Why do you believe in God/Allah/Budha/Science/etc etc

[Harrison]

Could have used his actual school at least

[Diekan]

You missed the joke.

[Narrock]

You missed the joke.

Perhaps the joke was... stupid?

[Tikker]

It's not the joke that's stupid!

[Diekan]

blow me

[brinstar]

internet college lol

Charter Oak State College did not become an internet college until very recently. They are a brick-and-mortar campus in New Britain, Connecticut founded in 1973. But I like your posts of how you post about things you know nothing about. It adds to my daily entertainment. Proceed, sir.

oooo 1973 lol

unfortunately, the posts in which you spew spurious (at best) information aren't entertaining in the least ;\

[The Kizzy]

Can we just get back to the subjet please?

[kaharthemad]

exactly what led your perforated brain to conclude that the man in the suit is an atheist

i would say that the only funny thing about that post is that you are the quintessential "follower" from which the man is praying (yeah he's praying!) for protection

The poster, not the man in the suit, Corky.

You dont get it. I distinguish between Zealots and Christians for starts.
Number two My God and your God are different. I believe in a God that does not need to be heavily funded.

[Gypsiyee]

I'm starting school online in August, otherwise I have to drive an hour and a half there and an hour and a half back if I go to the school that my work will pay for

don't hate =\

[Donnel]

You guys wanna hear about what happened at my church this week?

[Martrae]

Which school Gyps?

I've avoided this thread until now....didn't realized I missed the gem of the Darth/Pope post. That's got my vote for best pic evah....or at least until another one cracks me up.


Hmm...why do I believe what I believe? First off, I wanna say I believe in God (or a higher being, whatever you wanna call it) but I do not believe in church. Just about every church I've seen, visited, belonged to is caught up in power struggles with the church council, ministers and the congregation. It's all a bunch of political crap and to me that's not what belief is about. I'd rather avoid all that stuff and commune with God my own way.

As for why, I guess I just don't think things could turn out the way they do without a guiding hand. Too many times I've seen what seemed to be bad things turn out for the best in the long run.

I knew a lady that embodied christianity to me. She was the most generous, helpful person I've ever met. A true joy to be around. One of those people that 'shone with the light'. One day she was given a bag of apples and 2 hours later someone was telling her about the troubles another person they knew were having and she gave that person the apples to give to their friend. Within an hour she had 2 more people give her bags of apples. Same day same thing happened with a TV. She gave it to a homebound man whose set died and someone came in a couple hours later with another set for her. (She owned a beauty parlor so she saw people all day long). She just laughed and said she should have known she couldn't outgive the Lord.

[Gypsiyee]

American College of IT, Mart. It isn't set in stone yet, but it appears to be the best choice so far - I still have until August to decide. Nothing fancy, but it's school nonetheless, which I've desperately wanted to go back to for years but never could get up the money >< I had all intentions of going to Herzing, but it's just too pricey.

Hmm...why do I believe what I believe? First off, I wanna say I believe in God (or a higher being, whatever you wanna call it) but I do not believe in church. Just about every church I've seen, visited, belonged to is caught up in power struggles with the church council, ministers and the congregation. It's all a bunch of political crap and to me that's not what belief is about. I'd rather avoid all that stuff and commune with God my own way.

That's pretty on the money for me as well. My family was never a church-going family, they chose to let us grow up believing as we felt best, and never forcing religion on us. I'm really thankful for that, because it's allowed me to not resent religion the way a lot of my friends did. At 13, one of my best friends was a preacher's daughter - I spent tons of time with her, and it was always so fun to go to church and to the miscellaneous activities that we did - we went on a mission trip to Memphis in the projects trying to give those kids some hope, and it was one of the best times I've had in my life. At that time, I felt it was best for me to be baptized, and the fact that it was my choice made it so much better. I don't go to church anymore, but it doesn't mean that I stopped believing in God.

After Erin's dad was asked to move to preach at another church and stopped preaching at mine, it really lost the spark and sense of family that I felt before. The new preacher was into collecting lots of money to make the church prettier, and it just wasn't the same anymore. I started to realize that all my life, I hadn't gone to church, but I'd always believed in God - to me there was simply no reason to force myself to go so I could be another one of those people believing that by listening to a sermon for a couple hours I'd bought myself a ticket into heaven.

I still live my life by the morals I set for myself long ago and the morals my parents put in me - I'd like to believe I'm a good person, and while I make mistakes I'm not going to redeem myself by going to church, but by living to correct those mistakes and try to be better with each mistake I make.

I'd also like to believe that God isn't so selfish he requires constant ass-kissing, for lack of a better term, and that if He is who so many believe Him to be, he'll understand that not everyone can stomach the sermons and that some need to worship in their own way.

I don't believe that He would want anyone to be forced into faith or forced to listen to His word- I do believe that He knows we aren't Him, that we're human and as such will stray from the path of perfection, and so long as He knows where our hearts lie, we don't have to worry about constantly begging for forgiveness - if God is truly someone that wants you to kiss His ass and beg for forgiveness every time you screw up, I don't know if I want to be a part of that.

