Kids and religion..........

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by Fat Tone
It makes your choice of av. even more interesting

I'm sure God has a sense of humour

[Fat Tone]

Look around here - he must have!

[Brian Ellis]

Originally posted by SpiralDragon

i have serious problems with clergy of any religion... they all strike me as a bunch of hipocrits... never met one of any religon that i thought "hay this dude is good and worth listening to"....

to me religion is just a nother corporate institution

To some extent I can go along with you as far as the hypocrisy of much of the clergy. I agree, most of them are in it for themselves, the same as politicians and actors (all are tarred with the same brush) - please excuse the brash generalisation. However, I have met a few clergymen and clergywomen who are sincere and not self-seeking. However, these are mainly introspective guys who are unable to express their feelings adequately. The extroverts, who can communicate, are usually those who have little of value to communicate, whether they are sincere or not. Catch 22.

I had a chat once with an English vicar who didn't believe in God! It took him so long to realise this that it was too late for him to change his profession, so he continued in the church, just as a livelihood, going through the motions of a good clergyman. I wonder how many others are like this?

And yes, many a church exploits its members and clergy to become rich, humengously rich.

[TransformX]

Brian, one of the biggest difference between the far east and the west is the questioning.

West: Good is whatever god says and no one is to question that.
East: Ignorance is bad, knowledge is good. Good can only be understood and done through self-understanding.

This is why the west goes by: God said _____ !!! You are blind and to do good, you have to follow god without questioning his way or you'll be considered a heretic.
While the for east, you are blind and you should strive to gain knowledge in order to "see" and understand. Following someone or something blindly is simply being ignorant. Ignorance = Blindness = Evil. Unless one questions, one can't learn, thus one can't understand and so one remains ignorant.

[Brian Ellis]

Mebbe I've become oriental in spirit

Too many trips into S, SE and E Asia (probably ~40-50 times) (16 times to S'pore, for sure, at least 10 times to Malaysia and 6 times to Thailand, 4 to India (no like), 2 or 3 times each to HK, Japan, Indonesia, once each to China, Brunei, Viet Nam and Philippines, with stays of 3 to 60 days each)

[SpiralDragon]

Originally posted by GuchiGuh
have you ever truly experienced feng shui spiral dragon? Its not just the art of placing your furniture in the right places~

not realy... but my mom likes to folow the comercial aspect of it and that i cant stand...

[GuchiGuh]

if you ever have a chance: Go to China/Taiwan and find yourself a decent Feng-Shui master.
It will change your life forever...

[Jammrock]

If God doesn't have a good sense of humor, we're all in trouble

[The Rock]

I think most kids hated church, for obvious reasons: usually you got dragged there on a Sunday, and after 5 days of school the LAST thing a kid wants is to be dragged into a building with adults yakking early in the morning, and told to be quiet for an hour or so while some old guy drones on about really boring stuff. Kids want to be out playing, or watching cartoons while gorging on sugar.

I HATED church as a kid for those reasons, and as I got older it got worse. My mom had to fight me from my bed to the car. But the stubborn woman never gave up. I went so far as to wear my old denim "rebel" jacket to church one day, thinking my mom would HAVE to concede and let me stay home. This particular jacket had a big ugly demon-covered Slayer patch (with the words "Reign in Blood") on the back, and upside-down crosses on each shoulder. Mom dragged me there anyways, and it was ME who gave up after that. Mom 1, Bart 0.

[Helevitia]

I think religion can be a great experience so long as certain things are left alone. Unfortunately, that rarely happens.

On topic: Those were great stories

[agallag]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
It's one of the few institutions that is based upon caring and fellowship instead of greed and profit...

Not in my experience. Just look at some of the exorbitant spending and general corruption by most of the organized religions out there.

Also consider that the bulk of my inheritance on my father's side has been donated to one church or another, a large portion of that to a pastor who skipped the country with his secretary and a bag of the church's money. My father is probably the biggest reason that I don't like organized religion. Let's just say that he, as a fanatical born again christian, puts the "mental" in "fundamentalist"

I realize that my personal experience may have soured me to the whole religion thing, but I'm really not against religion in general. It genuinely helps some people get through their lives. I just personally have no need for church.

[LvR]

In Sunday School one morning Little Joey raised his hand and proceeded to
ask a question that had perplexed him for some time.

"Mr. Goldblatt," said little Joey, "there's something I can't figure out.
According to the Bible, the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, right?"

"Right."

"And the Children of Israel beat up the Philistines, right?"

"Er, right."

"And the Children of Israel built the Temple, right?"

"Again you're right."

"And the Children of Israel fought the Egyptians and the Children of Israel
were always doing something important, right?"
"All that is right, too," agreed Mr. Goldblatt. "So what's your question,
Joey?"

"What were all the grown-ups doing?"

[GT98]

Originally posted by The Rock
I think most kids hated church, for obvious reasons: usually you got dragged there on a Sunday, and after 5 days of school the LAST thing a kid wants is to be dragged into a building with adults yakking early in the morning, and told to be quiet for an hour or so while some old guy drones on about really boring stuff. Kids want to be out playing, or watching cartoons while gorging on sugar.

I felt the same way. once I was done with my Communion or what ever it was when I was 7th Grade I was done with going to Church. Only time you'll see me there now is a Funeral or Wedding.

[KvHagedorn]

I wonder if any other people here had a similar experience to mine in church when I was a kid. I seem to remember that the kids would spend the first half hour there, getting their prayers and communion in, and then leave before the sermon to go to Sunday School. That's probably a much more beneficial thing for most kids (especially the little ones) than listening to a sermon and all.

On the other hand, having to sit on your hands and behave for an hour in a formal setting is good training for life in many ways. I know most little kids would like to be gorging on sweets and watching TV, but indulging them in whatever they want isn't really a good thing. What if we indulged our every whim later in life, too? 14yo guys would be going to Hooters and just following the waitresses, groping at will.. later in life we would just be walking into bank vaults and taking all the cash we want. There needs to be some discipline, and if it is learned early on, it probably makes people much more successful in life.

[The PIT]

KVH same experiance here.

Today Kids are expected to behave.