Moving: A Sign of the Times? Makes Me Sad
Moms View Message Board: The Kitchen Table (Debating Board): Moving: A Sign of the Times? Makes Me Sad
I am going to move this just incase.. 
( Moderators: If you feel that this should go to the Debating Board, that's fine). I have had a real hard time in the past few weeks finding Easter cards with a Christian message. It is all bunnies, eggs, chickens, etc. I went to 2 Walmarts and two drugstores. I was looking for the packages with 6-8 cards in them, all one design. I finally found some today. There was only one design of the packaged cards, with "Hallelejah", and a cross on them. In past years that was not the case.
In my opinion, Easter is even more sacred to us Christians than Christmas because the Resuurection of Jesus is the basis of our faith. There weren't as many Passover cards either, as there have been in past years. I made a comment to that effect to the teen-aged girl at the register. She said, "Well people aren't religious anymore". I said, "Yes, until they get into a scrape and then they remember to pray". She looked at me like it went right over her head.
Has anyone else noticed this? Are ALL of our holidays going to be homogenised now, in the name of PC? It just made me sad.
Yeeeaaahhh...this should be moved, but I'll comment on it.
I guess I feel like there are numerous Christian stores for that. To be honest, they don't really have to sell ANY Easter cards. But, they are a business and have customers of all religions. They are really out to make a sell and apparently are trying to market to the "middle of the road" people who don't want to offend anyone.
I don't think it's being PC, I just think that Christians today believe in living the life of Christ rather than trying to "sell it", IYKWIM?
Target had some religious Easter cards, when we were looking, the other day. Emily and I are each doing a secret pal thingie, for a year again, and I like getting religious cards, when I get cards, for my secret pal. I wasn't looking for a package, though. It seemed that there were more secular cards, than religious cards, though.
Oh yes,Hol, this is definately a sign of the times.And it is going to get worse.I remember ,as a child,the week before Easter there was all kinds of christian shows on t.v., but not so much now.
I agree hole heartedly. I can remember watching
the greatest story ever told every year until about 3-4 years ago. As for the cards Hol I started making my own just for that fact of not finding them. Wandilu I also aree its is going to get worse
I agree. It annoys me that everyone has to be PC so you don't "offend" anyone who what, doesn't celebrate Easter? I think it's rediculous. I don't get offended when I hear about Passover. I'm not Jewish but I'd actually like to learn about Passover just to understand what Jewish people celebrate and what they believe.
I'm so glad that my kids are old enough to understand that Easter isn't about the Bunny, or candy or eggs (although they do get that stuff too).
I am reminded of my son's elementary school's Christmas vocal program last year. The music teacher selected several religious songs, but made sure to include music from all the different faiths.
Likewise, stores probably feel that if they were to carry greeting cards specifically geared towards Christians, then to be fair they would have to carry cards respective to the other religions as well. And since the Easter Season (unlike the Christmas Season) really only holds religious significance to Christians and not any other faiths, then to be PC they don't have any religious cards at all.
(Well, that's not entirely true- this is also Jewish Passover. Did you find any card referring to Passover?)
It just goes to show how totally removed from mainstream society Christianity really is. Kind of ironic, since the first settlers came here for religious freedom, yet as Christians, we are beginning to feel as though our religious freedom is being diminished and castigated.
Do you remember what a big box-office smash the movie The Ten Commandments was? Why aren't there any pro-Christian movies making those kinds of waves in Hollywood anymore?
I am reminded that Ginny posted about that article about religion in schools. I need to go read that.
UUUuuummm, Lisa? "Passion of the Christ?" made over 370 million dollars...The Ten Commandments made 65 million. In addition, we are putting billions of dollars into a war that, quite simply, is religious. People still care about their religion...trust me.
I don't feel like my religion, which is Christianity, is being pushed aside at all. I feel our religion is evolving and getting back to its roots.
