Why are the New Age movement and other exotic ideas so attractive?

[Holly3278]

Messing with false religions such as Buddhism is inviting the unholy into your life.

Amen to that! I know from experience. I have had a lot of horrible stuff happen to me due to my involvement in the New Age in the past! All well, I will offer it up if I can.

 

[Holly3278]

He did it out of a sign of respect to the giver, not the gift in itself. If it was intended as a sign for the gift itself, then that would be an admission that Islam is true. It cannot be true, as it is opposed to Christianity which is true. Two contradictory statements cannot both be true. Since we know that Christianity is True, as it has Truth as its very foundation (Jn 14:6), then Islam, or any non-Christian Religion cannot be True. SInce no one has the right to accept what is not True as True, then it is uncharitable to accept non-Christian religions as Truth, though they may contain some aspects of Truth, they are not in themselves True. They cannot be True because they are man-made expressions of what man thinks God is, rather than God’s self-revelation to man.

Exactly! Otherwise he would not be on his way to canonization and he would not be beatified or Blessed. Blessed Pope John Paul the Second was an immense blessing to the world! I guess we’ll all find out when he’s canonized!

Also, the canonization process is infallible, is it not?

 

[Sufjon]

Perhaps more limited does not in itself mean more right, but limitation is a criterion of what we know is right. It is no act of love to let one do whatever one wishes. Your belief system, though old, does not make it right either. If age and limitation does not make a system right, then how can we know? We have to go by our faith. Creation itself speaks to the truth of the Christian God.

How is limitation in thought a criterion of what is known to be right? Limitation is only limitation. What I know is right may not be the same as what you know as right, yet both exist, do they not? We both believe in one God, although you believe He reveals Himself in just a particular way. I believe He reveals Himself in countless ways. You believe He came among us once. I believe He did so at least 15 times (probably more), which includes the time you believe He came among us as Jesus. I see Him present among us in every face. You see Him in a wafer. I see Him there too, but see nothing more special about that than any other way He is seen or present among us. Who is right? Who is to say? I am a creation of God and I am dear to Him. So are you. He reveals Himself to me as he does to a billion others of my faith. He reveals Himself to you in the way that He does with a billion other Catholics. One is not more special than the other, nor is one more right. They are all a product of God. Neither popped up on it’s own independently of God. Every possible permutation of anything ultimately issues from one source, and are a reflection of it.

Your friend
Sufjon

Your friend,
Sufjon

 

[Sufjon]

Quote:

You are mistaken. Jesus never said that there is only one commandment. You are referring, probably, to when Jesus was asked about which of the commandments are most important - to Love God with all our heart and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. But he kept the other commandments as well. If you accept that he was right about the need to love our neighbors for the sake of God, then you have to accept the other things He said as well. He told the Apostles to go out to all nations and baptize and to teach ALL that He had taught. Everything. And there was more to what he taught than just peace and love. Some of it was unpleasant.

Am I mistaken as you say, or is it possible that are you reading what I said through Catholic colored lenses? It is much deeper than law, guilt and following the rules. Jesus gave this one commandment, because it is the key enabler to all the others. If you love God and your neighbor as yourself, you are seeing God in your neighbor and yourself. Once you see God in the person next to you and in yourself, there is no desire to cheat, steal, lie or break any of the other ten commandments. The point again is much bigger than any of that. It means realize what you are, and the rest is not so hard. Realizing what you are is the hard part. Following commandments is not a path to God. It is a behavior seen in people who have already found Him. Following commandments, while a good thing to do in itself, will get you nowhere until you truly find God, and this cannot be done on the level of the intellect.

other Theresa never threw out the other “trappings” of the Catholic faith, and we will not do so either. She did her best to see Christ in the poor and suffering of the untouchable class in India - those who were rejected, shunned, and treated as slaves by Hindu society. Mother Theresa, at times, received death threats from those in Hindu Society who felt threatened by her work with the untouchables. But these threats did not stop her.
You see, love of God also entails being willing to suffer and sacrifice for His sake. It entails, too, forgiveness. I don’t know if Mother Theresa forgave those who threatened her, or if she prayed for them, but it would be consistent with the Catholic Faith that she so loved, if she did so.

