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Post by teppic on Dec 10, 2005 16:27:52 GMT -5
Nope... Just a bunch of bad subjects to be using in any type of joke that might come from my mind...
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Post by teppic on Dec 10, 2005 17:38:42 GMT -5
Back to Christianity: there are many diffent kinds of 'Christian' churches. I still want to know what all the diffenrences are, and why they show little respect to other churches so many times over here. Well here's my own personal take on things... Churches have very little to do with Christianity. At their best they're about a community of people who happen to share the same beliefs, and have decided they want to share those beliefs as a group rather than individuals (this is what a church of any kind should be in my opinion). At their worst - and i have yet to see any organisation calling themselves a church of some sort where this doesn't apply, sadly - they are about power, money, and control of others. It's all about politics and nothing to do with spirituality. I haven't done much personal research into this (due to my personal beliefs laying in a different direction to Christianity), but there were scrolls discovered a few years back that were dated to have been written around the time of (the real) Christ's life - certainly much closer than any other written record so far discovered. All scientific tests showed them to be very likely genuine. You'd of course expect this to be of major importance to the Church and to all of Christianity as a whole - science backing up the life of Jesus Christ! Instead the Church condemned them as being heresy, and decreed that anyone spreading the word of what was written on the scrolls to be heretics. From what i understand, once translated the scrolls had Jesus teaching his followers that they didn't have to go to some special place to commune with God through another person, but rather that they simply had to look within themselves. On a spiritual level that's hardly damaging (in fact i'd argue the exact opposite), but of course on a political and financial level it would be an incredibly damaging thing for the Church if it was allowed to become part of Christianity. The irony is that looking within yourself to find deity is a very 'pagan' belief. In fact it's a huge part of understanding the belief system i follow. But such beliefs encourage individualism, rather than the "sheep being led by their Shepard" mentality that the Church has existed on for centuries. The 'white man nailed to a cross' that the Church holds up is as far from the truth of a man from the middle-east who had his own thoughts on religion as is possible to get. The Church is a house of cards that falls apart the moment you step out of line and think of things individually. Just my thoughts of course. So yeh, as far as i'm concerned the bible is mostly a mythology written by various people and organisations throughout history. And throughout history the Church has chopped and changed it's contents to whatever suited it best. The reason the various churches around the world all hold little respect for each other is simply that they're all rivals for peoples attention and money, and of course therefore power. If you look at the differences between religions from all over the world, then the small differences between the various branches of Christianity suddenly seem as silly as people arguing that they're right because they're wearing blue armbands whilst you're wearing turquoise. And there endth the sermon.
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Post by teppic on Dec 10, 2005 17:45:42 GMT -5
LOL! No one is gonna read anything i just said cos it's so long. But oh well... ;D By the way, i should probably point out i haven't read any of Dan Brown's books. Most people say he's a great writer, and i'm not saying otherwise. Most of what the (half a) documentary i saw was ripping apart was the conclusions he'd come to regarding the Knights Templar, and the meaning of various religious symbols.
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Post by Leewah Brown on Dec 11, 2005 20:51:02 GMT -5
That all made perfect sense Teppic and I agree with a lot of what you are saying. As an aside, when my grandmother used to take me to church at easter & christmas I always felt it odd at the end when we had to put money in the collection box. To a small child I felt we were paying for God! Religion binds groups together but also can cause divide. It's full of contradictions. I don't subscribe to any traditional religious ideals. My beliefs are for me so I guess I'm agnostic. Hmmmm. I've read the Divinci Code and thoroughly enjoyed it (although the puzzles & riddles became a touch tedious towards the end). But this is what I'm confused about - why when it sits in the fiction section does everyone think that it is a completely factual book? I know it's been based on many researched ideas & myths surrounding the church... but is it that compelling that it could be true? Someone enlighten poor Leewah
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Post by teppic on Dec 12, 2005 17:03:42 GMT -5
Well as i've said i haven't read it, or any Dan Brown book to be honest - they aren't really the genre of stories i enjoy relaxing into. But as far as i'm aware it's not supposed to be factual at all. As you say, it's more of a fictional 'What if...'. It's no more fact than if i wrote a book about there being aliens in Area 51. In fact that actually probably sums the situation up exactly...
