Nice Comment

Comment by Mrs.B 1 hour ago

Our granddaughter once asked for money to go on a church trip, because our daughter told her to hit up grandpa because he is an easy mark.

Lucky it was by email, which my husband has nothing to do with, so I was able to tell her no, we don't support church in any way shape or form. It hasn't happened again.

Comment by Stephen 6 hours ago

"Atheists Win Lawsuit Against Colorado School District That Promoted Christianity" by Hemant Mehta (+The Friendly Atheist).

This all began in June of 2014, when the AHA’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center sent a letter to the Douglas County School District in Colorado detailing extensive evidence that officials at Highlands Ranch High School and Cougar Run Elementary School, in their capacities as District employees, were promoting Christianity and raising money for a Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ mission trip.

The FCA made it clear why they were going to Guatemala: “… our group’s primary goal is to share the love and hope of Jesus.”

That’s fine. They’re allowed to do that. But make no mistake: This trip, by their own admission, was about proselytizing, first and foremost.

Because this was a trip to preach the Gospel, the schools could not support or raise money for it, even if the students had a secondary, more noble, goal of handing out toiletries and hygiene bags.

That’s why this flyer, which was given to all students and parents at the elementary school, was a big problem:

The flyer makes clear that the trip is sponsored both by the Christian student group (FCA) and the public school sixth grade class. The school made abundantly clear that it was supporting the mission trip in connection with the official sixth grade “Latin American social studies curriculum.”

The AHA also pointed out that an email sent by a school official to parents urging them to donate supplies and money included a bit about how sales of the school’s news publication would go toward the trip. They also noted a blog post written by another teacher (in that capacity) writing about the purpose of the trip: “The heart of this journey is to share, celebrate, and honor Christ.”

If school officials wanted to donate to charity, there were plenty of non-Christian ways to do it. It’s not like mission trips were the only option. And if individuals working at the school wanted to donate to the mission trip, they were allowed to do that, too — but only as private citizens, not educators employed by the District.

This should have been an easy problem to solve. All the District needed to do was issue a mea culpa, promise to end the illegal promotion of Christianity, and move on.

But they didn’t do that. In fact, they didn’t respond to the AHA at all.

That’s why, in October of 2014, the AHA filed a federal lawsuit against the District. Not only did the lawsuit document the problems listed above, it also included details about how the school raised money for a different Christian non-profit:

… the school district actively promoted and engaged in a program run by the evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse. Called Operation Christmas Child, the program uses gift packages with Christian messages to persuade children in developing nations to convert to Christianity. Samaritan’s Purse is led by evangelical minister Franklin Graham.

In other words, this problem was even more extensive than anyone thought. It was getting harder to tell whether this was a public school district or a local church.

The AHA asked the judge to rule that the District violated the Constitution, prevent the District from partnering with Christian groups in the future, and force the District to pay all the court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Comment by Mrs.B yesterday

Can't accept facts, ya know.

Comment by Stephen yesterday

But the Church still displays it as if its real 

Comment by Mrs.B yesterday

I heard this on a documentary years ago.

Comment by Stephen yesterday

Shroud of Turin Is a Fake, Bloodstains Suggest

The Shroud of Turin is believed by some to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth. Currently, the cloth is on display at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

https://www.livescience.com/63093-shroud-of-turin-is-fake-bloodstai...

Comment by Mrs.B on Monday

Oh bring me a bucket please......fast!

Comment by Stephen on Monday

Oh for f##ks sake

Shock over ruling that 'brides of Christ' need not be virgins

Christian women who have pledged lifelong virginity as “brides of Christ” have expressed shock at a Vatican document that suggests literal virginity is not a prerequisite for their consecration.
The Vatican’s new instruction on consecrated virginity, Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, was published earlier this month after requests from bishops who reported an increasing number of women being called to the vocation.
There are an estimated 5,000 consecrated virgins in at least 42 countries, with the largest numbers in France, Italy and Argentina.
Consecrated virgins are unmarried women who offer their physical virginity as a gift to Christ, and devote time to penance, works of mercy and prayer. Unlike nuns, they do not live in enclosed communities or wear special clothing. Most have jobs, and they provide for their own needs.

The 39-page Vatican document offers detailed guidance on the vocation, including advising up to two years’ preparation before consecration.
It says consecrated virgins “are dedicated to the Lord Jesus in virginity … They experience the spiritual fertility of an intimate relationship with him”.
But the clause that has surprised some says actual virginity is not essential for a woman to become a consecrated virgin.
“The call to give witness to the church’s virginal, spousal and fruitful love for Christ is not reducible to the symbol of physical integrity,” it says.
“Thus to have kept her body in perfect continence or to have practiced the virtue of chastity in an exemplary way, while of great importance with regard to the discernment, are not essential prerequisites in the absence of which admittance to consecration is not possible.”
In a statement, the US Association of Consecrated Virgins, which says there are 235 consecrated virgins across America, said the document was “deeply disappointing in its denial of integral virginity as the essential and natural foundation of the vocation”.
“It is shocking to hear from Mother Church that physical virginity may no longer be considered an essential prerequisite for consecration to a life of virginity,” it added.
Women dress as brides for the consecration ceremony, in which they pledge perpetual virginity.
Theresa Jordan, who was consecrated along with two other women in Detroit last June, said: “It’s a promise that we make to be faithful to Christ all our life. [We] make him a promise of our virginity as a gift back to him.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/16/shock-over-ruling-tha...

Comment by Mrs.B on Sunday

Long way from virtuous in my books.

Comment by Stephen on Sunday

There you have it Religion in a nutshell. The religious say that faith is a virtue. Here it shows it to be a dangerous Psychoses.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• …
• 363
• Next ›
• Page