The poor are taken advantage of in every society. So are the ignorant. Likewise, there are those who care for the poor and the ignorant in evey society.To cite the negatives of a particular society is not a representation of a religion. There are enlightened and unenlightened people in every religion and every nation. To attempt to do that is as cheap a shot as me using the KKK or the Westboro Baptist Church or the killing machine of abortion and capital punishment in the United States as examples of Christianity. They are not. It just means that there are screwed up behaviors being exhibited by of people and societies everywhere. Taking cheap shots at others for instance. That is far from holy, and not the best of what your faith has to offer is it? Of course not, so maybe you could resolve not to do that again. It’s easy if you see God in me and in yourself. As I said in the previous paragraph, it is much harder if you’re just following a rule.

Your friend,
Sufjon

 

[Curious_Seed]

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but here we go. The question I’m posing has really struck me for some time. I’ve wondered why all of these crazy ideas proposed by New Age “leaders” (for lack of a better word) and their followers are so attractive to people. I guess it’s true that in a way this reveals a great hunger in people for Truth and their purpose in life.

The last item that I emphasized here is truly affecting my sister. She’s been driving herself further and further away from the teachings of the Catholic faith and immersing herself into these New Age ideas. I guess I’m not even sure how deeply she is into this but I know that she’s always wondering about what her purpose is, that she is trying to find her “inner self”, and other stuff like that. She claims of having premonitions, visions, hauntings by demonic beings in her dreams, having a past life, belief in reincarnation, etc. etc.

I’ve been praying for her, but this is quite frustrating as she no longer has the desire to attend Mass. I don’t know what happened to cause her and her husband to no longer attend. Long story, but I thought I could start this discussion by asking the question I posed in this thread’s title.

Jews had the same concerns about the radical Jesus, as you do about radical New Age.

Only Jesus was God and New Age is not; the Jews were wrong about Him and you are right about New Age.

Satan is a master at attracting away the weak from the Faith; the ploy in the Garden is still effective among today’s Adams and Eves.

What have you learned from the Father in your prayers?

 

[Denise1957]

Am I mistaken as you say, or is it possible that are you reading what I said through Catholic colored lenses? It is much deeper than law, guilt and following the rules. Jesus gave this one commandment, because it is the key enabler to all the others. If you love God and your neighbor as yourself, you are seeing God in your neighbor and yourself. Once you see God in the person next to you and in yourself, there is no desire to cheat, steal, lie or break any of the other ten commandments. The point again is much bigger than any of that. It means realize what you are, and the rest is not so hard. Realizing what you are is the hard part. Following commandments is not a path to God. It is a behavior seen in people who have already found Him. Following commandments, while a good thing to do in itself, will get you nowhere until you truly find God, and this cannot be done on the level of the intellect.

The poor are taken advantage of in every society. So are the ignorant. Likewise, there are those who care for the poor and the ignorant in evey society.To cite the negatives of a particular society is not a representation of a religion. There are enlightened and unenlightened people in every religion and every nation. To attempt to do that is as cheap a shot as me using the KKK or the Westboro Baptist Church or the killing machine of abortion and capital punishment in the United States as examples of Christianity. They are not. It just means that there are screwed up behaviors being exhibited by of people and societies everywhere. Taking cheap shots at others for instance. That is far from holy, and not the best of what your faith has to offer is it? Of course not, so maybe you could resolve not to do that again. It’s easy if you see God in me and in yourself. As I said in the previous paragraph, it is much harder if you’re just following a rule.

