"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." -- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited
Only one or two...? http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/u...ttlement-with-milwaukee-archdiocese.html?_r=0
Joseph Smith was nothing more than a criminal and a con artist. His story about being able to translate ancient Egyptian using a stone is the stuff cults are made of I mean religions. He pretty much was able to convince a large group of highly gullible people that he was a prophet and could read this ancient Egyptian text that most scholars were unable to translate but he did it with his remedial education and some rocks that he found on the ground. The fact that his followers believed they and they alone would be transported to some distant planet that only they get to go because they are chosen despite the fact that their religion predates the Civil War by like 10 years is enough to get you institutionalized today. That is why I can't ever have a discussion about religion with a mormon. It's one of the biggest sham religions on the planet, L Ron Hubbard has more fucking credibility than Joseph Smith.
the mormons are as frightening a bunch as any other, and that includes the most lurid organized crime syndicates haa haa
Magic underwear, secret planets, a library of family and genealogical records, tabernacle choirs.... yeah a bunch of creeps
Then you don't deserve to be posting in this thread. You are an obvious troll. You can't even explain what you believe, and you're not interested in discussing religion, all you want to do is pick a fight. smh. Go read the title of this thread again.
Gay people are not sinful, unless they break the same standards of sexual behavior that heterosexuals have to follow. In the Catholic Church, it's the same rules whether you are gay or straight. This is directly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "2337 Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man’s belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. (2349, 2520) The virtue of chastity therefore involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift. The integrity of the person 2338 The chaste person maintains the integrity of the powers of life and love placed in him. This integrity ensures the unity of the person; it is opposed to any behavior that would impair it. It tolerates neither a double life nor duplicity in speech.125 2339 Chastity includes an apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy.126 “Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all slavery to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end.”127 (1767) 2340 Whoever wants to remain faithful to his baptismal promises and resist temptations will want to adopt the means for doing so: self-knowledge, practice of an ascesis adapted to the situations that confront him, obedience to God’s commandments, exercise of the moral virtues, and fidelity to prayer. “Indeed it is through chastity that we are gathered together and led back to the unity from which we were fragmented into multiplicity.”128 (2015) 2341 The virtue of chastity comes under the cardinal virtue of temperance, which seeks to permeate the passions and appetites of the senses with reason. (1809) 2342 Self-mastery is a long and exacting work. One can never consider it acquired once and for all. It presupposes renewed effort at all stages of life.129 The effort required can be more intense in certain periods, such as when the personality is being formed during childhood and adolescence. (409) 2343 Chastity has laws of growth which progress through stages marked by imperfection and too often by sin. “Man... day by day builds himself up through his many free decisions; and so he knows, loves, and accomplishes moral good by stages of growth.”130 (2223) 2344 Chastity represents an eminently personal task; it also involves a cultural effort, for there is “an interdependence between personal betterment and the improvement of society.”131 Chastity presupposes respect for the rights of the person, in particular the right to receive information and an education that respect the moral and spiritual dimensions of human life. (2525) 2345 Chastity is a moral virtue. It is also a gift from God, a grace, a fruit of spiritual effort.132The Holy Spirit enables one whom the water of Baptism has regenerated to imitate the purity of Christ.133 (1810)" http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-te...techism-of-the-catholic-church/epub/index.cfm
Well, I believe that the Catholic Church is the only truly authentic Christian church; the others broke away from the Catholic Church because of corruption in Rome at the time, instead of standing by their beliefs and working to reform the Church. They "threw the baby out with the bath water", so to speak, but a careful, unbiased study of history reveals the authenticity of Catholic Christianity and the errors of Protestant denominations. But I was wondering, what are your beliefs? You may have mentioned it before, but this thread has gotten so big I have forgotten now...
^ chastity. good grief, more rules, chains, and guilt to feel about natural human inclinations. what a sham.
Rules that keep us free from the shackles of addiction? I'll sign up for those "rules" any day! When we improve our self-mastery, we become free to do what we really want, rather than being slaves to our lusts and other unhealthy temptations. I have experienced this in my own life, and pornography is a great example. I used to be addicted to it, and now with the help of my Catholic Faith I have freed myself from that addiction, for the most part anyway. There's so much smut in the media nowadays it's hard to avoid it altogether, but when you focus on good, traditional Judeo-Christian values, you become more free, much happier, and more fulfilled. Sadly, not enough people realize this nowadays. (I didn't just read this somewhere, I have experienced it in my own life!) ... as I mentioned in an earlier post, it's the same kind of personal discipline that athletes use to get better at their chosen sport. (well, unless maybe you're Antonio Cromartie!)
that is your experience, whats right for you isn't right for everyone. some people aren't addicted to porn and have very healthy great sex lives. there are also by the way some great benefits of porn, but im sure you wouldnt agree.