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Post by blueisntred on Dec 22, 2005 12:04:06 GMT -5
;D
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Post by teppic on Dec 22, 2005 17:30:50 GMT -5
;D And as i was saying in the other thread... Wicca: *CLICK**CLICK*And... Natural magic spellbooks: *CLICK**CLICK*All quite light and friendly stuff. Cunningham's best quality was that he always wrote for everyone, and never tried to hide things behind terms only people already within Wicca/Witchcraft would know. Also he always encouraged his readers to find their own path, rather than write everything from his own personal path. Not that i'm saying the author of that book does (i don't know the book, so couldn't comment) - but if you wanted to read more on the subject i'd highly recommend Cunningham's books.
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Post by littlecricket on Dec 27, 2005 16:28:23 GMT -5
I just discovered this thread and I'm sorry if I'm breaking up the current discussion a little (I actually went looking for The DaVinci Code today because many of my students have asked me if I've read it (I'm a math teacher). But it's still in hardcover since it's so popular, so I don't want to pay that price--I'll just check it out from the library someday).
I'm currently reading Last Chance to See, by the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, Douglas Adams. But LCtS is a nonfiction book about endangered species. Back in the late 80's, Adams traveled to remote parts of the world with a zoologist to observe, and in some cases, interact with, various animals on the (or soon to be on the) endangered species list, and wrote about it. It is at turns amusing, fascinating, and discouraging. I'm into two chapters so far and I'm really enjoying it!
~Lisa
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Post by bugg on Dec 30, 2005 5:28:30 GMT -5
Amélie Nothomb's new book : Acide Sulfurique. And Sarah lent me Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants by Jill Soloway, that co-writer of Six Feet Under It looks hilarious, can't wait to read it.
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Post by CheapWallpaper on Dec 30, 2005 9:19:13 GMT -5
I'm currently reading Last Chance to See, by the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, Douglas Adams. But LCtS is a nonfiction book about endangered species. Back in the late 80's, Adams traveled to remote parts of the world with a zoologist to observe, and in some cases, interact with, various animals on the (or soon to be on the) endangered species list, and wrote about it. It is at turns amusing, fascinating, and discouraging. I'm into two chapters so far and I'm really enjoying it! Very good book. And you're the first person I've met in the last decade whose heard of it!
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Post by littlecricket on Dec 30, 2005 9:40:24 GMT -5
I'm currently reading Last Chance to See, by the author of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, Douglas Adams. But LCtS is a nonfiction book about endangered species. Back in the late 80's, Adams traveled to remote parts of the world with a zoologist to observe, and in some cases, interact with, various animals on the (or soon to be on the) endangered species list, and wrote about it. It is at turns amusing, fascinating, and discouraging. I'm into two chapters so far and I'm really enjoying it! Very good book. And you're the first person I've met in the last decade whose heard of it! Yeah, I heard about it at a holiday party and then asked for it in a livejournal wishlist meme on a lark, and one of my LJ friends actually bought it from Amazon and had it shipped to me! It was such a cool surprise! But no one seems to know about the book, even Douglas Adams fans. It's rather odd, because it really is a good book. ~Lisa
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Post by heartattackat23 on Jan 2, 2006 18:47:38 GMT -5
I'm reading (again) tipping the velvet ~ sarah waters
i love it x
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Post by bookbunny on Jan 3, 2006 19:42:23 GMT -5
i'm reading Northern Lights (or the Golden Compass, depending on country). It is part of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. i have read them before and i love the story. i actually discovered the first book in my Youth it class at uni, it was part of our required reading. and Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer...its really really great. so funny and different, and just a great read. Foer is so young and i think its amazing that he wrote this, its a stunner.
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Post by jboi on Jan 3, 2006 22:47:09 GMT -5
Right now re-reading some Narnia, and also Anne Rice's new book( iffy about this one). But just finished Angel's and Demons, and The Secret Life of Bees which I highly recommend. Especially for anyone from or around South Carolina or know the area, it's just a great story of life and captures S.C. and the era the story was set perfectly.
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Post by Saar°berry on Jan 4, 2006 13:19:35 GMT -5
I'm reading 'American Gods' - Neil Gaiman... it's about fucking time.
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