October's Autumn

Yes, thanks for sharing!

I have attempted it. I suspect I'm not a good candidate for being a vegetarian. I'm allergic to dairy (in some forms) and egg which knocks out a lot of sources of proteins that are often used to replace meats. I do eat several vegetarian meals a week, though.

I think different writers had different agendas. I don't know if that really answers your question, though. There is a lot I don't know. If you are open (as you are in the mission statement you came up with) you are by definition liberal/progressive. Be careful. There are those who will try and come in and "fix" those who don't have an orthodox view point. I look at it like this. There are plenty of conservative churches out there. If one wants a conservative creed/doctrine they have plenty to choose from! There are very few truly liberal/progressive churches so let those of us w/o orthodox view points have our space, it is small as it is!

Because they aren't true.

You might want to post this is another section where there is more traffic! Not the debate one, but the one above that!

I deleted the ones that didn't apply to me. I did add a note to one of them!

Don't decieve yourself, davidk. All churches are based on human standards, not God's. The closest I've seen to a church based on God's standards is the UCC church I attend. And even they are off sometimes...

Where is Des?

Not one where anyone would be punished forever... Life has happened. Over the course of the last 38 years I have lived life and, to quote Paul, When I was a child I thought like a child but when I became an adult I learned to think like an adult. Sorry for being so ambiguous but it is hard to be any more specific than that. It is a different kind of effort.

No, you believe people send themselves to hell... nice god you believe in... The answers are not important. It is your world view that matters. You showed that quite clearly in several of the threads you've posted it. If you had been where I was you would never have been so foolish as to go to where you are now. You misunderstand what "open minds, inclusive, & pluralistic" means. I have no desire to go over old territory with someone who does not have an open mind, is not inclusive, and is not pluralistic. When you get to where we are then we may be able to have an intelligent discussion. It takes a great deal of effort to stay where you are because you must compartmentalize and live in constant denial. Challenging, yes, but not in a good way. Comfortable because you don't have to think or work.

I appear to have hit a sore spot. Don't fancy yourself a prophet, don't take biblical passages out of context. It is you who has eyes but does not see and ears but does not hear. Come back when you are willing to risk something outside of your comfortable life.

Interesting god you believe in... One who sends most of his creation to suffer for eternity... I don't like your god nor do I believe in your god... he reminds me of Zeus.

Often that is true that we reap what we sow. But not always. My class is a good example. I was proud of them today when they were the best behaved group in the last day of school assembly. It didn't last past the assembly but that is another story. New teachers often end up with difficult classes because teachers will change grade levels or tracks to avoid them thus leaving the vacancy open for a newbie. It isn't a reaping and sowing it is just the reality of life.

Well, the reality of life is we can only control certain things. One of my favorite sayings is "Life is what happens when you are making plans." Conservatives blame everything on God. A friend of mine from college lost a younger sibling in a car accident when he was 14 (the sibling was 12) somehow this was God's will, from a conservative point of view. A more progressive or liberal person would acknowledge that sh** happens. It is horrible that his sibling died but it certainly wasn't God's will. It is what happens when a vehicle runs off the road and hits a tree and someone flies through the windshield.

"not my will, but yours" seems more of an acknowledgement of having limited control over one's own life.