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Any Christian Aspies out there?

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Sarcastic_Name
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13 Oct 2005, 10:15 pm

Pope.


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Litguy
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13 Oct 2005, 10:20 pm

eamonn wrote:
Thanks, unlike some atheists here i wont get angry over you or another christian praying for me as it is doing me no harm. Praying for people and 'talking' to god is one of the things i miss about being a christian. I wish there was a loving god out there but there is no point in me following something i dont believe in. Peace.
If you do not believe in a "loving God" out there, perhaps you could see prayer (mine, yours, anyone's) as an expression of the transcendental spirit of all people. Without believing in God, perhaps you could still understand the power of people expressing, through their thoughts, common desires.

If that sounds like gobbledy-gook, well, don't let it trouble you.

Maybe you will think about it again one day.



Litguy
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13 Oct 2005, 10:26 pm

Sarcastic_Name wrote:
Pope.
Okay, let's see how I shall translate this.

1) The position of the Pope makes Catholicism structurally different from other Churches.
2) The Pope makes "infallible statements of faith and morals," and if I don't believe each and every one of them, I ain't no Catholic.
3) The Pope is the anti-Christ
4) The current Pope is the historical successor of the Grand Inquisitor.(True in a sense.)
5) The Pope's a nice guy and everyone should send him a Christmas card this year.

Or something else?

Let me know and I'll be happy to discuss it with you in more detail.



eamonn
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13 Oct 2005, 10:37 pm

Litguy wrote:
If you do not believe in a "loving God" out there, perhaps you could see prayer (mine, yours, anyone's) as an expression of the transcendental spirit of all people. Without believing in God, perhaps you could still understand the power of people expressing, through their thoughts, common desires.

If that sounds like gobbledy-gook, well, don't let it trouble you.

Maybe you will think about it again one day.


Il have a think about it as i noticed that the goodwill of praying did seem to help me and those i prayed for in the past but curses to your god if i do this and still go to hell anyway. :lol:

When i first typed this out i wrote 'preying' and 'preyed'. Fruedian slip? LOL



Sarcastic_Name
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13 Oct 2005, 10:52 pm

Litguy wrote:
Sarcastic_Name wrote:
Pope.
Okay, let's see how I shall translate this.

1) The position of the Pope makes Catholicism structurally different from other Churches.


The Bible says go through Jesus to get to God. So why do Catholics need a pope to tell them what God says, can't they talk to God too?


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eamonn
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13 Oct 2005, 10:56 pm

Why do other Christians need the queen or their reverend or pastor to talk to god? My guess is that just like catholics they dont but find them good at bridging the gap and providing good examples. Every church has it's figureheads and indeed there were many 'prophets' in the bible and Jesus had his disciples. The Pope is just a figurehead, a spiritual leader that doesnt decide who get's into heaven or not and doesnt claim to.



Mockingbird
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14 Oct 2005, 9:57 am

eamonn wrote:
The Pope is just a figurehead, a spiritual leader that doesnt decide who get's into heaven or not and doesnt claim to.


The purpose of religon is not just to get into heaven. Christianity is about having a relationship with God.



Litguy
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14 Oct 2005, 10:36 am

Sarcastic_Name wrote:
can't they talk to God too?
Uh, yes. It's called prayer. Quite a legitimate behavior in Catholic life.

The Pope is a pastor. The Catholic Church is very hierarchical for a lot of historical reasons. There are many levels of pastor. The Pope is simply the top level. God doesn't love him any more than he does you or me.

Traditionally, the Pope is the descendant of the apostle Peter; he is not God, nor some exclusive conduit to God.



Last edited by Litguy on 14 Oct 2005, 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Litguy
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14 Oct 2005, 10:38 am

Mockingbird wrote:
eamonn wrote:
The Pope is just a figurehead, a spiritual leader that doesnt decide who get's into heaven or not and doesnt claim to.


The purpose of religon is not just to get into heaven. Christianity is about having a relationship with God.
And the ultimate fulfillment of that relationship is eternal life in Heaven.



Namiko
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14 Oct 2005, 12:08 pm

Mockingbird wrote:
eamonn wrote:
The Pope is just a figurehead, a spiritual leader that doesnt decide who get's into heaven or not and doesnt claim to.


The purpose of religon is not just to get into heaven. Christianity is about having a relationship with God.


Aye. I think it was Sean who said (in another forum thread) that Christians were people who realize that they're messed up and need to be saved and that heaven was another good thing that happens because of this.


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eamonn
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14 Oct 2005, 3:34 pm

The relationship sounds a bit one-sided to me. If it ever becomes two-sided do yourself a favour and dont tell anyone, especially not your doctor.



Sean
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14 Oct 2005, 3:53 pm

eamonn wrote:
The relationship sounds a bit one-sided to me. If it ever becomes two-sided do yourself a favour and dont tell anyone, especially not your doctor.

It's not like that. The "God told me to kill him" people have a mental illness. there's no debating that. The kind of person who explains that "God gave me the wisdom to get through a tough situation without doing anything detrimental to anybody" is the Christian with the two way relationship with God. As for not telling a doctor, why not? There are Christian physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists, and personally, I'd like to find a Christian psychiatrist.



eamonn
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14 Oct 2005, 4:00 pm

God is part of the human condition of being scared to look at the hard facts of life and dealing with them ourselves. By not telling the doctor if it becomes two-way i meant if god starts talking back to you then you should really worry.



Litguy
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14 Oct 2005, 4:24 pm

eamonn wrote:
The relationship sounds a bit one-sided to me. If it ever becomes two-sided do yourself a favour and dont tell anyone, especially not your doctor.
If you think God is an old man with a grey beard, I can understand your feeling. If you begin to think about what spiritual presence means, and has always meant, to humanity in their quest for meaning, you might come up with a relationship that is not simply linear in either or both directions.

Much easier to consider than to explain, I'm afraid.



Litguy
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14 Oct 2005, 4:26 pm

eamonn wrote:
God is part of the human condition of being scared to look at the hard facts of life and dealing with them ourselves. By not telling the doctor if it becomes two-way i meant if god starts talking back to you then you should really worry.
No. God is part of the human condition of not being afraid because things are not completely absurd.

I don't want to pull age on you here, but pleae understand that I have been where you are. There were times in my life when I thought I had it all figured out. I'm no longer there.

Try to imagine, if you can, a world where there are no coincidences. I am not talking about a Panglossian world where everything works out for the best, just a world where everything is connected.

Then, you might begin to understand what some of us mean by a relationship with God.

Bob Dylan wrote: "But, I was so much older then / I'm younger than that now." Sometimes, one needs admit to not having everything figured out.



eamonn
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14 Oct 2005, 4:44 pm

To my mind it is christianity that is trying to provide all the answers without any proof and i am more open-minded about the subject. Im not trying to convert anyone here but i am a no-nonsense man. Completely anti-bullshit am i. I cant believe so many people are still being duped by the worlds biggest con. Religion was brought in as a way to control people and still is to an extent. I'm sorry if this offends but it is the way i feel about the subject.