Religious News/Quotes of the Day

[Dardedar]

Fewer Spaniards say they are Catholic: study
AFP

MADRID (AFP) – The proportion of Spaniards who say they are Roman Catholic has fallen to 73 percent from around 80 percent eight years ago, according to a survey released Thursday by the CIS research centre.

About 25 percent of all Spaniards now claim to be atheists or without a religion, compared to 17 percent in 2002, the June survey of 2,500 adults found.

Only 13 percent of those questioned said they attended Mass each week compared to 20 percent eight years ago. And more than half of those surveyed, 56 percent, said they "practically never" attended Mass.

The findings reflected not just the rapid pace of secularisation the country has undergone this century but also the Roman Catholic Church's "loss of credibility", Spanish theologian Juan Jose Tamayo told radio Cadena Ser.

Yahoo News

[L.Wood]

>>The Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace was made possible through a $2 million gift from the Tyson Family Foundation and Tyson Foods, Inc, which was matched by the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, Inc., creating a $4 million endowment.<<

There is but one spirituality and faith in Corporate America and that is More Money or, in the vernacular, MoMoney. All else is fluff or window dressing.
Tyson Foods is currently one of the leading wage-theft corporations in NWA and likely in the USA. WalMart is currently, and quietly, battling workers in Bangladesh who seek
a one cent per hour wage increase from their current 11.5 cents per hour. These workers produce for Nassa Global and Anowara Apparels who are 80% WalMart suppliers.

I have no idea which faith or spirituality supports wage theft and starvation wages but MoMoney sure supports it.

.

[Dardedar]

[Dardedar]

Troops: Skipping Christian concert got us punished

[Dardedar]

Stand back, the Christians are practicing their religion:

[Dardedar]

The Social Cost of Christianity?

Excerpt:

"...recently a family member, who is a devout Christian, read the post and told me that she was upset that I didn’t also write about Christian stigma in America. When I asked this person to identify how she feels Christians are stigmatized in this country, she couldn’t articulate beyond the fact that sometimes she and her fellow Christians hold back from witnessing to people because they’re not sure how they’ll be received. I pointed out to her that she’s confusing rude behavior with stigma.

Nonetheless, my relative insisted this is persecution and she envisions a day when she goes to church and the government will have locked all the doors.

Not too long ago, two Jehovah Witnesses knocked on my door and told me that End Times are coming and they sincerely wanted to know what I believe. I said I couldn’t believe any God worth worshiping would be so concerned with what goes on in the bedrooms of consensual adults and until their God rethought his position on gay marriage, he and I really didn’t have much to talk about.

At that point, the lead Witness delivered a rather snippy lecture to me that I really need to be more tolerant of her faith. (And this woman knocked on my door!)

It seems to me that Christian complaints of social stigma come from their evangelical belief that nothing should get in their way of converting lost souls. Any resistance equals discrimination against them—including refusing to accept Jesus Christ as one’s personal savior when he’s delivered directly to your door along with a handful of pamphlets."

[Dardedar]

On the back of the shirt it says:

"Let me forever have a broken leg"

[Doug]

"Let me forever have a broken leg"

I guess the creators of the shirt don't realize that to say that Jesus is a crutch is to say that it is a mental impairment that is being enabled, not a physical impairment that is being balanced.

So to want the crutch is to want to remain mentally impaired. Pathetic.

[kwlyon]

On the back of the shirt it says:

"Let me forever have a broken leg"

What did the front say...I never got past the tits:)

You know never mind...I think I have absorbed all the worthwhile content....

[Doug]

Samantha Ronson is Lindsay Lohan's ex-girlfriend and works as a DJ at a weekly party called 'Take em to church Sundays.'

A fan complained that this was "more religion crammed down our throats."

Ronson replied in a tweet:

"@rickmidgette religion??? Fuck religion. My religion is music, homie."

See here.

[tmiller51]

I'm more bothered that "DJ'S" has an apostrophe in it.

Tim

[Doug]

I'm more bothered that "DJ'S" has an apostrophe in it.

Tim

DOUG writes:
I noticed that too, but suppressed the urge to comment. In vain, apparently.

[Dardedar]

"...if bad ideas don't have immediate consequences to the placid mob, and if everyone is being Mr and Mrs Nice Folk and reassuring everyone that they're still good people no matter what foolishness they might believe in, where is the motivation to change? A skeptic who thinks their mission is to provide only positive messages and lead everyone along with affirmations and friendliness is going to be an ineffective skeptic."

How being a dick probably saved my life

[Dardedar]

When you want an alternative to standard Bible commentaries one place to check is cracked.com

For instance:

***
The 9 Most Badass Bible Verses



"Sure, Moses was a great leader, an emancipator of his people and a prophet. Most people don't know that he also was the Biblical equivalent of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher--a well-honed killing machine, able to slay from the shadows without pity or remorse. Martin Luther King may have had a dream, but Moses had a body count.

You can almost picture the scene: An Egyptian soldier is wailing on a hapless Hebrew when Moses, clothed in head-to- toe black, drops down from the ceiling. Moving with cat-like grace, he sneaks up behind the soldier and, taking his head in his hands, snaps the man's neck with one savage twist. As the lifeless body slumps to the ground, Moses lights up a cigar. "Well," he quips, "looks like someone bit off more than he could Jew."

More Here

[Dardedar]

[Doug]

"Sure, Moses was a great leader, an emancipator of his people and a prophet. Most people don't know that he also was the Biblical equivalent of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher--a well-honed killing machine, able to slay from the shadows without pity or remorse. Martin Luther King may have had a dream, but Moses had a body count.

DOUG
Note that the verse does not indicate why the Egyptian was beating the Hebrew. Maybe he was being punished for murder. Maybe the guy had been caught stealing. Moses just sees this an leaps into action, killing and hiding his handiwork.

Maybe this is why Thomas Paine wrote:

"Among the most detestable villains in history, you could not find one worse than Moses."

[Dardedar]

[Dardedar]

Fascinating:

The Most Religious States in America

Kinda goes along with that whole most religious = most dysfunctional society. Wow.

[Doug]

The Most Religious States in America

DOUG
The Pew Research Poll has for Arkansas (which was #6 of the most religious):

According to the Pew Research Group, nearly three quarters of people surveyed in Arkansas said that religion is very important in their lives, tying for the second most in the country.

Percent who say religion is very important in their lives: 74

Percent who say they attend religious services at least once a week: 50

Percent who say they pray at least once a day: 68

Percent who say they believe in God with absolute certainty: 84

[kwlyon]

Percent who say they believe in God with absolute certainty: 84

This is what nearly cost me my sanity... Seriously I thought I was taking crazy pills. And this is EXACTLY why I was so pumped about our billboard. How can you believe in God with absolute certainty? I grew up ever aware that I was anything but certain about this god...yet everyone around me projected absolute certainty....It leaves one feeling rather alone. Wish I had driven by a billboard when I was 16 that said "Don't believe in God? YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!" I think it would have had a profound effect on me.