Catholicism

[VectorVictor]

I'm not religious in the least, but my grandfather said it best...

 

"I don't need a building for God to hear me, he hears me just fine on my boat on the Big Alkali"

 

IMO this line of thought is why the Catholic Church, when putting the Bible together, decided to exclude the gospel of Thomas. If people didn't need the church to worship...then what's the point of existence for any church?

 

Of course, you have the fellowship and organizational aspects, but since non-profit churches are supposed to be apolitical (yeah, right ) and fellowship could be conducted anywhere that enough people could gather...

 

I just have a hard time following any religion that practices Pagan days and calls them holidays. I.E. Birthdays,Christmas,easter. I have a really hard time when religions claim peace,then sent the kids off to war. I.E. the pope liking hitler,todays wars,

 

This, too, makes it hard for me to reconcile my faith with the current religious establishments.

 

It also makes it funny when I ask people with "Remember the reason for the season" stickers where their pagan celebrations will be held.

[Landlord]

I just have a hard time following any religion that practices Pagan days and calls them holidays. I.E. Birthdays,Christmas,easter. I have a really hard time when religions claim peace,then sent the kids off to war. I.E. the pope liking hitler,todays wars,

 

 

The explanation for Christmas and Easter being on specific dates isn't definitively known, although there are a lot of theories. The most popular amongst Biblical scholars in regards to Christmas is that Christians adopted the day, a pagan holiday, to gather and celebrate Jesus' birth for fear of persecution if they were to celebrate on any other day, making them visible. It's likely that Jesus' birth occurred in the spring. As far as Easter, it's supposed to be celebrated at the end of the Passover (assuming you're referring to the date being pagan? Because the actual holiday itself was originally "invented" by Christians around the 2nd century), but different calendars lead to different date conflicts.

 

As far as peace vs. war/violence, no excuses.

 

 

As far as the church goes, it's important to understand that the church was never meant to be a building; the church is the body of believers. 1st century Christians didn't have church in buildings, they were underground in houses, much the same as Christians in China and other countries where the faith is illegal do it. There is no right or wrong way to conduct church/fellowship as long as Jesus is the focus. However, the benefits of having physical places to gather and have fellowship are numerous and obvious.

 

With all that being said, I hate Catholicism.

[CornHOLIO]

Someday I want to find a church like this:

 

[VectorVictor]

I just have a hard time following any religion that practices Pagan days and calls them holidays. I.E. Birthdays,Christmas,easter. I have a really hard time when religions claim peace,then sent the kids off to war. I.E. the pope liking hitler,todays wars,

 

 

The explanation for Christmas and Easter being on specific dates isn't definitively known, although there are a lot of theories. The most popular amongst Biblical scholars in regards to Christmas is that Christians adopted the day, a pagan holiday, to gather and celebrate Jesus' birth for fear of persecution if they were to celebrate on any other day, making them visible. It's likely that Jesus' birth occurred in the spring. As far as Easter, it's supposed to be celebrated at the end of the Passover (assuming you're referring to the date being pagan? Because the actual holiday itself was originally "invented" by Christians around the 2nd century), but different calendars lead to different date conflicts.

 

As far as peace vs. war/violence, no excuses.

 

 

As far as the church goes, it's important to understand that the church was never meant to be a building; the church is the body of believers. 1st century Christians didn't have church in buildings, they were underground in houses, much the same as Christians in China and other countries where the faith is illegal do it. There is no right or wrong way to conduct church/fellowship as long as Jesus is the focus. However, the benefits of having physical places to gather and have fellowship are numerous and obvious.

 

With all that being said, I hate Catholicism.

 

Wikipedia's article on Christmas has a lot of good information regarding the background of Christmas, including the difference in calendars, the co-opting of the pagan winter solstice traditions (e.g. tree, candy canes) and the like.

 

The reason that the pagan holidays keep coming up is because the traditions around Easter and Christmas are directly "lifted" from solstice celebrations, including the tree, candy canes, eggs, etc. This was a blatant PR attempt by the Catholic Church to get non-believers interested in Christian events, as well as to allow Christians to not feel left out (as Christmas was originally celebrated in what we now know as November).

 

In the end, just like a lot of what Orthodox Christians take for granted, it was either lifted from or borrowed very gently from other cultures as a means of indoctrination.

 

Not passing judgement on this, as I'm sure the early church needed to do what it did to maintain relevance. Just saying that next time someone says 'remember the reason for the season', they need to be pimp slapped (with knowledge).

[Ratt Mhule]

With all that being said, I hate Catholicism

 

As do many people who are ignorant to the religion. Been told point blank by my BOSS that all Catholics do is drink and party all the time. Had a conversation with a friend the other night who said he believed we worship Mary, but after actually going to a Catholic mass realized his thinking was just plain wrong. Also told me he thought the mass was pretty cool. He is Presbyterian. And just today, someone asked me why I worship Mary. I said I don't and had to explain to her why Mary is highly regarded in the church, but in NO way worshipped.

 

My view on all the different religions is we all have the same roots, just different branches and what humans think is the right way to do things. Doesn't mean people need to fight with eachother and say I'm right, your wrong. Just look at eachother as other believers. Too many people look at other branches of Christianity like they are stupid and wrong for their beliefs. It upsets me when people say Catholics are not Christians.

