Subject:
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Re: Geez, its hard to stomach all of this
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Mon, 21 Dec 1998 23:54:06 GMT
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Reply-To:
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[lpien@ctp]SayNoToSpam[.iwantnospam.com]
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Viewed:
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1038 times
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De Bengel wrote:
> I don't feel a need for a God of anysort in my life. But I do plan to
> go to church this christmas. Partly because there are a lot of things
> that do appeal to me, and partly because my friends like to celebrate
> christmas with me. And yes, those friends are christians. Does that
> make me a hypocrite?
No. I go to church too, believe it or not. Let me explain. Tom was
close.
I am prone to throwaway lines that don't explain in detail what I meant,
and it's a consistent problem I have. Everyone should feel free to call
me on it, too.
What I meant was the person who has decided he is NOT christian, but is
going to "fake it". Professing to lead a christian life, he goes through
the motions, but doesn't really live that way. He goes to church every
week because if he didn't the neighbors, or his business associates, or
the town elders, would talk. But he doesn't MEAN it.
He's a hypocrite because he is not being true to himself, and he knows
it. I know a number of people just like this person. They are especially
common in small towns where everyone knows everyone else.
Help at all?
Now, as to why I go to church, why, it is to show respect or honor to
people that I care about. I did not get married in a church, nor did
either of my parents funereals occur in a church, by their request.
But I have friends and relatives who are religious. While I may find
them misguided (1), I certainly value their friendship and/or kinship,
and I wish to show honor and respect by being present at the rituals
that they find important.
So I have attended many weddings in a wide variety of churches. I bow my
head at the appropriate times and keep silent, because to cause a
commotion would be disrespectful. I shake hands with those around me if
the ceremony uses that symbolism. But I don't take communion, or kneel
before getting in the pew, or recite the lords prayer, and anyone who
asks me directly would be told (offline, in a non disruptive way) that I
am a nonbeliever.
And I have attended many funereals (not AS many, fortunately) in
churches. A funereal is for the relatives still living, not the
deceased. He or she no longer exists and can have no awareness of what
is transpiring. But I wish to comfort the bereaved and if my solemn
presence and sympathy is a comfort, I want to do that. So again, I do
not participate in rituals that acknowledge a god at the funereal, but I
certainly participate in a respectful, non disruptive, dignified way.
De, to your other question, I would not find anyone seeking truth in any
form (whether it be a current atheist reading the bible or the koran, or
a physics text, or a book on biology, or a current religionist doing any
of the same things) to be hypocritical.
Truth is as we find it and how. Searching for truth is a Good Thing.
1 - and even have to check their reality perception once in a while. :-)
--
Larry Pieniazek http://my.voyager.net/lar
For me: No voyager e-mail please. All snail-mail to Ada, please.
- Posting Binaries to RTL causes flamage... Don't do it, please.
- Stick to the facts when posting about others, please.
- This is a family newsgroup, thanks.
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Geez, its hard to stomach all of this
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| (...) I don't feel a need for a God of anysort in my life. But I do plan to go to church this christmas. Partly because there are a lot of things that do appeal to me, and partly because my friends like to celebrate christmas with me. And yes, those (...) (26 years ago, 22-Dec-98, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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