I see our newest user has posted about actuarial exams, but not a thing about rivets. 
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I don’t talk faith here much as it’s not really welcome (dust off your shoes and move on Jesus said) but I do want to post this as this is someone I respect and someone who gave up his spot among the “religious” elites because he was unwilling to go along with portraying Donald Trump as a Christian leader. Anyway he has a book coming out soon telling his story and critiquing the church (particularly the SBC). I have prayed incessantly for the revival he calls for in our churches. I know that faith has made a huge impact in my life and I know it could make a huge impact in many other American’s lives but continued involvement in one party politics by leadership is just decimating the credibility of their words. They truly aren’t much different than the Pharisees of Jesus time. More concerned with power than faith.
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when i see how the modern evangelicals and right wing types act and then claim to be devout Christians (or even in the name of Christianity) i am reminded of the Ghandi attributed quote (real or off, it applies). I can easily entertain discussion of faith vs works within certain ranges, but the current landscape is so far outside that range i can’t reconcile most of it.
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There’s a quote to the effect of “forget putting Christ back into Christmas, the focus should be putting Christ back in Christianity.”
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Interesting thought, but it’s never going to happen. “Evangelical Christians” in this country have largely gotten in bed with right-wing conservatism, which is pretty much diametrically opposed to what Jesus taught:
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About taxes - “Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”
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About the wealthy - “Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful; for he was one that had great possessions.”
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About how to treat the disadvantaged - “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me.”
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About weapons and resorting to violence - “Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
One could go on for quite some time with this game…
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I am atheist but could see myself voting in line with a political party focused on Christlike living. In modern times I view the Democrats as typically closest to that while the Republicans seem more focused on hate and doing harm.
But if a party actually got behind the teachings of Jesus, probably I’d naturally follow them as they’d believe a lot of things I do (give to the poor, love one another, turn the other cheek, do under others, speck of dust in your brother’s eye, etc.)
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I seriously hate those people that say everything is the will of God.
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That’s bad enough, but this is much worse IMO.
Teaching children that a sin is a good thing because it makes Christians stronger is F’d up. Might as well teach them about how violence, rape, incest, child abuse are great things too because if they happened to you it’s because God wanted it. Depraved.
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I mean if everything is the will of God that aren’t our non Christian leaders in those positions bc of the will of God?
It always sounds like someone working up to eventually say they speak for God. See what he does there at the end and asks if “USA is a country under God”. How do you answer such a question?
So, thank God for 9/11, imo.
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Exactly. Or that “God needed another angel” bullshit to explain a tragic death, as if a dead 4 year old fills some need.
Meanwhile it’s crickets when it comes to doing the actual will of God (supporting the poor/sick/orphaned, anti-violence, serving others, etc).
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I’ve only ever heard this in the context of a Christian trying to comfort someone for their loss. But it isn’t Biblical as per James 1:13. And when God speaks to Job in Job chapter 38 by the time you get to verse 7 it is evident that angels already existed when the earth was made, no children required. Other scriptures explain why there is death and how it will be eliminated.
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Mass in Latin has always struck me as a strange hill to die on for the rad-trad/TLM faction of the Catholic faith. One of their arguments is that it’s the language of the Cross. But that was the language of the people who put Christ on there. So, why insist on the language of the enemy?
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What’s your interpretation of the demographics of a TLM person? I’m not Catholic, but from reading /r/Catholicism (which tends toward the younger crowd) it seems that more older adults are sick of TLM and the religious youth are more into the tradition.
From my observation, it’s hard to tell. The message forum on CatholicMatch when I was on it before I met J2 (not on there, and who, ironically, is not Catholic) seemed to have younger as well as older devotees to it.
The older ones act more like they just wish Vatican II had never happened, almost acting like it never happened. (Like the meme about “it’s a shame they never made any Matrix sequels.”). They are more subtle about being disdainful of “The Mass of Paul VI” like in that “bless your heart” way.
The younger ones seem to be more aggressively hipster about it, like someone who newly joined a cult and is just starting to preach its virtues to the unwashed. The younger ones seemed to be more likely to be more aggressive about non-TLM Masses being invalid, even being more aggressive about claiming that being non-Catholic is a sure ticket to hell (something the faith doesn’t actually teach).
older folks who recall it as the language of the faith they grew up in. some are more conservative and didn’t like vatican II (in the 60’s).
a younger person preferring it would likely be someone who is very conservative, prefers how stuff used to be, and thinks the modernization of stuff is awful. (these are guesses)
Good guesses. Not far off from my own observations.
/r/Catholicism is certainly conservative. Popped on there the other day and the top post was from a woman who’d had sex before marriage and was mentally self-flagellating.