....oh, such as? Pornography is known to be harmful to relationships, for one. Also, are you aware of how abusive the porn industry is? Women, and even underage girls, are routinely abused, sometimes tortured, and coerced into doing things they don't want to do. They are threatened, many of them attempt or commit suicide, and even the male stars suffer psychologically (have you ever seen a porn star who seems happy or fulfilled? Most of them seem depressed when they are interviewed off the set of their films). And it's not just my experience, but the experience of many people I have met in my life (at least among the Catholics I have known). It used to be understood that we all share the same basic human nature underlying our different personalities. In other words, we all have different talents, interests, etc, but at our core we are all basically the same as human beings. Only fairly recently has this idea been challenged by "post-modernists", but their ideas are questionable, at best. I still think it is true that we all share the same basic human nature at our core, and I firmly believe that everyone would benefit from Catholic morality. (Of course I can't prove this.) Ex Porn Star "Jessie Rogers" Exposes Shocking Abuses of the Porn Industry and Tells Her Story http://www.antipornography.org/ex-porn-star-jessie-rogers-exposes-shocking-abuse.html UK Feminista is to rescreen the 2001 documentary Hardcore that offers a horrifying glimpse into the abuse of women in porn – in a bid to combat the argument that it's just 'people having sex' http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/jul/14/hardcore-abuse-of-women-in-porn While the porn industry works hard to portray pornography as a glamorous and liberating career choice, many of the female performers speak of violence, exploitation and abuse. http://www.collectiveshout.org/the_...rmalising_the_abuse_and_exploitation_of_women Porn Star Elizabeth Rollings Escapes the Killer Porn Industry https://pornographyharms.wordpress....th-rollings-escapes-the-killer-porn-industry/ THIS IS RAPE CULTURE Ex-Pornstars on the Porn Industry http://thisisrapeculture.tumblr.com/post/54852823056/ex-pornstars-on-the-porn-industry Just google "abuse in the pornography industry" and you will see pages and pages on this....
....and closely-related to the shocking abuses in the Porn industry, the repulsive abuses in the abortion industry. Obviously these 2 evils go hand in hand, since abortion is routinely used as "backup contraception." 3rd Shock Video Catches Planned Parenthood Vice President Selling Body Parts of Aborted Babies http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/28/...esident-selling-body-parts-of-aborted-babies/ 4th Video Catches Planned Parenthood VP Discussing How to Break the Law to Sell Aborted Babies http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/30/...-how-to-break-the-law-to-sell-aborted-babies/ Women Getting Abortions Seven Times More Likely to Be Abused http://www.lifenews.com/2012/09/05/women-getting-abortions-seven-times-more-likely-to-be-abused/ Child Abuse Link to Abortion In the first 10 years after abortion was legalized in America, child abuse increased by over 500 percent. http://www.life.org.nz/abortion/abortionkeyissues/childabuselink/ Abortion activists worship abortion. It is sacred to them. Nothing on earth, according to the faithful, should ever desecrate the “holy ground” upon which this ritual is performed over 1,000 times a day. Even if that ground is soaked with the blood of women killed and maimed and babies brutally murdered after being born alive. That was Philadelphia’s “House of Horrors”, run by millionaire abortionist Kermit Gosnell. For 17 years his unimaginably squalid clinic went uninspected by state officials. Nestled in a community surrounded by churches, colleges and next door to an elementary school, the innocuously named “Women’s Medical Society” was a cesspool of filth, blood-stained equipment, crumbling walls, and body parts in jars, bags and bottles. http://www.toomanyaborted.com/gosnell/
LOL, so gay people are not sinful unless of course they do what makes them happy. They can be gay but they just can't do gay things. At least have the balls to say what you really want to, don't dance around it.
Feel free to sign yourself up for any ridiculous rules you want to but don't dare to have the ego to expect anyone else to follow the rules you think make you special.
Who the fuck are you? You don't get to decide who posts in a thread because you started it and the very premise you started this thread upon is bullshit. You're a religious fanatic and a massive troll. You don't derserve an answer from me as to why I choose to believe some facets of my Roman Catholic religion and why I choose not to believe some. Continue with your naive and nonsensical pontificating. _
More talking points from your church elders. You know who should practice chastity? Your thousands of priest raping little boys. _
ah, ok. That explains Truth's odd crusade against pornography. he couldn't control himself so now he thinks the rest of us can't either. Most of us can control ourselves, believe it or not. thanks for trying though
