ArmadilloUCC

Ahnk.....SAnctuary! Sanctuary! Oh,no here comes a Sandman, run or he'll make us go to carosel! Renew Renew! I like Celtic Crosses myself.

We have a local burger chain here that has "God bless America" on the cups. I don't think it really means much. As far as what Jesus would say, maybe it depends on the extent of it and what the people are peddling. I think Jesus gets more mad at TV preachers selling "annoited prayer cloths" than stuff written on the drink cups at the burger joint. I like the scene in Jesus Christ Superstar when Jesus drives all the gun peddlers and money changers and stuff out of the temple.

White Sox, Cubbies, to me it doesn't matter. I am for anyone who plays the Dang Yankees hate the Yankees BLECH!!!!!

Last time I checked, termites built really big hills. The San Antonio zoo even had fake termite mounds to make the lions feel more at home. (I don't know if the zoo still has them. This was when I was a kid.) Pat knows about as much about termites as he does about other things.

Ah yes the good ol' Phelps family. Kind of like if the Clampetts got dipped in a lake of hate-inducing acid. Rather sad, really. Dillo

Our farm is called "Sofia's Farm" after the Holy Wisdom mentioned in the Bible. Thinking of God in female imagery is not some crazy California new-age thing, the bible talks of the Holy Wisdom plus compares God to a mother eagle and a mother hen. God being Spirit is not constrained by a human body with human plumbing. I have chickens and it is very conforming to me thinking of God as being a mother hen. Our hens are very staunch defenders of their eggs. While our roosters are idiots who spend their time fighting one another and trying to "do" the hens. Who wants a rooster as a God? (-: Dillo

I am glad to see the UCC synod making a resolution about this. IT is also true that the UCC is congregational and no individual congregation has to marry gay folk if they don't want. Aside from that, I'm going to talk about gay marriage in general. My feeling is this: This whole issue is a matter of civil rights. It's not about religion. I am gay. I've HAD a church wedding. My union was blessed by 3 Presbyterian ministers. And guess what, legally that don't amount to a hill of cow flop. What I want is the piece of paper that says that I have the same civil rights as a couple who went to a JP or who went to Vegas and got married by Elvis. Churches right now can marry or not marry gay folk as they wish. And it doesn't take a church or other religious body for straight folk to get legally married. I am in favor of Vermont style civil unions. No religion involved, strictly legally contractual. Dillo

I don't know which label he'd get. I do know that his book "Soul Survivor" was EXCELLENT!!!! It really helped me come to terms with the Baptist church I grew up in. I related to how he talked about coming back to the church after being hurt by it and not understanding. It also introduced and re-introduced me to the mentors in his book and gives suggestions for reading their works. Dillo

I have a question. The article says women can be Anglican priests but there is some controvery about women being in the episcopy. what is the episcopy? Is that different than being a priest? I'm not an episcopal so I don't understand what the debate is about. Dillo

Churches get involved in politics all the time. If churches want to exclude members because of their political stance, then the church shoulld file as a PAC and pay taxes.

My my how times change. I grew up Southern Baptist and remember when it was preached that Catholics were idol worshippers. Politics make strange bedfellows indeed.

INDIGO GIRLS, folks, INDIGO GIRLS....!!!! From "Philosophy of Loss" Welcome to why the church has died In the heart of the exiled, in the Kingdom of Hate She owns the land and keeps her commands And marries herself to the State. Modern scribes in Jesus Christ, everyone is free And the doors open wide to all straight men and women But they are not open to me. And who is teaching the kids to be soldiers Marked by a plain white cross? You kill just a little to save a lot more The philosophy of Loss From "The Woods Song" What it takes to cross the Great Divide Takes more than all the courage I can muster up inside But we get to have some answers when we reach the other side The prize is always worth the rocky ride. The wood is tired and the wood is old We can make it fine if the weather holds But if the weather holds, we'll have missed the point. That's where we need to go.

Aletheia, OUCH DANG!!! I'm glad you got yourself fixed up. You need some sheep. Then you'll never have mow again, ever.!

Sure there are various scientific explanations to "explain away" biblical miracles. It doesn't make them any less miraculous. For example, if the Red Sea parted because a strong windstorm or drought exposed a series of high ground areas that the Hebrews could "island hop" their way across the Red Sea..... The miracle isn't how it happened, the miracle is that the people found their way out of slavery and to their own land, promised by God. Or, the demoniacs of Jesus's day were not possesed by demons, but were most likely epileptic or mentally ill. Healing them is still a miracle. Also, I know scientifically how my baby lambs came about, but seeing them born is still a sacred and miraculous thing. I guess I am trying to say that my faith does not depend on "proof" of biblical miracles and my knowing that the bible is full of inconsistancies does not make it any less sacred, or helpful to me. I don't buy the argument that if I don't believe literally in the Virgin Birth, or any other happening in the bible, then my belief is "watered down" and insincere and there's no basis in Christianity being valid. The all or nothing way of seeing things puts God in a box. As we UCCers are fond of saying.." God can blow the lid off any box, unfold it, and turn it into a dance floor!" Dillo

" Passages like this are just too ambigous to depend on; " Exactly my point. No doubt Mr. Allen picks passages from other texts just as ambiguous. People who like to censor things can find something objectionable in any book. MY point is that people can pick and choose a couple lines here and there out of any book to support their sides. People like Mr. Allen take books and find something they don't like, such as references to violence, or rape, or incest,or prostitution or something that might be construed as homosexual, and want to burn books. My point is that these people who want to censor things for religious reasons tend to forget that the Bible is full of the things they want to censor. Violence, or rape, or incest, or prostituion and things that might be construed as homosexual.