|
I don't post in these threads too often, but I do read them so checking in with the new thread to affirm that I am an American Evangelical who is extremely left-wing and left the Southern Baptist Convention due to the SBC's secular politics. If folks have questions about that arm of Christianity, I can probably answer them or at least make an educated guess. https://i.imgur.com/gDjhEYQ.mp4
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2021 14:22
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 10:54 |
|
|
By popular demand posted:A quick thumbing through the wiki article makes the SBC sound like all the 'Bad Christians' characters I see on the media but this gave me pause: Possibly bitterly cynical of me, but my gut impulse is "Because then as now they use religion to reinforce and support the secular beliefs they already had, rather than giving primacy to what the Bible actually says." 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2021 15:39
|
|
Why the gently caress would they keep this name for the church? Just one step removed from "The Slavery YAY Baptist Tabernacle" .
|
Personally, a part of my faith is the intellectual acknowledgement that I don't think God can be objectively known by secular methods and measures - and can't be objectively disproven, either. There are plausible secular explanations for everything, I believe. Which means that my choice to believe is to some - possibly a great - extent fundamentally arbitrary, and based on personal psychological comfort. Faith in God gives me a sense of purpose in my life, a greater perspective during the down times in my life, and a feeling that I am a part of something greater. If I had been raised Muslim or Buddhist or what have you, would I probably believe that religion and take the same comfort from it? Quite possibly. Nevertheless, acknowledging all of that, I choose to believe all the same. I think everyone believes in something, even if they believe in not believing, and this is my shot into the dark in that regard. https://i.imgur.com/g3z5Yer.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Jan 15, 2021 15:24
|
|
|
Valiantman posted:Just wanted to share that our youngest child will be babtised in about an hour. It's weird, having to stream the babtism from your home to all the relatives and recording it for those who can't participate in the live version. We can only have our own family, the godparents and the priest here and we're at the safety limit. All will be wearing masks, which, I assume, will be discussed with the little fellow a lot when he grows up. I think my favorite example of covid and sacraments lately was a Jewish friend of mine who got married in October. Her fiance, now wife, is blind on top of that. Given the circumstances, the entire wedding was conducted as a skype video conference with everyone except the rabbi, even the brides, in jeans-and-t-shirt standard.  https://i.imgur.com/0PXx3X4.mp4 Edit: Sound on. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 14:36 on Jan 24, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Jan 24, 2021 14:12
|
|
|
To be honest... one my deepest regrets in life is when I unironically, completely sincerely, told a gay woman who I considered a friend that she was the bigot for not tolerating my intolerance. When that didn't immediately explode her brain and make her convert to a straight Christian housewife stereotype, and deeply hurt her and other friends I had to an extent that we fell out of contact and no apology can make up for things... that was when I decided that I was done with hyperconservative fundie Christianity as taught by the Southern Baptist Convention, and with being a Republican as I'd been raised to be. I'm still a devout Christian, but I'm a very different kind of Christian now than I was back then. https://i.imgur.com/Ak5gZnP.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2021 17:27
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:I don't think that's likely until the Church stops having another round of 'we found more documentation of the abuse clergy was doing that you've been hiding' every six months. That's pretty much the biggest thing young people these days not raised Catholic know about the Church. At least from the liberal Protestant communities I'm in, not letting women into the priesthood and giving them equal spiritual status with men is another sticking point. I have one friend at work who was raised Catholic, and says she converted to Methodism specifically because it was a faith that said God loves her the same as he loves any man. https://i.imgur.com/p7tDhau.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2021 13:36
|
|
|
Every once in a while, I see something that reminds me of how great and good God is. The first artist at work, and countless people spend their entire lives seeking glimpses of the great work He created. https://i.imgur.com/h8FZYh7.mp4 Beyond my chronic depression and view of faith in that light, this is one of the biggest reasons I believe in God. I cannot see the universe, in all its wonder and complexity, and believe that there was not a hand behind it all. God the creator, artist, and architect. All of science, all of human exploration, is chasing after His fingerprints and striving to understand how He set it all up. To know the mighty works of God, to comprehend His wisdom and majesty and power; to appreciate, in degree, the wonderful workings of His laws, surely all this must be a pleasing and acceptable mode of worship to the Most High, to whom ignorance cannot be more grateful than knowledge. - Nicolaus Copernicus Cythereal fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Mar 4, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2021 15:51
