Religion

So how religious are you?

I am a Catholic.
I attend mass almost every Sunday.
While I attend sometimes, I don't consider myself religious at all.
Basically I don't believe in the Bible.
Part of it may be true but I'm not about to trust any of it.
I have serious doubts on whether Jesus Christ is the messiah. I do believe there is a God.
Sometimes I really think Jesus was the messiah and other times I don't. At the moment I'm still trying to figure out what I believe in that regard.

I see God as one of laissez-faire. He sort of created the universe and left it as is. Perhaps he knew civilizations would occur but I don't know.
Personally, I don't think he effects our lives at all.

Separation of Chruch and State is very important to me.
Under no event should someone vote for President based only on their relgion (I am not picking on Democrats or Republicans. This is a dicussion on religion not politics.)

I consider myself tolerant of other faiths and beliefs. I have been inside a Mormon, Greek Orthodox, Anglican and several other churches. In my travels I have been to the cathedrals of London, Paris and the Vatican.

One thing I dislike is when people attack others for being agnostic. I don't see anything wrong with being agnostic and those people should not be attacked for their personal ideas.

-Seldon

 

No one cares what you think.

AYBABTU

 

Then why did you click on this thread that was written by me?

 

So I could tell you that no one cares what you think.

AYBABTU

 

IF you don't care then you're in the wrong place, in the wrong forum, talking to the wrong person.

 

That theme didn't work for Kerry, so why would it work for you?

AYBABTU

 

Kerry went up in the polls after that debate.

 

And the polls have been shown to be meaningless, as he still lost by a statistically significant margin. The Democrats have been unable to get a simple majority of the popular vote since 1976. Maybe they should try going back to church once in a while so they can more closely relate to mainstream America.

You're the oulier, not the rest of us.

AYBABTU

 

You have no evidence to indicate that Kerry lost because of the phrase "wrong place, wrong war, wrong time."

Yes, everyone should go to church to get votes.

-Seldon

 

Which of the two candidates campaigned from churches to try to get votes? Since you don't keep up with the news, I'll answer for you.

Kerry is the one who campaigned from churches, not Bush.

Unfortunately for him, we weren't fooled by his pandering.

AYBABTU

 

I am well aware of it.
He was at a Baptist church in a battleground state days before the election.

I'm not Kerry, we don't share the same thoughts on every policy or issue.

-Seldon

 

He wasn't at just one. He campaigned from the pulpit every Sunday, in direct violation of IRS rules governing churches' tax exempt status. And yet Christians across the country still weren't fooled by his nonsensical ravings and false righteousness, and they voted overwhelmingly against Kerry's questionable moral stances on the positions.

The Democratic Party's pushing away of the Church over the last 20 years is finally starting to catch up with them in a big way, and they will not win another national election as long as they forsake the majority of the American people.

AYBABTU

 

It time, I am confident that ignorance will be overcome and the American people will realize that there is a clear separation of church and state and that they should vote on issues, not on what dogmatic priests and ministers preach.

-Seldon

 

How is voting for moral values a violation of church and state separation?

Indeed, is Kerry not the one violating the principle by campaigning from churches and trying (in vain) to run on his Catholocism?

And you expose your distaste and contempt for the religious with your choice of the word "ignorance." The majority of Americans would seem to believe that you are the extremist, not them. Indeed, you are in the minority, not the religious.

AYBABTU

 

I believe it was John Stuart Mill's in ON LIBERTY, that stated that the opinions of a minority of one must be respected.
It was George Orwell who said that even a minority of one can sometimes be correct.

What is your point?

-Seldon

 

I love how this whole "seperation of church and state" has been on the books since the beginning of time. Did you realize that it wasn't against the law for a church to engage in political activity until 1954 when Lyndon Johnson -- then a senator being called out on his corrupt ways by religious groups in TX -- slipped an amendment on to the 1954 Tax Code bill that prevented non-profits for engaging in political compainging. The amendment was added with no hearing and no testimony by the affected groups.

Sounds like typical liberal legislation to me.

 

The phrase also can't be found in the US Constitution. "The Separartion of Church and State" actually came from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Anabaptists. His intent was to assure them that they could engage in political activity and worship as they saw fit (even in professional and official settings) without fear of recrimination or restriction by the federal government.

This is what we call "irony."

AYBABTU

 

In our history, some of our best policies were never mentioned in the US Constitution. The Monroe Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, The fact that we can purchase terrirotires (Louisiana). So much is not found in the Constitution. It is a document of implied powers and in addition it is meant to change with the nation.

-Seldon

 

What you just said has nothing to do with anything. Congratulations on being the most consistently pointless debater I've ever seen.

AYBABTU