tehvodak: [Martin Luther pic]Approves

Ach! If Luther was still alive, he'd complain about how these Pentecostals swallowed the Holy Spirit "feathers and all".

/Augsburg Confession Article V, FTW.

NeuroPunk91

Wife and I were both raised Catholic. When we went to the Church to see about setting a date, the priest asked us, when would we like to schedule our pre-marital weekend retreat? That's right, a whole weekend of listening to the religious reasons for marriage and being grilled on whether we were ready and compatible. Mrs and I said we'd get back to him, then called a lawyer friend of ours who set us up with a Judge, no problemo, easier and less judgemental.

for many years, my parents helped run these retreats for the church as a couple (both liberal catholics and high school sweethearts). you'd probably have been very surprised by the actual retreat. they're not judgmental at all and there's certainly no grilling. they're very helpful and provide a good perspective on married life to those just entering it from those who have been through the ups and downs. it's largely a forum for discussion and advice, not judgment of whether or not you're fit to be married in the eyes of the church.

i'm not a practicing catholic, but i wish more religions practiced things like this. when an organization is able to perform marriages, it should have to realize the responsibility it has to the wellbeing of the unions it creates. i've benefited my entire life from the stability and strength of my parents' marriage. (i don't know about the mormons but i'd be surprised if they didn't have a similar program.)

Tripper64 2007-05-03 04:17:44 PM
This is the thing I never understood, evangelizing to folks who are already Christian.

I mean, if you want to help the poor, knock yourself out. It's a great thing. I get the creeps, though, when folks want to tie the help they are giving into a lesson for the give-ee. At that point, I don't think the motive is clear, and it's certainly not selfless.

IMHO, I think the world has heard of Christianity already. The Word is out and there's no reason to evangelize any more. Folks should now be left to choose for themselves.

At this point, folks are just dickering about brand names. If you're in the desert and someone offers you water, you don't care whether it's Calistoga or Perrier. Modern evangelizing is like trying to convince someone to give up their Calistoga for Perrier.


Its about the cash. I heard Jimmy Swaggart on the radio the other day saying that Catholics are going to hell because they worship Mary, not Jesus. You know, Catholics are nice people and all, they are just going to burn because they are saved Jimmy's way.

They think Brazil has problems with Protestants? Send 'em Fred Phelps for a week, that'll show 'em how bad we have it.

I wish people would stop believing in "The Gods" as if we're pre-scientific. How big of a oron do you have to be to believe that God helped you beat your opponent to death in a ring. "Jew know mang? I heet eem like dees, den like dat, aynd pow - right to dee groun' mang! Eet was like God was right der, ponshing heem for me mang. Jew know'dimsayeeng mang?"

moron even

Eh who cares? The only non-brazilians who have to deal with it are those little kids who play those pirated massively multiplayer games.

/"Repent plz!"
//"Free itenz plzz"
///"Master plvl plzz, beleeve in Jee-zus plz"

Tripper64

IMHO, I think the world has heard of Christianity already.

You're both correct and incorrect, and in a very sad, sad way. Most of the world has heard of Christianity, but many haven't heard what Christ actually taught.

For the most part, Christianity today is just a bunch of weekend clubs who are fighting over members, often teaching thigs and behaving in a way that are 100% contrary to what the Messiah taught.

BizarroHulk
They think Brazil has problems with Protestants? Send 'em Fred Phelps for a week, that'll show 'em how bad we have it.

I'd rather stay with the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, thank you.

On the other hand, bring him here. I'd love to see what people here would do to him at the first funeral he went claiming it was god's punishment...

"On the other hand, bring him here. I'd love to see what people here would do to him at the first funeral he went claiming it was god's punishment..."

he'd be beaten into a pulp, shot, ass raped then dumped in guanabara bay. not neccessarily in that order. specially if it's in rio. why do you think juscelino kubitscheck moved the capital to brasilia ?

Send Fred Phelps and his bunch to Saudi Arabia instead. See how long they keep their heads!!

Roll Tide?

Los Huguenotos

/got nuthin

martianlunatic,

The giant Jesus is in Argentina not Brazil. Your paper/play might suck.

I thought it was in New York holding a torch..... Hmmm, go figure.

JuicyJ
The giant Jesus is in Argentina not Brazil. Your paper/play might suck.

I sincerely hope you're kidding and my sarcasm detector is jammed...



/ It's in Rio de Janeiro

I think that Catholics and Pentecostals are neck and neck for the superstitious weirdness award.

confession vs. speaking in tongues
Pope vs. televangelists
purgatory vs. fire and brimstone
holy visions vs. slain in the spirit
Mary on toast vs. snake handling
catechism vs. Jeebus camp.

All of these Mediterranean Death Cults should have died out during the age of reason. Maybe if we just ignore them they will go away...

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."

Larjmarj

Listen, I don't see Dan Brown writing a big story about the Evangelicals. We have WAAAAAY more crazy stuff than the Evangeical Protestants do. And our crazy stuff is so much more classy. I mean, El Camino de Santiago? The Blood of St. Januarius? The Head of St. John the Baptist? Come on!