Do you really think Jesus would care for Easter cards? We have to seriously keep this in perspective here...we have to put our energy into caring for others, not fighting for the words "Merry Christmas" on store windows and "Christ" in Easter cards.
That's simply not where the battle of souls is won. In the time we are taking to write this, we could have called or emailed someone that is hurting right now and lend them our sympathy. Or, reconnected with a family member that we swore never to speak to again. Jesus asks us to show his love...plain and simple.
(And, to put my money where my mouth is, I'm going to email a friend right now that is going through a hard time with Chrohn's disease. This debate was a good reminder...)
Ummm, Heidi, Mel Gibson couldn't find one single major Hollywood distributor for Passion of the Christ. Yet, movies like The Last Temptation of Christ and The DaVinci Code? Hollywood will grab them and run with them.
I may be taking this topic away from the main point about Easter that Hol brought up, but I am supporting the case that Christianity as a whole is in fact being pushed out of the mainstream of today's society by the secular progressive movement which has control of the mainstream media.
In addition, you are comparing the money that Passion made to the money that Ten Commandments made without accounting for inflation. Ten Commandments was made 50 years ago.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
Heidi - I totally agree with you that we Christians have a mandate to show the love of Jesus everyday to all who come our way. And yes, it was heartening that so MANY people went to see "The Passion of the Christ". And yes, too, stores are in business to make money. They market merchandise relating to just about every holiday. I understand that Halloween is now the second biggest holiday when it comes to decorating and merchandising. All the more reason, you would think that they would sell items to appeal to a broad spectrum of society; Christians, Jews, and people who just want the "fun" aspects of Easter with the eggs, candy, etc.
No Lisa, there wasn't much for Passover, either. It was all very generic. Everything is being diluted and God is being removed from everything. Our country is going to pay a high price for their apathy, as is Europe. The percentage of people who attend church in Europe declines every year. God was very clear about what He will do to people who deny him. I agree, Wanda. It IS going to get much worse. And Wanda and Shann, I, too remember what TV programming was like during Holy Week. "Jesus of Nazareth", "The Greatest Story Ever Told", "Ben Hur". Heck, I'm so old that I remember during Holy Week in public school, going into the auditorium to watch "The King of Kings". In the chorus, we performed an Easter cantata. If anyone chose not to participate, they were excused to the library.
Are we better off now? God has been pushed out of everything. Families are in crisis, gambling is legal which can lead to financial ruin, young people are having sex at an ever earlier age.
Christians and Jews have only themselves to blame. We have become passive and apathetic. If we had the zeal of the Moslem world, we could turn the world upside down (for good) just as a rag-tag group of disciples did 2,000 years ago.
Exactly, Jesus was a badass...he touched the tomb of a dead man. No one dared to do that in his time. Luke 7:12-15
Since when are Christians "mainstream"? Christ was never mainstream, if you think about it. He never needed a Hollywood distributor to spread His word, right?
And, if we really must argue, since the Ten Commandments has been out for 50 years, it should have made even more money with home movie sales over the years. Inflation rate is averaged to be 3% per year too. Needless to say, both movies were HUGE and people FLOCKED to see them. People DO care about Jesus...it just depends on how they show it.
How do you all want to show it? That's the question we should be asking.
And Lisa, I totally agree with you about Hollywood. And yes, I saw "The Ten Commandments" with my grandparents in New York City in 1956. Sixty five million dollars in those days was a FORTUNE!!
ACK! Hol, you're kidding me, right?
"Christians and Jews have only themselves to blame?"
Each person is responsible for themselves...how we treat others...how we judge others.
I encourage any of you to read books about Mother Theresa. I'm not even catholic and I love her. She really would humble us all.
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
I also think that we are starting to rely more heavily on science, technology, and we are really losing faith in God and replacing it with faith in money, possessions, and ourselves.
I'm going to seriously quote Spiderman here:
"With great power comes great responsibility."
We can't blame anyone but ourselves. And, we can't whine here about Easter cards when really we need to be hearing about God through actions, not Hallmark.
