Topicless thread

[Bella]

While part of me likes the idea of an open safe-zone to air frustrations, I'd feel more comfortable doing so offsite. If I were upset or frustrated at any of you, I'd probably bring it up on Skype and not someplace where the whole world could (theoretically) see it (or where it could end embroiling people I'd rather not have involved.)

Re: religion: Apathetic agnostic here. While I don't have any strong attraction to religion or spirituality I don't mind those who do. Respect is key, and as long as a person can respect the beliefs of others, not preach, and not use their religion/irreligion/belief system of choice as a way to regulate the behavior of others I really don't care what a person believes/doesn't believe. (This goes for all sorts of belief / non-belief systems - I equally dislike rude, pushy and sanctimonious religious people, spiritual people and atheist people.) Nonbelief aside, I do like the Unitarians and Congregationalists for their generally liberal stances and inclusive natures.

[Chocofreak13]

@bella: the quakers are nice for that, too. :3
@pent: what didn't you agree with? i know it's gonna be most of it, but is there anything specifically that you didn't like? and what sorts of guidelines were set by southern baptist? how strict is that church?

@pizza: i've never heard of paganism being divided up into different religions. if you mean religions which follow more than one god, such as hindu, then the term you're looking for is polytheistic. if you mean pagan vs wicca, while there might be different spiritual nuances involved, i used to use the terms interchangeably, so i imagine there's not enough difference to matter much : p
as for what gods i worship, the general idea behind paganism is to worship one god and one goddess. more can be added as the worshipper likes, but there typically needs to be at least one of each. i used to worship Thor and Shiva (though technically Shiva's a Hindu god) in addition to my main two, but considering what a horrible pagan i am (read: i haven't paid reverence to my goddess in months), i decided to simplify down to just Luna (the moon) and Neptune (the ocean), who also happen to be my ruling planets under my pisces horoscope (pure coincidence there, but the harmony fits). i might end up paying reverence to Thor and Shiva again in the future, but in the meantime i just want to set up an altar where i can pay some daily worship and get back into some more spiritual activities (such as printing and using the homestuck tarot i found).

TL;DR: i'm not sure what you mean by the first question, but as for the second, i currently worship Luna and Neptune. i've paid reverence to the moon my whole life, before i even heard of paganism, so falling in with her just made sense.

[alfonso_rd_30]

Catholic Roman Apostolic here, but I welcome all people but Mormons...

[Nichi]

@Kari: Southern Baptist is apparently less strict than a traditional Baptist church, but they still hold strong similarities. Some of the more bizarre rules of a normal Baptist church, like the "no dancing" one, are generally ignored and often laughed at, while it still maintains a rather strict notion of people of other religions needing to be "saved" (Although, quite a few of the people I've met are accepting of Jewish religion and don't try to convert people that follow it. After all, they worship the same god).

As for the stuff I don't agree with, it's mostly views on things such as homosexuality and non-Christian media. The former, as well as anything that falls outside of cisgender heterosexuality, are seen as immoral. To say this annoys me is to put it lightly, especially considering one of my cousins is gay; thus, issues involving it hit close to home.

With the latter, some of them feel one must only consume Christian-oriented (Or at the very least, clean and family friendly) media, and shun anything that isn't up to their standards (Basically, the kind of people who make my mom look like a reasonable, level-headed person). I can't stand the ones who slam a good series simply because it doesn't cater to their narrow mindset, or even worse, the ones who talk bad about a series they know absolutely nothing about; using "facts" that they come up with after seeing maybe a commercial for it at the most.

[alfonso_rd_30]

Tell me...! Did you know that Anime¿'s no longer aired on regular TV due to a Good reporter's moronic show...? man I miss my caritele... GodDamn it Carisaurio!!!


one of the most common points to try to get Pokemon out of Regular TV is the old Pikachu means 100 times stronger than God... GodDamn it ENCHILO's hags!

[Chocofreak13]

all the more reason i like america and our supposed seperation of church and state. though i saw the term "in the ____ year of our lord" inside a prision once....

to be fair, there isn't much anime on tv here, either. but i suppose it's more than there.

@pent: huh, one of your cousins is gay? that must be tough given the rest of the family. :[
that last part backs up my earlier statements in the anime topic that you should never talk smack about something (or even comment on it at all) until you've experienced it in full. :\

i wonder if southern baptists try to convert other types of christians and catholics?

