In a somewhat-literal sense, I think that the devil is in the details.
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In a somewhat-literal sense, I think that the devil is in the details.
A good reason to switch would be that you disagree with them on some pretty fucking important points. I can't imagine the cognitive dissonance those issues would cause, and why you'd even consider going there. Holy shit,man, it's one thing to find a nice place that maybe doesn't have all the calisthenics that go with a typical catholic mass--but to justify it by saying you weed out the majority of what they stand for is silly.Quote:
Originally Posted by WTFchris
Pretty fucking desperate sounding.
Unitarian is a pretty drastic change from Catholicism. Unitarians deny the divinity of Jesus which produces a lot of changes in their theology, practices, beliefs as opposed to Catholics and the great majority of Protestants.Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Mxy
Asking if there is a difference between Catholic ideas of God and Protestant ideas of God is a bit difficult because Protestantism is a category of many belief systems. For the most part, (and I am a Protestant so take this with some of salt) the main difference is in the significance the congregations give to the role of the Bible and the church rather than qualities believed of God. Catholics emphasize the role of the church as it was established first (before the Bible) and directly by Jesus (who didn't write anything but did build a church in terms of his followers and believers, plus he says to Paul, literally, that Paul is the rock upon which he, Jesus, has built his church) and the congregational understanding of the Bible (church authority over what the Bible means). Protestants emphasize the role of the Bible as divine authority and the individuals understanding/calling from the Bible with the church being a coming together of those individual understandings (in terms of the role of the Bible and the church).
There are plenty of Protestant denominations who's theological beliefs (beliefs about God) are markedly different than Catholicism, but typically both Catholics and Protestants agree on what each considers the most important issues.
Well, they don't preach about any of that at my church (like I said). I happen to know that the Catholic Church believes those things though. So I'm not weeding out information during mass or anything. Think of it this way. Say your parents believe marriage is between a man and women only but you feel people should be able to marry whoever they want. You don't decide everything they say is bullshit and find new parents. You realize that they don't push that belief on you and you can simply learn the things you do agree with.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zip Goshboots
Here is another reason why I don't change. I like to express those opinions to other Catholics in hopes that they too will see my points. Tahoe gets hammered in political threads on here, but he sticks it out because if he gets even one person to agree with him, it makes his time worthwhile. My dad is in fact a republican, and I work on him all the time. I think eventually he will agree with enough of the points I make to change his mind (because I really get no reasons why he hasn't already).
I think I'd be a coward if I simply left the church over a few issues I disagree with. If the teachings were totally against my beliefs, then I agree. But those few issues I disagree with could be changed.
Honestly, I actually respect anyone willing to call himself a Catholic. There are tons of people out there who were raised Catholic and believe in it, but they can't be bothered to go to church for some insipid reason or another, so they stop calling themselves Catholic. It's usually not on principle. It's more like "I don't like getting up on Sunday mornings, and some priest somewhere molested a little boy, so I'm going to use that as a reason to stop getting up on Sunday morning."
Catholics are actually pretty fortunate. They have a strong religious community around them that has something to offer at every step in life. Not many religious people can count on such a supportive community.
This may sound strange to a lot of you. I don't care. I just know that anyone who is willing to come and help a dying person achieve peace of mind through prayer and meditation is doing good work, and that's something that both Catholic priests and Buddhist monks do.
Also rabbis.
Chris--that's dumb. I can choose a church, I can't choose my parents.
I am (was?) Jewish and I never heard of such a thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fool
Hmm, come to think of it, Shiva and the other death rituals in Judaism that I can think of center on the bereaved rather than the dead or dying. It's not a rabbinical duty to visit the sick or dying?
Swami:
Man, once you are in the Club, you are in the Club. I think the Jewish mythology has given us a great look into their sense of humor with the god they created. Ironic, crotchety, jealous, mean, kill 'em all if they won't listen to ya, sell 'em into slavery to teach 'em a lesson every now and then, give 'em permission to go on rampant killing sprees when they get a bit frustrated, make 'em wander around the dessert for 40 years, go down to Earf yourself and let 'em kill ya, put 'em in a paradise and tell them there's ONE THING they can't do (but it's really fucking beautiful and how can they resist? Talking snakes and apples...man, most of that shit is fucking hilarious. I'll tell ya something: good ol' Jewish rabbis are some of the funniest people you will ever meet. I mean, look at those sideburns!