What Would all the Church People Say?

Sparhafoc said:

Absolutely don't mean to suggest that individual ideas are not worthy in any respect, just that they're not when - for example - talking about Christianity and characteristics of the Christian God; for that, it's not idiosyncratic ideas that are relevant, but those which are most ubiquitous among Christians. If I was Christian and believed God's actual image was more like a chihuahua, no one could burn me at the stake anymore for saying so, but my idea wouldn't be representative of Christian belief.

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I know what you mean.

But at the same time, I dont have any control over whose thoughts on Christianity get published or not. You are always going to hear more from whoever has the most money. At least to some extent. It's hard for me to really know how uncommon my thoughts are.

I know I am not a Calvinist. But besides that, which of my other Christianity thoughts exactly would you say are uncommon? Just curious....perfectly willing to take your word for it..

Sparhafoc said:

It's rarely the pastor who amplifies such ideas, but the congregation is always keeping tabs.

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Wow. I have say this sums up what I also believe to be true about many churches. But I don't remember you ever talking about being in a church before. I am curious to know what lead you to this statement? Just your extraordinary perceptive ability?

I can't recall each example, but there have been a few over the years.

Let's focus on this one.

Don't get me wrong, an omniscient God (particularly coupled with omnipotence) is actually a terrible conundrum for thinking Christians - even the Arch-Bish of Canterbury admits the problem of evil keeps him awake at night.

But the concept of God's omniscience is in the Bible, the book which is basically the central dogma and doctrine of Christianity.

Psalm 147:5
Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.

1 John 3:20
in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

Psalm 139:4
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

Hebrews 4:13
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Isaiah 46:9-10
“Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My purpose will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;


I am sure there are dozens more such examples, and it is these verses which have caused Christian theologians throughout the ages to contend that God is omniscient.

While I obviously fully accept that you can believe whatever you want to believe - pick and choose whatever you like; I think you can't simply consider your beliefs 'Christian' if they're contradicted by Christian dogma and tradition.

Led Zeppelin said:

Wow. I have say this sums up what I also believe to be true about many churches. But I don't remember you ever talking about being in a church before. I am curious to know what lead you to this statement? Just your extraordinary perceptive ability?

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Well, I used to attend church when I was younger (honestly, I just liked the singing), and have been to religious meetings at all manner of places (currently, that would mostly be Buddhist temples, understandably) - it's the same everywhere because people often feel more secure as a group by finding someone different they can then 'other'. But in another life, I was also an anthropological field researcher in South and S.E. Asia and attended all manner of religious activities, so there's some degree of observational training involved.

Sparhafoc said:

Well, I used to attend church when I was younger (honestly, I just liked the singing), and have been to religious meetings at all manner of places (currently, that would mostly be Buddhist temples, understandably) - it's the same everywhere because people often feel more secure as a group by finding someone different they can then 'other'. But in another life, I was also an anthropological field researcher in South and S.E. Asia and attended all manner of religious activities, so there's some degree of observational training involved.

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Damn dude. That's pretty cool.

The weirdest quasi-religious ceremony I ever attended was with a hill tribe in southern India where a boy was undergoing his rite de passage to become an adult. The ceremony consisted of the adults drinking and dancing, and playing drums... lots of drums. The drums went on and on and on. The boy started out the day looking like any gawky prepubescent, but it was almost like the drumming caused some form of psychotropic effect (he wasn't drinking), and over the day he became more and more detached, glassy-eyed, and unresponsive. Then they brought out a massive fucking cow which he proceeded to slaughter by cutting its throat. As you know, I am not religious, and I am certainly not about to believe in some ancient southern Indian tribal sacrificial religion, but I can tell you that they believed, very strongly, and that the ceremony had a powerful effect on all the people attending.

Led Zeppelin said:

Damn dude. That's pretty cool.

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Nah. Better to be a store clerk.