The Rules

[Guest Guest]

According to the unwritten rules, we are not supposed to criticize other people's religious beliefs.

Of course, we make an exception for Koran-based Islam, because those writings and the beliefs that follow from them are violent. Look what they've led to.

We kind of tolerate Jews but they don't accept Christ, so they're going to hell. At least they don't have horns any more, though - yet.

The Eastern religions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, are strange. You can believe them if you want but why would you want to?

Wiccans are a little weird. We don't take them seriously. What are those bizarre rituals about, anyway?

Atheists - hah! They can be trashed. Humanists, agnostics, same thing.

You want to run for president? You had better be a Christian, or at least say you are, and convince people you really mean it.

Yeah, yeah, we know religious freedom is supposed to be for everyone. But this is a Christian nation, and town. So s**k it up and get used to it.

And most people do. They go along, because if you don't go along, there are plenty of people who will make sure you pay for it.

Only I didn't agree to play by those rules.

So if you don't like the topics that are coming up here, try to understand how your own hypocrisy has led us here. We live in a culture that is full of --it, and always has been. The country supposedly founded in freedom was built on the backs of one people, and on land we stole from another. There's nothing new about the bullshit going on here in Kearny. It's just that some of us aren't being quiet about it any more. So s**k it up and get used to it.

Oh, and by the way, the Jesus story - - -

You know it's a myth.

[Guest Guest]

So what was the point of your post, I missed it. Something about rules, trashing atheists, freedom, wicked wiccans and the president? Are all atheists as confused as you ?

[Guest Guest]

Heh.

[Guest Guest]

You know, as a little girl in Catholic school I used to worry about my Dad who didn't go to Church with the family; and I used to worry about my best friend next door who was Protestant; and I worried about the poor pagan babies that hadn't been adopted by some Catholic school class (those who attended Catholic school know what I'm talking about); I pretty much worried about everyone going to hell.

In the 5th grade I got the courage to confide my fears to the nun who was my teacher that year. She asked me in her broad Boston accent, "Is your father a good man, does he provide for the family, does he treat your mother well, does he treat you and your brothers and sisters well?" I told her he did all those things and she told me that God always has room for good fathers. She asked me about my best friend, "Is she a good Protestant? Does she attend her church? Does she say bad things about you for being a Catholic?" When I responded that she and her family went to their church often and she and I tell each other about our churches but nothing bad is ever said, she told me that God has room for everyone who loves him. Finally, about the poor pagan babies, she explained that we didn't really adopt pagan babies, we sent the money to help the missionaries to feed, clothe, and teach the people in third world countries. Each adopted baby is a representation of who will be helped by our "mission money."

So, ironically, it was a Catholic school nun who taught me to understand that all faiths and all good people have a place in God's world and I have slept better since that day.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukka! Joyous Festivous! Happy Kwanza! or Have a Nice Day! whatever fits and makes you comfortable.

[Guest Guest]

The point is that people's biases on this subject run very deep, so deep that they prevent many people from approaching the issues honestly, or at all. That is the source of the unreasoning anger, which is not coming from Christianity's critics. It's coming from people claiming to be Christians, or trying to defend the Christian belief system.

Your inability or unwillingness to understand doesn't mean that we are confused.

[Guest Guest]

The points aren't hard to understand, unless you don't want to understand them. It's about hypocrisy within the Christian religion, and about the peculiar refusal of self-described Christians to discuss their religion. They'll preach it and demand that everyone say "Merry Christmas" but they won't discuss it. It's also about how so many "Christians" look down on other religions but want everyone to respect them. Not all Christians of course but more than enough that it has become an issue on KOTW.

[Guest Guest]

So what was the point of your post, I missed it.

Self-serving hypocrisy and self-entitlement. The points are very clear. You missed it because you don't want to hear it.

[Guest Guest]

You know, as a little girl in Catholic school I used to worry about my Dad who didn't go to Church with the family; and I used to worry about my best friend next door who was Protestant; and I worried about the poor pagan babies that hadn't been adopted by some Catholic school class (those who attended Catholic school know what I'm talking about); I pretty much worried about everyone going to hell.

In the 5th grade I got the courage to confide my fears to the nun who was my teacher that year. She asked me in her broad Boston accent, "Is your father a good man, does he provide for the family, does he treat your mother well, does he treat you and your brothers and sisters well?" I told her he did all those things and she told me that God always has room for good fathers. She asked me about my best friend, "Is she a good Protestant? Does she attend her church? Does she say bad things about you for being a Catholic?" When I responded that she and her family went to their church often and she and I tell each other about our churches but nothing bad is ever said, she told me that God has room for everyone who loves him. Finally, about the poor pagan babies, she explained that we didn't really adopt pagan babies, we sent the money to help the missionaries to feed, clothe, and teach the people in third world countries. Each adopted baby is a representation of who will be helped by our "mission money."

So, ironically, it was a Catholic school nun who taught me to understand that all faiths and all good people have a place in God's world and I have slept better since that day.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukka! Joyous Festivous! Happy Kwanza! or Have a Nice Day! whatever fits and makes you comfortable.

Couldn't agree with you more. The only point I would make is that none of those belief systems is necessary. They are all unnecessary, and sometimes harmful.

You got lucky. You ran into a nun who got it. But she plainly did not believe in traditional Catholic dogmas and doctrines. It was only for that reason that she was able to say what she said, and be so helpful to you.

I grew up Catholic, too, and I left the church because the doctrines not only did not make sense, they divided people. You could call me an anti-theist: I recognize the damage the theologies do.

So I can't go quite as far as to say "whatever fits and makes you comfortable" but I do join you in saying:

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukka! Joyous Festivous! Happy Kwanza! or Have a Nice Day!