[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

For you Christians out there, either practicing or family, what is your background?

Are you protestant, catholic or Orthodox? Or Neither? Explain! As them say, testify!

I was having an interesting reasoning with my mother on the history of the Baptists, she being devout as can be, and I being a convert to Orthodoxy. We have many parallels, but also stark differences of opinion and interpretation of history. Essentially, the difference between these manifestations of Christian faith are not religious at all, but socio-cultural/historical.

please, testify or discuss

 

[Keeping It Simple]

I'm Church of England, I think.

[EVOLghost]

My family, like most Mexican families, is Catholic. I however am agnostic because well.....I don't really have an opinion on Religion.

[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

Not a Christian anymore, but I was raised Catholic with a hint of Pentecostal from my father. Speaking in tongues...what phooey.

[Rob Instigator]

My dad was an Episcopal priest. That is the american version of the anglican church/church of england. it turns out to be the church of all the rich fucks in the USA.
and Bishop Tutu.

we were raised Episcopal. Episcopal church is protestant and Catholic all in one.

[Toilet & Bowels]

i'm catholic but agnostic now

[akprodr]

What do you mean by 'orthodox'? In my understanding its more of an adjective than a religion.

I think pretty much all popular religions have perverted God (with a capital G).

Me, I'm a lapsed Roman Catholic now more of a pagan/pantheist/atheist. I believe there is a god but its role in the universe is limited. Lucas' Force is as good a description as another.

The reason I think there is a god is because things like The Big Bang and black holes (at least were) called Singularities. By definition, you can't tell what happened before. Has this changed? I think that LHC was designed to tell us about pre-Big Bang conditions? Or just bring us closer to the moment of the BB?

[akprodr]

Originally Posted by Dr. Eugene Felikson

Speaking in tongues...what phooey.

My sister and brother in law do that. Scary shit if you ask me. They are in a Charismatic Catholic (Roman) community.

[akprodr]

And where did this shit that the Bible is the literal truth come from? For thousands of years, it was a bunch of stories. Now, for some, it is literal? Huh?

[knox]

i haven't been baptised or taught any kind of religion.

[Genteel Death]

Catholic background. Two members of my family converted to Jehovah's Witnesses, and my eldest brother converted to buddhism a couple of years ago.

[DeadDiscoDildo]

My father was raised Catholic, my Mother was raised Greek Orthodox. They both converted to a non-denominational evangical christian church...I used to belong to it, then I stopped going.

Now I'm a bit of the black sheep

[DeadDiscoDildo]

Which makes me agnostic

[akprodr]

what do you get when you get when you cross a dyslexic, an insomniac, and an agnostic?

[DeadDiscoDildo]

Haha, you got me, what?

[Keeping It Simple]

"Alex" from "A Clockwork Orange" is Church of England.

[knox]

the good thing about church of england is that there is no way someone would take that seriously.

[DeadDiscoDildo]

Sadly, the fact that anyone still takes any form of religion seriously is disturbing.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by infinitemusic

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and most atheists I've met are at least as militant about their nonfaith as fucking redneck christians are about their so-called faith.

i usually keep my scorn for religion quiet until the god people start shoving their religion onto my face.

at that point i really like dishing it out. getting the attack dogs off the leash can be fun.

seriously, i'll re-quote myself from the previous page

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

raised catholic, apostate since age 11.

isn't that old enough to realize that the bible makes no fucking sense at all? sure, it provides comfort to some, so let it be, but come on, while it's a nice symbolism, at times, and it has provided plenty of material for literature, art and philosophy over the ages, it's really really annoying when people start stuffing religion into every hole of the turkey that is everyday life.

mmm... turkey...

[SuchFriendsAreDangerous]

Originally Posted by knox

i haven't been baptised or taught any kind of religion.

Then you are in the best shape, your mind and heart are free from the cultural and historical baggage which most people disguise as their religion. Religion is a feeling of the heart, not a matter of the intellect, and in this regard, your heart is free as your mind is not cluttered with thousands of years of other peoples' bullshit

Originally Posted by DeadDiscoDildo

Which makes me agnostic

Same for you people like me need to spend a lot of time systematically dissassembling all the bullshit I have inherited in order to see past my mind, and feel with an open heart.

Originally Posted by akprodr

What do you mean by 'orthodox'? In my understanding its more of an adjective than a religion.

I think pretty much all popular religions have perverted God (with a capital G).

Me, I'm a lapsed Roman Catholic now more of a pagan/pantheist/atheist. I believe there is a god but its role in the universe is limited. Lucas' Force is as good a description as another.

The reason I think there is a god is because things like The Big Bang and black holes (at least were) called Singularities. By definition, you can't tell what happened before. Has this changed? I think that LHC was designed to tell us about pre-Big Bang conditions? Or just bring us closer to the moment of the BB?

Orthodox Church is the original Church from the second and third centuries, and is generally the ethnic church of Slavs, some Romanians, Armenians, Georgians, Russians, Coptic Egyptians, Syrian/Jordanians, Ethiopians, and also of course the American Orthodox (which is non-ethnic).

I especially agree with you belief in God based upon the sophistication of the Big Bang and other cosmological arguments, after all, the Goldilocks Principle is very convincing from a scientific perspective, all religious sentiments aside.

The purpose of this thread was to see where all of the SYG folks are coming from across the spectrum of Christianity, and perhaps for us to have an opportunity to discuss these things with each other.

Essentially, much of what we call religion, is in fact socio-cultural baggage, prejudice and even bigotry.

For protestants, God is in the Bible. For Catholics, God is the Church. For Orthodox, God is in the heart, but in reality, can God somehow be limited to any of these places or any place in particular for that matter? Is God limited by any of our own weaknesses?

I wish Christians would get it together, and fellowship as one communion, rather than let our mutually exclusive cultural, sociological and psychological histories corrupt our ability to see each other as equals.

Ironically, I have MUCH better religious discussions with self-proclaimed Atheists and agnostics, because unlike religious people, they are not so close-minded as to believe they know anything at all, let alone everything. Where as Christians in particular tend to be bitterly close minded and fragmentary..

The true heart of Christianity is that we are ALL equal in our sin. We all are fallible, weak, petty, arrogant, in a word, sinners. We are all equal to each other in that we will all fall short of anything near perfection. The problem, is that many Christians, in a wave of self-righteousness, tend use the concept of sin, not to build bridges of mutual equality, but rather divisions and separations and judgment...

What are any of your experiences with this problem? What affect do you think that particular nuances of your religious denomination's baggage has had on these experiences?