I found a link and edited it into my last post which does account for inflation based on the number of ticket sales per movie. Ten Commandments is #5 in all time box office gross domestic ticket sales, while Passion comes in at #55.
My point is not that people didn't go see Passion, but that Hollywood was more likely to promote such a movie 50 years ago, where as today, they run from any such religiously accurate movies and run towards any such movie which casts doubts and aspersions on the basic beliefs of Christianity. And since public schools have done away with everything having to do with Christianity because of so-called "Separation of Church and State" and retail stores are voluntarily doing away with any religious holiday references, and every year we hear about someone throwing a fit over a Nativity Scene and there are people trying to get "In God We Trust" taken off of our money and the words "Under God" taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance, what am I as a Christian supposed to think???
OOpps! Duplicate post!
See below.
I think that what Hol is saying is that we as Christians should stand up for our religion rather than stay silent and allow it to be minimized throughout society.
But I also understand what you are saying, Heidi, that we shouldn't just talk the talk, we should walk the walk as well, and live our lives as Christ wants us to, through Him.
It's one thing to stand up for your own religion. It's another to waste time in standing up and staying there for people to notice, rather than standing up and walking to our neighbor's door to help them.
People are always going to have fits over religion. However, you never see anyone having a fit over receiving love from a Christian.
//Heck, I'm so old that I remember during Holy Week in public school, going into the auditorium to watch "The King of Kings". In the chorus, we performed an Easter cantata. If anyone chose not to participate, they were excused to the library.//
I just don't get it. We have our faith communities. We have our families and our own time and space to pray. Why isn't that enough? Why do we have to have the schools, the dollar bills, the movie theaters and the Hallmark stores? What in the teachings of Jesus demanded that we acheive mastery over societal and commercial institutions? I think I missed that bit.
What makes us think we're entitled to any of that and why on earth do we let it get at us when we have important demands placed on us by our faith to live up to?
//Are we better off now? God has been pushed out of everything. Families are in crisis, gambling is legal which can lead to financial ruin, young people are having sex at an ever earlier age.//
Young people have always had sex, it's just that they used to be betrothed or married. If they weren't married and having sex then it was because they out in the woods logging, at sea on navy boats or crammed into clothing factories. That's an iddyllic time to return to?*Note this comment only applies to the western world.
I have a hard time with doom and gloom scenarios, especially when it's westerners talking. 60 years ago there was a world war. 70 years ago families were fractured and starving during the Great Depression. 90 years ago there was the Spanish flu pandemic. Now there is teen sex and divorce? On the list of horrors that have constantly been with mankind those aren't exactly huge. Most christians in history would likely think we ARe in heaven now.
//Christians and Jews have only themselves to blame. We have become passive and apathetic. If we had the zeal of the Moslem world, we could turn the world upside down (for good) just as a rag-tag group of disciples did 2,000 years ago//
I find that really offensive on a few different lvels but I think there's a fundamental question that that comment begs.
As christians, are we here to love or are we here to dominate?
I couldn't agree more, Dawn. I was thinking the same thing about historical things...child and spousal abuse was never talked about. AA is set up around Christ's teachings as well and we are finally understanding people and not shunning them (mental illnesses, retardation, out of wedlock pregnancies, etc.)
And, along with the muslim "zeal", comes a great price. Pride and prejudice. It has no place in Christianity.
Facing the Giants was about a football team, giving everything over to God, and then they started winning. It has grossed over $10,174,663!
Facing the Giants
I saw this movie several months ago and I still think about it!
Heidi, I had to laugh at your quote.. LOL
//I'm going to seriously quote Spiderman here:
"With great power comes great responsibility."//
Tooo funny, but so true... Where every it came from it works.... LOL
In my opinion, Christianity is not dying, it is the Christians themselves that are pushing people out of Church... Most people by nature want to believe but many are never taught how.. The type of reception they have recieved from the Christian community (making these comments based on the youth in my church and their parents who won't attend and my own experinces in the church) it is difficult for them to see their place in a church that is based off of judgment.. And I am not making reference the judgments of Christ....