|
|
|
Deteriorata posted:Faith is not an academic exercise that takes place inside your head. Faith should inspire you to love other people and help them get through life. Without that, your faith is pointless. This is how I see it. Faith is not a quality but a way of life. Faith is an active thing that you live, not simply a set of beliefs. https://i.imgur.com/E59WSh9.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2021 21:51
|
|
|
Zazz Razzamatazz posted:A good analogy I heard was: My belief, incidentally is: You are in a life raft with a paddle You can and should make an effort to get back to shore, but you can't get there under your own power. I believe in Sola Fide, but also believe that faith that is not lived is not faith. https://i.imgur.com/Sf71u2P.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2021 22:08
|
|
|
BattyKiara posted:How much of "God is Father and Male!" theology is a quirk of language? A lot of languages have difficulty with genderneutral pronouns. Is there a way in Hebrew of saying "God, the Parent, who is neither male nor female but something more, which does not fit into human categories" summed up as easily as "Our Father"? For what it's worth, this Baptist agrees with these sentiments. We put human labels on God in our attempt to understand Him, but our labels are as limited as our language and ultimately we ourselves as human beings are. https://i.imgur.com/rNDsE13.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Apr 14, 2021 13:11
|
|
|
Lutha Mahtin posted:A similar trope that has been used against religious people of many different faiths is the idea that people of religion X are only loyal to their faith and "their" people and thus can't assimilate to "our" society. It happens over and over throughout history and is happening today right now too. I mean, if nothing else the last five years showed that quite a lot of American 'Christians' do in fact owe their allegiance to the state rather than their purported religious beliefs. It's no surprise that they think everyone is as cynical and self-interested as they are. https://i.imgur.com/15booIS.mp4
|
|
#
¿
May 18, 2021 16:56
|
|
|
Revelation was an allegory for the Roman Empire, in my book. Israel has become a genocidal apartheid state that's authoritarian if not downright fascist. https://i.imgur.com/13Y93XH.mp4
|
|
#
¿
May 19, 2021 12:35
|
|
|
When it comes to eschatology, I just remind myself that Jesus said that no one can know the day or hour of the end. As far as I'm concerned, anyone claiming that such and such is a sign of the end times is by definition bunk and can be safely disregarded. https://i.imgur.com/ZRDdq4O.mp4
|
|
#
¿
May 20, 2021 20:08
|
|
|
BattyKiara posted:Quoting James Herriot from memory: "Of course there are pets in Heaven. It wouldn't be Heaven unless our pets are there waiting for us" 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 22, 2021 12:28
|
|
|
A lawyer's overview of the Britney Spears situation for those interested. As for her conversion or lack thereof, not my place to judge. If it's real and sincere, good for her. https://i.imgur.com/R5q35Or.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Aug 7, 2021 23:14
|
|
|
I'm in Florida, where numbers now are worse than they've ever been before, and whether to hold services at all has become part of the... polarizing political issue that the pandemic is down here. Personally, I'm firmly in full social distancing mode again. https://i.imgur.com/1tESiQi.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2021 13:25
|
|
|
Slimy Hog posted:This journey for me looked like confused non-denom protestant -> curious about other non-protestant expressions of Christianity -> thinking the Catholics may actually have been right -> Owait, maybe it's the Orthodox who were right -> LOL who knows -> Orthodox I looped right around from LOL who knows back to confused non-denom protestant, myself. I'm just looking for a church community that clicks with me. Or I would be looking if I didn't live in a death cult of a state where covid's meant I haven't been inside a church in a good two years now. https://i.imgur.com/SJBNuIg.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2021 22:47
|
|
|
Slimy Hog posted:Oh I meant it in the capital-E "Evangelical" way I'm also in this camp for all that I'm basically non-denominational at the moment. I am still Evangelical in my beliefs. Oh what fun we had in previous iterations of this thread when I first started posting here.  https://i.imgur.com/69oyGEL.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 8, 2021 00:09
|
|
|
