my little town made the news

http://www.wtae.com/news/29906918/detail.html

 

After reading that, I would be proud to be a member of your community. I would have been right out there with them.

 

Me too!

I wonder how many of those Freedom From Religion folks enjoy Christmas?

 

RI GoVENER taken heat over same thinng I AM with you !

 

I'm not religious but I think that that is really cool. All those people gathering to stand for their beliefs. I admit that, yes, I do feel that there is still too much religion in politics... Just my personal opinion and I do not mean to offend any one. I believe in freedom OF religion and spirituality and that that is what is best for all humanity. I only have a problem when some one isn't allowed to practice their beliefs or is persecuted because of them. For example, I live in a very christian community and thus I wear my necklace inside my shirt almost all the time.
Sorry, back on point. Christmas is a holiday for everyone who wishes to participate in it. A time to remind us that things like caring and understanding are all too important. My wife and I decorate a tree each year. We love to see house covered in lights.
Stand for what you believe. Believe what is in your heart.
A Nativity Scene never hurt anybody.

-X

 

Ugh, don't even get me started on religious freedom. I live in Utah, and every time someone hears "Utah" they think of one thing...Mormons. I have lived here since I was six years old and having a religion shoved in your face on a daily basis and having the arrogance to call themselves the "only true church" is at times almost like living in a nazi-like atomosphere. I am christian and mormons, as much as they like to think they are, are NOT christian. The worst part of it is if you can pin a mormon down and get an honest answer out of them about why they are mormon it's not because they looked at all the religions of the world and mormonism made the most sense, oh no, it's because thats what all their family and friends are and thats it. My personal belief is that religion is as individual as your fingerprint, it can't be forced on you, and it can't be chosen for you, in your heart your going to believe what feels right to you and you only. Take it from a Christian who is married, very happily, to a Pagan.

End of rant...

PS: Sorry if I offended anyone.

 

No offense to me. My wife and I grew up mormon. Long family history, all mormons. But not us. I was even born over in Salt Lake City... Hey if you're ever in ephram and see my mom tell her I don't say Hi.

 

Geez Xavier...ouch! Ephram is a strange little town...such a children of the corn vibe there...(((shudder))).

 

Well that is where my mom ended up. Now almost the entire mormon side of my family lives in Utah. None of them want anything to do with me or my wife and they blame my wife for me being who I am today... I'm sure that's what it is seeing as I started living my life the way I do when I was 16 and I didn't meet my wife until I was 20. Just a phase? I don't think phases last this long.
A children of the corn type of place you say. Must have been where my brother, Greg, was born...

P.S. I'm sorry A1awind. I didn't intend on hijacking your thread.

 

Yeah sorry A1 kinda got off the subject.

 

guys don't worry about it. i am actually glad to see you are all sane!
i never ask anyone to believe what i believe. i may pray that people do, i may espouse what i believe. however, i also believe that when you force a belief on someone...even if they do actually agree to it... begets a "false belief". really? can you honestly believe in your heart, something that was forced upon you ? A lot of kids i grew up with were raised in very strict catholic households. They were told not to ever question their religion. so when they went away to college or moved out. they pushed back hard!
why? because they were beat over the head with it growing up.

now, this isnt to say that they all are athiests or some other non-christian religion. some went back...some did not. My beliefs (along with those of the vast majority of christians) are that of free will as it teaches in the bible. We believe that man was given a choice to follow God or to not follow God. because if you believe because you chose to rather than were forced to.....you belief is strong.

what I believe ,
I have no use for the "finger pointing" "you are going to hell" types. they actually give the majority of us a bad name. trying to scare people into believing is (to me) no different than forcing it on someone. Rather, i want to live as an example. As christians we are not suppose to look down our nose at others. Because God created us all the same, he sees us all the same. If a man sins, that is business between he and God. i am in no position to condemn or pass judgment ("Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and fail to notice the plank in your own?") because i have my own lovely little list to answer for! that is why i believe in Jesus.

That being said. i feel that the athiests whom go to small towns to try to cause problems, are one of 2 types.
1. the pushers, they are those who are athiests and think that people should all be athiests and are willing to do what it takes to make sure religion is so inconvenient that people just stop.
2. the scorned, those who have been beaten over the head with the religion they were raised in, they have flipped around and are trying to strike back (i believe this is the majority because they seem to only strike at Christianity). a lot of the time these people are so miserable inside that they want to remove any connotations of Christmas because the people who are happy around Christmas actually cause them pain inside.

I WILL STATE THAT I FEEL THAT THE MAJORITY OF ATHEISTS AND AGNOSTICS DON'T FALL INTO THE 2 GROUPS AT ALL. i find most don't care about others beliefs period.

 

Ian (if I may call you that), as a non-christian, non-religious, ex-mormon man, and whose wife is the same with the same kind of past, I both appreciate and applaud your views and beliefs. It is those whom are like you that make life outside the home easier for people like me and my wife, and for that we are eternally grateful. I admit that at one time I guess that I would have fit into the Scorned group. So was my wife but at a much earlier time in her life. She helped me the most to work through my pain(s) and to become more objective and realistic with myself and how I viewed the world.

 

politics and religion,. two subjects guaranteed to be the root cause of wars,.

Religous freedom? is there such a thing? people always want to promote their religious club as the only right one,.their rules even if followed correctly won,t even guarantee you a spot.

So, just be nice to the other guy,. don't hurt his feelings
respect his space and his idea's and beliefs,.

That's what every religion should be preaching.

Nick

 

As a kid my parrents were good friends woth our Minister and his wife, lots of dinners back and forth, BBQ's etc.

Dad and the Miniter would always end the evenings with scotch and cigars. I can't remember how it came up but I remember being very young and sitting beside the Miniter at our dinning room table and him telling me...

"Never push your religon on others and respect others religons"

 

Amen, and good on your minister,Tedy. He sounds like he had a good head on his shoulders. I can't wait to live somewhere else. Most of the people here in Joplin are the finger pointing, "you're going to hell" types. Sometimes, I admit, it is really fun to see the looks on their faces when we do something nice for some one and it is completely not what they expected. Usually and fortunately, when I am around some one who expects the worst of me and Z for a long enough time they will actually start treating us like regular people. The rest of them treat us like we're satan worshipers trying to steal their soul and sacrifice their babies... as if...