Your friend,
Sufjon

You are still mistaken. We are to love God first, that is the main thing, as Jesus said. It is our love for God which requires us to love our neighbor, because if we cannot love our neighbor, whom we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? You are mistaken about the commandments regarding Jesus, and the commandments were originally handed down to Moses from God, which Jesus never abrogated.

Hinduism, on the other hand, has always had a caste system to go by. The untouchables in India are considered to be inferior and shunned because Hindus believe that the untouchables committed terrible sins in a former life, and thus it is their own fault that they are poor, and I do mean extemely poor. In Hinduism, they must pay off the karmic debt. And they must do the dirty jobs that no one else wants, as punishment.

Catholicism, of course, does not teach this. We are equal in the eyes of God. And yet Jesus Himself was born in poverty, and died the death of a slave. It is not a sin, in Catholicism, to be poor.

 

[StTommyMore]

How is limitation in thought a criterion of what is known to be right? Limitation is only limitation. What I know is right may not be the same as what you know as right, yet both exist, do they not? We both believe in one God, although you believe He reveals Himself in just a particular way. I believe He reveals Himself in countless ways. You believe He came among us once. I believe He did so at least 15 times (probably more), which includes the time you believe He came among us as Jesus. I see Him present among us in every face. You see Him in a wafer. I see Him there too, but see nothing more special about that than any other way He is seen or present among us. Who is right? Who is to say? I am a creation of God and I am dear to Him. So are you. He reveals Himself to me as he does to a billion others of my faith. He reveals Himself to you in the way that He does with a billion other Catholics. One is not more special than the other, nor is one more right. They are all a product of God. Neither popped up on it’s own independently of God. Every possible permutation of anything ultimately issues from one source, and are a reflection of it.

Your friend
Sufjon

Your friend,
Sufjon

Limitation is actually a sign of love. What loving parent will let a child do or believe what he wishes. Limitations placed on us by God are those things that protect us from demonic influence. You still don’t understand that things are not subjectively true or false, but objectively true or false. That there is one God in Trinity is objectively true. It is true for all people, even though some do not accept it to be true. Even if I were the only person to accept it as True, it would still be True. Truth is not dependent on whether or not a majority believe it.

 

[Credo_in_Deum]

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but here we go. The question I’m posing has really struck me for some time. I’ve wondered why all of these crazy ideas proposed by New Age “leaders” (for lack of a better word) and their followers are so attractive to people. I guess it’s true that in a way this reveals a great hunger in people for Truth and their purpose in life.

The biggest reason for why “New Age” beliefs are very popular is because they are an abandonment of the Cross. They all pull people in with the idea that true freedom is found in being free from something when in reality true freedom is being free for something. I will let Fulton J. Sheen explain it better:

**Barabbas was free! He had four freedoms: 1) freedom from fear – no more Roman prisons; 2) freedom from want – no more coarse bread and water; 3)freedom of speech – he could once more talk revolution; 4) freedom of religion – he could talk against religion if he wanted to. Freedom for him meant freedom from something. And it was an empty freedom. It was as colorless as water when he thought it would be red like wine. He noticed that after the voting no one followed him. It was the strangest election in the history of the world; no torchlight procession for the victor, no one hoisted him on his shoulders, no mob followed the victor with cheers. But everyone followed the defeated candidate. To have the mob with him he had to follow the mob that followed Christ. With them, unnoticed, he moved down to the basement of Pilate’s fortress where he watched the scourging of the defeated candidate. And when the scourging was done, Barabbas followed the defeated candidate up the hill of Calvary – it was still the only way Barabbas could have a following. Barabbas notice that his two fellow prisoners were also there. They were not so fortunate as to be nominated for election. They were crucified on either side of Our Lard, Dismas on His right, and Gestas on His left.

When finally all three crosses were unfurled against the dark sky, Barabbas heard Gestas on His left curse, swear, and ask to be taken down. But he also heard Dismas on His right as to be taken up; “Remember me when Thou come into Thy Kingdom.” To which plea came back the promise; “This day you shall be with me in paradise.”

