Old Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread • Page 46 • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Old Random Thoughts or OT Chit-Chat Thread
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benjoshua
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 10:59 am

Kingofpain89 wrote:
And what else would it be if not Christian? Did another religion become so popular overnight that Christianity is no longer the major religious focus of the United States? Last I read over 80% of people practicing religion in the U.S. are some form of Christian. And Atheism/Agnosticism is still a small group. Most polls show less than 10% of Americans dont believe in some form of deity.

Until the dollar says "In Allah we Trust" I believe I will think otherwise.

I agree that there are more people who say they are Christian than those who say they are something else, but I personally think a person's actions is a truer determiner of their religion than their statements. Our behavior indicates that most "Christians" don't practice basic activities associated with their stated faith.

As someone who counsels college students on a daily basis, I'm seeing more and more apathy towards all religious behavior. It's not just the Christians who are apathetic. I've run into lots of Hindus who could care less about their parent's faith, although they do remain fairly concerned about what their parents think of them.

I think America trusts it's money much more than any "In God We Trust" statement.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

faro
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:02 am

Prufrock wrote:Since Allah means God than it is just a matter of semantics.

When talking about such subtexts, "just" could be seen to be a bit of an understatement.

"7.3 ORGANIZING THE PARTY: Always have a keg, even if it's BYOB...
7.4 TAKING THE GAME SERIOUSLY: Don't"

ashmire13
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:02 am

JasonZavoda wrote:
What does the pope have to do with Christianity?

Meh.. all part of the same BS culture where they preach tolerance and actually show very little at times. But technically RC is just a branch or Christianity (or vice versa)

Catholics or Christians, I'm happy to tar with the same brush or feed to the same lions... :lol:

Rolls a '3'

"Did I hit.....?"

faro
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:04 am

ashmire13 wrote:Catholics or Christians, I'm happy to tar with the same brush or feed to the same lions...

Sorry, they went extinct.

"7.3 ORGANIZING THE PARTY: Always have a keg, even if it's BYOB...
7.4 TAKING THE GAME SERIOUSLY: Don't"

benjoshua
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:05 am

faro wrote:Sorry, they went extinct.

The lions or the Christians? :twisted:

Edit: This was post 1500!

I talk too much. :oops:

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Last edited by benjoshua on Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:09 am

benjoshua wrote:I personally think a person's actions is a truer determiner of their religion than their statements. Our behavior indicates that most "Christians" don't practice basic activities associated with their stated faith.

Agreed.

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

ashmire13
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:10 am

benjoshua wrote:
The lions or the Christians?

Probably both one day...

Rolls a '3'

"Did I hit.....?"

Kingofpain89
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:11 am

Prufrock wrote:John,

"Until the dollar says "In Allah we Trust" I believe I will think otherwise."

Since Allah means God than it is just a matter of semantics.

Martin

Martin, you really shouldnt smoke that stuff this early in the day.

You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way. - Homer Simpson

benjoshua
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:14 am

ashmire13 wrote:
Probably both one day...

I personally believe Christianity is dying out in America like it has in Europe. There will likely be a small percentage who continue to practice Christianity, but it's largely irrelevant to the vast majority of the populace. The cathedrals are more museums than places of worship. It's interesting that most young Europeans don't know the Biblical stories associated with the paintings in the Louvre.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Johnson
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:58 am

Hi,

of course, Christmas is also stolen from a Pagan festival.

You don't hear about much holly in the bible

Until Coke adopted him, St Nicholas was usually portrayed in a green suit, and was rather a scarey figure

I like our happy celtic customs. I quite enjoy a summers afternoon at the pub watching Morris Men and Maypole Dancing.

Altho there was a good crowd in London for the recent Popes visit, it was noticeable that the vast majority of them were Irish (at least to my ears), not English.

Cheers,
Malc

I have a plan so cunning, you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

bombadil
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 12:20 pm

faro wrote:Not planning to get stuck in an "office job", Stephen

Thanks for the laugh, David. Seems to have worked out for Russ Mittermeier though...or maybe not?

And yes, the IUCN needs to hit the "refresh" button on their Red List a little more often.

Let mirth prevail!

Rabbit_67
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:22 pm

Prufrock wrote:America is not a christian country.

Martin

Since when?

This country was founded by Christians who wanted a place where they could freely worship without persecution or the intrusion of government telling them how to worship. The separation of church and state is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution. This idea was established to keep the government out of religion, but not religion out of government.

Our laws are based on Judeo-Christian teachings. Church services were held in the Capitol building after it was first built and sessions of congress opened with prayer. In the Rotunda of the Capitol are four paintings - two of prayer meetings, a Bible study, and a baptism. References to God are also found at the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Archives, Senate and House office buildings, the U.S. Supreme Court has the Ten Commandments engraved on the doors, the Jefferson Memorial and the Library of Congress also have references to God and scripture.(bronze statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, on the ceiling a painting called "Judea" which shows an Israeli woman raising her hands in prayer to God, and other quotes of scripture on the walls). References to God are everywhere within the nation's capitol.

Rabbit_67

Kill something, it will make you feel better.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:32 pm

Rabbit_67 wrote:This country was founded by Christians who wanted a place where they could....

Are the Freemasons Christians?

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

bombadil
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:42 pm

mbassoc2003 wrote:Are the Freemasons Christians?

The first rule of The Craft is never talk about The Craft :wink:

Let mirth prevail!

Agent Cooper
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:09 pm

Say, has anybody here ever done any water-skiing?

The owls are not what they seem...

copycat
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 2:19 pm

Samhain is the best day of the year. It always has been.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

benjoshua
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:06 pm

Rabbit_67 wrote:
Since when?

This country was founded by Christians who wanted a place where they could freely worship without persecution or the intrusion of government telling them how to worship. The separation of church and state is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution. This idea was established to keep the government out of religion, but not religion out of government.

Our laws are based on Judeo-Christian teachings. Church services were held in the Capitol building after it was first built and sessions of congress opened with prayer. In the Rotunda of the Capitol are four paintings - two of prayer meetings, a Bible study, and a baptism. References to God are also found at the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Archives, Senate and House office buildings, the U.S. Supreme Court has the Ten Commandments engraved on the doors, the Jefferson Memorial and the Library of Congress also have references to God and scripture.(bronze statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, on the ceiling a painting called "Judea" which shows an Israeli woman raising her hands in prayer to God, and other quotes of scripture on the walls). References to God are everywhere within the nation's capitol.

Yeah, but a lot of that changed about the time we stopped slavery. :twisted:

Seriously, I don't disagree with your history, but America has been secularizing and moving away from those kinds of interactions between government and religion to the point that I think to call America Christian is mis-representing both Christianity and America. No doubt, there remains a lot of Christian elements, vestiges and history, but America has changed too much. And I'm not saying all the changes are bad or that all the changes are good. There's good and bad, but I personally don't believe America is Christian. I believe it's truer to say that America is secular, or capitalist, or post-modern, or diverse spiritually.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

jasonw1239
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Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 3:56 pm

The founders were not necessarily all religious.

Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law.
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

Our civil rights have no dependence upon our religious opinions more than our opinions in physics or geometry.
-- Thomas Jefferson, Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779. Papers, 2:545

The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, April 11, 1823

Lighthouses are more helpful than churches.
-- Benjamin Franklin

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