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Hurray for these Christians!

I've often contributed to threads condemning fundamentalist religious bigotry. Wahhabism, WBC, Haredi and Moral Majority types have all had my condemnation. If you criticise wildly reactionary Christian morals strongly, then I think you also have the obligation to recognise when other Christian denominations do something that demonstrates love, acceptance and moral tolerance.

I was heartened to read this article about one such Christian church doing something positive and progressive. Good for the URC (Presbyterian/Congregationalist) if and when they make this momentous decision, and congratulations to the happy couple, whenever they tie the knot.

Gay marriage vote: The couple hoping to marry in church - BBC News

Lots of churches have become progressive on gay marriage, others remain divided. Some are still holding to their guns and ban it outright, but those are rapidly becoming a relic of the past.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominational_positions_on_homosexuality
 
Lots of churches have become progressive on gay marriage, others remain divided. Some are still holding to their guns and ban it outright, but those are rapidly becoming a relic of the past.

All that's true. I just thought that I've been critical of the more retrogressive side of Christian church behaviour in the past, so I thought I should applaud when a Christian denomination does something progressive and positive. Balance is important.
 
Yeah, modern Christians are executing heretics left and right. :roll:

Is there any guarantee they won't in the future?

Here in Louisianan,I know quite a number of Christians who would do so in a heartbeat if they were to get the power to do so and the threat of repercussions and consequences was removed.
 
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11 dead abortion doctors might disagree that they stopped...
 
All that's true. I just thought that I've been critical of the more retrogressive side of Christian church behaviour in the past, so I thought I should applaud when a Christian denomination does something progressive and positive. Balance is important.

No worries. I do much the same as far as bashing religion. Lately, I've been trying to see the positive side of them---not so much to join or anything, but kind of like what you said above: applaud them when they do something positive. I've also tried to see things from their perspective. It's not easy---seeing things through that prism--but I try.
 

Actually, that is slightly wrong. Only 4 were doctors. 2 were clinkc worksers, one was a security guard, another was a policeman. and then a few others.
 
Actually, that is slightly wrong. Only 4 were doctors. 2 were clinkc worksers, one was a security guard, another was a policeman. and then a few others.

"Slightly"? Almost triple wrong.
 
I hear you. I'm just not sure that a self-confessed 'heretic', using the word as an insult, is being entirely ingenuous, in spite of talk of 'a matter of degrees'. I also don't think that the condemnation of protestant 'heresy' by a papist still imparts the sting it did in, say the year 1600. You are not disagreeing with the United Reformed Church because of their newly adopted, inclusive marriage policy, but because they are the United REFORMED Party. I guess that for a traditionalist, any sign of change can be used as a weapon in the counter-reformational struggle.

As an aside, it amuses me enormously that some Christian anti-Islamicists rightly condemn the retrogressive teachings of mainstream Islam, but go on to argue that the big difference between Islam and Christianity is the fact that Christianity had a reformation and that what Islam needs today is one of its own. Hilarious, given that followers of unreformed Christianity (Catholic, Oriental and Eastern Orthodox) outnumber the reformed by an order of 2-to-one.

While I would say that it is unorthodox (appreciate the pun) I don't think it is at all disingenuous. I'd be disingenuous if I were to speak of the speck in my brother's eye while ignoring the plank in my own. It just so happens I've got the speck and they the plank in this for instance. I agree with you in regards to the sting but I am also one who believes that Christianity lost its fervor when it stopped burning people at the stake. (there is a much greater theme behind that then the shock value of such a statement)

I am in disagreement with the URC more-so, as they've now thrown scripture completely by the wayside and allowed for a social construct that since the beginning was prohibited. I spent a time in my youth (4th -8th grade) with those crazy Calvinists and let me tell you, the Reformed church I attended would never have allowed such a thing. So no, and well yes, I suppose it is a case that I disagree with them for being them but it is because I disagree with their foundational theology. Most of it anyway but I'm not a cradle catholic who was raised up believing in the One, True Faith. I was raised very much to the contrary, Roman Catholicism was the Whore of Babylon and the coming Pope the Anti-Christ and all the people, in the billions were idolators and in fear of burning in hell for all eternity. For wide is the gate that leads to damnation and narrow which leads eternal life. Methodist, Reformed, Fundamental Evangelical was my Christian pedigree (christened, adolescence, teen) before I actually allowed myself not to be ruled by prejudices. I found great irony in learning more about the Bible in my studies regarding Catholicism than I ever could have imagined learning before. Especially, the bible based fundies.

Most Muslims like most cradle Catholics, and most Protestants know little to nothing about their own religions traditions. Most misconceptions about Islam are rooted in the same prejudices and fears that have been around for a millennia. The crackpots running around blowing **** up don't help to diminish those prejudices. The ironic thing is racial identity and Marxism are more at play with those nincompoops than anything involving Islam. They see great tales of what the Prophet(saw) did and they try to apply those tales as justification for the political ambitions of the day. A reformation does need to take place in Islam but one in which actually takes the people back to Islam. Removing and refuting the cultural norms and scripts that have been attached to Islam all the while having absolutely nothing to do with it.