What kind of freedom was this with which Dismas was satisfied? Can one be nailed to a cross and still be free? Can He who is pinned to that central tree be the giver of freedom, the guardian and savior of liberty? Then Barabbas saw that the freedom for which he was seeking was not the freedom to be free from something, but that the only true freedom is to be free for something. Now he sees freedom as not an end, but a means. Freedom is for the sake of doing something worth doing: What good is freedom from fear unless there is someone to love? What good is freedom of religion unless there is a God to worship? Barabbas would now have given anything to have been Dismas. Dismas was free and he was not. Only nailed love is free; unnailed love can compel and therefore destroy freedom. Hearken, revolutionists! Follow not Barabbas the revolutionist who would remake society to remake man; but rather Christ, the Revolutionist Who would remake man in order to remake society.

Believe in violence, yes, but not the violence that draws the sword against a neighbor, but rather draws it against self, to cut out lust, envy, greed, and hate. Learn, all who prattle about freedom in a land of freedom, that the only true freedom in the world is the freedom to become a saint!

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Characters of the Passion, Ch. 6

**

God Bless

 

[Sufjon]

Limitation is actually a sign of love. What loving parent will let a child do or believe what he wishes. Limitations placed on us by God are those things that protect us from demonic influence. You still don’t understand that things are not subjectively true or false, but objectively true or false. That there is one God in Trinity is objectively true. It is true for all people, even though some do not accept it to be true. Even if I were the only person to accept it as True, it would still be True. Truth is not dependent on whether or not a majority believe it.

-I am talking about limitation in regards to one’s thinking, not one’s actions.

-I have said that there is one God as well. He is expressed to you in such a way as you have described. He has expressed Himself to me in another way still.

-If you are going to try and define what is objective and what is subjective, then you should start a thread on consciousness and physics. Because St Tommy More sees perceives three dimensions in which he exists, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t eleven dimensions. The fact that St Tommy More would deny them or not perceive them doesn’t mean he is not entangled in them. So what is perception, and what is reality? I see your experience of God as Jesus as a subset of a larger God-Human experience. If you choose to focus on that one, then that is a reality.But it is only a reality within a larger reality. To see God only on the context of your particular religion is like a person trapped working in the camera section of a Walmart. He might think he is working in a camera store. He is working in a camera store within a much bigger store. Both are true. They are part of the same reality, but reality is multifarious in it’s expressions. Likewise, attempts to box me into your perception of reality is about as enticing as telling a bird it is better to fly around in my garage rather than my yard and my garage.

Your friend
Sufjon

 

[StTommyMore]

Thought and action are inseparable. To limit actions is to limit thought.

 

[Sufjon]

You are still mistaken. We are to love God first, that is the main thing, as Jesus said. It is our love for God which requires us to love our neighbor, because if we cannot love our neighbor, whom we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? You are mistaken about the commandments regarding Jesus, and the commandments were originally handed down to Moses from God, which Jesus never abrogated.

Hinduism, on the other hand, has always had a caste system to go by. The untouchables in India are considered to be inferior and shunned because Hindus believe that the untouchables committed terrible sins in a former life, and thus it is their own fault that they are poor, and I do mean extemely poor. In Hinduism, they must pay off the karmic debt. And they must do the dirty jobs that no one else wants, as punishment.

Catholicism, of course, does not teach this. We are equal in the eyes of God. And yet Jesus Himself was born in poverty, and died the death of a slave. It is not a sin, in Catholicism, to be poor.

You missed my point entirely about what Jesus meant with His commandment. Again, you are thinking about rules, regulations and guilt. He meant something much bigger, but I am not going to try and explain that to you again. It is almost as though you didn’t even read it, because I was clearly saying something other than what you are replying to.

