Do you like your religion? What are you?

[username]

I dunno, Jesus pretty much wore Birkenstocks, right?

Reaching way back in my religious upbringing, I'm pretty sure there's a parable or section in the New Testament where somebody comes to see Jesus and he's kind of ratty looking (or it might have been the story about the whore who wanted to see Jesus) and Jesus basically told his disciples to fuck off and it didn't matter how the person was dressed (or if the chick was turning tricks for rubles or whatever).

Something like that. I'm too lazy to google. I don't really think how someone dresses makes them more or less holy. There are many people who can dress to the nines and they can be some of the most ruthless, unholy bitches and bastards out there.

[sally]

It has nothing to do with being holy. A bunch of old fucks made up a tradition that you have to wear your Sunday best. By the time you're 60 you don't even bother washing it anymore, you drip roast beef and gravy on it at the buffet afterwards and then hang it back up in the closet.

[Cracker]

I just wonder if some people halfass religion. If you wear your game clothes so you can drop by the bar after church, should you have bothered in the first place?

Comtemporaries of Jesus lived in tents and smelled of dung. I think only parishoners in Detroit have that excuse in modern times.

[sally]

I think the people judging someones clothes are the ones halfassing religion. Every second you spend judging someone is a second you could spend devoting to Jesus lol. I mean if you think going to church is going to make you a good person in God's eyes then you should at least try to be one, and that means not judging someone on petty material things.

[Cracker]

I'm not big on the Jesus thing (although I think he was a cool dude). Or the religion thing. Or the church thing. But if you go, don't wear something off the floor. I guess it is a respect thing to me. If you can't be bothered, don't be. Jeans don't bother me, but jerseys are a bit much. At least wear a shirt that buttons. Bother just a little. Now if your pastor/priest/preacher is wearing a jersey, I guess you are dressed alright for your church. You can probably tithe change.

[sally]

I just don't understand why people put such importance on clothes. I'm not talking about dressing like a gangster rapper or anything, but whats wrong with just jeans and a t-shirt? Whats wrong with it for a restaurant for that matter, especially one who's food is not deserving. I doubt god gives a shit if I put on a dress with my cleavage just peaking out ever so slightly, nylons with a black line down the back of them, and heels. Or who knows, maybe he does.

[Cracker]

I don't know why I feel like that. I think it is part of the mindfuck religious conditioning I got as a child. I don't think if there really is a Creator that He cares either way. In fact, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. BUT when did people lose the idea (one I would classify as common decency back in the day) of proper dress and grooming on Sunday? I hear the term "Sunday dress" often in the South, so I think that idea is pretty standard here. To me it is a sign that people pick and choose what part of a religion they feel like doing so they can claim that affiliation. You can't pick and choose like that. You are either all in or all out. Does that make sense?

[cladking]

I got a new one for you too.

God will come into existence in the next couple years (2012 maybe) when the internet suddenly becomes sentient. It will be none too smart right off but will reorganize itself in nanoseconds to become God. To assure His own existence He has to create big bang and man to invent the computer.

There are no new ideas. Arthur C. Clarke and a few other SF writers already wrote ideas close to that.

I believe your first statement but have some doubts about the second one.

304a. To say: There is a clamour in heaven.

304b. "We see a new thing," say the primordial gods.

304c. O Ennead, a Horus is in the rays of the sun.

304d. The lords of form serve him,

[Cracker]

Ever read about Hal or the Nine Billion Names of God? Ra would have loved him.

[username]

[quote='Cracker' pid='112758' dateline='1288058536']
I don't know why I feel like that. I think it is part of the mindfuck religious conditioning I got as a child. I don't think if there really is a Creator that He cares either way. In fact, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. BUT when did people lose the idea (one I would classify as common decency back in the day) of proper dress and grooming on Sunday? I hear the term "Sunday dress" often in the South, so I think that idea is pretty standard here. To me it is a sign that people pick and choose what part of a religion they feel like doing so they can claim that affiliation. You can't pick and choose like that. You are either all in or all out. Does that make sense?

We always "dressed" for church on Sundays (and frequently went out to brunch after, lol) but now that I'm an adult/think for myself, I think that's bullshit. Neither God or the bible said we had to dress up...that was a man-made stipulation/social expectation. You were expected to dress up for church but I don't recall any biblical demands that you do so. It was/is all cultural/social.

[username]

To answer the question, I think it was the late 80's to mid 90's where the idea of casual church services really came in to play. First it was casual clothing and it's since expanded to people bringing their mocha-mocha, non-fat lattes and donuts in to services. Totally different from when I was a kid but I don't see it as a bad thing (personally).

[Cracker]

Exactly. If religion is a cultural phenomenon, and dressing a certain way is historically part of that, our culture is crumbling. I blame Jimmy Swaggart and Eddie Long (good porn name for a pastor, btw).

I worked my way through college so I know church goers are the worst tippers. They leave literature instead of money. I hope God hates that.

I honestly don't mind any religion as long as they don't knock on my door and ask if I have heard of God. It's hard to be polite under those circumstances. If you didn't knock on a rock, I've probably heard something about Him. If you can wear jeans to your church, good for you. If you go to make somebody else happy, that is true love and Godly in its own way. If your founder licked a salamander and had a vision, that's a little fucked up, but still your choice.

My favorite book is Mere Christianity. Some things die hard. "If there was a controlling power outside the universe, it could not show itself to us as one of the facts inside the universe- no more than the architect of a house could actually be a wall or staircase or fireplace in that house." Smart man.

[Greeneyesofblue]

My husband is a very faithful man. Me, not so much. My mother is the daughter of a Pentecostal minister. She rebelled and I really never had much of a religious education. I am half Italian, on my fathers side, so it is a prerequisite of my ethnicity to have been baptised as Catholic. I have only been to church a handful of times. I wish I knew more about religion. I worry about my own children not having some religious knowledge.

[Cracker]

My husband is a very faithful man. Me, not so much.

Whore.

Kids get exposed to religion whether you intend it or not. I wouldn't worry about it, especially if your husband is a holy roller. How great would it be to let them mature first then pick a belief that suits them?

[Duchess]

How great would it be to let them mature first then pick a belief that suits them?

I know people who are doing that with their kids & I think it's a great idea.

The Catholic religion has a lot of rules and that's a huge turn off to me, it makes me want to break them just because I can, the quickest way to get me to do something is to tell me not to do it. According to the Catholic church, I can't be with the one I love because he's not Catholic & he's divorced. I wouldn't be able to be married in the church because of that. I think that's ridiculous. The same goes for abortion & birth control, although I'm told their stupid birth control rules have come to pass, if that's true or not I don't know. I'm not a practicing Catholic and I haven't been in a long time. I think it's all bullshit.

[BlueTiki]

I worked my way through college so I know church goers are the worst tippers. They leave literature instead of money. I hope God hates that.

Chippendale’s patrons can be so cruel!

During my college years, church goers left me religious literature when they paid their check, too. Little pieces of paper with the writing: “In God We Trust.”