In their experience being a Christian came at a cost because that is what they had been preached at by the old church.. They preached at, not too them. They left church not understanding and felt they didn't have the option to question, having things dumbed down for them wasn't seen as an option because they had been conditioned in youth not to question the preacher. They couldn't get past their sins.. Salvation was out of their reach because they couldn't stop sinning.. And they were doomed to hell and damnation.. And the very people (the church) that the Bible says should accept them unconditionally were sitting in judgement of them and their families..
The stories that our children tell about attending churches at which they were judged as less than the rest of the congregation because of being poor or their parents refusing to attend would break your heart.. Kids with a thirst for Jesus, sitting in judgment under the very people that were to teach them the love of Christ.. One child said, "This woman wouldn't even speak to us, we would say hi to her and she would look at us as if she would rather die then say Hi". Another child tells a story of a woman that would check them to make sure they had taken a bath. And another had a story about a man that would comment on their clothing every Sunday... He would comment on their shoes, the holes in their jeans etc.. These kids are poor, they were lucky they had shoes, forget Sunday clothes.. And the kicker, these kids were rounded up and bussed into these churches... To me it seemed like a numbers thing, not a out reach program.. Filling the pews, not filling the souls.. I have heard simular stories from their parents.. Stories of feeling like they were walking in to a place of condemnation, like they were under a looking glass until they proved their Christianity to the congregation.. Feeling like an outsider looking in and walking out feeling less than...
I know there are other women on this board (from things they have shared about their church experience as children) that would agree with me when I say, as a child I became jaded because of my own experiences in church..... I felt that the elders of the church were hypocritical, bigoted, separatist, judgemental, self serving and self gratifying... They put on airs and were pretentious, at best.... But yet they preached love for all man kind and how it was a sin to do everything they were doing. I hated church, I took it as a punishment.. It was borring and Christianity was only for the select... To be a believer you had to do this that and the other.. Until you agreed to do these acts you weren't seen as a part of the church... I didn't think I wanted to be a part of a church that said one thing and did another.. I didn't want to follow the lead of a woman that would come in dressed to the nines that would stand with a cup of coffee after church only speaking to a sellect few and talking trash about the other members.. I had issues with funds of the church being spent for self serving issues when people around us were going hungry.. Once I was 18, I swore I would never attend another church.. I was very anti church, not Christ but church...
Then when I was in my late 20's, I had a longing to learn, to be with believers.. I think I had forgotten what people in church (not all churches just the ones I had attended) could be like.. I spent five years church surfing. I would think, this is the church for us and then something major would drive me out. I once again gave up and quit going.... Two years ago, I was told about my church and something in me said one more time.. I will give this a chance.. I have been with my church for two years and we have issues but I know we are all working towards the purpose of God.. Not the purpose of man.... For the first time, the congregation as a whole is involved. There are no seprate groups, no seperation and no judgements... But we all came from "bad" churche back grounds and we have commited to make a differnce in our church and in our community..
This was a long story just to say that I don't think the majority of the people don't believe in God/a God/ something.. I think they have simply have lost faith in the church and what it means.... They are choosing to go it alone and not connect themselves to a system that preaches one thing and does another (in many cases). And I agree, instead of worring about a card, we need to start (as Christians) to reach out of our comfort zones and let the world know that Christianity isn't just the stories of hell and damnation it is stories about LOVE.. The love of Christ, the love and acceptance that we are supposed to share with all of Gods creatures... We need to stop focusing on what they are trying to take away from us and focus on becoming stronger in our faith so that our faith will lead us in spreading the love... Christians aren't gained by stories of if you don't you will parish forever.. They aren't drawn because we have cards in a store or Merry Christmas on a sign.. They are drawn to the unconditional love of Jesus Christ that is shown through us....