BTW, The caste system is no longer a part of Hindu religious thought. It is a now simply social convention in India that is not followed in the manner it was originally intended. It was never followed as intended, rather it was followed as a perversion of what was intended. That is why it is not part of Hindu spiritualism. By the way, when are you going to stop trying to make points by casting dispersions on others? I have not listed the countless crimes of Christianity over the past 2,000 years on this thread, so why are you trying to take some sort of moral high ground in regards to Hindus? We are children of God just like you. No less and no more. Until you can see that, why are your troubling yourself with thoughts of God?

Your friend,
Sufjon

 

[Sufjon]

Thought and action are inseparable. To limit actions is to limit thought.

Can you elaborate on that a bit? If I think about eating a cookie, must I then eat a cookie, or is my thought in some way partitioned from action? Is not the thought of eating a cookie possessed of the potential to be in relation to action as well as the potential to avoid the same action? Is the thought not then both independent of and potentially related to action? I am not following you on that.

Your friend
Sufjon

 

[Denise1957]

You missed my point entirely about what Jesus meant with His commandment. Again, you are thinking about rules, regulations and guilt. He meant something much bigger, but I am not going to try and explain that to you again. It is almost as though you didn’t even read it, because I was clearly saying something other than what you are replying to.

BTW, The caste system is no longer a part of Hindu religious thought. It is a now simply social convention in India that is not followed in the manner it was originally intended. It was never followed as intended, rather it was followed as a perversion of what was intended. That is why it is not part of Hindu spiritualism. By the way, when are you going to stop trying to make points by casting dispersions on others? I have not listed the countless crimes of Christianity over the past 2,000 years on this thread, so why are you trying to take some sort of moral high ground in regards to Hindus? We are children of God just like you. No less and no more. Until you can see that, why are your troubling yourself with thoughts of God?

Your friend,
Sufjon

It is not dispersion to point out the facts and reality of what what the Hindu religion believes. That Catholics have done things that are bad or evil goes without saying, but if they do these things, they go against Church teaching. And, no, I am not going to stop pointing out the realities of a pagan religion.

 

[StTommyMore]

You missed my point entirely about what Jesus meant with His commandment. Again, you are thinking about rules, regulations and guilt. He meant something much bigger, but I am not going to try and explain that to you again. It is almost as though you didn’t even read it, because I was clearly saying something other than what you are replying to.

BTW, The caste system is no longer a part of Hindu religious thought. It is a now simply social convention in India that is not followed in the manner it was originally intended. It was never followed as intended, rather it was followed as a perversion of what was intended. That is why it is not part of Hindu spiritualism. By the way, when are you going to stop trying to make points by casting dispersions on others? I have not listed the countless crimes of Christianity over the past 2,000 years on this thread, so why are you trying to take some sort of moral high ground in regards to Hindus? We are children of God just like you. No less and no more. Until you can see that, why are your troubling yourself with thoughts of God?

Your friend,
Sufjon

Christianity has committed no crimes. Christians have.

 

[StTommyMore]

Can you elaborate on that a bit? If I think about eating a cookie, must I then eat a cookie, or is my thought in some way partitioned from action? Is not the thought of eating a cookie possessed of the potential to be in relation to action as well as the potential to avoid the same action? Is the thought not then both independent of and potentially related to action? I am not following you on that.

Your friend
Sufjon

Thought always precedes action. You cannot eat the cookie without first deciding to do it. The limitations placed on the faithful (such as the Ten Commandments) seems to limit actions only, but Jesus redefines them as to limit the thought that leads to the action.

 

[Denise1957]

The biggest reason for why “New Age” beliefs are very popular is because they are an abandonment of the Cross. They all pull people in with the idea that true freedom is found in being free from something when in reality true freedom is being free for something. I will let Fulton J. Sheen explain it better:

God Bless

So true! And the wise words of Bishop Sheen that you’ve provided serve to prove the point further. I especially like the last paragraph by Bp. Sheen that you gave:

“Believe in violence, yes, but not the violence that draws sword against neighbor, but rather draws it against self, to cut out lust, envy, greed, and hate. Learn, all who prattle about freedom in a land of freedom, that the only true freedom in the world is the freedom to become a saint.”

