Haganrih

I mean no offense, I merely share my opinion.  IMO, the Unity Church is a New-age-Christianity Lite hybrid.  I've read lots of their tracts and I was stunned at the amount of theological gymnastics therein (redefining words to meet their agenda, etc.).

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That's how I can tell I like something. Even when someone says bad things they sound good.

He's wonderful... and very prolific - I've never read anything of his that I wouldn't recommend.

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What have you liked the best? I'm looking at Living Buddha, Living Christ and Peace is every Step.

Wondering what your thoughts are.

Anyone read any Thich Nhat Hanh?

How about thoughts on Matthew Fox?

First, I would appreciate if you would take a look at this diverse reading list from a man I admire: here

and tell me if you like anything there. Besides that, I think I've seen Matthew Fox's name bandied about here and his book titles look interesting. What do you recommend?

We have one ex Christian Scientist on the board, which shares the same roots as Unity. We also have another member (whom I have not seen for a while) who is/was also a Christian Scientist.

 

A nice thread on New Thought churches can be found here: New Thought Thread

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Hmmm. From what I've read and experienced (which isn't a ton) Unity seems to be quite different than CS in a good way. I suppose I could find out I'm wrong. Hopefully not.

These guys I mean:Unity

Let's sum it up. First, pro-lifers (which pro-choicers would say I am one) believe that abortion is murder because they believe the soul enters the body at conception. Since there is no way to prove the existence of the soul there's no way to prove when it enters the body. Science plays no part. This is all faith.

Pro-choicers (which pro-lifers would say I am one) say that noone is FOR abortion and that it is mostly done early or in extreme circumstances. They say, rightly, that abolition Roe v. Wade would lead to dangerous back alley abortions and that the wealthy would still be able to get theirs done on the sly. They also, rightly, say that the best way to reduce the number of abortions is with education, easily available contraception and available health care.

There seems to be a kind of abortion, or aborter, that everyone would like to see avoided even if part of it is mythical...that is abortion as birth control. Also, while there is no way to prove the existence of a soul there is some common sense point at which saying that the fetus is NOT a human becomes ludicrous. It has fingers and toes, brain function, feels pain, etc. My wife has been doing ultrasounds for 15 years so I asked her what point that was. She said 8 weeks.

My suggestion is to eliminate abortions after the end of the 1st trimester (12 weeks) unless the following can be shown: rape, incest, birth defect, threat to the health of the mother.

Yes, this alternative would be uncomfortable for pro-lifers and pro-choicers. It would also be prefereable to both groups than the other group's demands. I think both sides could live with this option and it would be for the common good.

Thoughts?

http://www.ind-movement.org/links_denominations.html is a link to a listing.

 

Good luck finding the right spiritual home.

Rev.,

You have a lot of links on that page. I live in upper Bucks County, PA. Do you know of any congregations in my area? Thanks.

I'm an Episcopalian, and our church gets plenty of progressive ex-Catholics, so I'd love to be able to tell you "No, join us"--but the truth is that there's still plenty of room in the RCC for those who disagree with parts of the current Vatican platform.

Call me small minded if you want. I see a lot of good things happening in the Episcopal church but, being of Irish Catholic descent, I just have trouble signing on with what is, essentially, the Anglican Church.

Gotcha and thanks for the advice. Maybe I'll just check out the St. Thomas stuff.

Look around your area, most of the liberal leaning OC churches welcome worship held anywhere that it can be done with proper reverance.

I'm not familiar with OC. Can you explain? Are the masses in latin? How can these Churches be liberal leaning without Vatican II? Is there a directory? Thanks.

Sorry. It's just that my (albiet limited) understanding of the Gospel of St. Thomas is that God is within all of us. That "church" is not that much of a necessity. Are you painting with a broad brush?

I see. Like I said, I'm just getting into this. Is even Thomas as you describe? The GoT seems to be more like what we on this site jist with no?

Maybe it's just because I have 2 young boys. Maybe it's because I love the forest. I can't for the life of me understand why a church wouldn't have a service outdoors, say in a grotto or stand of trees, by a stream instead of in a stuffy building. Any thoughts on this?

The first thing to remember is that the cross has been a sacred symbol even before Jesus. Second, I will say that, to me, the cross has come to represent Jesus' acceptance of suffering. It is a pacifist symbol because Jesus offered no resistance to his crucifixion. He just said "this is God's will".

Has anyone read the Nag Hammadi Gospels and what is your opinion on them. I'm just about to dig into them. I am especially optimistic about the Gospel of St. Thomas.

I'm a progressive Christian who was raised Catholic and still has a problem "leaving" the Church. Yes, I think you're worried too much about baptism. I would look to a UU community as that's where I tend to fall these days. I would also recommend Fr. Andrew Greeley to the others that were recommended.

It is my understanding that Augustine played a large part in developing the moral code of the Catholic Church.