People are Leaving their Churches in Droves Today

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Brookswood said:
Wrong Gospel. Some Baptists often have problems with those Papist Catholics.
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I was in great emotional conflict with my convention because it supported a missionary to the Acadians who are mostly Roman Catholic! But the Roman Catholics aren't without "sin" either! They forced my daughter and son-in-law to get remarried because Baptist wasn't good enough! AAAARGH! Religion!
 

davey said:
as I said the original church was an outside gathering or a house church then too many started turning up so they built summat bigger and bigger and bigger until it became a cathedral - we used to fill em up once and then not - just special occasions like coronations etc - there is a difference though between a belief and a building - one can last forever the other fall down?
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So true.
 
Dubee said:
VaughanJB, that’s a good question. Is there a God, and if so why does He allow bad things to happen? Our Founding Fathers did believe in one God, a creator of the universe. It was evident in science and nature to prove that to them. However, they also believed that this God was not a God who got involved in anything He created. He left it all up to nature and humanity to evolve into what it is today. Good or bad.
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The Founding fathers were human, fail-able, flawed. Some of them were slave owners, for example. The Constitution itself has been amended over time, and follows on from documents such as the Magna Carta that was written in 1215. As such, they were perhaps christian, but they didn't live a christian life, imo.

Believing in a God and after life is very tempting. Who doesn't want to go to heaven after this long journey and meet our loved ones? However, the idea falls apart the more you think about it. I don't believe in the supernatural, so that's a real problem. And what kind of father would send their son down to be tortured and killed - was there really no other way to make his point?

Saying that, part of life is accepting that there are things we simply can't know. Was there a Big Bang? What was before the Big Bang? If there's a God, it stands to reason he had to come from somewhere, he had to have a start. But apparently no, he's simply always been. Children suffer, disease, and honestly when you think about it, our very bodies aren't designed all that well. One orifice for drinking, eating, and breathing? It's asking for trouble!

What's vital, is tomorrow. That you treat everyone you meet with respect. That you help those that you can. That you do no harm to others. That you spread love and kindness. Tomorrow could be my last day on Earth (we're all oldies here) and I want to leave it with a good conscious. If I'm lucky, I'll have another 20 years on this planet. Then I become one with it. Every day we wake is to be celebrated.

ps: Some religious music is very very nice!
 

VaughanJB said:
The Founding fathers were human, fail-able, flawed. Some of them were slave owners, for example. The Constitution itself has been amended over time, and follows on from documents such as the Magna Carta that was written in 1215. As such, they were perhaps christian, but they didn't live a christian life, imo.

Believing in a God and after life is very tempting. Who doesn't want to go to heaven after this long journey and meet our loved ones? However, the idea falls apart the more you think about it. I don't believe in the supernatural, so that's a real problem. And what kind of father would send their son down to be tortured and killed - was there really no other way to make his point?

Saying that, part of life is accepting that there are things we simply can't know. Was there a Big Bang? What was before the Big Bang? If there's a God, it stands to reason he had to come from somewhere, he had to have a start. But apparently no, he's simply always been. Children suffer, disease, and honestly when you think about it, our very bodies aren't designed all that well. One orifice for drinking, eating, and breathing? It's asking for trouble!

What's vital, is tomorrow. That you treat everyone you meet with respect. That you help those that you can. That you do no harm to others. That you spread love and kindness. Tomorrow could be my last day on Earth (we're all oldies here) and I want to leave it with a good conscious. If I'm lucky, I'll have another 20 years on this planet. Then I become one with it. Every day we wake is to be celebrated.

ps: Some religious music is very very nice!
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Well said. Thank you.
 
Old Salt said:
I was in great emotional conflict with my convention because it supported a missionary to the Acadians who are mostly Roman Catholic! But the Roman Catholics aren't without "sin" either! They forced my daughter and son-in-law to get remarried because Baptist wasn't good enough! AAAARGH! Religion!
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I suppose Minsters are always in conflict. There is so much contradiction within any religion.
 
now if ya really wanna get into a pithy discussion??? - there's the beginnings of Judiasm in connection with Islamism then leading to Christianity for starters - that should keep us goin for a while?
 
davey said:
now if ya really wanna get into a pithy discussion??? - there's the beginnings of Judiasm in connection with Islamism then leading to Christianity for starters - that should keep us goin for a while?
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Yep.
 
Dubee said:
Well said, David777, and very interesting concept of the future. If Jesus did return and saved us, I wonder how he would do that? Would he re-program the UIE?
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Any Earth creature saved by a race of UIEs would have to have had their nervous system's at some point in their life while still living and healthy, scanned with data stored in order to later be recreated within a non-organic container. Ignore Bible and religious scripture from primitives attempting to explain such. Once a DNA organic creature is dead and tissues have inevitably decayed beyond a brief period, due to chaos theory, there would be no way that science will ever be able to bring back into existence a creature's brainwave electromagnetic fields. After Jesus was crucified and died, within a brief period after he was given to Nicodemus for embalming, nervous system scanning may have been possible. Especially if he was given something like blood stream microbots that would delay decay.