 

[Anna_Scott]

The point is that it is not the case for every symbol or even for every copy of every symbol. Add in the rarity of such events and you’ve pretty much ruled out a huge probability of anything ‘pagan’ being possessed.

I never made that claim.

People are more likely to get killed in a car accident than own a cursed statue.

Any Statistics to back up that statement?

Translated: “You are wrong because you don’t have special spirit glasses. If you did, you would agree with me.”

One single supernatural experience isn’t enough to tell me that every single statue of Buddha out there or every kooky voodoo mask on display is a house full of evil spirits.

I’ve had experiences with the spiritual realm since I was a young girl. Spiritual discernment is one of the spiritual gifts and it’s a difficult one for many reasons. There were points in my life when I wanted to make it go away. I had to repent of this attempt.

It is not necessary for you to believe me or agree with me; but I think there is some risk involved in ruling this out so completely, especially in light of Holy Scripture. There is a spiritual battle going on all the time, regardless of whether you or not you believe it.

Ephesians 6:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12** For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.**

13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, . . . . .

This is a N.T. account of miracles occurring through handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin of St. Paul; and the consequences of Jewish exorcists who attempted to use them.

Acts 19:
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.

18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. **19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. **And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
Acts 19:
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.

18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. **19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. **And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

CHRISTINE77 posted this link, which warns Catholics about the use of talismans:

Here is an interesting article on the use of talismans. Catholics are never use them:

unhealthydevotions.com/new-age/invoking-saints-with-talismans-amulets.htm

Your response about talismans:

They make for cool accessories though. I’d certainly love to craft my own “talisman” though I lack the skills (not to mention I’m torn between a pentagram with a rune or some dragon head symbol).

I will pray for your protection,
Anna

 

[Credo_in_Deum]

Thought and action are inseparable. To limit actions is to limit thought.

Can you elaborate on that a bit? If I think about eating a cookie, must I then eat a cookie, or is my thought in some way partitioned from action? Is not the thought of eating a cookie possessed of the potential to be in relation to action as well as the potential to avoid the same action? Is the thought not then both independent of and potentially related to action? I am not following you on that.

Your friend
Sufjon

Thought always precedes action. You cannot eat the cookie without first deciding to do it. The limitations placed on the faithful (such as the Ten Commandments) seems to limit actions only, but Jesus redefines them as to limit the thought that leads to the action.

To decide to eat the cookie requires thought and to decide to not eat the cookie also requires thought.

 

[Sufjon]

It is not dispersion to point out the facts and reality of what what the Hindu religion believes. That Catholics have done things that are bad or evil goes without saying, but if they do these things, they go against Church teaching. And, no, I am not going to stop pointing out the realities of a pagan religion.

Dear Denise: I have explained that the Hindu religion does not believe in the Caste system any more than the Catholic religion continues to believe in burning people at the stake or torturing what it feels are heretics. That is my point. Because people in the US practice artificial contraception, does that make Catholicism the religion of contraception? Probably not. Accordingly, because there is an outdated social convention followed by many in the Sub-Continent does not make Hinduism the religion of the caste system.

As to whether you believe that you have to point out what you feel are the realities of pagan religions, that is your business however, I thought you were talking about Hinduism rather than pagan religions. In either case, your facts on Hinduism sound like they came out of a 1957 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. That said, do you really want to continue having this discussion?

As for your church’s teachings that you mentioned, I am not aware of where these require you to cast dispersions at others who may not be like yourself, but if you see that in there, feel free to do so. Only be aware that you may be making a point that you were unaware you were making.

Your friend
Sufjon

 

[Sufjon]

To decide to eat the cookie requires thought and to decide to not eat the cookie also requires thought.

Thank God - We finally agree! I knew we’d find common ground

I think I’ll have a cookie.