@alphonso: what's that religion like? and is there any specific reason you don't care for mormons, or is it just the usual litany of reasons? (which, btw, i used to know some mormons, and they were very nice [ate insanely large portions at dinner, though], so i can say for fact that not all are bad. though i don't like them much either. :\ )

[alfonso_rd_30]

Well, for instance, it's the one where The Pope is the Closest to St. Peter (yeah, the one of the pedophile priests in England...) It could be said it is the oldest Version of christinanity... (Christianity 1.0). as for the Mormons... I have no quarrel against the People... it's their word the one I found Evil... I have a certain sixth sense, being quite attuned to spirituality... so once I, out of curiosity, and due to the fact that I used believe every belief  system takes one to the deity, attended to a Mormon conference... it was a nightly conference... then, in the end they offered copies of the book of Mormon, which I foolishly stored in my School suitcase... in the walk from the conference to home I noticed the air was eerie calm, and even upon reaching one of the oldest building in my city (the bullring) noticed the usually calm residual spirits of the past to be relentless while I myself felt an unexplained fear all the way too...  Being that the only change done, not only a day before, but half an hour before was the addition of the book of Mormon, ergo the source  of the evil making me afraid and molesting the energy flow of the city was indeed the book of Mormon in my suitcase....

since upon reaching home I discovered the family had gone visting my grandma, I found me home alone, with the evil presence inside home too... after half an hour I mustered enough courage to call my mom and ask her what to do... In the end I threw out the book of Mormon and the darkness somewhat diminished...  since then I try to avoid mormons... they are good people... just I found their Guideline to happiness to be, in my opinion, evil...

[Pitkin]

Mormon here. Not really.

As a matter of fact, I must apologise. Religion remains a somewhat non-reconciled internal issue for me and I find it therefore very difficult to discuss. I used to be a member of the Lutheran church but abandoned it two years ago.

@pit: i lol'd. one thing i've always liked about you is that you're witty. even if it pisses me off when it's directed at me, your quips are superb. ^^

You found my weak spot: if there's anything that gets me more off-guard than pictures of rabbits, it's compliments and flattery. I cannot win anymore.

[Chocofreak13]

@pit: lol, good to know. x3
but i meant what i said. you're witty; s'true. ^^

also, everyone worships differently, so i suppose don't feel confined by one church's religious tenants? care to disclose why you left? (feel free not to.)
and are you seriously mormon, or is that a joke? :0

@alphonso: ahhh, so they just give you a bad vibe? understandable.
i can relate, as every time i step near a church and it's not to take pictures of the architecture, i feel uncomfortable. like if the people were there and they saw my necklace (i wear a pentagram always; i have multiple, i feel closer to my faith with it and safer with it as well), i'd get yelled at for being there or they'd try to "save my soul" or something along those lines. i was baptised catholic, though since i've rejected all the teachings i was given (including the forced sunday school, which in itself was EXTREMELY uncomfortable made worse in no small part by the bitch of a teacher giving me dirty looks whenever i was in the room, despite my mother being the troop leader of the girl scout troop her daughter was in), i've in effect "unbaptised" myself. the only thing left is to write a letter to the pope asking me to take my name off the registry or whatever, but i never went through communion so i'm not sure i have to. :\

i don't have much bias against mormons, but i harbour a deep dislike/medium-level hatred for jehova's witnesses, due to their policies on the treatment of children and their absolute devotion to "saving" as many people as possible by getting them to convert. i've heard that there's one special phrase you can say to them to make them go away and never come back again, but i don't know what it is. so instead i revert to things my friends have tried, such as putting on a black trenchcoat backwards and grabbing an old leather-bound black dungeons and dragons book and a bottle of ketchup, showing up to the door with a bit of red smeared on the forehead and a pentagram drawn in red on the reverse side of the book, and answering them with a simple "Yes?".

[NejinOniwa]

Here we go...

