seriously, let's talk about something

mrsLesGrossman

Also, everything was written in Aramaic, rather than Hebrew, so even Hebrew is a translation.  This is not true, at all.  I don't think you are educated on religion enough to have a discussion like this.  At the time of the Bible, they were mostly Hebrew speakers and Aramaic was considered an intellectual language, used significantly to document information.  The stories of the Bible were not actually written as they occurred but they were documented by later recollection.  Many verses have been found in Hebrew with their Aramaic work together.  Yes, my husband is Jewish, what does that have to do with anything?  Yes, we are taught in Judaism to question everything.  If you can't question the reasoning behind what you learn, you will never really have a deeper understanding.  If my Rabbi says this sheet is blue and to me it looks like a bluish violet, I want to know why there is a difference between us, how we came to that conclusion, and the deeper meaning behind it.   

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

tlv - I went to a Hindu temple when I worked for the mission. The woman who was with us (she was sort of their PR person) was explaining some of the primary stories in their religion, and many of them had the same underlying story as Christian stories. She was very well educated about faith, and as she told us the stories, she would tell us the Christian story that was similar. I think it's just further proof that many religions are based on the same foundations, and we all just tell different stories to teach the same lessons about love, charity, kindness, forgiveness and faith.

Night_Sprite

I said there was an oral tradition first.  I'm sorry if I didn't word the Hebrew/Aramaic thing properly.  I think we're on the same page, E. 

wadingmoose

Bec, we attend the same church. Let's name it the church of the martini.

BecW2be

TONS of Christian holidays, traditions, etc. mimic pagan celebrations that existed eons before Christianity. It was their way of latching on to traditions and making them "theirs" so that they could convert the non-believers. So it makes sense that different religions share the same familiar ceremonies.

tlv204

It doesn't have anything to do with anything, I was just curious since you have such strong beliefs. Peyton--mine was backwards.  I was raised Episcopalian, but my family was never really devoutly religious in any way.  DH has always been Catholic, not super hard core but certainly more religious than me.  It caused lots of issues with our ceremony, but I ended up compromising and we got married in the Catholic church.  I posted about it a few minutes ago (in this thread) with more detail if you're interested.

mrsLesGrossman

Too many times people make up their mind first, then find a Bible verse to prove their point and make it fit with their own beliefs/ideology.Exactly my point. Christians do it to prove their points and non-Christians do it to prove their points.  I disagree with that, at least when you are a theology scholar.  We are taught to not consider our own religion when studying others.  It completely sullies, to your point, the religious views of what you are studying.  I don't think most people here are qualified to have a serious religious discussion because their knowledge is based on what their house of worship taught them and not what they have learned in an academic setting.  Bec, I made you another martini and added a lemon twist, just because. 

danieliza1127

TONS of Christian holidays, traditions, etc. mimic pagan celebrations that existed eons before Christianity. It was their way of latching on to traditions and making them "theirs" so that they could convert the non-believers. So it makes sense that different religions share the same familiar ceremonies. I was about to post the same thing Bec.

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

E - yes, that's exactly what I was rememebering! I'm going to have to look through my notes on presentations, but I once heard a speaker say something very similar to what you said. She is a Jewish woman who teaches at a Christian college in Tennessee, I believe. I wish I could remember her name. Anyway, it was an amazing lecture that compared Jesus, as a man, to the devine Jesus. Her theory was that in the end, all people regardless of their beliefs on who Jesus was to the world, could learn from his basic teachings.

sarah0725

How many of you were raised religiously, but have FIs who aren't religious at all? Any conflicts?Me! I was raised Catholic, went to twelve years of Catholic school, then suddenly had the epiphany that I don't believe in God at all. I've never discussed this with my mom at all, because it would break her heart. She knows I don't go to church anymore, but we haven't talked about specifics.FI identifies as pagan, which I find kind of silly but I try not to make fun of him too much, unless he starts freaking out because I accidentally touched his fortune telling crystal and disturbed its energies. That shiit is funny.I think my mom is a little suspicious of FI's "religion". She's always asking me weird questions, like whether he believes in vampires. But that's okay.

Peyton Lawrimore

tlv - I'll look for it.  This thread is getting crazy long. 

BecW2be

Wading, I vote we call it the Church of the Olive. That way, we can trick people into thinking it's something to do with olive branches, i.e. bible stories, and then when we have them inside we can libate them with our signature Grape Martini Communion Ceremony and get them to think like us! Then, WE WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD! Mwahahahahahah!

crfische

I like pizza.  

danieliza1127

I don't think most people here are qualified to have a serious religious discussion because their knowledge is based on what their house of worship taught them and not what they have learned in an academic setting. I don't think anyone here intended to have a religious discussion up to your standards E.  Just because we aren't all religious scholars doens't mean we can't discuss religion.  It's just a topic of conversation.