[Tikker]

Hmm...why do I believe what I believe? First off, I wanna say I believe in God (or a higher being, whatever you wanna call it) but I do not believe in church. Just about every church I've seen, visited, belonged to is caught up in power struggles with the church council, ministers and the congregation. It's all a bunch of political crap and to me that's not what belief is about. I'd rather avoid all that stuff and commune with God my own way.

As for why, I guess I just don't think things could turn out the way they do without a guiding hand. Too many times I've seen what seemed to be bad things turn out for the best in the long run.

I knew a lady that embodied christianity to me. She was the most generous, helpful person I've ever met. A true joy to be around. One of those people that 'shone with the light'. One day she was given a bag of apples and 2 hours later someone was telling her about the troubles another person they knew were having and she gave that person the apples to give to their friend. Within an hour she had 2 more people give her bags of apples. Same day same thing happened with a TV. She gave it to a homebound man whose set died and someone came in a couple hours later with another set for her. (She owned a beauty parlor so she saw people all day long). She just laughed and said she should have known she couldn't outgive the Lord.

See, that's cool

[Donnel]

So no one wants to hear my story?

[Narrock]

exactly what led your perforated brain to conclude that the man in the suit is an atheist

i would say that the only funny thing about that post is that you are the quintessential "follower" from which the man is praying (yeah he's praying!) for protection

The poster, not the man in the suit, Corky.

You dont get it. I distinguish between Zealots and Christians for starts.
Number two My God and your God are different. I believe in a God that does not need to be heavily funded.

10% of your net pay is heavily funding God? Also, you don't have to give 10% right away. You start off by giving what you can... what you can afford.

[Narrock]

So no one wants to hear my story?

Yes, as long as you're not making anything up.

[Darcler]

10% x the whole congregation = a lot.

[Narrock]

10% x the whole congregation = a lot.

Takes a lot to fund the lease on the land, the building, utilities, church essentials, tithe (pastor's meager salary), ministries, missions, charity donations, etc. It is not a profit mecca.

[Gypsiyee]

I'd agree that there are still some churches that don't seek profit, but I'd still go as far to say that a majority (albeit small) are more into marketing and money-making than they should be.

Televangelists come to mind.. and this one church I went to once back home that had big screen TV's and big flashy signs. I felt like I was going into a casino, not a church

[Darcler]

The pastor at my papa's church made quite a nice sum. I wouldnt call it meager in any way.

What Kahar was saying is, he doesnt need to fund a huge, elaborate church building, pay some guy to rehash old sermons in order to beleive and serve God.
I am the same way, I believe, but I wont set foot in a church building again.

[Narrock]

The pastor at my papa's church made quite a nice sum. I wouldnt call it meager in any way.

What Kahar was saying is, he doesnt need to fund a huge, elaborate church building, pay some guy to rehash old sermons in order to beleive and serve God.
I am the same way, I believe, but I wont set foot in a church building again.

Not a slam on you, but I really think you have the wrong attitude about church. God wants us to join a congregation of fellow believers. What better way than in one central location?

[veeneedefeesh]

(pastor's meager salary),

Thats why the pastor at the baptist church near my home drives a Mercedes Benz, it's kinda like salary envy, he has a small salary so he must compensate for his meager salary with driving an $80K car...I get it now...

Bottom line is that church organizations all over the world make ALOT more money than they need to live a pious and spartan lifestyle they claim is best for their followers.
The Vatican is one of the richest organizations in the world, yet right outside the gates people are starving in the streets. Jim and Tammy Fae made millions. Jimmy Swaggart pays for hookers and creates huge "Bible Colleges".

I think most of what is wrong with society can be summed up in the following:

Religion and sex are powerplays
manipulate the people for the money they pay
selling skin, selling God, the numbers look the same on thier credit cards
politicians say no to drugs while we can pay for wars in South America
Fighting fire with empty words
the banks stay fat, while the poor stay poor
the rich get rich the cops get paid
to look away as the one percent rules America.

[veeneedefeesh]

and (before you can say it) yes I DEFINATELY have the wrong attitude about church. I think my God would understand (and indeed prefer) if I wanted to worship Him(or Her) in the middle of a field and not donate any money at all to a church that would probably spend it in ways I dont approve of anyway.

[Darcler]

What about shut ins? They have to worship on their own. Are they wrong?
I dont go because I want to study and read how I think it is, not how another guy, no different than me, thinks it is. I still give to charity, a couple religious organisations, so it is LIKE I am putting in the plate, except I know where my money is going.

[Tikker]

10% x the whole congregation = a lot.

Takes a lot to fund the lease on the land, the building, utilities, church essentials, tithe (pastor's meager salary), ministries, missions, charity donations, etc. It is not a profit mecca.

I don't have a problem with churches collecting donations to run the church

but why do the vast majority of churches insist on plating everything with gold?