Let Us Bray
According to today’s Drudge Report
The new Jesus walks among us. If there be a God, please help us now.
Troy
Thoughts Aloud
…A Haven For Sovereign Rational Minds
- on Ayn Rand and Maria Montessori
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- on Perhaps We Protest Too Much?
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- on Ayn Rand and Maria Montessori
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- Rogan & Musk
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- TTFN
- Stateless National Defense
- Perhaps We Protest Too Much?
- My Stateless Mind
- Systems Analysis For The Mentally Challenged
- More Things I Do Not Understand
- Assassination Politics
- Can A Second Civil War Be Avoided?
- Why I Quit The Libertarian Party
- Separating “Parents†From Children
- Roseanne, Did You Lose Your Mind​?
- Need A Good Vomit?
- How Can They Kill Me? Let Me Count The Ways
- Pat on Bitchute
- A New Mantra
- Uncommon Wisdom
- Lion vs Mouse
- A Gnawing Problem
Think Up/Down not Left/Right
LOL… Your comment reminds me of one of my favorite bumper stickers:
Your title strikes me as the suggestion that if the Canadian Born Again Citizen is nominated by the elephants, it will be time to vote instead for a braying donkey. 😀
I watched all of the revealing videos linked on the Drudge headline:
…along with a few follow on investigative report videos exposing one of the major charlatans in some of them. These appalling Pentecostal sheeple, are ‘anointing’ Cruz for King, for the express purpose to conquer the secular world, and transfer all of of our wealth to their church, which supposedly will usher in their ‘end times’ Apocalyptic dreams. That these fools even exist, is every bit as depressing as the knowledge that sheeple who believe in and adore Bernie and/or Hillary exist.
Personally, I thank whatever gods may be, for my rational mind and unconquerable soul. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
Not so. It is based on my observation that, when done out loud, praying and braying have much the same effect.
Troy
Agreed, Troy. My ears find the racket of either disturbance of the peace equally annoying. 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
And they say Catholics don’t have a grip on reality. Not sure why this made such a huge headline. It’s not like it’s anything new. Not like others haven’t been there. LOL https://youtu.be/rPyBEe_QFLU
Yeah, you remember that I posted and commented on that embarrassing video before, Chris. What I noticed this time, was the fool Kenneth Copeland praying in the beginning of it, is the same charlatan I mentioned above, whose mega-church with the the 18,000 sq ft parsonage and corporate jet was being investigated. He was helping anoint Cruz in some of Drudge’s videos, so I guess he is an equal opportunity Christian kingmaker!
As to why the yuge headline, most sheeple are unaware of these evangelical Christian shenanigans, and nonsense such as Cruz’ father speaking in tongues. Matt Drudge appears to be on Trump’s side, and after last night, the timing was right to knock Cruz down a peg. 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
Here’s a better one. https://youtu.be/EQ18exdhR6I
On a coffee table today, I spied a thin paperback book entitled, “Rediscovering Jesus.” Since the table belonged to a 74-year-old lady, who was raised a Catholic in Ireland, but is a devout agnostic, I guessed it must be some Cruz campaign literature left on her doorknob. 😀
Perusing it, however, it turned out to be a Christian tract. Curious which evangelical sect had knocked on her door, I checked the title page and was shocked to find that it had been printed by an obscure Catholic outreach organization. I didn’t know that Catholics ever even proselytized, much less roamed the streets pestering people about Jesus their savior. Chris, you are the expert, what’s up with that? â—„Daveâ–º
I have no idea Dave. You are correct that Catholics don’t openly proselytize in the sense of a Jehovas Witness or Born again. We most definitely don’t go door to door although I suppose there’s nothing that says we can’t. We just have better things to do. The extent of Catholic proselytizing is based on actions and good works. Through community service they come to us. A Catholic would seek to bring another into the faith by examples of kindness and compassion. Detractors seem to think that equates to trying to “buy your way into heaven”. I find that funny when you look at the modern palaces being built by the TV preachers. Their money comes from somewhere.
I wish you had questioned your friend on how she actually came about the material. For example if she were a person of modest means she may have visited a church food pantry, thrift shop or any number of community programs. There are people of all faiths and no faith at all that seek help for addiction problems, or other health related issues. Through catholic charities there are ride programs for the elderly and or disabled to assist in their shopping or medical appointments or any other everyday needs. In any of that sort of setting the material you describe would be available. In short there are countless opportunities to come in contact with such material. Many detractors also equate that with being forced into religion to obtain services. That is also not the case. Need does not begin or end at the church doors.
You mentioned that your friend was agnostic. That by no means equates to atheist. It’s possible that she found information in the literature that made it worth taking and retaining. The core of Catholicism is not that different than what would be called main stream Christianity. The biggest difference is we stand simply on who we are not how many we can be. Your friend retaining the material is not a bad thing no matter how she got it. 🙂
Oh I forgot to address you mentioning your friend being raised Irish Catholic but now claiming to be agnostic. Without passing judgement her adhering to be agnostic is a pragmatic view of her being a “non-practicing Catholic”. Raised in Catholicism never leaves. Particularly Irish Catholicism. Being disenfranchised from the church doesn’t change who you are. Only where you go.
