the snowboarding vicar 1 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Whatever kind of church it might be.... Poll! Link to post Share on other sites
veronica 2 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 No I don't. I went to Sunday School when I was younger for a bit. the snowboarding vicar (and anyone else for that matter) - how do you feel about people goint to church just to get married there? I know someone who had to go to church 10 times or something in order to be allowed to get married in the church. They weren't religious at all and just went so that they could get it done in the cute little village church. Seemed rather hypocritical and silly but thats the way it was Link to post Share on other sites
me jane 0 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 I know people who did that too. I think a lot of the UK churches have a 6-month rule unless it's the family church or something like that. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 Not any more...mostly due to relocation and not finding a real welcoming church in my new area - plus a busy life! But I do listen to Christian Radio - does that count? I am of the "faith is a personal thing" school of thought. If I find God in the beauty of the snow tipped tree's on a chairlift ride, and live my life honestly, compassionately and to leave the world better than I found it - then I am happy with that! As far as getting married in church - ya know ... if these churches opened the doors to anyone wanting to get married there, rather than forcing a 6 month rule on them or whatever, they might just find a few more people stayed and communed with the nice people they met there, rather than did thier 6 months, got married and did a runner... If you love something set it free ... and all that.. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 9, 2007 Share Posted November 9, 2007 I voted no. And I'll vote no a million more times if that was an option. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Hell no. I was dragged as a kid, put through the catholic crap and then the priest was fake, friends got felt up, grand fathers best friend (who was principal at CBC in SA) is locked up now for doing some shocking things to alter boys.. I'll be taking my boys surfing or boarding on a sunday morning.. that will be our church. Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 i go to the church of shred every weekend in the winter. I'm pretty devout. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Catholics didn't do much to attract me, with the beatings for being left handed. I sang in a Protestant Church choir for a while, but it was stuffed with perves. Haven't been to Church since I was 14, that's over 40 years. There is no God. Link to post Share on other sites
Kumapix 0 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Originally Posted By: Oyuki kigan i go to the church of shred every weekend in the winter. I'm pretty devout. Hey, Oyuki, we're of the same faith. I usually go on Saturdays too! Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 I heard a great quote once, something along the lines of this: 'If God exists, he will understand why I don't believe in him.' In other words, we are logical and it is logical to not believe in God. If God made us, then he made us so that we generally wouldn't believe in or worship him. As someone said above, I live my life as a Good Man and I think that is all God can ask for. If he wants me to go sing his praises every sunday I think it's a bit egotistical. All the church stuff is just man trying to manipulate and control others. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 ...then again, maybe its all a game, like in Red Dwarf, and to win the game you gotta get the most karma points or rack up the highest number of hail marys or jerks on the vicars monkey. Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 I wish I was able to attend the Church of Old Trafford more.... Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 I've been an athiest most of my life and I was the only person at my school to refuse to do confirmation. It wasn't because of my parents, they had sent me to Sunday school and I went to a school that had religious services and studies. It was just the more I read the bible the less I believed in the whole concept of the Christian (or any other) god. I believe the world is fascinating and mysterious enough without having to bring any belief of the supernatural into it. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 No, I dislike all religion, I feel that organised religion is simply a form of controlling the masses. If you are spiritual, thats fine, no probs with that, but I don't believe in churches/ religions Link to post Share on other sites
samurai 0 Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 I've had two near-death experiences. The first time wasn't scary, I was just scared that my dad was going to kill me for wrecking the truck. (it was dark, I was drunk.) I rolled it 2.5 times down a mountain. Of course, I didn't know that until the next day. Then I saw the truck the next day. the only way to survive, would have been to be sitting where I had been sitting. That freaked me out- the fact that the whole thing, all that steel, collapsed and filled all hollow spaces. My dog would have died. Yet, I was unscathed... literally not a scratch. the doors that smashed inwards stopped at my seat. The roof that collapsed didn't collapse above my head. (no roll cage, btw, just fiberglass) The 3ftx2ftx2ft tool box from the back ended up in the passenger seat, pushed up against my seat. The back bed was a pancake. In search for meaning, I visited a Buddhist temple, and cried. I called all my friends and lectured them on drinking and driving. That day had changed my life and all that I am grateful for. I still don't go to church, but something happened that sparked some faith in me. It's still mind-boggling that I walked from that. I rebuilt that rig and drove it for an additional 8 years. (it was sick, btw. I even put boot-heaters in it to dry out my ski boots on road trips. All new carpet, seats, sound, paint and drivetrain... all done by me.) Then I flipped it again on the highway. Upside down, I could hear the gravel and ice scraping on the other side of the fiberglass top as we slid along the pavement. My wrist was pinned between the steering wheel and the street as we slid. I realized I was about to lose my hand. Then it hit me- if the fiberglass top rips off, so does my head. And that too, wasn't scary. That one moment is the one moment in my life where I actually accepted the fact that I was going to die. And- it was completely ok. There was no life-flashing-before-my-eyes, no regret about anything, no fear for what my family