First of all, I'm Swedish. That means I was born, bred and raised in one of the most secular countries in the world. Religion tends to get odd pretty fast with that as an outlook.
So on the paper I started as a protestant, but I was little more than 8 when I'd rejected pretty much all of it.
Now the average swedish outlook on religion is pretty bleak. For the most people, you're born into the state church, actually go to church maybe once a year, and when you're 15 you either get confirmed or you say fuck it all. After that, people tend to fall into a few categories:
1: The Atheists/Fuckitalls. A fairly small group, but much larger than most other nations. They're not confirmed and they've rejected the church teachings for the most part at an early stage. Depending on outlook they may then start looking elsewhere for beliefs, build their own or stay staunchly atheist. They frequently join in debate on the subject. This is where I go.
2: The High Secularists/Dontcares. They're a decently sized group. Some are confirmed and some are not, but they really don't give much of a damn for their supposed religion other than when it gives them an excuse to party. They celebrate holidays with the traditional cultural outlook on them, and with very little respect for the possible religious aspects they may have. Occasionally they join in debate on the subject. My cousin Anton is one of these (afaik).
3: The Medium Secularists/Svennebanan. "Svenne banan" (Swedey banana") is a bit of a mean slang for the average swede, and as you can imagine most of the population falls into this category. They decorate their yule tree, they get married in church, they're usually confirmed and they blaspheme whenever they feel upset. Etc. They might sing in a church choir, but more often than not that's mainly because it's an easy venue to get into a choir. Sweden has a LOT of choirs, and good ones; most every other parish has one, in fact, in addition to any eventual non-church affiliated ones there may be. In short, their outlook on religion is "I believe in god, I guess," and they seldom side in the debate. Many people in this category spend a few years in the ones above or below as well, but they usually come back eventually. My brother David would be one of these.
4: The Cultural Christians/Quitegodlyfolks. A fairly large group, these people are the ones who actually have a fairly firm belief in god and at least some of the church teachings. They frequent choirs and may even go to church for mass sometimes. They're either raised in an above-average religious family, or they have some sort of epiphany when they get confirmed or so. They are still quite swedish in their belief, and usually get along with both 1's, 2's and 3's, but they are quite likely to involve themselves in any debates that may spring up. My sister Frida falls into this end of the spectrum.
5: Actual Religious People/Preachers. They are outward in their beliefs, and they are quite religious. Thankfully there's not many of them at all, but they sure make noise enough for ten of themselves. They are almost always raised in a religious home, and tend to be pretty condescending towards 2's and plain offended by 1's. They usually follow the state church, and may well visit for mass and most sundays, even - my knowledge on their behavior isn't all too detailed. They are usually the ones who start the debates, and you seldom see them miss out. One of my classmates from high school, Caroline, was one of these - thankfully there aren't any of these in either my clan or the rest of my family.
6: Zealots/Cultists. Even less numerous than 5's. They are the ones who follow a specific branch of the church, and are stark raving mad about it. Jehovies and the lot, you get my point. Thankfully I've never really made personal acquaintance with any of these idiots.


As for my personal beliefs, let's just say they've been floating around in a fish tank since I started overthinking things and never really gotten much further, and leave it at that. Honestly, there's not much to really say on the subject.

[Simonorged]

  I'm a christian. Specifically Evangelist.

I know that the usual stereo type for Christians is that we are critical and judgmental, but we are not suppose to be. The fact is that we are human, and that makes it easy to judge. But if you have ever read the bible it says, love your enemy's as yourself and if you judge you will be judged. These are actually two separate verses but you get the point.

It's not our place to judge, are only job in life is to help one another, NOT condemn.
And we Christians often forget that.

We cant take the splinter out of the friend eye without taking the 2 by 4 out of our own.
And mine is pretty lodged in there.

You wont see me judging any of you, it's not my place to and I've no room to.

And another thing, why is it that for most major organizations (whether religious or not) we have the idiot speaking for the masses? The most out there, the most condemning and the one who most often sticks his/her foot in mouth.

[Nichi]

@Kari: The cousin in question is on my dad's side, so it's not as bad at least. They're accepting of him.
Also, while I was in fact baptized, I'm similar to you in the fact I ignore some of the teachings now (A few things I did like, such as aspects of the ten commandments, have stuck around to form my personal "code of honor")

@Pit: You're a Mormon? I never really knew much about them aside from them being just as demonized as pagans and Buddhists in the church I used to go to. Interesting to know, if I ever wanted to ask more about it :3

@Simon: True that, man. It felt like a majority of the people in the church I used to go to forgot that bit entirely :\

[Cockleshell]

my reaction to this serious bidness discussion

Maybe we should start a religion thread because it seems to be such a hot topic

[PizzaDrill]

stuff

Uh, oh yeah.

SO ABOUT THEM 49'ERS. They're gonna smash the superbowl.

[LeaflameSD]

I'm an atheist...