10:49 AM
Posted by: Whitney Posts: 691
Their website is interesting. The thing that interests me the most is their use of half-truths or over-exaggeration on their "Our Purposes" page. I think it interesting that they side step completely the fact that the founders of the documents sitting in Washington DC right now were very much religious and invoked God's name in both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. They didn't want this country free from God like you and the website suggest, rather that the government could not dictate a national or state religion that every one was required to practice as it was in England. It also was worded so that every one would feel free to practice religion as they saw fit, even to not practice it, but not completely eradicate religion. Now I know that your website doesn't say to eradicate religion entirely but the tone certainly suggests that if they could outlaw religion for more 'enlightened' thinking, they would. But then if that happened, wouldn't we be doing the exact thing our founding father's were trying to avoid? A government mandated way of thinking?
Whitney
Posted on: Thu, Aug 28 2008 11:31 AM
Now this is dialog!
Posted on: Thu, Aug 28 2008 11:46 AM
Posted by: Beverly60 Posts: 59
That is your choice, but frankly, that scares me. If I didn't have faith I would be a mess. Bev.
Posted on: Thu, Aug 28 2008 1:09 PM
Posted by: bonniethesurvivor Posts: 1,138
There is a difference between religion and faith, between an organization and a conviction that flows from the heart. What one "religion" does has little to do with another. Even denominations of the same "religion" differ dramatically in their practices, from mission work to liturgy. How people treat each other often has little to do with their religion. Some religions are actually social networks, more than groups of people who share the same belief system, and find comfort and support in sharing that system with each other. Religion has caused more disruption in the world, more deaths, more cruelty, than most, if not all, ideologies. Yet faith is what holds many together, in the face of trouble, pain, hunger--every kind of hurt. It is true that our Founding Fathers were mainly men of faith, as were our Founding Mothers women of faith. They often had very different versions of "religion." What they shared was the convicion that no government, and no other person, should dictate another person's own faith system. And I believe they had it right. As a volunteer hospice chaplain I find it amazing to discover how many "faithless" individuals experience faith at the last moments of life. What our minds tell us often shifts as our hearts' desires, and knowledge, become known. Just some various thoughts on this subject . . .bonnie
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