[Landlord]

With all that being said, I hate Catholicism

 

As do many people who are ignorant to the religion. Been told point blank by my BOSS that all Catholics do is drink and party all the time. Had a conversation with a friend the other night who said he believed we worship Mary, but after actually going to a Catholic mass realized his thinking was just plain wrong. Also told me he thought the mass was pretty cool. He is Presbyterian. And just today, someone asked me why I worship Mary. I said I don't and had to explain to her why Mary is highly regarded in the church, but in NO way worshipped.

 

My view on all the different religions is we all have the same roots, just different branches and what humans think is the right way to do things. Doesn't mean people need to fight with eachother and say I'm right, your wrong. Just look at eachother as other believers. Too many people look at other branches of Christianity like they are stupid and wrong for their beliefs. It upsets me when people say Catholics are not Christians.

 

 

 

I don't know if you're lumping me into the "many people who are ignorant to the religion", but if so, please don't, or you'll be guilty of the same ignorance I'm no expert on things Catholic, but I know enough being a follower of Jesus myself and having attended plenty of Catholic services/events and having had many discussions with friends who are Catholic.

 

As a point of emphasis, I have nothing against Catholics, at least nothing more than anyone else, I only dislike and don't agree with the religion. Beautiful thing about Jesus is that it's not about what you do; it's about grace, and if I were viewing others with a "you're right and I'm wrong" or "you do this while you should do this" mentality well then that wouldn't be good at all.

[VectorVictor]

Beautiful thing about Jesus is that it's not about what you do; it's about grace, and if I were viewing others with a "you're right and I'm wrong" or "you do this while you should do this" mentality well then that wouldn't be good at all.

 

You just summed up the Texas Southern Baptists on any given Sunday...which is probably why non-denominational churches are springing up all over down here.

 

And yes, I'm painting with a broad brush, and I personally know Southern Baptists that are not like that at all. But many of the Southern Baptists I know that don't fit the stereotype are the first to admit that the stereotype is warranted, for the most part.

[Landlord]

Beautiful thing about Jesus is that it's not about what you do; it's about grace, and if I were viewing others with a "you're right and I'm wrong" or "you do this while you should do this" mentality well then that wouldn't be good at all.

 

You just summed up the Texas Southern Baptists on any given Sunday...which is probably why non-denominational churches are springing up all over down here.

 

And yes, I'm painting with a broad brush, and I personally know Southern Baptists that are not like that at all. But many of the Southern Baptists I know that don't fit the stereotype are the first to admit that the stereotype is warranted, for the most part.

 

 

It's no secret that Christians do a fantastically lousy job of actually listening to what Jesus teaches.

[VectorVictor]

Beautiful thing about Jesus is that it's not about what you do; it's about grace, and if I were viewing others with a "you're right and I'm wrong" or "you do this while you should do this" mentality well then that wouldn't be good at all.

 

You just summed up the Texas Southern Baptists on any given Sunday...which is probably why non-denominational churches are springing up all over down here.

 

And yes, I'm painting with a broad brush, and I personally know Southern Baptists that are not like that at all. But many of the Southern Baptists I know that don't fit the stereotype are the first to admit that the stereotype is warranted, for the most part.

 

It's no secret that Christians do a fantastically lousy job of actually listening to what Jesus teaches.

 

And Christian Politicians, even less.

[robsker]

I think the reason we have this growth of enormous churches with Jerry Worldish big screens and rock concerts is pretty simple: It's good business. Whatever it is, at least it's entertaining. Being in a mega church (defined as any church with a weekly attendance above 2,000 people) also has the decided advantage of being able to "do the church thing" without ever having to actually involve yourself in any of it in any meaningful way. You just get to sip a latte and enjoy the show. Awhile back there was even word going around about 'drive in' churches where you never have to leave your car.

 

Regardless of how quickly these McChurches have sprung up, the stats I've seen indicate a majority of American Christians still attend churches with congregations under two hundred people. How long that will last is hard to say. Last I saw, 'unaffiliated' was the fastest growing religious category in America.

 

 

Spot on Husker X --- I think your description of the mega-church is quite accurate.

 

I hope all finds you well. Robsker

[Landlord]

I'm going to try my best here to not sound overly offensive. I was recently in a wedding in an enormous Catholic church in Omaha. The church was huge and beautiful . . . and they were running a fundraiser to try to fund a $6-7 million expansion. I've drifted away from my faith (used to be quite involved in the United Methodist church) but to me this seems rather un-Christian. Wouldn't that money be better spent helping the needy, feeding the hungry, etc. rather than building an overly ornate building? Hopefully someone can explain this to me beyond the "it draws people to god" reason. (God shouldn't need a building, imho.)

 

 

I can only tell you what is going on in our area.

 

Non denominational christian churches are becoming extremely popular. They are often have more relaxed services, a younger crowd and a more modern facilities. These churches have become very popular with families in our area. There are several in our modest sized city that are building huge buildings right now to accommodate new an future members. One of them has a coffee (starbucks type) deal at their entrance. Unfortunately, it is what people want.

 

Right or wrong....they probably feel that is what they have to do to keep up.

 

This is because of social media. People want 'cool' services where it is a social gathering versus fire and brimstone that are preached in most liturgical services. What's sad about this is that it's keeping the focus off of what really matters in Christianity...the message Jesus preached. It's a watering down of Christianity in my opinion.

 

 

You don't think liturgical services are watered down? I spent the first 2/3 of my life attending traditional services and never once was given a clear understanding of God, Jesus or the gospel. Most of that is on me but I personally think they're even more watered down...that's why so many people attend church, yet so few live their faith.