Excuse the spelling, I don't have time to spell check.. Parent teacher conference this morning...
Wow, Bobbie, I agree with you 100%. As a never married mother you should see the response *I* get when I walk in a church. It ain't love.
My opinion about the cards etc is that so many groups and organizations have gotten their panties in a wad over Merry Christmas is offensive to this group and this is offensive to that group and so on and on and on and on.... that who can possibly make enough cards that will sell that cover every single group and no other group will start complaining about, that they are all just generic now. I don't think it is religion that has caused all of this but people have. I remember being told the whole time I was growing up that sometimes life is just not fair. You deal with it. It seems no one thinks that way any more.
Well I am not Christian so I won't put any of my thoughts here because I don't want to offend anyone. By the way I am Buddhist.
Mommie, we have teen mom's that attend our church and two never been married mom's....
We actually have a divorced woman that had her children in the system and spent 7 years in prison for selling drugs in our chuch... She got herself together and got her children back.. She felt God would however never forgive her... She went to churches and was turned away once they found out about her past, once they found out she couldn't afford to give money to the church, once they discovered where they lived... She was shunned by several churches... They treated her as a charity case and a black spot on their congregation. Because of all of this she had become very anti church and anti believers.. She believed in God but felt that she would never be forgiven by him, his people were telling her that she had no value because of her choices and circumstances in her life... By chance, her daughter attended a youth group meeting with a friend. She was more or less roped into going and came in with an attitude from years of being hurt by the church.. After that one visit she has never stopped coming.. She attends any time the doors are open.. For a year she told her mom how our church was, the love and acceptance she felt and her mother never believed her.. She thought we were a numbers game like the rest, that once we were built up in numbers they would become another black spot... She kept trying to tell her that she was never treated as anything but perfectly imperfect and that the congregation was just as perfectly imperfect... Her mom came to the Easter Service last year... She stood up and told her story, expecting the looks of horor she had seen in the past to cross our faces.. Many in the congregation cried for her pain... And she knew we were not judging her mistakes, most appolgized to her for what she had been through and she has never left.... She too is there any time the doors are open and she opened her house last month to the pastor to have meetings for people that she knows that are quite ready to believe that a church like ours is out there... Those meetings started out with her and her children, the pastor and his wife and one other couple and they have had a new family attend each week because the word is spreading.. And the happenstances that caused her to give church just one more chance where because she saw in us the love she had been needing her whole life.. The love and acceptance of Jesus Christ. And she found her way to accepting herself, her mistakes and His love through us.. Not because of a sign or a few words on her dollar bill.... But because we reached out and understood that we make bad choices, ones that don't always reveal the person inside and because of that she is working harder than ever to make changes in her life. Changes she saw she needed to make but didn't think they mattered because she ws just here doing time until she would be judged for her errors and short comings in the eyes of our Lord..
I have another story I could share about a man that attends our church that claimed him self as an atheist and attended just to debunk our congregation... This was his goal in life, to put doubt in the mind of Christians.. To pick appart the stories he had been preached at as a child, to show people they were waisting their time believing in such nonsense... The God he knew of came with strings attatched and people that were rewarded for financial support of the church with special treatment and a special place in Gods realm. He grew up seeing pastors as people that got paid to preach like any other job.. That the sermons focused on the financial grownth of the church and thus financial grown for the preacher.. And that growth of the congregation wasn't for God's purpose but for the purpose of bringing in more money, more numbers, so that the pastor could brag to his peers about how strong his congregation was in numbers... He felt the church wasn't about salvation and that salvation didn't exsist.. He felt that Christianity was a farce created by man to impower/lift such men above the norm.... He saw a church transform itself from a modest building into a super church while the town had children living in poverty, food pantries running short of food.. He watched the pastors on TV.. The send money now, while they preached from a pulpit so grand that nations could eat off the cost... He watched his friends parents eat hot dogs, so they could pay their required tithes and purchase their proper church clothes that they were not allowed to wear except on Sundays... He came in very jaded and very anti Christ... He was certain that people only attended out of fear of the unknown and so they could stand around after and brag on themselves and their successes. He is now an usher...
