Self estem

I think that the important thing in life is to be the best of whatever you are, and not worry about what anybody else says.

I think you're right. I was born Catholic and went to Sunday school, but I don't remember them ever talking about that garbage. This is why I can't stand organized religion.

I think you should go by your gut and you'll feel what's right or wrong.

Why would a God of Love send anyone to "Hati"?

Hati does have a bad reputation (remember Papa and Baby Doc, the Western Hemispheres answer to the Kim Dynasty?) Grinding poverty with no opportunities for personal improvement still forces significant numbers to try boating to America in rubber rafts. Set all that aside for a moment.

Hati is a pretty country with a mild climate. It doesn't have many natural resources, but if the government would get out of the way, starvation would be a rarity. Well, maybe not since there are too many people trying to live off the natural bounty.

So if God wants to send folks there, maybe it isn't such a bad thing. Get enough Republicans on the ground and we could turn that little country around.

speaking of republicans and Haiti In 1986, when it became apparent that Baby Doc's presidency could not in fact be sustained for his entire life (unless he died soon), the Reagan administration airlifted him to a retirement villa in France and started talking about the "democratic process. In 1990, elections were finally allowed. Haitians stunned the US by rejecting the candidate we preferred in favor of a left-wing Catholic priest, Jean Bertrand Aristide. The Bush administration could scarcely conceal its joy when Haiti's US-trained military deposed Aristide eight months later.

Re: Self estem


This is done to scare you into following Man's Code of Morals...or God's Law. That is why Christianity has lasted so long. It is fiercely protected by its followers, and beat into the brain's of the follower's children.....It's a never ending cycle.

SqUeAkz, sorry, but I don't think God has granted Catholics an inherent right to be happy. The God of the Bible has made it very clear that homosexual behavior makes Him unhappy, to the point of demanding that men who engage in sex with other men should be stoned to death.

I don't think he could have made it much clearer. If you choose being gay over obeying God's Laws, you will most certainly end up in Hades.

And if you cannot bring yourself to condemn homosexuals, then perhaps you should consider changing to a more tolerant religion. :wink:

The passage in the bible I recall refers to homosexuality in the context of pagan rituals, not in general... but I could be wrong, and there's no "right" way to interpret a 3000 year old book.

I think you should decide for yourself, but don't throw out all of catholicism or all of christianity or all of organized religion because of one peice of it that you don't like. I think you can find something good about any religion, and that religion should really be a personal choice and a personal system. I know plenty of catholics who are perfectly happy with their religion, and perfectly tolerant of homosexuals.

great, if i cant be who or what i want, then how does God expect me to be happy. This was basically my whole point. The Catholic faith is so prejudice , and wrong. It even says in the Bible love your neighbor. not Love your neighbor if he is a hertosexual Catholic.

Rufio, I was not aware that homosexual acts were a pagan ritual. Please cite the passage to which you refer. Surely you don't think that Romans 1 refers to homosexuality as a ritual, when it was clearly considered to be a punishment:

God's Wrath Against Mankind

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

32Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

or:

Leviticus 18
22 Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

Leviticus 20
13 If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

SqUeAkz, you have some very misguided notions of religion if you think that God expects you to be happy. You were put on this earth for God's pleasure, not your own. You are expected to learn to be obedient to His Will, and to love him unconditionally no matter what suffering He inflicts on you. You will get your reward in heaven, provided that He forgives you for your wicked sinfulness (not that it is possible to be otherwise since you inherited Adam and Eve's sinful nature ).

If you truly want to be happy, dump the religion. You don't need to be a member of any form of organized religion to believe in God. I personally don't believe any of the stuff that any of the relgions like to push, but I do believe in God and my God isn't cruel ;-) I live my life being kind to all people regardless of their race, nationality, sexuality, size, etc..., so anyone who tells me I'm wrong to do so, well, they can just blow it out their arse. Religion has a way of confusing people and it sounds like that's exactly what it's doing to you.

Montana, I suspect that even though I attend church regularly, our beliefs are not that different. My faith is in God, not in his followers. And I do not check my brain at the door.