Spitfire

I am happy to call them out for what they are. Protestors. Not just Prostesting anything little thing, Protesting the Church of God. That and in German even non-proper nouns get a capital letter so it's just force of habit.

Spitfire

I'll bring a bottle of Bailey's.

reddish

Noted: your silent addition of "100%". No method is effective 100%, nobody claims that.

Your organisation is keeping gullible, ill-educated people from protecting themselves against a deadly disease, by feeding them bad information, or witholding information. The statement that these people "fuck everything that moves", as you so subtly put it, means that it is a basic moral duty to try to educate them.

If you deny that the RC church is in any way responsible for actual deaths due to their condom policy in Africa, you're engaging in a morally corrupt form of of apologetics.

Even if that were so, does that make it right not to tell them about the protection offered by condoms?

Your church is misrepresing and witholding basic findings about the relation between condom use and HIV contraction. That is, it is lying to people about things that could save their lives.

The question of effectiveness-of-policy is not in question, we're talking about the morality of the policy. As a member of a club that claims to have the last word on morality that should raise some interesting questions.

But I guess if your pope would tell you to stand on your head and sing French chansons, you would find an excuse for that, too.

southernhybrid

You're right about that. Most Baptists would send you to hell. I grew up in a neighborhood that was mostly Catholic and my parents were always telling me that my little friends were hell bound and I should try to save them. It was very disturbing. My Catholic friends never told me I was going to hell. I was serious when I said I loved Catholics, even though I was having a little fun with you. With very few exceptions, you Catholics tend not to be evangelical. I like people that practise their religion without looking for converts.

And I do love Mozart too and much of the music that was associated with the Catholic church. I'll be honest though. I like it when it's spoken in a language I don't understand, like Latin or Arabic. My husband grew up in an Arabic Catholic church. He said the mass was beautiful in Arabic, and he was sorry when they changed it to English. It really doesn't work that well in English.

Tao of Pooh

I've heard that, a differentiating (Is that a word? Well, it is now.) between Christianity & Catholicism. Never understood that.

Oh yeah, hi



Talking about love is like dancing about architecture.

fjripit

Welcome Spitfire.

More importantly and usefully, you need to consider cogent reasons TO believe. To believe in something until you accept reasons not to believe it is backward. To do so means that you will be inclined to believe in every crackpot idea that comes along, including beliefs in ancient, makebelieve religions.

Have fun.

Spitfire

Therein lies the problem. A condom is indeed a good way to protect oneself from the occasional brush with HIV. But, if you're going around having promiscuous sex, even if you use protection every time it's still only a matter of time before your luck runs out. Probably within a few years. Faithful monagamy is the only truly certain way to stop the spread of the disease if people actually do it. Which they can, it's just a matter of whether or not they will.

Please, make my day, call me morally corrupt if you like. I've been called worse.

Spitfire

It doesn't really work the same way in German either. More than just the language has been "modernized." I much prefer the "traditional" Latin Mass, the new Mass is clearly lacking someting in comparison. And as much as I love English I don't think any other language would make a better lingua franca than Latin. As it once was. A shame it fell into disuse and continues to do so in the liturgy. Some people complained that then nobody has any idea what the priest is babbling about but come on it's not kept secret from anyone you can find out. Easily.

And you're right, I'm not trying to convert anyone. Keeping my own self in line is a hard enough job for me already.

Spitfire

"Differentiating" is the gerund form of "to differentiate" - you're looking for "differentiation." Yes, thanks to some people, there is a differentiation. I tell them if I'm not Christian then nobody is, they tell me I'm just a repackaged pagan or worse. It seems to work for both of us.

David B

So, Spitfire, who do you think is Christian?

Anyone who claims to be?

Russian and/or Greek Orthodox?

Mainstream protestant churchpeople?

Mormons?

JWs?

7th Day Adventists?

Just Catholics?

David B (is none of the above)