I do understand that I'm not the norm. Most aren't as well read or have spent the requisite time pursuing the answer to the question "what is the Truth?". They go to church on Sunday maybe a bible group or some other function on Wednesday have their friends and life surrounded by the church they attend but actually spending little to no time actually investigating that which is preached from the pulpit or any of the underpinnings that those sermons(homilies) are built on. Those disenchanted with their own cradle denomination go seeking for a place of worship that is more to their liking, that is a place that they'll "get something out of". Isn't that a hoot? People picking and choosing where they'll WORSHIP GOD based on what THEY will get out of it? Don't they get it? It amazes me how many people don't see their error.
 
I'd have to disagree. The "Trinity" was clearly evident in scripture long before Tertullian. He might have advanced what was already in scripture, but he didn't 'develop' it. There were others who commented on the concept before Tertullian.

https://carm.org/early-trinitarian-quotes

"as it is known today" being the key words in that sentence.
 
"Slightly"? Almost triple wrong.

Not quite, since there were 11 people. The number was right, it is who they were that was wrong.
 
The claim was 11 doctors. The fact is four doctors. Eleven is nearly triple four. :roll:
 
Is there any guarantee they won't in the future?

Here in Louisianan,I know quite a number of Christians who would do so in a heartbeat if they were to get the power to do so and the threat of repercussions and consequences was removed.

Bull****.
 
Not quite, since there were 11 people. The number was right, it is who they were that was wrong.

Your man-made 'Reform Theology," which throws Judaism and Christianity under the bus in favor of politically-correct hedonism like gay sex, abortion, shacking up, etc., is to me an exercise in folly. There's no evidence God has been instrumental in its foundation, etc., so it's a puzzlement as to why you have it as your foundation for personal beliefs in favoring gay marriage. So exactly what is your objective basis for supporting illicit gay marriage?
 
No, you prove it. You cannot, because you made that **** up. ;)

Of course I can prove it. I can put up pictures and videos of the event.
But somehow I doubt that no matter what proof I put up,you would not believe it,so why bother?
You are just some nobody hiding behind a keyboard,so I owe you nothing.
What you think or believe is of no concern to me.
Now,unless you have something intelligent to say or ask,I believe there is no reason to continue this conversation.
Have a nice day.
 
Of course I can prove it. I can put up pictures and videos of the event.
But somehow I doubt that no matter what proof I put up,you would not believe it,so why bother?
You are just some nobody hiding behind a keyboard,so I owe you nothing.
What you think or believe is of no concern to me.
Now,unless you have something intelligent to say or ask,I believe there is no reason to continue this conversation.
Have a nice day.

The reason you won't "bother" is because you have nothing. The unrelenting vitriol and purposeful mischaracterization of Christians by you and your ilk speaks for itself.

Now run away and hide. Oh wait, you've already done that. ;)
 
Your man-made 'Reform Theology," which throws Judaism and Christianity under the bus in favor of politically-correct hedonism like gay sex, abortion, shacking up, etc., is to me an exercise in folly. There's no evidence God has been instrumental in its foundation, etc., so it's a puzzlement as to why you have it as your foundation for personal beliefs in favoring gay marriage. So exactly what is your objective basis for supporting illicit gay marriage?

This certainly reinforces the point you do not have spiritual discernment.
 
I am also one who believes that Christianity lost its fervor when it stopped burning people at the stake. (there is a much greater theme behind that then the shock value of such a statement)
I guess you must know that that defines you as the equivalent of ISIS, don't you? I thought that their predilection for beheading and burning heretics is one of the reasons they are beyond the pale.

I'm not a cradle catholic who was raised up believing in the One, True Faith. I was raised very much to the contrary, Roman Catholicism was the Whore of Babylon and the coming Pope the Anti-Christ and all the people, in the billions were idolators and in fear of burning in hell for all eternity. For wide is the gate that leads to damnation and narrow which leads eternal life. Methodist, Reformed, Fundamental Evangelical was my Christian pedigree (christened, adolescence, teen) before I actually allowed myself not to be ruled by prejudices.
I get it; you're a convert. That's often a clue to those who take to the most extreme positions of a faith.

I do understand that I'm not the norm.
I sincerely hope not.

Those disenchanted with their own cradle denomination go seeking for a place of worship that is more to their liking, that is a place that they'll "get something out of". Isn't that a hoot? People picking and choosing where they'll WORSHIP GOD based on what THEY will get out of it?
Because your picking and choosing and your disenchantment had nothing to do with you looking to get something different out of your faith?

Don't they get it? It amazes me how many people don't see their error.
Those heretics and apostates need to taste the flames, eh?
 
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