Onward Christian soldiers

Phantasmal said:
Compassion and empathy for others. Reverence for life, nature and knowledge. The appreciation of the arts. The concept of being a very small part of something so grand it’s beyond my thinking, marveling at that thought. Great food, great relationships and love.
Click to expand...

You just described most of my spiritual beliefs as well. Thanks.

I hope this doesn't mean that we have to start a church now. lol
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Ra-men to that last paragraph.

Mike Johnson believes in what that pastor told you. Is it wise for an ostensibly-free nation to have someone like that within a "couple of heartbeats of the Presidency"?
Click to expand...

is Mike johnson on the record on the fossil record or is this a wild guess?
 
Cypress said:
The explanation I heard is that if you read the Decalogue in context, the prohibition is against graven images that are intended as objects of worship.

Icons aren't worshipped strictly speaking.
Click to expand...
As TOW pointed out, the Protestants see it differently and I agree with them that the Catholic propensity for icons crosses that line. Example: "Three Hail Marys".

https://www.catholiccompany.com/magazine/efficacious-three-hail-mary-novena-6147
There is a centuries-old tradition in the Catholic Church of praying three Hail Marys every day in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to request her assistance throughout the course of our daily life....

...THE THREE HAIL MARY NOVENA
— In Honor of Our Lady's Power —​
Oh, Immaculate Mary, Virgin most powerful, I beseech thee, through that immense power which thou hast received from the Eternal Father, obtain for me purity of heart, strength to overcome all the enemies of my soul, and the special favor I implore in my present necessity.

[Name your prayer intention]

Mother most pure! Forsake me not, despise not my prayer, graciously hear me for God's glory, thy honor, and the welfare of my soul.

To obtain this favor I honor thy power by reciting:

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.
Click to expand...
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Ra-men to that last paragraph.

Mike Johnson believes in what that pastor told you. Is it wise for an ostensibly-free nation to have someone like that within a "couple of heartbeats of the Presidency"?
Click to expand...

It would be fine. There have been believers among the 45 men who have served as President. (one guy was counted twice, so 46 Presidents 45 men...) The world will not end. Shoot, they are everywhere and despite all the predictions of doom that people try to say will happen if they are elected to offices they haven't destroyed the nation.

The same guy is a constitutional attorney, he believes I have a right to a different belief and sticks to it. I'll take that before someone who insists that a sincere believer in Christianity is "dangerous" simply because they believe something that you do not.
 
Damocles said:
It would be fine. There have been believers among the 45 men who have served as President. (one guy was counted twice, so 46 Presidents 45 men...) The world will not end. Shoot, they are everywhere and despite all the predictions of doom that people try to say will happen if they are elected to offices they haven't destroyed the nation.

The same guy is a constitutional attorney, he believes I have a right to a different belief and sticks to it. I'll take that before someone who insists that a sincere believer in Christianity is "dangerous" simply because they believe something that you do not.
Click to expand...

IMO any holder of extreme religious beliefs should be considered carefully. Since Johnson holds extremist beliefs related to his religion -- on abortion and homosexuality -- we should beware lest he try to promote legislation implementing things like a national ban on abortion, or abolishment of SSM. There are enough bigots, haters, and evangelists and MAGATs to go along with that. You've seen how this is being acted out in a local or state level. DeSantis is running on it.
 
Cypress said:
I don't think it really matters, and I just personally find the beauty and aesthetics of religious iconography appealing.
Click to expand...
Despite all the haters of religion, the Catholic church funded some of the greatest art and science in Europe from the end up the Roman Empire throughout the Middle Ages.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
If anyone downgraded the Virgin Mary's status as an important NT figure, it was the Protestants. You are right, she is revered in RC and EO traditions. Not so much in mainstream Christian sects like Lutheran, Methodist, etc. Even less so among fundies and evangelicals, where she's just a nativity scene figure and not much else.

I've often wondered if the RC church promoted Mary, Mother of God as a holy figure in order to appeal to the pagan beliefs in goddesses as well as gods, to win them over.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Good insight.

In some ways, that feels weird to me that Protestants don't have saints or venerate the virgin Mary.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
IMO any holder of extreme religious beliefs should be considered carefully. Since Johnson holds extremist beliefs related to his religion -- on abortion and homosexuality -- we should beware lest he try to promote legislation implementing things like a national ban on abortion, or abolishment of SSM. There are enough bigots, haters, and evangelists and MAGATs to go along with that. You've seen how this is being acted out in a local or state level. DeSantis is running on it.
Click to expand...

I think it is extreme to insist on abortion until (and sometimes even after) birth, but I realize that folks that believe differently than I will be elected. This idea that people who believe differently than you who get elected are somehow "dangerous" and might enact laws that you disagree with (yeah, they got elected) and ran on. I get why you would run and vote against them, but trying to pretend that they are "dangerous" when their beliefs, just like yours, are protected by the same Constitution we rely on to curtail the basest instincts of the power hungry... I shake my head at that. I disagree vehemently with that kind of nonsense. I think folks who think the Constitution is changeable by simply believing differently rather than a constraint on government that ensures our liberties are dangerous to our nation, not folks who think there is a god.

We will likely always vote differently. However telling me to fear folks like my mother, for instance, because they are "dangerous" because they "believe differently"... I think Democrats very often are actually dangerous because they tell you the constitution shouldn't constrain the government the way it does... Thankfully even they haven't destroyed the nation yet, because the constitution continues to constrain them.
 
Cypress said:
Thanks.

Good insight.

In some ways, that feels weird to me that Protestants don't have saints or venerate the virgin Mary.
Click to expand...

They base this on the "no man comes to the Father but by Me!" verse in the Bible.

They think of God as family... You speak directly to your father, not through surrogates. Praying to someone other than God (Jesus) is anathema to them. Also using icons... They see that as idolatry and worshipping someone other than God.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top