Jupiter Jazz posted:Apparently they're Evangelical. What is with Evangelical's and their prideful theism? They'd be lovely people regardless of their religious beliefs, every faith and belief system has awful people. Evangelicals are just in the news a lot in the present day. Also, people like me are at the top of their hate list because I'm Evangelical and I think they're a bunch of shitheads who use religion to justify bigotry. https://i.imgur.com/ie57o0x.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2021 21:40
|
|
|
Jupiter Jazz posted:I know every faith has its extremists especially when I speak as a Muslim but my personal in person experiences with Evangelicals hasn't been the best. I'll be cognizant not trying to judge the entire bunch in the future. If it helps, understand that Evangelicals like me think of the Chick Tract people et al the way you probably think of ISIS or other Muslim extremists. https://i.imgur.com/1KG9t3w.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 10, 2021 03:16
|
|
|
Personally, I take the view that God is above all else a being of love, compassion, and mercy. Seek to be like Him in those respects, and don't sweat the distinctions about how any given person worships or believes as long as they don't use religion as a justification for hatred. I may not personally be comfortable with Catholic beliefs, or Orthodox, or pretty much anything outside the Protestant sphere (and the Evangelical side of things in particular), but to me you have to find a system of belief and worship that works for you. I think God understands our efforts to seek and understand Him, and that it's our human nature to be divided by a common cause. We're fractious, argumentative, schismatic little monkeys, and God knows that because He made us that way. Why He chose to make us that way, I leave as an exercise for the reader. https://i.imgur.com/xctOqgG.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 10, 2021 13:14
|
|
|
Personally, I see myself as just having a different flavor of weird to the goon norm in some respects. Why should religion be considered any less odd than 'no gods, no masters!' as is so common in online circles? https://i.imgur.com/Nx4wxmM.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 13, 2021 20:03
|
|
|
Slimy Hog posted:This 1000000% This is my view. Oftentimes, you wear what you're wearing because it's comfy, or because you like the colors and patterns, or because it's what you had on when you realized you needed to make a trip to the grocery store, or because it's the only reasonably clean outfit you have because you've been putting off a trip to the laundromat. Do people sometimes choose to make a statement about their beliefs by the way they dress? Sure! Do people sometimes dress in a specific way for the purpose of provoking certain emotions and reactions from other people? Of course! But, I would argue that these are usually a small minority of cases. Let people dress how they find appealing and comfortable without assuming they're making some kind of statement to the world about it. https://i.imgur.com/LJOKFx0.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2021 16:59
|
|
|
Jupiter Jazz posted:No one said anything about being treated "less than human". This is your own personal supposition and failure. "Judge not, lest ye be judged" has clearly not fallen on fertile ground, I see. https://i.imgur.com/Cop5Tfr.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Sep 14, 2021 22:28
|
|
|
Gaius Marius posted:Your really just gonna out the secret of french cookery like that Southern cooking, too. What snooty food people don't like to admit about Southern cooking is that it's mainly a mix of French and African techniques and recipes, then adapted to the ingredients available in the southern US. https://i.imgur.com/1rKOGMV.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Oct 6, 2021 12:28
|
|
|
It was spice rubbed fried catfish and I won't hear a word to the contrary. Jesus knew that Cajun cooking is an earthly delight. https://i.imgur.com/pMQRT9I.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2021 16:41
|
|
|
Folks, please calm down. If you want to make a thread for ranting about how X or Y religion, or all religions, are wrong, go make a thread for that. This is not the thread for that. This is a thread for civil discussion about religion and goons' religious beliefs, not for screaming about who's right or wrong. 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2021 20:28
|
|
|
saintonan posted:Neither one is relevant to this thread, though. Remember, you're not in D&D. This. If you want to talk about how bad right-wing parties are, there are plenty of threads for that. This is not one of those threads. Take that to D&D or C-SPAM or wherever. https://i.imgur.com/3xtFk8V.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2021 20:50
|
|
|
