Who, What, When, Where, Why Your Religion?

[sarcophagus]

I think it was just an example.

 

[sherilo]

mean_owen:

Back to the poll: Other: Anglican/Episcopalian. Former Catholic. I heard the Cafeteria Catholic sermon one time too many (i.e. accept it all, or leave), so I left. High Church Anglo-Catholicism was pretty much the closest fit. And yes, I know it’s not perfect.

Do we really have to accept it all or leave?

 

[Katholikos]

Led Zeppelin wrote:

1. Miricles are easliy faked.

If you should ever see the sun spinning in the sky, as I have, and as thousands of people did in 1917 at Fatima, Portugal, including newspaper reporters, you’d know it wasn’t faked. It’s a heart-stopping experience that will put you on your knees.

I finally realized that as an atheist, I believed the most incredible miracle of all – that the universe made itself.

JMJ Jay

 

[sarcophagus]

Jay, are you sure that was 1917??? YOu saw it???

 

[mean_owen]

sherilo:

Do we really have to accept it all or leave?

That’s what they said. Of course, one does not actually have to leave. I’m sure that one is welcome continue to struggle with issues while not receiving the Eucharist for as long as one wishes (and I did for a couple of years).

 

[BlessedBe13]

Led Zeppelin75:

And exactly how do these mess up our life? They’re NATURAL things man has, religion goes against nature in this regard.

I would also like to know how those things mess up a persons life? Granted, there need to be some moral laws and guidelines, but for example, I use birth control. It hasn’t messed up my life at all.

In regards to the original post - I am Wiccan. I choose to follow an non-Catholic religion because I do not believe in a lot of what is taught be Catholicism.

 

[ahimsaman72]

Katholikos:

PART 1 OF 2

This column by Ann Landers appeared in The Arizona Republic newspaper on Wednesday, November 20, 1996

Dear Readers: Do you have any idea when your religion was founded and by whom? If you are not interested in the subject, skip today’s column and go directly to the horoscope. I found the following fascinating:

If you are a member of the Jewish faith, your religion was founded by Abraham about 4,000 years ago.

If you are Hindu, your religion developed in India around l,500 B.C.

If you are a Buddhist, your religion split from Hinduism and was founded by Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama of India, about 500 B.C.

If you are Roman Catholic, Jesus Christ began your religion in the year A.D. 30.

If you are Islamic, Mohammed started your religion in what is now Saudi Arabia around A.D. 600.

If you are Eastern Orthodox, your sect separated from Roman Catholicism around the year 1054.

If you are Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk in the Catholic Church, in 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England (Anglican), your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded when John Knox brought the teachings of John Calvin to Scotland in the Year 1560.

If you are Unitarian, your group developed in Europe in the 1500s.

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion branched off Puritanism in the early 1600s in England.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1607.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are an Episcopalian, your religion came from England to the American colonies. It formed a separate religion founded by Samuel Seabury in 1789.

Continued

1. Who ever said Ann Landers was brilliant and authoritative on anything?
2. Buddhism was not a “split” from Hinduism. The Buddha came to his conclusions by meditation and hard work. He instituted the order of monks and nuns to carry on his teachings. He really didn’t found any religion. What we have today is the outpouring of the order he founded. I have no idea where she got that information, but it’s dead wrong which leads me to question whatever else she would post in the same article.

 

[BlessedBe13]

sarcophagus:

1. Sex before marriage can cause considerable challenges,ie. pregnancy, sometimes abortion, disease. This usually occurs as someone not ready to take on any of these challenges and so their freedom turns into having to rely on the government, family, other people, health care…to help them out of their tight spots.

That is not the case with everyone, however. I have had sex with one person, and we are still together. Not married yet, but that is in the future. I do not rely on the government, family, other people, etc. because of this decision.

Use of birth control cause a chemical dependency. YOu depend on this chemical to keep you safe from the aforementioned. Unless it is for serious health reasons, birth control only adds more frustration as you must take it same time, everyday…there is no freedom in that.

I originally started taking birth control to help regulate my periods. I do not depend on it to protect me from getting pregnant (it’s not fool-proof) and I know it doesn’t protect at all from STD’s. It doesn’t really bother me taking it everyday because I get up the same time everyday and I have to take other medication anyway.

One does not have to be part of a religion to have a view on abortion or gay marriage. Sure, your view may be slanted, but other “athiests” such as yourself, could easily disagree with both. That doesn’t mean their religion chose this view for them.

