Entries Tagged 'religion' ↓

After reading Dannika Nash’s blog post about marriage equality and the church, I wonder if Dannika is missing the bigger point;

I’m writing this because I’m worried about the safety of the Church. The Church keeps scratching its head, wondering why 70% of 23-30 year-olds who were brought up in church leave. I’m going to offer a pretty candid answer, and it’s going to make some people upset, but I care about the Church too much to be quiet.

Someone said to me the other day, “I’m too smart to be a Christian.” Pretty poingnant. People like Nash who are constantly questioning their religion will find themselves leaving that religion. Sometimes these people leave their certain religion for another one, some just choose to float into outer space (agnostics). Others just give up on God all together. Myself, I believe in a higher power, I just don’t believe it belongs to a church or a religion. The problem with religion is that it constantly wants to be a political force. God is NOT a politician. I believe God created us to make wise decisions on our own, and we don’t need clergy to tell us how to vote, where to work, who to be friends with and certainly NOT who can be our lover. I think there is a conscience inside of all of us that tells us when we are doing right or wrong. I think this is also a gift from God. Religion tells us how to think, how to act, who to love. This is why I choose not to have a religion. I think someday Ms. Nash will figure out that the combination of religion and politics is just a recipe for disaster. This is why our country and world is so divided. Not because of our skin color, or because we love a certain person, but this belief that OUR God is the ONLY God to follow.

Silliness.

I can’t tell you what to believe, nor do I want to. But you must find PEACE with your own God. And if you find that in a church pew, good for you. I’m just saying that religion is not always the answer to your questions. Dig deeper. THINK. God wants that from us.

Some 4-Square fun!

My inquiry involves the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel and their type of religious activity’s effects on the political scene today.

The ownership of churches and property in SD are the following:

From the www.foursquare.org locator website:

1. Mitchell Foursquare Church • Family Christian Center

2. Rapid City Foursquare Church • Destiny

3. Watertown Foursquare Church • Family Worship Center

4. Watertown Foursquare • Little Blessings Daycare and Preschool

From other

1. Sioux Falls – Mount of Olives Ministries  preaches foursquare

2. Beresford – Living Word Fellowship

I want to know the differences and connections between these churches. If anyone has any insight I would appreciate it. I am working on a post about the influence of organized religion on politics in South Dakota.

Go to work foot soldiers!

This is well worth watching. I am not all the way through all the videos yet, but I will say this about what I have seen so far; while most think that religion delivers us from evil and saves our souls, one has to question the evil leading some of these religions? IMO, religion is a double edged sword, on one side it can bring peace, love, humanity and charity, on the other hand it can bring abuse, war, and death. And no religion is without guilt. All of them have killed in the name of their God.

I’m at peace with being a deist. Remember, Man created religion, not God. Something to think about in the New Year.

While I think wearing hoods in public (think KKK) is stupid (God knows what you look like) I totally disagree with this law. The French are silly sometimes. They live in an entirely socialist democracy with a foundation that is based on the rights of individuals, yet they are trying to tell people how to dress? One step closer to Communism?

Luke, let’s jump over these heathans, with our BMW

While this may surprise some people in the clergy, it does not surprise me. You don’t NEED religion to have faith in a creator. As former governor, Ventura of Minnesota, said once, “Religion is a crutch.”

An overwhelming majority of South Dakotans say they believe in God, but only about half of the state’s residents say religion is very important in their lives, and a smaller portion than that attend services each week, according to a new survey examining religion.

You will also notice from the survey that states that take religion more seriously are more likely to be involved with right wing extremism, teabaggery, and general ignorance;

Mississippi, followed by several other Southern states, was tops in religious fervor, according to the survey, which asked questions about worship attendance, frequency of prayer, belief in God and religion’s importance in one’s life.

Now get out your bible, your gun, white hood and confederate flag and go pray.

JayQ from Them vs Them has a side project called The Retar Crew. Their first release is free to download. It hardly sucks at all… like your mom.

After reading this letter, I don’t know whether to comb my hair or shoot myself?

Human religion denies holiness and ignores the omnipotent, personal agency of the Holy Spirit. It is a poor, pale, sickly thing born of the union of the heart of the world with the head of Christian theology – a mongrel, bastard thing with a backslidden church for its mother and the world for its father.

Uh, okay.

This was my favorite comment to the story on the Gargoyle’s website;

“Goody! Another one who wants to cast the rest of us into the fires of hell. Just in time for Christmas!”