This thread, in general, does not discuss contemporary politics and is the better for it. We've seen this before with Prester Jane and her ilk. We know where this goes, and it's nowhere productive. The OP specifically calls out politics as something to be avoided. Religion, in general, is an extremely charged and volatile subject to discuss in relation with secular politics, and it's a rare person who does not have strong feelings about right and wrong on issues dealing with the intersection of religion and secular politics. Viscardus posted:So, what, absolutely anything goes? Would you really not judge someone posting in this thread if they tried to use the Bible to justify slavery, for example? We'd probably tell them to stop posting about it, much like how this thread treats discussion of abortion, contraception, and similar topics. Earwicker posted:how are you not being judgemental in deciding that those posts crossed some invisible line of acceptability? Great, make a thread about it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2021 21:39
|
|
|
Empress Theonora posted:But if even discussing and criticizing stances or points of doctrine that affect me personally is too ‘political’, then maybe this thread is a lot less welcoming than I thought. This thread has to walk a very narrow tightrope in terms of the subject matter that is discussed here. I think everyone in the thread is well aware that almost every single religion you can think of has controversies (and I don't use that word dismissively) involving questions of gender, sexuality, and identity. This thread's cast of regulars is filled with straight people, gay people, bi people, asexual people, cisgender people, transgender people, nonbinary people, and more. I think that broaching a discussion about how things people in this thread believe hurt you personally, or you disagree with them, or you feel that you're right and other people in this thread are wrong, is only going to lead this thread in a direction that's going to hurt people. This is not to dismiss your feelings as invalid. They very much are valid. And yes, there are people who hold contradictory beliefs and people who sincerely believe things that you personally find intensely offensive and hurtful. That is why I feel that this train of discussion is not appropriate for this thread. To me, at least, it's not a question of being welcoming or not to any individual person. The question at hand is that this thread serves as an intersection for many different systems of belief and values to discuss things without an assumption of judgment. This is not a politics subforum. Again, use the space intended for that for that purpose. Yours is a discussion worth having, in a place appropriate for that discussion.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2021 22:20
|
|
|
As for myself on this subject, I'm deeply uncertain of my gender identity. Never have been, really, it was remarked about me by parents and friends thereof even when I was a child. For me, though, confusion and questions along those lines of feeling innately wrong are also deeply tied up in the fact that I strongly suspect I have Asperger's or otherwise fall on that spectrum of my mind and brain not working like many peoples' even though I've never been professionally diagnosed. Too much has added up over too many years of feeling like there's something genuinely off inside me, compared to most people, for me to keep brushing it aside as me being just a bit different. But for me, I approach this in the same spirit I approach my religious faith. I don't have all the answers. I don't even have a lot of answers. I know I never will. And, for me at least, that's comforting in some ways. Would certainty and true knowledge actually make me feel any better and improve my life? Maybe, and maybe not. I trust that God is above all else a God of compassion, mercy, and love. And Paul was an rear end in a top hat. https://i.imgur.com/XhWltE0.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2021 15:21
|
|
|
Cyrano4747 posted:On that note someone get Cythereal in here because I need a few pictures of cute animals after all that naval gazing. You ask, and I answer.  https://i.imgur.com/1rKOGMV.mp4 https://i.imgur.com/rDiVe2z.mp4 https://i.imgur.com/gdG9Ykb.gifv
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2021 21:03
|
|
|
Tias posted:Consider getting it checked out. As someone with doc-diagnosed Asperger's (though it's not called that anymore, now I'm 'Autism Spectrum Disorder'ed :p ) knowing what is was and how to treat the symptoms get rid of a lot of dysphoria and most of the anxiety and depression symptoms. If you need any help with the system, I'm here for you, just message. I have been to a therapist before. I found the experience unhelpful. Perhaps I need to try another one, perhaps not. It did nothing to help me get a handle on the feelings I've had since I was a child that I was made wrong, and I'm not sure to this day how much of that feeling of dysphoria is the fact that I seem to think and process information differently from many people and how much might be discomfort with my own body. I simply don't have a satisfactory answer to where the line is between just being weird and non-conventional and there being something genuinely term-worthy wrong or concerning. In the end, I press on. The world just kind of sucks in my book, and I won't be sad to leave it behind when the time comes. I trust that God made me the way that I am for a reason, and has a purpose in His grand design for me and my life. gently caress if I know why, or what, or how, but I'm not paid enough to answer those questions. https://i.imgur.com/hSIochO.mp4 Cythereal fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Oct 19, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2021 15:14