I do agree with you for the most part on this. However, even though one’s religion may not choose a view for a person, if a religion, such as Catholicism, is adamantly against abortion and gay marriage, but a member holds opposing views and it is discovered, they are often shunned or it is said that they are not “true” Catholics. Where is the freedom in this?

Masturbation, in my opinion is useless. I’d rather be with my husband then myself. I think it’s much healthier to have a good sex life with my husband then a mediochre sex life with myself.

Again, I agree with you to some extent. I have no need for masturbation and would rather be with my boyfriend than myself. However, not everyone has a “partner” and may experience “sexual frustration”. While I don’t think it is a necessary thing, I don’t think it is wrong either.

Freedom of thought…you can think whatever you very well want to whether you are established in a religion or not. It’s when you act on thought that is the problem.

I completely agree with you here.

1. Freedom of speech…No one has complete freedom of speech, not even you.

That is true.

Religion does not limit your freedom of speech at all. If you sincerely believe something, you can express it however you choose.

While this is true to some extent, it goes back to my response on the question about gay marriage and abortion.

1. Science and history is not affected by religious beliefs.

True again, although there may be conflict between ones religious beliefs and scientifical beliefs.

 

[Katholikos]

sherilo:

Do we really have to accept it all or leave?

Yes. All that the Church teaches, all of her doctrines and morals, derives from the same source – the Authority that Christ gave His Church when He founded it for the salvation of the world. The Church speaks for Christ (Luke 10:16).

If you reject His authority, vested in His Church, you reject Him. You’re free to do that if you wish.

Jesus didn’t leave us a book when he returned to heaven; He left us a Church – the Catholic Church. The Church wrote the NT. She formed the Bible when she was nearly 400 years old.

The Church is not a cafeteria where you can pick and choose – I’ll have some of that doctrine; but none of this one; and a little, but not much, of that teaching over there. Catholicism is a package deal. Take it or leave it.

JMJ Jay

 

[BlessedBe13]

sarcophagus:

8.I feel that when someone lusts for something, they are not appreciating the life they already have.

I do agree with you here as there is a difference between wanting something and lusting over it.

1. Freedom to use substances is the biggest non-freedom you will ever find.

I think this depends. I believe it is possible to use substances in moderation without it becoming a problem. This is speaking from personal experience and from others that I know. I used to have a horrible alcohol problem and it was very unhealthy. I was able to quit it, but I do still drink on occassion with no problem. It all depends on the individual.

You use your morals and values when you vote, not your religion. Your religion may be part of these morals, but your morals aren’t part of your religion.

True.

How you live your life depends on the choices you make…thats right, choices. Religion doesn’t dictate that you must live your life a certain way. It gives you guidelines and you choose whether you follow them or not.

True again.

1. How you dress…again a choice. You can follow the guidelines or you don’t…completely up to the individual and what they are trying to portray with their outward appearence.

I agree again.

 

[Katholikos]

sarcophagus:

Jay, are you sure that was 1917??? YOu saw it???

I didn’t say that I saw it in 1917. I said it was documented by reporters and others who saw in 1917. I saw the same or a similar event in 1994 (or 1995?) in Phoenix. I’d have to check my notes to be sure of the date.

JMJ Jay

 

[sarcophagus]

Sorry, Jay…I didn’t know such a thing happened in the 90’s. I thought it was a mistake because I doubt you were that old!!!

BlessedBe, I’m glad you agree with most of what I said, however, I must comment on this. YOu say that you had a heavy alcohol problem. That only proves my point further. The fact that you can now drink alcohol in moderation has no bearing. Alcoholism and substance abuse chains you. I bet that when you have one night drinking heavily, which will happen because the substance is there, you will continue down the path again. It’s happened to me far to many times to count. When you decide to quit, you HAVE to quit completely or else you’ll get sucked in again and again.

 

[BlessedBe13]

sarcophagus:

I bet that when you have one night drinking heavily, which will happen because the substance is there, you will continue down the path again.

I’m not trying to argue with you, but to be honest, usually when I do drink, it’s rather heavy - at least enough to get drunk. I suppose the difference I see is that when I was drinking heavily before, it was alone and because I was depressed and it was my way of “dealing” with it. I still suffer from depression, but when I drink now it is socially and for fun and definately not as much as before.

