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Post by Brian on Nov 1, 2003 15:23:06 GMT -5
I'm Catholic...well, my family is Catholic, but I'm not sure I believe in all their beliefs. I believe in magic, and in the powers of the earth, and trees and spirits of them and such, like paegans do. I also believe a lot of the wiccan things I've heard and read. I don't know what religion I am, really. Techinically, I'm Catholic, but as far as what I believe in, who knows? Yes, swans, I believe that the Gods of all religions are basically the same. I believe that all religions are true to the people who believe in them. I believe that if you're Muslim and you believe in their God, you won't go to Hell or anything, you'll go to whatever they believe is the "Heaven". I don't think that everyone who does not believe in what I believe in should either change, or be burned in a lake of fire, as one of my friends put it. I believe that there is truth to all religion and that it all pretty much begins at the same place. But, I also believe that the Bible was not written by God, but by men. Yes, men inspired by God, but men nonetheless. Men, even inspired by God, may change little things to fit how they think it should be done and believed, and I believe that more likely than not, that is what happened. Not to everything, but definately to some. Have any of you read the trilogy, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman? Great series, everyone that has ever lived to the age of which to read, should read those books. In those books, it turns out that in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve ate the apple, they suddenly became aware and embarrassed that they were naked. According to those books, that is when knowledge came, that is when mankind became aware of themselves and their surroundings and what-not. Of course, I cannot describe it even close to a fourth of half as well as Philip Pullman described it, but I guess you'll just have to read them yourselves, and feel the greatness for yourselves...Maybe I'm being a bit to...erm...dramatic, considering that this is just a book, but when I fell this strongly about something, anything, I will be dramatic, to an extent. Wait, you're 11 and you've read His Dark Materials? Well, wait, I guess I was 11 when I read it (I'm 12 now). Never mind. Anyways, I'm Jewish but I don't strictly follow the religion. I believe in God but one that is not powerful like most religions say. I believe that your own morals should decide what you do, as well as authority (whether it be your parents or the law of wherever you live). I believe in civil disobedience.
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Post by pixie ears on Nov 1, 2003 15:43:06 GMT -5
I'll be 12 in December...You've read His Dark Materials? You're seriously the first person [besides my sister, who recommended them to me] I've met that has read them! Aren't they amazing? Which was your favourite? The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, or The Amber Spyglass? How horrible was that one scene at the end with Lyra and Will? I read that part in school-during lunch, actually. I was so wrapped up, I didn't even eat. I was crying sooo hard! But not as hard as that one scene when they crossed the lake into the land of the dead, and Lyra had to leave Pantalaimon behind, remember? I was in bed, reading and I was just sobbing. Mum came in and was like, "Kristen, what's wrong??? Are you okay?" I just kept sobbing. Eventually I had to go to bed, though. I stayed up night after night reading those books. They were just so amazing...
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Post by Brian on Nov 1, 2003 15:47:22 GMT -5
I'll be 13 in December...oh boy, my Bar Mitzvah's coming up! Anyway, I'm not very emotional (although I wish I was), but I sniffled a little through some of the parts. I guess that the Golden Compass was my favorite, probably because it's the least confusing. I should reread them soon. It's been a while. The only other book that made me cry was Where the Red Fern Grows.
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Post by pixie ears on Nov 1, 2003 16:19:54 GMT -5
I can't believe The Amber Spyglass didn't make you cry! I think that one was my favourite, maybe The Subtle Knife, maybe even The Golden Compass. His Dark Materials didn';t really seem all that confusing to me... I like confusing books, though, they make me think, and, usually that is, they are the best. I know this sounds stupid, but the books that make you cry are usually the best, you know? If they're written well enough to make you cry, they have to be awesome. At which parts did you sniffle a bit?
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Post by Brian on Nov 1, 2003 16:24:43 GMT -5
I'll admit this now, but I once had to go to a psychiatrist, or maybe a psychologist (can't remember the difference) because I had trouble with opening up my feelings. What that basically means is that I wouldn't cry over anything emotional for three months and then something would make me angry and I'd let it all out for about half and hour. I would probably cry over it now though. As a matter of fact, I try and make it a habit to cry now at least once a week, whether it be over stress, or a sad book/movie/play/whatever, or something else.
