Catholicism

@missyann IMHO, the most significant line in the bible is in Genesis 1 ... "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them". So we can't remove God without removing ourselves. We also can't define God without defining ourselves. We can't try to understand God without tryin to understand ourselves.

Regardless of whether God created us or we created God, the above holds true.

@Heartlander
Just remember that when Adam & Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of god and evil, man became just as smart about those issues as the God character so he is irrelevant on those issues.

@missyann You cant force people to believe in magic

@TrashCat Who is trying to force someone to believe in anything. ? I never told you what you had to believe in. I was trying to educate on What every Catholic I know was taught

@missyann Yes. I think my Catholic teachings came with very sharp lines between right and wrong, at a time when homage to God was made in Latin rather than the languages that we spoke. Since then, the Latin was dropped and even prohibited, and the sharpness of that line between right and wrong was dimmed so as to better acknowledge the God that exists within us collectively as well as individually.

A dictatorial religion is like a dictatorial government. It ignores the wisdom and goodness that exists naturally within the individual.

@missyann
Please name your damn God, there is over 33,000,000 of the damn things. Each one is different and each one has its own attributes.

@Diotrephes Christian God I suppose“ I am that I am “. I call him God. I believe in the trinity, the father, the son and the Holy Spirit.

@missyann
Thanks. That's progress.

I AM seems to have been nothing more than a local God.

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

"Meaning:House of God. Bethel is a gender-neutral name with religious roots. It stems from Hebrew origins and means "house of God." In the Bible, Bethel was the placename given to the spot where Abraham built an altar."
https://www.thebump.com/b/bethel-baby-name

Does I AM hold conversations with you like he did with Abraham, Issac, and Moses?

Was I AM just the Egyptian Pharoah?

Genesis 41:44 (NKJV) = "Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

@Diotrephes It’s not difficult you know exactly who I’m talking about. I am not a Bible scholar or theologian.. I believe in God, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning it is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

@missyann
According to the Bible, you are not supposed to worship any other entity except the God character. So, by his rules that excludes you from including his son and the holy spirit.

@Diotrephes Most Catholics believe in the trinity, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit is one

@missyann
That seems like a false teaching according to the Bible. But then, Catholics love to worship idols. Their churches are loaded with them and we know what the Bible says about idols.

@missyann and you pray to mother Mary and the saints.
What was that thingy in the Bible?.🤔

OH!!!

Exodus 20:3-5
" “You must not worship any other gods except me. You must not make any idols. Don’t make any statues or pictures of anything up in the sky or of anything on the earth or of anything down in the water. Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the Lord, am your God.'

I suppose that's inconsequential to Catholicism

@TrashCat You nailed it!

@TrashCat Asking them to pray FOR me, not asking them to cure me anymore than I would ask my mother, or my neighbor take care of me. But I do ask my mother and my neighbor to pray for me sometimes.. there’s no difference

@missyann
When you suffer, it's your God's will. He beats the crap of those that he really loves, so the greater your suffering, the more he loves you. After all, you will get eternal life so what's a few seconds of severe suffering in this physical life?

Hebrews 12:5-6 (TLB) = "5 And have you quite forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his child? He said, “My son, don’t be angry when the Lord punishes you. Don’t be discouraged when he has to show you where you are wrong. 6 For when he punishes you, it proves that he loves you. When he whips you, it proves you are really his child.”

If you are sick and want to be cured, then follow James 5:14-16 (TLB) =

"14 Is anyone sick? He should call for the elders of the church and they should pray over him and pour a little oil upon him, calling on the Lord to heal him. 15 And their prayer, if offered in faith, will heal him, for the Lord will make him well; and if his sickness was caused by some sin, the Lord will forgive him.

16 Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results."

@missyann Buddhism does not include belief in a creator deity. Is Buddhism not a religion?

When religion was more dominant in this country, we had legal Black slavery and were engaged in a lengthy genocide against the Native Americans. Over the past few decades, as religion has become less important and more people identify as not following any religion, civil rights have improved, the violent crime rate has dropped, the overall standard of living has risen, and the US has become the sole world superpower. So I'd say we're going in the right direction, and I welcome a future where religion will be irrelevant other than a source of music, artwork, and architecture.

@LeopoldBloom Good points!

@Diotrephes I’m not sure what’s wrong with asking people you admire to pray for you. I do admire and respect the Holy Mother who was brave and said yes to God knowing that she would be persecuted by her people and would watch her son suffer. Saints were persecuted because they refused to denounce Christianity.

I can’t think of any people better to look up to. Yes, I want them to pray for me..

Is anyone asking you to believe catholicism? I know that I haven’t . I’m sorry but I do not need your permission to pray in which God to pray to, or who I am allowed to ask to pray for me. I don’t need your input on this . I definitely don’t need you quoting Bible verses.

You believe in whatever you want to and let everybody else believe what they want to

@LeopoldBloom Since every law that has ever been enacted, follows, moral and ethics, right and wrong, what law halls would you like to do away with which ones are bad or are they all bad

Secular and atheist know that there is a right and a wrong way to live not just Christianity so again what lol do you want to get rid of because they were based on morals and ethics

I don’t agree with you on the things that you said have improved because I have less religion. I think they have improved because this country has adopted the right and wrong, which is based on morals and ethics.. I don’t think religion will ever disappear and not be important. A coach has already won a lawsuit for praying at school. no one forces anyone to pray if they don’t want to, so I don’t know what the problem is. Since most people in this country, do you believe in God religion will never disappear if I actually believe religion is making a comeback.

@LeopoldBloom Pretend that I have no idea what an abortion is, I’ve only heard the word. What is it?

@missyann Abortion is a form of health care where a woman's pregnancy is terminated.

The coach who won the lawsuit about praying at school was basically leading religious services after football games. He was not praying quietly, he was creating a disruptive spectacle. Any players who didn't want to participate felt pressured to do so as they were concerned if they didn't, the coach would cut their playing time. Gorsuch misrepresented what was happening in his decision, forcing Sotomayor to include videos of the spectacle in her dissent to correct the record. If the coach was a Muslim, you wouldn't be cheering this as an example of religious freedom - of course, the court would have said he had no right to conduct religious services after games if he hadn't been a Christian. And you would have agreed, because Muslims have no right to shove their religion down other people's throats. However, neither do Christians.

Peoples' lives in the US have improved since religion has become less important. You can say that's a coincidence, but it proves that religion isn't required for the crime rate to drop or civil rights to become more widespread.

I think morality should be based on promoting thriving and reducing suffering. Those are, or could be, objective standards. That's a lot better than getting morality out of an old book whose followers can't even agree on what it says.

@LeopoldBloom How do they terminate her pregnancy?

I don’t think the coach said if they didn’t participate they would be penalized. That was the defense they used. I wouldn’t have a problem if a Muslim coach would have prayed as long as he didn’t force players to be a part of it

Morality is what says something is right and wrong and that’s what improves people’s lives. We have civil rights in America