Back to church

[Svartalf]

If he has the mental endurance and willingness to run that gauntlet, good for him

[Rob]

Does your friend put out? Nothing less could induce me to subject myself to that kind of crap.
BTW, what denom are you going to?

I read that as "demon" and was . Then I realised it wasn't actually funny and I was all

Funnily enough, I was at a Skeptics in the Pub meeting last night and the speaker went to bible camp, simply to hone his discussion skills with fundies. An application of "know thine enemy".

[pcCoder]

When I read this stuff about indoctrination, I always think of the statistics about how often people change churches and sects (very often). So maybe they're all Christians, but does the particular dogma really matter at all? What are people looking for?

I wonder sometimes. The people have it nailed into their heads that their death is not the end, that they will see lost loved ones again, etc. I don't want to take away people's comfort. At the same time I don't want myself or others to be demonized because we don't believe the same stories. I would be fine with religion if it were only a comfort/afterlife thing. But it is often a greed, power, and control thing used to try and push their ways onto others through laws an schools based on their beliefs regardless of anything else. An as these people pledge to the US flag, then the Christian flag, then the bible I think that they have similar goals.

BTW, what denom are you going to?

It is a Canaan Baptist church. I also read that as 'demon' on first glance.

Funnily enough, I was at a Skeptics in the Pub meeting last night and the speaker went to bible camp, simply to hone his discussion skills with fundies. An application of "know thine enemy".

Today was my second day to this church. I'm embarrassed that I used to believe the stuff they preach. How can people believe such obvious b/s? How can't they tell that they are no different than another religion, just change the religion and it is the same, a preacher man preaching craziness from a sacred text to a collection of people who devoutly believe. So, what's the diff? If others religion are wrong despite the followers believing they are right, why should this one be right?

During service today the pastor talked about separation, of how god wanted his people after leaving Egypt to be separated from others, not to marry or associate with them. He also has a very wild take on the issue. His take is when the bible says to smite the people of the lands they will come to it is not talking about killing them but about killing any desire to 'mix' with them, because mixing with them will turn the people away from god and to false gods. He said that while they have left Egypt, Egypt has not left them. That as people are part of a society the often pick up things from the culture such as false religions and such. That had me floored. This is the best explanation of religion IMO, not a divine thing, simply a cultural thing that spreads and mutates as cultures do. It is a small step to make the link that Christianity is no difference, simply a cultural thing spread and changing from times long past. He expressed in detail that a person should not deeply socialize with others that do not believe. This makes sense of course; if you limit your contact to people who think differently then there is less chance of you thinking differently, regardless of whether you are right or wrong. But, how can one know if they are right or wrong if they never expose themselves to things that may go contrary to what they hold as true or correct.