would have to go through, nothing. It was actually complete acceptance. Then everything stopped. I yelled to my friend to see if he was okay and he told me he couldn't breathe. I immediately envisioned him in-half, without lungs. My head was in his ass. both of us were on the floor under the front seats, me with my left wrist pinned between the steering wheel and the pavement/ice and my left shoulder dislocated. I slithered out between the seats to the pavement. (yes, the fiberglass top did rip off, just not where we were surfing on it while the truck was sliding... again- saved by where the fiberglass chose to fail) I then pushed my legs on the seat and slid on my back, below my upside down rig to the tailgate that was being beaten by some dude with a crowbar trying to get it open. he got it open. I crawled out and reinserted my shoulder. My friend followed behind me. both of us were fine. My hand was bleeding, and I wrapped it in a towel that some chick gave me from her trunk. But that was it. Moments prior, I had given up on living. And, there was no process of giving up. It was just ok. "farck" didn't even escape my lips. Then when everything stopped, I thought that I had killed my best friend until he released his seatbelt and told me he could breathe... it was just the seatbelt. I didn't release my seatbelt. It wasn't in the way of slithering out between the seats. The cops came, the towtruck came, the snowplow came and scraped everything to the side. We watched a few hundred cars (most of which were ski-resort employees) drive by my wreckage. At 10 o'clock or so, we arrived at the hill. He was the Ski School Director, I was the Ski School Sales Manager. When we walked into the office, Will, a snowboard instructor, was running the front desk. He started crying because we had arrived. He thought we were dead. The whole resort thought we were dead after they drove by my rig. To be honest, my rig (a 1972 Chevy K5 Blazer, Orange) was more famous than me, the resort's brochure poster boy. Every employee who drove by it knew exactly who was in it. And, while they drove by the wreckage, we were behind the ambulance getting checked out by paramedics calling us lucky. Nobody saw us. They just saw an ambulance without the sirens, cops walking around, the tow-truck loading the truck and the snowplow pushing debris to the side. And some young paramedic with his crew-cut hair and his nicely tucked-in shirt was calling me lucky while the whole paramedic staff were laughing because nobody was hurt. "This is the best wreck I've ever seen." was said by one of them. All I could do when they were gloating over how lucky we were, was just sigh at how shallow they were. Throughout their entire career, it was obvious that not one of them had ever accepted the fact that they were going to die. Not many people have. Actually, everytime I tell that story, I ask- Have you ever accepted your own death? I don't go to church. But I do get it. and next time you come knocking on my door, trying to sell your religion, pulling out your bible when I admit that I grew up Christian, I'm going to blow you away with a history that you have yet to comprehend. so stop selling it. You're just a pawn. If you want truth... play russian roulette enough times to no longer care about the outcome. then, you'll get it. Lucky is for the faint-hearted. And faith, is so much larger than any book or preaching could possibly deliver. This is why now, the reader, is realizing that the story above is just a story... and it has nothing to do with how big or small that reader considers this world to be as a human- or how far it delves into religion. "Do you go to church?"... do you mean, like, on Sundays? Link to post Share on other sites
farquah 0 Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Church?........nothing wrong with a bit of free bread and wine! Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Samurai.. you are a terrible driver! Free bread and wine is OK but I'd rather pay for it than get a willy up my ass. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 nice one Indo!!!! hehehe Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Originally Posted By: Indo Samurai.. you are a terrible driver! Free bread and wine is OK but I'd rather pay for it than get a willy up my ass. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 This isn't going to be comfortable reading for the vicar. Sorry mate, but The Church's sales pitch looks black. Leaving aside historical grievances, disputes about gay or female clergy demonstrate a medieval philosophy. The Church used to have the power to burn free-thinkers at the stake. Now it's an irrelevance. Newton and Darwin have done you. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Originally Posted By: samurai If you want truth... play russian roulette enough times to no longer care about the outcome. then, you'll get it. Good stuff, Samurai. Very dramatic. Drive safely, fella. I personally don't like church much at all. Last time I went was probably at Christmas one year and all I could think was "wtf am I doing here when I could be having a good time partying with my friends and family?!" No disrespect intended Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 oh my, how far has the SJ flock wandered. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Originally Posted By: soubriquet This isn't going to be comfortable reading for the vicar. Sorry mate, but The Church's sales pitch looks black. Leaving aside historical grievances, disputes about gay or female clergy demonstrate a medieval philosophy. The Church used to have the power to burn free-thinkers at the stake. Now it's an irrelevance. Newton and Darwin have done you. I wish that that were true soubs. In my experience though in the western world and here in Japan, belief in the supernatural thrives. You just have to look in any women's magazine in Aus for example and see how many pages are devoted to advertisements for astrologers, clairvoyants, mediums and the like. Frankly at times I don't think we've moved on all that much from medieval philosophy.... Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 I agree about "popular" culture, that not much has changed for some. My point is that we now have intellectually rigourous alternatives to faith in Church doctrine, and the freedom to choose our path. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 the thing is, cultural superstition and beliefs have always been there without the church telling you what you should believe and if you don't then you'd go to eternal wherever. Believe in their one god or die by the sword and such excuses for plundering the Moorish empire in so called crusades. Link to post Share on other sites
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