So Mommmie, I am very truly sorry for your experiences.. I wish you lived near by... My Christ doesn't care if you are married are not.. because He knows everything, every hair on your head, He knows the reasons behind you not marrying.. And in my opinion.... HE knew the day you were created, what you would go on to become... He created you imperfectly perfect and He loves you as you love your child flaws and all... God is my father and He loves me uncondtionally as my earthly father should and as I as a mother I do my own children... Many people of the church do not get the "thou shalt not judge" part of the Bible.. They cling to the sinner aspect of it and the hell and damnation of everyone around them but they don't get the fact that salvation is there for all.. God isn't proud of the church he is proud of the people in it... I like to say, God doesn't care if you preach from a box... He cares that people are hearing his story and feeling His love and knowing his acceptance... good choices are made when you know His love... Until then you tend to bounce around with out dirrection...
And just for reference... I am a firm believer in the fact that Christ comes in all forms.. Be it the Jewish, Catholic, Muslem, Budist, Whicha so on and so forth and etc... I have choosen to be a Christian because that is what speaks to me.. To me faith is faith... My faith is no stronger than any other believer and my church is no better... To me we should all stand on the same ground and recognize and appriciate the strength each group provides.... And to me... We would all do good to work towards the goal of the positives in our seperate groups and the recognition of the equalities and not our differences... And stop trying to make everyone else see us as a seperate body and one that feels they are above the next... If we would stop compairing and competing we just might be able to turn this world into the positive that we all, no matter what your faith is based on, hope/pray it will become...
Yet again another book, sorry for high jaking you Hol... and I am not spell checking this one either, you will get the just of it... Sorry for being long winded, I just feel strongly enough about this topic and I have lived and researched deep enough into it over my life to have enough knowledge to hope to educate at least one person in the fact that God isn't always the way a church has preached to them to be... He is often so much more than people are ever taught.... I am not trying to preach, I hate a preacher of faith.. But show that there are people out their like me that are believers and that I believe in showing Gods grace through my life and my actions, not just through my words... My self acceptance and the acceptance of my life has come to me in a huge way because of taking that step back into church and sharing the mistakes as a person/Christian that I have made with other people that have had that need to see a Christian full of grace and full of mistakes... I am perfectly imperfect just the way God intended for me to be, so that I would need him and need Him in His people so that we all would grow in grace as he intended..
Jesh, I just keep going on and on.... Sorry... Oh and one last thing, I know not all churches are like the bad ones I have talked about thus far.. I know of many churches (now because of our involvment with them) that are taking steps towards the positive (not because of us but because of their own choices) and many that where based in the positive all along (but because of my choice to step out I never found).. But we all know that the bad churches are out there and they are pushing people from Christ... I just want those that don't believe that believers are out there to understand they are.. Many have just been hurt by the very thing that we want them to bring themselves back into.... A church of love for the select few, isn't something I would put myself through either...
Latonya, I think it so cool that you are a Buddhist.. I have honestly never meet a Buddhist in real life, I am not sheltered, but I think people are often afraid to say what they believe because they might be judged as less of a believer than the other person.. I however have read up on Buddism and I have great respect for your beliefs and the men that came before you in spreading this beliefs... I say if this is what talks to your heart and leads your life then we both are a head of this game we call life... Our beliefs are what carries us through our lives, it grounds us and lifts us up when we are spent... As I said, I believe Faith is Faith no matter what you call it... 