|
|
|
Kevin DuBrow posted:Does Mary, mother of Jesus receive less emphasis in Protestant religious observance than in Catholicism? I've never witnessed a Protestant make a prayer for intercession directed at Mary, or seen a Protestant school named after her, for example. Protestants, in general (Anglicans are an exception) do not do intercession, period. In the theology I grew up with and believe in, the whole concept of intercession is deeply alien (and in my particular beliefs, downright offensive). https://i.imgur.com/teJvkvL.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Nov 14, 2021 21:29
|
|
|
Captain von Trapp posted:I always thought (with most protestants) that it was weird to talk to saints when you could just talk directly to God. But I heard an explanation from a Catholic friend that I have to admit I found pretty convincing. Basically, we're perfectly comfortable asking a friend to pray for us. If that friend gets hit by a bus, then they're absent from us but present with God in heaven. Why are they suddenly less qualified to pray for us? My objection is that, to me, if you suppose that some people are inherently spiritually elevated or special - be it as priests or saints or Mary or whatever - then you are by definition saying that God plays favorites (I know the Catholidox goons would probably say that this is a gross oversimplification, we've had this argument before, this is how it comes across to me personally). A very important part of my understanding of religion and of God is that we are all equal in His eyes: for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. For me personally, the moment you declare that some people are spiritually special or different from anyone else, you lose a vital part of what Christianity is. I don't mean to offend anyone who does believe in saints or whatever, this is just how I personally see things. https://i.imgur.com/CPpDgHD.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Nov 14, 2021 23:30
|
|
|
Earwicker posted:out of all religions started in the latter half of the 20th century, scientology does seem to have the most actual infrastructure. like they have centers in major cities all over the world, they own a bunch of property, there is a city in florida that they basically have direct control over, they have recruiters out there doing the e-meter stuff everywhere, etc. certainly they have gotten a lot of negative publicity in the last couple decades but this doesn't necessarily diminish the staying power of a religion Mystery cults have a long, long pedigree in Western religion. https://i.imgur.com/FS0Wy2F.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Nov 21, 2021 14:48
|
|
|
TOOT BOOT posted:I normally like the guy well enough as a non-catholic but this is very annoying to me: Tbh, I'm in the same boat. I'd only want to have children if I can provide a decent quality of life for them. I can't, because this economy is awful and providing for children is ridiculously expensive. https://i.imgur.com/BPQF5yy.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2022 13:27
|
|
|
Actual Southern Baptist here (by theology, I've left the organization due to secular politics). In my eyes, the actual core theology of Southern Baptism is a beautiful thing that tries to cut out the secular politics that so often bedevil religion. But it's the nature of the beast that is human nature to ruin any good thing, and in my eyes the Southern Baptist Convention itself has been hopelessly corrupted by secular politics. It is my feeling that people will use any convenient religious excuse to justify their own bigotry and hatred, whether it's Southern Baptism in the US today, Confucianism in Korea during the Joseon Dynasty, or Hinduism in the neo-fascist movement in India. No belief system is immune to this, even those that fervently deny that they are belief systems, but I generally try to not blame the religions themselves. As for food, I don't keep recipes, but here's an idea my family came up with: if you're familiar with beef stroganoff, try putting it on a bed of home-made fluffy biscuits rather than noodles or rice. It's a treat in my family, like a dinner version of biscuits and gravy. https://i.imgur.com/eYeELl4.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2022 14:06
|
|
|
Kyiv holds a special place in the Russian Orthodox Church from what I've been told - it's seen as the birthplace of Russian Christianity. The war, however, is beginning what could be a fully fledged schism within the Russian Orthodox Church. https://twitter.com/mjluxmoore/status/1500473613828464641 https://twitter.com/lfrayer/status/1500459286731771904
|
|
#
¿
Mar 6, 2022 15:55
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 10:54 |
|
|
LITERALLY A BIRD posted:I chuckled and said, "Sure, maybe, but this one fits with me"; and conversation moved on. For what it's worth, this would have been my answer as well. https://giant.gfycat.com/NeglectedYearlyErin.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2022 13:55
|
|