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Post by ponygirl's vapor on Nov 1, 2003 17:07:36 GMT -5
you probably went to a pschyatrist.. cant spell..
so you make yourself cry now so you wont get the all your hatred and emotion stored up in a ballon then let out thing?
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Post by Brian on Nov 2, 2003 1:00:57 GMT -5
Basically. I go through a lot of stress.
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Luigi
Bewildered Beginner
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Post by Luigi on Nov 2, 2003 1:02:54 GMT -5
I love the Golden Compass. I cried from Where hte Red Fern grows.
Oh, and I think a psychiatrist can give out pills...and a psychologist can't...or vice versa...or something.
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Post by Brian on Nov 2, 2003 1:06:12 GMT -5
Wow, another His Dark Materials fan! Kitrina will be overjoyed.
Are you thinking of a pharmacist? ;D
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Luigi
Bewildered Beginner
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Post by Luigi on Nov 2, 2003 1:07:17 GMT -5
NO! Goodness, no! A psychiatrist can prescribe certain pills, then you go to the pharmacist to get them.
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Post by Pester, Rumormonger on Nov 2, 2003 1:35:04 GMT -5
Why did I not notice this thread before? I'm pentacostal, but I'm sure none of you had heard of that. It's a charismatic religion, literal and unconvetional, and I swear it's not a cult.
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Post by Kobolos on Nov 10, 2003 21:41:03 GMT -5
Like I said we should abide by the laws but it is so wrong to hand out those tracts on halloween? If parents do not want their children being exposed to that then they can simply take the tract away. Honestly, we let our children go door to door and have strangers put who knows what in their bag. It may be that tract, it may be candy loaded with razor blades, it may simply be SHOCKHORRORSHOCK candycorn.. I don't see how that is breaking the law it may seem to be a damper on a child's halloween. But that's life people rain on parades all the time, and as horrible as it sounds a five year old is not immune from that. I honestly don't read these tracts, and some parts of them offend me but the fact that they use a dying child? That doesn't irk me. The molesting one Peach mentioned.. doesn't offend me. When I have children under say the age of 10ish I may not want them to read about those topics but those things do happen in life, and to me they are trying to latch onto someone's emotions but they are also about real life. I've been a camp counselor for young girls and I've had eight year old girls talk to me about things like this. I've had them tell me about their experience with death, eating disorders, suicide-- it's scary. Now is the author really focusing on stereotypes? Yeah, I'm sure but there are stereotypes for a reason because there are Satanists like that. They do exist and maybe they're wrong, and they are giving other people a bad name. That's why I said perhaps people should step forward and clear up misconceptions but then fear from the government and society in general stops people. You just have to ask yourself a personal question what is more important to you? Would you rather keep your job, your good name, your standing in society or is your faith more important.. or is even the fact that everyone should have religious freedom more important? That being said I still don't get what you believe, and I'd appreciate it if you'd explain (you can do so in the religion thread if it pleases you, [ahems] hon ). I'm carrying this over from "Chick Tracts" , since we are getting into more "religious" stuff, thought the move was appropriate. Let me start by answering the fear of persecution...In Lancaster California, a group of pagans were performing a sacred spring equinox ceremony in the parking lot of a local Pagan gift shop, a large group of Christians showed up praying loudly to Jesus while drowning out their singing and chanting with Christian praise music. If Pagans showed up at a "Sunrise Service" they would have been arrested. It comes down to courtesy. If you are curious regarding "what goes on" most covens or solitaries have no problem with you observing, but in doing so you should be respectful and do just that...OBSERVE. This was a purely hateful act. In Wisconsin Rev. Jamyi Witch became the first Wiccan priestess in the nation to serve as a full-time state prison chaplain. Stung by the brouhaha that Witch's appointment stirred, the warden at Waupun declined requests for interviews. Last month, however, he defended Witch as the best of nearly a dozen candidates he had interviewed--with the character to do the job well. "Jamyi is an outstandingly approachable person, somebody that I wouldn't mind approaching on spiritual matters myself," Warden Gary McCaughtry told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In addition to her volunteer prison ministry, Witch has worked with battered women in shelters and dying patients in hospices. A mother of two, she is a Girl Scout leader and school volunteer here in Mount Horeb Witch notes that a large part of any chaplain's job is to bring in volunteer ministers of other faiths, so that all spiritual needs can be met. For instance, she organized a religious feast, presided over by a visiting imam, for Muslim inmates to mark the end of Ramadan. Chaplains are responsible for making sure all prisoners have the tools they need to worship, be it a Bible or sacred crystals. In fact, Witch said, very little of her job involves one-on-one spiritual ministry, although when called upon, she said she can offer guidance to anyone of any faith. Without resorting to witchcraft. She was the best person for the job yet she was ousted...and not only that the Waupun Clergy Association that recently supported a resolution banned non-Christian clergy members from its fellowship. Thereby not only excluding Jamyi but also the Muslim Chaplain Imam Ronald Beyah. But as you said, people rain on parades all the time.