Thanks Bobbie! I grew up in a Baptist church and it never "spoke to me". My DH introduced me to Buddhism about 5 years ago and I have been practicing for 3 1/2 years now. Imagine my parents surprise! I have a great respect also for the men who worked so hard to spread Buddhism. While Buddhism like Christianity has many different sects and there are some that I do not agree with, the sect that I belong to is wonderful. I believe that all religions should be respected wether you believe what they do or not. For that person it may be all they have. I don't believe that we have a right to judge who believes more or less as long as they have something to believe in. Everyone needs that something that speaks to thier heart and soul and leads them thru bad times and also supports them in good times. I have found that in Buddhism. Oh and as for meeting a Buddhist in real life, you probably have and just not known that was thier religion. We are like everyone else. Not all of look like the monks you see on TV. HAHA! But seriously, there are more Buddhist in the USA than you would think. I had no idea how many were around just where I live.
Faith is what pulls us thru...
That was really nice, Bobbie. Thank you.
"And just for reference... I am a firm believer in the fact that Christ comes in all forms.. Be it the Jewish, Catholic, Muslem, Budist, Whicha so on and so forth and etc..."
Ditto Bobbie on so many points and ditto this statement in particular. I completely agree! I have always felt that way, although Christianity is what happens to speak to me also. I think all of your comments about how supposed Christians treat others is a serious problem for the church. There is so much judgement and self-righteousness that unfortunately the Christians who are not that way get lumped into that awful group.
To address the original post, I agree with Heidi, Dawn, and Bobbie. The the fact that their aren't religious cards at Easter anymore (so I'm hearing)really doesn't mean anything. I think as a Christian, you just hope to see them and you hope to see Christ in the mainstream because that's what you believe in. ("you" meaning me also, so I understand that feeling!) Honestly, Christ has never been in the mainstream and that's really nothing new. People are practicing Christianity in the traditional sense less and less exactly because of what Bobbie spoke of - the treatment they get from other "Christians", the atmosphere in some churches, the judgement, and complete lack of "love" so-to-speak that is completely UN-Christian.
Latonya, It didn't speak to you not because it was Baptist but because the Pastors weren't capable of speaking to you in the manner you needed to be able to hear....
By the way, I am sure I know Buddist.. LOL We have a Temple here in town, they have to be somewhere around here... Cause I am sure the Temple isn't there for no reason and I am not seeing any Munks about town.. LOL So I am guessing they look like me.. (HA HA) They probably talk like me and put their pants on one leg at a time too.... LOL
Anyway, like I said.. To me faith is faith.. We all have things with in our faith base that mimic each other... We also have a lot we can learn and teach to each other based on our own faiths...
Mommmie, It is no problem.. It is what I know... I hope you know it too....
Bobbie, I don't think it had anything to do with the pastors because I have listened to many in my life and it wasn't just because it was Baptist. There was just always something missing for me. I always felt that way as a kid growing up but I was afraid to ask to many questions because I was sure I would go to hell or it. Then as I got a little older and did start asking those questions I didn't get many answers. I hated the answer "God works in mysterious ways". That seemed to be a favorite of every pastor I ever talked to. Buddhism had alot more answers and I just felt it, you know? When I chant I feel it deep inside. Like something comes alive in me that never did before.
I am not putting down any religion. I just wanted to explain my experience with Christianity. My parents are true believers in God. I just couldn't find that same faith that they did.
I wish I could see the temple there. We don't have one close to us. I have never been in one. I would love to go and listen to the monks chant. On that aspect I think we have a little in common. I can chant anywhere and you can pray to God anywhere. But I do have an alter in my home where I chant and do my prayers.
OK I am sure that you are tired of hearing about my religion now. It is just that if someone shows interest in Buddhism I am ready to talk. Thanks for listening.
LOL Latonya, it is fine.. I don't mind listening... You read my books... LOL
And I get the same feeling when I sing...
And trust me, "God works in mysterious ways" doesn't work for me either.... LOL I am a real pain in the rear when it comes to me just accepting things just because someone says so...
I am glad you found your place... And I am just as glad that you spoke up about not being a Christian... Someone out there needed to see it I am sure...
Thanks, Bobbie! I hope that person seen my post. Take care and if you ever want to know anything about the Buddhism I believe in just ask. Have a great night.
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