Religion?

Inwood: Yep, you got it. No instruments in a conservative Church of Christ. The liberal branch I don't know about but they're going to hell anyway so what's a little guitar slide. ;D

Actually I consider Church of Christ to be a rather intellectual church. No one has the final say. You are encouraged to study and question what the preacher says and if you disagree you say it.

Yes, religion gets a bad rap sometimes and sometimes it gets exactly what's coming to it. And the reason for that is the people speaking for religion don't see the irony of their statements protesting treatment of them and their beliefs while at the same time being more then happy to stick to someone who's beliefs differ. I won't pick out one particular church, synagogue, temple or mosque or whatever else those things may be called. Just fill in the blank with the group YOU disagree with.

jerkin4-10: hmmmm...HARDCORE...HINDU....isnt that an oxymoron?

like military intelligence...deafening silence...etc....

just a thought... :o

da_blissmachine: depends on what you mean by hardcore

Dantesco: [quote author=joe22xxx link=board=meetgreet;num=1063159525;start=20#29 date=10/15/03 at 1328]Raised a catholic, but am finding a lot of interesting stuff in Buddhism.[/quote]

Actually theres quite a lot in Buddhism that Catholics, High Episcopalians and Eastern Orthodox should find interesting ... and somewhat familiar.

I think some studying of other religions is an enriching experience. All religions carry something of The Truth, and The Truth is something that this world is sorely lacking at times.

hungone: I gotta add in my 2 cents - also Jewish - but rarely have I met other Jewish men who are hung....don't know why!?!

Tender: [quote author=ORCABOMBER link=board=meetgreet;num=1063159525;start=20#28 date=10/15/03 at 0948]
One comment for Tender. Men and porn seem to go hand in hand, since he's given you three wonderfull children and seems to be "going through the motions for a fouth". No problems huh? Fantasy and reality are pretty distinct for us. OK?
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.[/quote]


sorry,
but i have NO idea what you are talking about here.
could you explain some more for me? i must have said something taken the wrong way? or i mean why are you talking to me here? ???
:-/
Tender

[quote author=hungone link=board=meetgreet;num=1063159525;start=20#34 date=10/18/03 at 0856]I gotta add in my 2 cents - also Jewish - but rarely have I met other Jewish men who are hung....don't know why!?! [/quote]
It might help if you didn't cut the end of it off. LOL

Tender: [quote author=jonb link=board=meetgreet;num=1063159525;start=20#36 date=10/18/03 at 20:14:38]
It might help if you didn't cut the end of it off. LOL[/quote]


:D
so do agree

Finnmark: Religion ? The most highly dangerous commodity in human affairs.

What do (all) religions preach ? Peace, justice, harmony, mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, gentleness, compassion ... love. And all humanity would say 'amen' to that.

What does religion produce ? War, conflict, persecution, cruelty, torture, vindictiveness, self-righteousness, power-over-others, ignorance, superstition, oppression and guilt. A history which, to this day, shrieks with hypocrisy.

But when you're in it - whatever 'department' of the religious world it may happen to be - you can't see it. Or, if you catch a glimpse, you quickly avert your gaze, pretending all's well and that religion is, after all, unquestionably a 'good thing'. I know because I've been there. And I have now extricated myself (not without pain), and the view from outside the religious 'goldfish bowl' is amazing and exciting.

True, there are beautiful by-products of religion: buildings, music, literature ... but that is not really the point. The basic requirement of each of us - a love for our own and others' humanity - is not enhanced or enabled by the predication of a 'god' who issues 'laws' to be propagated by powerful religions. Just the opposite, apparently.

Antin: I guess I am the only Taoist here... What Dantesco said about The Truth I believe to be fundamentally correct. Everything comes ultimately from one source, The Truth only becomes confusing when it is mired in to much doctrine and dogma.
Being a Taoist of course I do have some interest in Chan/Zen Buddhism and am open to concepts of most other religions as well... my grandfather was a baptist minister so I was raised in a Christian environment and as a Taoist I still consider Christ to be the most profound spiritual teacher to ever hit the planet. I also believe that anyone who truly reads the teachings of Christ and sets aside church doctrine and compares what he had to say with the teachings of other faiths especially some of those from the east such as Taoism and Chan the teachings are fundamentally the same.

ORCABOMBER: [quote author=Tender link=board=meetgreet;num=1063159525;start=20#35 date=10/18/03 at 2010]sorry,
but i have NO idea what you are talking about here.
could you explain some more for me? i must have said something taken the wrong way? or i mean why are you talking to me here? ???
:-/
[/quote]
Damn. Tender, look, there's no problem, never has been, probably never will be a problem with what you write here. OK? ;D

I remember talking to a friend of mine, and she was concerned because her boyfriend also likes viewing porn. But for me, I think it's because we're very visually orientated and I think some guys here have mentioned that they masturbate while they're girlfriends are not around, so I don't think, that in that way, there is a problem, seeing how your husband loves you and you have three children.

Sorry, I don't really want to keep stressing you out! <^.^>

oldman9x7: [quote author=jonb link=board=meetgreet;num=1063159525;start=20#36 date=10/18/03 at 20:14:38]
It might help if you didn't cut the end of it off. LOL[/quote]
jonb - I remember hearing once that those of the Jewish faith are the world's greatest optimists - they start trimming "it" even before they know how long it will be.
Gramps

Phallostrates: I know that I'm not the only Eastern Orthodox member here, but I'll be the first to enter it in this poll.

You'd get along with my great uncle Giorgios; he's an Eastern Orthodox priest back home. The importance of religion seemed to wan and eventually die off in the generation that followed him, though, and I remember this fondly...

I decided to tell my mom of my decision to become agnostic and to let her know why. After much deliberation, I realized that if I were to tell others that I believe in God, I would be lying. I do not deny His existence, though I have problems with how He is conceived to the masses. I simply do not know it; no signs, no overwhelming personal evidence. I realize that not every phenomenon in the world has a discernible causal chain...

Okay, enough of that. So, yeah, I told my mom what I thought and she replied, patting my hand, "That's okay, sweetheart. As long as you're Orthodox when you come home..."

And I thought, We're Orthodox? Since when?!

da_blissmachine: I myself am quite confused by the Western concept of religion.