I also read this interesting article and I wanted to know what you thought about it (Doug?) I don't know how I feel about religion and for some very specific reasons I don't really care to figure it out right now, but I have to be curious about this. I think some people, especially the young professionals this seems to target, want something to believe in, no matter what it is. But is this it? It seems to me like it would be too easy to belong to a group of people, and not necessarily what the group is based on... but then again, if it works for someone, where is the harm in that? I'm choosing whole-heartedly not to get into how I really feel about that, but I want to hear your opinion.
In other news, The New York Philharmonic is going to Vietnam for their next tour for the first time ever! It looks like a started a trend huh?
Yes I spent the entire night on NYTimes.com.
2 comments:
“the truth is not told, it is realized”
id prefer the scum of the earth church in denver.
www.scumoftheearth.net
his approach is novel.. kind of reminds me of OG in a way
his brand of christianity is distasteful to me and his message despicable. i totally disagree with this belief of complete fate and being doomed since birth... thats a bit redundant then, why bother going to church? why bother being good? why bother living? why bother experiencing other cultures and broadening the mind and going to school?
And his congregation is horrific. Spikey haired punks, seattle style hippies, self-proclaimed anti-establishment. “were so cool we don’t conform” types, who here are following a totalitarian dictatorship!! He himself says “They are sinning through questioning.” These people are so desperate for an in-group and a leader they forgo any individualism they pretend to enjoy through non-conformism in larger mainstream culture (which their styles are actually another form of conformity, to a smaller group, for the excitement of being noticed as IN a group; or their fetishisation of a style they once saw, rather than being a true individual). What a laughing stock of hypocritical and faith-blind people. Im sure I would be utterly bored trying to have an interesting conversation with them.
half of christianity is supposed to be about gods love. hes going back to old testament fire and brimstone gay bashing woman suppressing hate. things like "enemies of god"? well i think "the idea that God has enemies, and needs human help in order to identify and dispose of these enemies, is a little difficult to understand." mark can fuck off with his self-righteousness. its not him whos righteous, even by his own admission, so just stop. The whole gambit of diverse Christianities just proves that 1-its all writings of man, suggestions of morality, open to interpretation and more importantly 2- people just seek out what they want to hear and join up. This isn’t truth. “the truth is not told, it is realized”
“mainstream megachurches…have been criticized for replacing hard-edged Gospel with feminized pablum” there it is right there, its all relative, open to interpretation. Definitely not the black and white ‘word of god’. pastors are just spin doctors restricted to old material.
Even the damn basis of Christian belief is bullshit – the Nicene creed was f*ing VOTED upon by men. That’s definitely not the word of god. After Arius pointed out that jesus, being god’s son (and born at a specific time), would have had to have a beginning and therefore was not equal to god. “Finally, they used the argument that Arius' view had to be wrong because it was new.” Wow that’s not a reliable argument at all. (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/sbrandt/nicea.htm)
Most of Christianity smacks of paganism and old rehashed superstitions anyway. Mother of god? Hm that’s the same thing as the moon cycle worship or Isis/Nut or Cybele/Rhea/Gaia/Meter/Terra or Anu or Nerthus or Mahimata or Mary - except shes not equal to jesus or god because shes a woman and women are lesser, ever since god became one man, of course. Christmas, which happens to be winter solstice and “yule” which is so blatantly pagan. Easter happens to be at the spring equinox, with fertility symbols of bunnies and eggs coinciding with traditional pagan spring fertility celebrations, such as ostara (even sounds pretty close to easter, huh?) and the roman’s excitement of a new year starting (March was the beginning of the year until they moved it to January so that new elected officials could move in and have something interesting happen between the uneventful time between solstice and equinox, hence October originally was month 8) under the month named for the god of war, the time when they planted new crops and celebrated and went to war, as war almost always brought the empire land and riches. Woohoo.
And jesus? Well hes apparently astonishingly similar to egypt’s horus.
this report mainly saddend me mostly because i believe the true progression to reach equality and liberty is towards an atheistic compassionate reality-based philosophy with the flexibility to be personal (like my last religion rant, think semi-buddhist), and these hip renaissances of religion just postpone my utopianish global society.
youre right in that some people need something to believe; as they somehow cant believe in themselves or their community or humanity. its a documented flaw in human cognition, that we seek patterns everywhere, even where none exist, as an evolutionary tool to understand and anticipate danger, etc. this is called apophenia, I stress "abnormal meaningfulness". But following a group just presents an ‘us’ versus ‘them’. Its not what should be searched for. (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200512/god-accident) (http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/10/03/control-study.html) (http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=brain-seeks-patterns-where-none-exi-08-10-03)
sam - just wanted to leave a quick comment... i don't agree with predestination because i believe that we have the ability to choose, and choose to believe in God and Jesus, or not. what would be the point if everything were predetermined? like if God decided someone were going to heaven and they could just live their life on earth however they want...
also, in my experience, it can be much more difficult to believe in God and stick to certain ways of living than to not... it is nice when you can have a group supporting your beliefs, but for me at least, the majority of the people don't really adhere to any particular beliefs and it is those people who do, that are in the minority. at least in the northeast, and again, in my experience.
and i miss you.
erica :)
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