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Post by Kobolos on Nov 11, 2003 8:34:58 GMT -5
Swans, I'm talking about the deeper issue of religion. I can talk more about the tracts over there. I read your posts, often more than once, so that I don't miss anything. I was simply continuing my thought about the government and the Christian Right and the scary proposition of being in a country that tauts Religious Freedom as long as you believe what they do.
So with that in mind, and with your request, here are my ideas.
That regardless of your religious preferrence, you should at all times tolerate your fellow man's religious preferrences, Respect regardless of what you personally think. In doing so you become a little open minded to a larger world.
Question everything you hear and read. Regard the writings and ask how they fit into your own thoughts and feelings. This is your spiritual path, how do you connect with the divine?
A quote for your consideration: You may follow one stream. Realize that it leads to the Ocean. Do not mistake the stream for the Ocean. Jan-Fishan, quoted in Idries Shah, The Way of the Sufi
What is the underlying theme of most religions?
Love. Personal Responsibility.
You ask what my beliefs are? They change. I discovered a profound statement in a movie called "Dogma" (you may have heard of it) "I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier." Indeed, people do die over beliefs. Take what we have in the Middle East.
Okay then, what are my Beliefs? Glad you asked.
We are spiritual creatures, If we deny the gifts of our individual uniqueness then our souls wither. Acknowledge the lessons of a life well spent. Respect others as they travel down their own spiritual path.
I believe all religions and spiritual paths have value. I just don't believe in one god. That's why I'm Polytheist.
I also don't believe in religion as fear. Damnation, devils and doom are the inventions of humans. The Gods and Goddesses want you to be you and me to be me.
I believe all things have souls, spirits, or energy. We are intimately connected to even the most insignificant particles of the universe.
I am responsible for everything I put out into the world. If I do something it will come back to me threefold.
Birth, growth, death, and rebirth are a cycle that forms the underlying order of the universe. This is the core of my belief.
Unfortunately, I can only give only a certain amount of generalizations in explaining. Swans, was there something specific you wanted to know or were curious about?
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Post by Pester, Rumormonger on Nov 11, 2003 11:21:13 GMT -5
I also don't believe in religion as fear. Damnation, devils and doom are the inventions of humans. The Gods and Goddesses want you to be you and me to be me. I only have time to address this one part, since I have to do my algebra homework. Both of you are probably more qualified than the rest of us for heavy duty theological debate, but I'll put in two cents anyway. Religion isn't fear, as it says in one of the epistles "The Lord has not given us a spirit of fear, but of strength and of a sound mind." Talk about damnation and devils and such isn't supposed to scare people, it's just a statement of fact. How you interprate talk like that depends on whether or not you believe in the Bible, I suppose. If you do trust it, then everything in there is for warning and advice. If you don't trust it, then it's intended to scare and dominate. Oh, I'd like to know what your politics are in relation to you beliefs. We can probably guess from the way you talk, but one or two things might surprise us.
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Post by Tay Sachs on Nov 11, 2003 16:10:37 GMT -5
What offends me about the molestation tract is not that it deals with that subject matter, but the way it deals with it. Child molester says sorry to God and is instantly cured, child instantly goes "Jesus loves and me and Daddy loves me too, now we can be a happy family!" when the reality of incest and molesation is much, much different. Never mind the emotional scars she'll carry forever, the herpes the doctor diagnoses her with in this tract ( a forever infection, can't be treated or cured), the fact that she's about five, and oh yeah, her dad's a pedophile (notorious reoffenders) Because Jesus loves them. Well fine, tell that to a nine year old girl who's been molested by her father, tell her that Jesus will make all her hurt feelings go away instantly, if he doesn't there is something sinful and wrong about HER, for not being as forgiving as God.
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