Only opinion from my own personal experience.
Boy, did you nail it, Chris. Agnostic was my word, not hers. I used it in the sense of ‘unsure’ about the true nature and specific identity of a deity – if there actually is one – but she is hedging her bets. When I met her twenty years ago, I would have labeled her spirituality as “New Age.” She admired the likes Deepak Chopra, had books by and about various yogis, and even had a guru in India, whose ashram she had made the pilgrimage to a few times over the years. Yet, she is still comforted by the familiar ritual, often goes to mass on Easter and Christmas with her family, and insists on a Catholic funeral.
We have had frequent and long discussions, similar to those I used to have with the fundies on Freedom Torch forum. Intellectually, she agrees that religion is mostly BS, and occasionally admits that she must be an atheist. Even though educated by nuns in an Irish convent, she has never read the Bible, and was shocked at some of the nonsense I would quote from the Old Testament to discredit her faith. Her attitude was that that was all Protestant gobbledygook, which Catholics pay no attention to. All a practicing Catholic needs to know about Mary and Jesus, comes from the liturgy.
I get the impression that she views Him as just another guru, imbued with the spirit of God; but not necessarily the ‘only’ such incarnation. She is taken with the theory that Jesus was traveling in the East learning from the yogis, during the missing years before he returned to Palestine to gather some disciples of his own, and preach the Gospel. 🙂
Anyway, I called her this morning to ask where the book came from. She LOL at the question. She had occasion to attend mass with her brother’s widow a few weeks ago, and they were passing them out for free as they exited the church. She had deliberately put it out on her coffee table just to get my goat! That would have worked much better had she abused it a bit, to make it look like she was actually reading it. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
Why ever would an old lady want any goat, much less yours? Now that she has it, will she give it back?
I remember years ago near the start of my IBM days when I was a programmer. We had several “exchange” employees from France working with us. My “office” at the time was also the supply room. One day, one of the Frenchmen came in and asked me if he could have a coding pad. I told him “no”. As he turned away perplexed by my response, I called him back and said “of course you can have one — I was just pulling your leg”. Thus began a very long conversation with me trying to explain how pulling one’s leg was the same as teasing or joking with them. To this day, I am not sure I ever made my point, just as I often fail to do in this medium.
This is a true story and I am not just “having you on”.
Troy
LOL… yes, I have experienced the difficulty of trying to explain idioms to ESL speakers myself, when living overseas. Since this is a freethinking thread, two of my favorite idiom examples are from biblical times. When they dug up the Dead Sea Scrolls, the ancient text was translated directly into modern English, without all the intervening translations and interpretations that have distorted the modern bible. Two idioms from the times stood out. “Pillar of Salt” was an idiom for paralysis, so Lott’s wife wasn’t miraculously transformed into a column of sodium chloride after all.
Then, being “Swallowed by a Big Fish” was an idiom for a serious problem or trouble, akin to the modern idiom, “In the Doghouse.” Apparently Jonah didn’t need to have gills after all (I still remember challenging my Sunday School teacher to explain how he could breathe). If you think getting through to a Frenchman was difficult, try explaining these idioms to a literalist fundie. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
I guess sometimes I just get lucky. 😉
Your friend is still what I would consider a catholic. Albeit probably not a description she would apply to herself. (She may accept the term “holiday Catholic” which may sound derogatory but really isn’t. I know more of them than devoted Catholics.) There is something about Catholicism that allows one to draw away from the church yet still seek both joy in times of celebration and comfort in sorrow from within the church. I can only say that no matter how long someone is away returning fosters only a feeling of familiarity and belonging. There is no “shunning” in the modern Catholic church, and judgement is the Lords. You can leave the church but the church never leaves you.
Agreed. Wouldn’t have hurt you to give it a look either. 😀
I better be careful lest I be accused of proselytizing. 🙂
In my thinking not absolutely true. I have read the bible and over the years probably all of it both old and new testament. Not the King James though which is the Protestant interpretation and most likely the only one you find laying around. What I haven’t done is “study” the bible like what you consider a “fundie” would. When read under full understanding of when it was written, by who it was written, and for who it was written it carries a certain logic and historical value. I can tell you one thing. You will be looking a long time to find a Catholic literalist. That would be some crazy stuff.
The KJ version is just an earlier version than the one you are reading. It could only be considered a ‘Protestant’ version in that a goodly number of them actually think Jesus spoke 16th Century English, and they are demonstrating their piety by using “thee,” “thou,” and “art” in their everyday speech. Thus, they refuse to use a more modern version, which is infinitely easier to read. 🙂
You are not missing anything. What the fundies call ‘bible study,’ is a session where scripture is interpreted by some supposed learned biblical scholar, who can make the words mean whatever he wants them to mean. LOL… That is what is so incongruent. They are literalists when it suits them, and outrageous interpreters when it doesn’t. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
Oh I know exactly what I’m not missing. I have been in attendance at “bible study” on a couple occasions. A passive and by the end unwilling observer actually. It was when I had first met Toni. They were Toni’s mothers guests.