Hello

[Sterling9578]

Thank You!

[Sterling9578]

Ah faith and its' multitudinous manifestations, what a wonderful thing.
You want to help the poor, but need help coping with their smelly feet, we can help.  In no time you'll be able to turn your nose up at those so called clever people.
Not comfortable with hell?  Easily fixed, we have a variety of plans for the squeamish.
Uneasy with clever woman, not happy with your place in society?  Don't fret half the population could be set below you.
Do you enjoy enthusiastic singing dancing and clapping, no worries we can do that too!
Yes that one is impressive, but yes you're right, a bit crass, too reminiscent of a used car sales man.
Ahh, I can see you're a discerning customer, yes the impeccable robes, regal hat, the metaphorical metaphors, the classics never go out of fashion. 

I think he is refering to the pope. Not positive though or maybe the book Godless. Or possibly still the UNICEF comment made eariler.

[The Magic Pudding]

Ah faith and its' multitudinous manifestations, what a wonderful thing.
You want to help the poor, but need help coping with their smelly feet, we can help.  In no time you'll be able to turn your nose up at those so called clever people.
Not comfortable with hell?  Easily fixed, we have a variety of plans for the squeamish.
Uneasy with clever woman, not happy with your place in society?  Don't fret half the population could be set below you.
Do you enjoy enthusiastic singing dancing and clapping, no worries we can do that too!
Yes that one is impressive, but yes you're right, a bit crass, too reminiscent of a used car sales man.
Ahh, I can see you're a discerning customer, yes the impeccable robes, regal hat, the metaphorical metaphors, the classics never go out of fashion. 

I think he is refering to the pope. Not positive though or maybe the book Godless. Or possibly still the UNICEF comment made eariler.

It was inspired by this from your Sterling self:

Anyway then I went to a Lutheran church for 3 months. I went confermation classes and I attended Bible Study. I decided that in all their unformalness and enjoyable lightness, it was not the true in doctine according to the Bible. So I went to the Catholic Church.

It seems you went looking for the Christian god, one offering was light and enjoyable, but  the Catholic church offered something different.  I've attended a few Catholic services, baptisms, weddings and communions.  There certainly seems to be a lot of effort put into making it a spectacle, through clothes, music, architecture and paraphernalia.  As for metaphors, the services were full of them, the priests say we are doing this to represent something else repeatedly.

So the truth is offered in different flavours for different folk, due I suppose to history and modern marketing techniques.  Some of us unbelievers will condemn churches for punishing divergent thought, but say ah ha, the Christian church is splintered, surely a divinely inspired faith would remain one.  We are hard to please.

Anyway I hope you enjoy Catholicism, personally I liked the sound of the easy going Lutherans, flamboyant displays seem a bit suspect to me. 

[Sterling9578]

Wierd, I find it the other way around actually. Like transubstantiation for example. They say exactly what it means. But the Lutherans treat it as not even a sacrament. Also it is very loud in Lutheran churches compared to Catholic Churches. They are also more tradational in the sense of they were the first church. The Christian Church split because of misunderstanding. This is why people read the bible and take their own intepratation is dangerous. I would agree if they disagreed AFTER they consulted a priest/theologian. I think that the protestant reformation should have been avoided all together. Then athiest or skeptics would have no case to argue. Though the cases made Martin Luther and Calvin are intresting they only highlight parts of scripture which SEEM to favor them but if you read the Bible, and you are able to consult SOMEBODY(doesn't even have to be a priest nessasarly) it will help you understand the doctine. This is the only reason the church is split. Also I remember talking to a pastor from the church I went to and she didn't even the basic belief of salvation by faith.

[Sterling9578]

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