In the following scripture, Jesus indirectly relates in order to achieve eternal life a living person must be born again that logically points to being dead at the intermediate phase. A living person cannot be born again as they are already alive. Spirit per below could be brainwave electromagnetic fields and special water would involve the nature of a container to hold such.

Jhn 3:3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Jhn 3:4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”
Jhn 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Jhn 3:6 “That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

Jhn 4:13>14 Jesus answered and said to her, (Samaritan woman at well) “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

The above is another passage that points to UIEs as di-hydrogen oxide is an absolutely incredible molecule extremely unlikely by mere chance in a universe, that points to UIE's creating our universe for the purpose of supporting organic life. Special water molecules with far smaller yet unknown to science particles may have been developed that allow an XYZ scan.
 
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Jamala said:
People are not leaving their churches in droves....that is your assumption!
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I don't know about droves, because I don't know what qualifies as a drove, but according to the most recent census (or maybe it was that Pew report), people are leaving churches, and attendance is in decline.

I'm an atheist. My two best friends, a married couple, are devout fundamentalists <go figure>, but they act in a way one would expect of all Christains who took their Jesus seriously.
 
JustDave said:
I don't know about droves, because I don't know what qualifies as a drove, but according to the most recent census (or maybe it was that Pew report), people are leaving churches, and attendance is in decline.

I'm an atheist. My two best friends, a married couple, are devout fundamentalists <go figure>, but they act in a way one would expect of all Christains who took their Jesus seriously.
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I respect all religions personally. I am not a regular church goer, but I do attend and do believe in a higher power.
I also believe Jesus was a real person and a light to the world. Whether he was the son of God, I am still thinking about that.
 
Jamala said:
I respect all religions personally. I am not a regular church goer, but I do attend and do believe in a higher power.
I also believe Jesus was a real person and a light to the world. Whether he was the son of God, I am still thinking about that.
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As an atheist, one who spent most of his life searching for proof of a god, whether Jesus was the son of God or not is irrelevant to me.
 
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davey said:
i did become a buddhist for a while back then - but got bored cos I didn't have anyone to talk to on a higher level - even the monks seemed evasive?
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Even the monks seemed evasive?
Doesn’t that come with the territory though?
Priests, monks etc have an illusive and elusive lifestyle.

It appears that many people become interested in Buddhism but then get bored or read so much about it that they get confused. Then again there are always those who go to the extremes with any religion where they become total hypocrites. We’ve all met the extreme Bible thumper.

Sorry if any of my words offend anyone. It’s certainly not meant to
 
Dubee said:
I suppose Minsters are always in conflict. There is so much contradiction within any religion.
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My Baptist Professor told us this one: A group of newcomers gathers around St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. He gives them an indoctrinal talk. The last warning he gives is this:

"See all those mansions?" Pointing to one of them: "I want you to be very quiet when you go past this one. Baptists are living there, and they think they are the only ones up here!" :LOL:

Needless to say I studied at a liberal seminary!
 
I went to church all through childhood and even attended a Southern Baptist high school. Everything was a sin... dancing, rock music, girls wearing pants, men with long hair. I couldn't wait to graduate. We had Chapel every Wednesday and there would be an Invitation in which they would play sad music and the visiting pastor would plead for all the sinners to come up front and be "saved". It was usually me and one other person that never went to the front. I found the whole thing manipulative and an insult to my intelligence. The Pastor's son was always suspended for using drugs. When I went to college, I ran into the Principal who used to discipline kids for touching or kissing at a gay bar.

My parents had long since stopped going to church because their pastor had had an affair. I hung in there much longer than they did. I know my experience is probably very different from others here, but I no longer have any interest in organized religion. So many that I've encountered in the Faith are hypocrites. Maybe some would say we are Godless society lately, but I think many have just become more enlightened. I still think there is a higher power overseeing my life. I'm just not sure what it is.

My mother believed in religion and the Afterlife until she passed away at 89. I supported her because in her case it gave her hope.
 
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well good old Abraham was a polyistic worshipper heh and then came a bolt from the sky and he became brainwashed and monotheistic - meaning I'm the only one that's got it right!~ - then I discovered he wasn't sireeing children so his wife said go and sleep with the maid - not sure if she put it stronger than that but to avoid fainting ladies we'll stick to this virgin sorry meant version!! oops! so then he had a son by another women then he continued with his wife and lo and behold just as God had told him in the first place she became pregnant too and so there was two - babies! - one was the precursor to Judiasm and the other Islamism - and the fighting started then and has continued ever since. Bet ya didn't k now that was all in the bible heh??
 
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