Night_Sprite

Personally, I was raised ELCA Lutheran, but am more liberal.Fi was raised nutter Lutheran, and we're compromsing on ELCA as a middle ground.

mrsLesGrossman

I said there was an oral tradition first. I'm sorry if I didn't word the Hebrew/Aramaic thing properly. I think we're on the same page, E.  Your statements completely contradicted each other, a moment ago, you said it was completely Aramaic and it seems like you are under the assumption that they walked around what is now Israel speaking Aramaic which is not accurate. 

wadingmoose

Great idea, Bec!

gkb0910

tlv-did you and your husband getting married in the Catholic Church and do just the ceremony without the Nuptial Mass?  That should have removed most of the religious tones with which you don't believe.  Unfortunately some parishes and priests have different rules than others, and if you come across a more strict/traditional one, it can be a huge turnoff, especially to someone of a different religion.

sarah0725

TONS of Christian holidays, traditions, etc. mimic pagan celebrations that existed eons before Christianity. It was their way of latching on to traditions and making them "theirs" so that they could convert the non-believers. So it makes sense that different religions share the same familiar ceremonies. I'm OK as long as this isn't used as a prejudicial argument against Christianity. It's just part of life and culture. The Christians learned to do this from the Romans, who never conquered a religion that they didn't incorporate. This is why there are temples of Isis in Pompeii.

Night_Sprite

If I am recalling correctly, Aramaic was the day to day language from about 530 BCE to 70 CE.  For some of the books it was the primary original text language found. 

BecW2be

Man, I really wish I could have martinis at work. In my new church, were I am the cult leader, we'll all be forced to drink martinis once an hour and meditate on our shoe selection for that day. Just in case anyone is interested in being a founding member.

mrsLesGrossman

I don't think anyone here intended to have a religious discussion up to your standards E. Just because we aren't all religious scholars doens't mean we can't discuss religion. It's just a topic of conversation.  My point is, if you could not gather it from what I said, because most people are not qualified to have this discussion, the emotion and personal views on religion come to play.  It never ends well and people walk away angry because they all feel right.  TLV- You didn't answer my question, why do you want to know about my husband? 

Lauren Beth

I don't think most people here are qualified to have a serious religious discussion because their knowledge is based on what their house of worship taught them and not what they have learned in an academic setting. E, I will admit I am not an academic religious scholar, but I don't think I have to be in order to understand the basic principles of the Bible.  Also, I know I am not correct about everything.  I try to have an open mind about others beliefs and learn more about Christianity and other religions all the time.  

danieliza1127

Bec count me in!  I'd rather have a big glass of red wine though...

mandysmear

Once we went on a roadtrip and I got the BEST cheesbuns in the city.  Not cheap either.  I grabbed some bananas and threw them in the bag and yep, fuucking cheese buns tasted like banana.  I think the riper the banana the more likely it will transfer taste.

tlv204

Yeah we just the ceremony with no full Mass.  That was the best compromise we could come up with.  Really there wasn't a lot of our ceremony that I actually disagreed with, it's just not how I would have chosen to word it if I were in charge.  I realized afterward that we were actually really lucky.  We had a great priest, but we still didn't have much input into the ceremony, so he could have gone on for 10 minutes about me having dinner ready at 5 every day during his homily and I wouldn't have known about it until he was actually giving the homily.  Luckily, he was a normal person who gave a good homily

Soon-to-be Mrs. Vogt

On the note of FI's religions vs. mine:I was raised Catholic. No Catholic school, but it was a big part of my life. After I was confirmed, I went through a stage of deep denial and questioning, and realized that at 13, I was not emotionally equipped to make such a big decision about the direction of my religion. I took the next two years to make conscious decisions to learn about Christianity and decided what I believed (that's where I came up with the individual faith thing). FI was raised as a United Methodist. I doubt it was ever a huge part of his life, but he did attend church, and basically believes in God and in "being good."We're getting married in his family's UMC church, and I will eventually become a member, I'm sure. Our children will be raised Methodist, but I want to expose them to all kinds of different religions and teachings so they can make an informed decision about what they believe when the time is right.

sarah0725

E, I'm not sure why you are getting worked up. This isn't a hostile discussion, and nobody is attacking each other. In a way, everyone is qualified to discuss religion, because religion is personal to each individual. I feel perfectly qualified to discuss how I feel about it.

dixiechicken

I like pizza.Haha!

danieliza1127

I think the riper the banana the more likely it will transfer taste.That must be it then because it was pretty ripe.  I ate it today thinking to myself that they're getting pretty ripe so I'll make banana bread tonight with the last 3 of them.  Oh well, banana flavored pretzels aren't too bad actually.