However, I do agree with you that often people do get sucked back in even if they try drinking in moderation. I do admit, then when I’m at some of my “lows” I do get the urge to drink or do something to “make it go away”. However, I don’t. I find something productive to do with my time (cleaning, sewing, etc.) and that cheers me up a lot more in the long run than alcohol would. I am aware that drugs and alcohol can ruin a person’s life, but at the same time I think that in moderation it is not morally wrong. The problem is that not everyone can do it in moderation.

 

[sarcophagus]

The problem is that not everyone can do it in moderation.

---

No offense, BlessedBe, but it doesn’t seem like you can either, if you still drink to get drunk. I’m not one to talk but you seem as if you are denying it somehow.
But it’s good that you found productive things to do other than alcohol!!!

 

[Ahimsa]

Katholikos:

PART 1 OF 2

This column by Ann Landers appeared in The Arizona Republic newspaper on Wednesday, November 20, 1996

Dear Readers: Do you have any idea when your religion was founded and by whom? If you are not interested in the subject, skip today’s column and go directly to the horoscope. I found the following fascinating:

If you are a member of the Jewish faith, your religion was founded by Abraham about 4,000 years ago.

If you are Hindu, your religion developed in India around l,500 B.C.

If you are a Buddhist, your religion split from Hinduism and was founded by Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama of India, about 500 B.C.

If you are Roman Catholic, Jesus Christ began your religion in the year A.D. 30.

If you are Islamic, Mohammed started your religion in what is now Saudi Arabia around A.D. 600.

If you are Eastern Orthodox, your sect separated from Roman Catholicism around the year 1054.

If you are Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk in the Catholic Church, in 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England (Anglican), your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded when John Knox brought the teachings of John Calvin to Scotland in the Year 1560.

If you are Unitarian, your group developed in Europe in the 1500s.

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion branched off Puritanism in the early 1600s in England.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1607.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are an Episcopalian, your religion came from England to the American colonies. It formed a separate religion founded by Samuel Seabury in 1789.

Continued

Far be it for me to question Ms Landers, but Hinduism dates way back earlier than 1500 BCE.

 

[RBushlow]

flameburns623:

Someone here at Catholic Answers needs to conduct a class on how to create polls which don’t contain ‘loaded’ questions. No offense intended.

It’s just not a Roman Catholic denomination.

I’m sure that the term religion was intended as is commonly used in the English language. You need to get a good dictionary. No offense intended.

By the way, What is offensive to me is whan Prots lump all Catholics together. We are not all Roman rite. There are many of us who are Byzantine, Maronite, Meklite, etc. Eastern Orthodox is not one them.

 

[BlessedBe13]

sarcophagus:

No offense, BlessedBe, but it doesn’t seem like you can either, if you still drink to get drunk. I’m not one to talk but you seem as if you are denying it somehow.
But it’s good that you found productive things to do other than alcohol!!!

No offense taken. I believe that I can drink in moderation because I often do - when I have to work early the next morning, I’m not feeling well etc. Granted, I don’t need alcohol to have fun, but when I do get drunk it’s just for fun - which, although maybe not the best thing to do, IMO is better than drinking to “solve” my problems. I know I’m not the best example for someone who drinks in moderation all the time, but there are people I know that do.

 

[SPOKENWORD]

BlessedBe13:

No offense taken. I believe that I can drink in moderation because I often do - when I have to work early the next morning, I’m not feeling well etc. Granted, I don’t need alcohol to have fun, but when I do get drunk it’s just for fun - which, although maybe not the best thing to do, IMO is better than drinking to “solve” my problems. I know I’m not the best example for someone who drinks in moderation all the time, but there are people I know that do.

Blessedbe.Sounds like alot of fun.Getting sick is FUN.? Are you sure you are not confused?

 

[ahimsaman72]

BlessedBe13:

No offense taken. I believe that I can drink in moderation because I often do - when I have to work early the next morning, I’m not feeling well etc. Granted, I don’t need alcohol to have fun, but when I do get drunk it’s just for fun - which, although maybe not the best thing to do, IMO is better than drinking to “solve” my problems. I know I’m not the best example for someone who drinks in moderation all the time, but there are people I know that do.

Hello BlessedBe13

I used to solve my problems by drinking heavily and I also used alcohol to have fun. However, it led me down a road which led to frustration and confusion.

Please re-consider your use of alcohol. I only say so to help you avoid suffering in your life. It has destroyed so many lives and continues to destroy lives today.

Peace be with you…

 

[BlessedBe13]

SPOKENWORD:

Blessedbe.Sounds like alot of fun.Getting sick is FUN.?

Umm…when did I say getting sick was fun? I said I don’t drink a lot if I am sick.