OT: This and That and Such ** Was: Wow

[Guest guest]

Hey Dede,

 

> Wow!

>

> Well, what a round of discussion on the U.S. and various religious

> leanings (why do they " lean " ? That's a rhetorical question.)

 

Some lean .. some take firm positions. ;-)

 

> Yes, the " Christian Right " or " Fundamentalists " have been tagged with

> negativity. Now when anyone asks me if I'm a Christian I always look

> at them and wonder " oh gosh ... where will my answer take me? "

 

I think that most folks in the USA will just accept that you are a

Christian .. those who want to dissect the meaning or those who are

anti-Christian will find fault .. even if there is none there. I'm

from a town of 1,200 folks in KY .. ask maybe 1,150 of them and they

will say " I am a Christian " .. the other 50 or so will say they are

Catholic. If one said I am Buddhist or Shinto or Moslem or some other

religion .. the folks would look at them like they were from Mars. ;-)

 

As Nikki wrote .. most folks use the term " Christian Right " loosely.

To me, the Christian Right is folks like Jerry Falwell and Pat

Roberson. I have many friends who are Christians but are also

Bleeding Heart Liberals .. so I reckon that would make them the

Christian Left. ;-)

 

Not that I believe Wikipedia is an unquestionable reference source ..

but here are some basic definations from that source.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Right

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Fundamentalist

 

As mentioned in one of those articles .. trying to hang a solid tag on

any group is problematic because there are many shared beliefs and a

lot of overlap. This also holds true for the various branches of Islam.

 

> How things have changed religiously in the past 30 years (I'm almost,

> gasp, 58).

 

Things have certainly changed a lot. Last year I was in Russia during

Christmas .. if I had been able to post to the list I would have done

my annual thing to upset a lotta folks who find it Politically Correct

to wish folks Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas .. and that is

just the tip of the iceberg. ;-)

 

Many folks seem to think its fine to dump on members of groups that

are in the majority .. like Christians and White Males. Those same

folks would not dream of dumping on Buddhists or Moslems or Jews .. or

Black people .. or members of any other minority .. or Females.

 

Actually, I don't know that White Males are really in the majority ..

but the FemiNazi movements of the past few years have made them fair

game .. its Politically Correct to dump on them because we are the

major source of trouble for most Females. ;-)

 

Kidding aside .. some big time double standards have come about in the

last few years.

 

Age wise, a young chicken you are .. I'm not as old as I once was but

I'll be 65 in July. My wife will be 32 in July and my youngest son

turned 1 year old on 5 March 2007. ;-)

 

> I would be interested, Butch and Dave, in carrying on this conversation

> off line - please feel free to email.

 

Might happen .. thanks. But go back in the archives to the periods

prior to Christmas in the years past .. nothing much went down this

year because (as I said) the major trouble maker (me) was out of

pocket during this last Christmas season. When folks become qualifed

for a Senior Citizen discount I reckon they have earned the right to

be ornery. ;-)

 

> I'll close with what I think is an interesting observation: I would

> have never expected that two " tough " guys (I presume that because

> you've both seem to have spent time in the armed services) would have

> ended up in the essential oil industry.

 

All folks who spent time in the military are not tough guys or gals ..

though those of us who made it a career rarely lean .. we are firm in

our beliefs .. and usually quite opinionated .. and rarely could we be

mistaken for a Liberal. ;-)

 

> To me, that's very interesting -- how the heck did that happen?

 

Mine is a boring tale .. but one that I have been asked so many times

since I've been in the business that I decided to write a comical

canned pitch reply. Its kinda longish .. and I'll send it right

after I send this post. But remember .. you asked for it. ;-)

 

> Dede

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

[Guest guest]

I think that most folks in the USA will just accept that you are a

Christian .. those who want to dissect the meaning or those who are

anti-Christian will find fault .. even if there is none there.

 

[Dave:] I’m always kind of amazed when people even care – unless they’re

interested in a sit-down on our comparative religions, which very few people

are. Personally, I enjoy discussing religion, but I’m sorta weird. I do

not flaunt being a Baha’i, but it’s certainly no secret and when it’s

appropriate I don’t hesitate to mention it. (I joined the Baha’i Faith

about five years ago, and before that I was a Quaker for many years. I also

belonged once to a genuine cult – a nice one – called the Foundation Faith

of God. These were some of the best Christians I ever knew). I’ve had

several very close friends who were clergy – Methodist, Baptist, Assembly of

God, and one or two others. Clergy love to discuss religion like I do. My

favorite churches are black churches of any denomination, and traditional

Quaker meetings. Baha’is do a different thing altogether. I got a pagan

streak too, I guess. My wife’s Native American, and now I got this crow

whisperer thing going. Don’t know how that fits into the religion picture,

but it has given a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to my cosmic outlook. It’s all

part of the search for truth, which I personally think should never end.

The trouble with dogma – ANY dogma – is that it tempts us to abandon that

search.

 

I reckon that would make them the

Christian Left. ;-)

 

[Dave:] Thanks for pointing out that there is such a thing. They don’t get

a lot of press.

 

Many folks seem to think its fine to dump on members of groups that

are in the majority .. like Christians and White Males. Those same

folks would not dream of dumping on Buddhists or Moslems or Jews .. or

Black people .. or members of any other minority .. or Females.

 

[Dave:] Yeah, there’s plenty of hard truth to that...but hey, it’s the

fashion. Sooner or later folks are gonna wake up from all this PC stuff and

realize that there’s a lot of work to be done, and it will go better if we

work together. Me, I got no problem with anyone that’s not messing with me,

and I got no problem being me, either.

 

 

I'll be 65 in July. My wife will be 32 in July and my youngest son

turned 1 year old on 5 March 2007. ;-)

 

[Dave:] 56 here, and almost as young as my 60-year-old sweetheart.

 

> I would be interested, Butch and Dave, in carrying on this conversation

> off line - please feel free to email.

 

Might happen .. When folks become qualifed

for a Senior Citizen discount I reckon they have earned the right to

be ornery. ;-)

 

[Dave:] They have, only some are more interesting to listen to than others.

You’re one of the interesting ones ;-)

 

All folks who spent time in the military are not tough guys or gals ..

 

[Dave:] VERY true, in both the best and some really disappointing ways. I

think we’re close to our allotted time for this whole discussion, here on

the list. I’m for stepping aside in favor of the many who HAVEN’T

participated in this discussion. If you guys want to keep it going on the

side, I’m game.

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Dave

 

There are at least 2 other Baha'is on the list, :-) which is above the average

for a list of this size, considering the percentage in relation to the number of

Baha'is in the world. LOL

 

Graham Sorenson

www.theguidetoaromatherapy.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

There are at least 2 other Baha'is on the list, :-)

 

[Dave:] No kidding? Well, Allah-u-Abhá, y’all!

 

 

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