h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well it's nice to see that humor still prevails here.

My mum is a devout Christian (She's about to become a Priest) but she has encouraged me to explore others beliefs and to chose which Religion I want. I am now a Chocolatist.
However, I was quite shocked when we were shoping in the new town we moved to and she quite visably objected to someone elses beliefs.
We were walking down a street we had never walked down before when we came upon a Church of Scienctology and my mum imediatly crossed the street and said very loudly 'Heretics!'
Therefore I have decided that its best not to follow the beliefs of someone who does not respect others.
I know that most, if not nearly all Christians would not do such a thing. Even so, my mums views shocked me that day and I feel much better not being a Christian.

Ah, but IMO Scientology is a special case! It amounds not to heresy so much as fraud, and is actually out-lawed in some countries.

True. However, at the point when this happened I was 8 and didn't actually know what Scienctology was, so it's kind of imprinted!

I don't think the word 'heresy' really applies to other religions anyway as such. Historically groups or people declared heretical had to be members of the Church (everyone whose ruler was Christian except Jews and Muslims) who had somehow deviated, and had to be given a chance to repent their error.

Of course, historically speaking, Christianity and Islam are both Jewish heresies.

But as with most things the winners get to decide who's a heretic and who's not.

Noggin

Also christianity is outlawed in some countries does that mean we can opnely despise that too?

onelove

The word 'heresy' comes from hairesis, from Greek meaning a choosing, so anyone who chooses a heterodox belief is a heretic. It was originaly used against dissension from or denial of Roman Catholic dogma by a professed believer or baptized church member but it can be used in a much broader fashion against any unorthodox views in politics, philosophy or science. Most of my opinions are heterodox.


alji

This post has been removed.

Ooooh! We haven't had a post pulled for a long time.

alji

Copyright, I'm guessing.

to check Gmail.

Yes. I'll see if I can trim down the quotes and repost it.

TRiG.

Okay, let's try just this tiny bit:

"'"Is it true?" is the great question children ask', Lang said. They do ask that question, I know; and it is not one to be rashly or idly answered.¹"

¹ Far more often they have asked me: 'Was he good? Was he wicked?' That is, they were more concerned to get the Right side and the Wrong side clear. For that is a question equally important in History and in Faërie.

And my comment:

I don't think there's much need to tell children stories as 'true' or 'untrue'. It's just a story. They'll work it out.


There was a lot more to it, but that's the kernel.

It also contained this line: "Welcome me back to the God thread, people. My last post here was number 24899."

TRiG.

Oops, I forgot to say who I was quoting: Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories".

Another quote of mine from the original post:

"All I know of fairy stories and the study surrounding them comes from this fascinating essay of Tolkien's and from volume two of The Science of Discworld. Putting the two together gives some insights."

TRiG.

I think it is critically important to let childeren find out about other religions, if you force something upon them they are more likely to turn away from it in the future,
therefor i think it would be more important to lead them softly without them feeling forced into religion, teach them about other religions and remember even if they dont choose to follow your path they found something that matters to them

my grandmother is a scottish Roman Catholic, from an Irish family,
my mother is a Pagen and finds it very hard to trust the views of a church

I attended a RC school athough i was never baptised,
and grew up a relitively normal life
but I always felt that without a faith i was missing something,

and during my last year of school when i was 17 I met someone who's faith had a profound effect on me, not just because he felt so spiritual but because that faith made sence to me, it filled the void that i felt at not having a faith,

now I am a 19 year old mormon girl with a wonderful husband who was the young man i met the two years before, and we have had a temple marrage and sealing ceramony,

now I'm not saying that faith is for everyone, but sometimes it gives you that little bit more stregnth that you never knew you had,

before i found what was missing i was sure i was headed for a path i didnt want to go down, I couldnt find a course at collage, none of the univercitys i'd looked at really got back to me, infact I'd desided i didnt want to go down the path i had applyed for, If i had remained at home I would eather be on benifits or i would have joined the navy,
because I just didnt know what to do with myself,

now I am an art student studying Ceramics at UCALN
sure its not the best but its a start, I hope someday to be a teacher,
but I just wanted to enphasise that sometimes all you need is faith
whether that be in yourself or in God sometimes faith is all that matters.


Dr Anthea

Nice to hear from you again TRIG!

The Church Can Help


Don't just let worry kill you off - let the Church
help.
~ Baptist church bulletin

posted on yahoo

alji

So, as I put differently a couple of pages ago, I find the idea of relying upon faith ridiculous, ineffective and potentially dangerous. Is there room in your all-inclusive worldview for that?

I don't know how to put it properly, but I find the raw non-confrontationalness of that sort of statement seems ridiculous to me. How do you avoid being self-contradictary in the face of mockery? Can't sit on the fence always.

<>

Sigh, Blinky, you're being silly.

Scientologists are a special case, as well you know, and it's because of the aforesaid associations with fraud etc that they are outlawed in Germany, as you probably well know.
I don't despise Scientologists, I avoid them with a touch of fear...

Dr Anthea, please define you mean by being spiritual.