Aspies For Freedom

Christianity does have the unique quality that it preaches that
a. nobody is good enough to go to heaven
b. they have too much blood (sin) on their hands
c. Jesus never sinned
d. a clean God can clean anyone
e. but only with his or her permission and a willingness to do it His way.

I'm sure I'll hear what you all think,
but the fact that Christianity is not founded on good > evil
makes it unique compared to religions that depend on good > evil

I think you are saying, Max, religion is a choice and sexual orientation is not.
I trust you on that.
Yet, oppression of a Christian or Muslim and oppression of a person for sexual orientation is similar.  Oppression is oppression.  Oppression is not love.

I have believed for some time that discrimination is not love.  I wish the homophobes would put I Cor. 13 in their pipe and smoke it, breathe it in.

WfM, just to reiterate, my parents never raised me Christian, unless you can say putting me and my brother on the church bus was something other than Mom giving herself a break.

I was unopposed as well when I started to turn on to Christianity of my own initiative about age 12.  Mom gave me her KJV Bible to read.  Dad drove me to a church.  Mom passed along every Watchtower publication she got from her sister Lilly (three of Mom's siblings, a sister and two brothers, are and were Witnesses).

If my family really was a country, I'm sure we'd have separation of church and state, and freedom of religion, and freedom from religion as well.

I am agreeing with you that the Catholic Church at one time in human history did much to oppress vast numbers of people.  Owning a Bible was punishable by death, the Inquisition, burning New World people who did not convert.

What's the Catholic Church done lately?

I think it is lamentable that the Catholic church will not consider women for some positions.  The worst thing I know they are doing is opposing contraception in some places (which often leads a woman to try something drastic instead).

I know that the Catholic church opposes some sexual practices.  So does my church, we read pretty much the same Bible they do.

If the worst they are doing is encouraging abortion by blocking access to contraception and blocking women in the church's higher ranks, the Church is out of line relative to the more enlightened positions of my own church.  We think the New Testament has little or no problem with female leadership in church or contraception.

It is only when we can't wiggle out of a Biblical requirement that we are forced to preach something you may not like.
We can't weasel our way out of definitions of acceptable and unacceptable sexual behavior.  It would make us God to say that, and we aren't.
Christians have to know their place vis a vis Father Son and Holy Ghost.  It might as well be God measured in light years, or we mortals being the size of a proton in an atom in one of God's cells.  

It is not like the Catholic Church is shooting people who have a Bible or going to church on Saturday.  The Catholic Church seems kind of innoculous in a democratic country such as ours.

I would simply say Discriminatory Acts is Oppression, or Negative Treatment or Denial of Human Rights or Dignity is Oppression.  
A negative attitude is present of course, maybe not a full Supremacist ideology.  But Structural Dominance is not a necessary component of Oppression.  I think more or less everyone has oppressed somebody and some make it a lifestyle.

Occam's Razor, keep it simple.

I apologize, I said something I tried not to say.
Max, we know what "the Catholic church positions vis a vis women and gay people? "  Is the earth round?  Does earth orbit the sun?
We don't need to state the obvious and it offends some people to be reminded of what they've already heard.

We know the Catholic Church has positions on women and contraception that most Protestants think are out of line.  We know that occasionally women die trying to DIY abortion if they can't prevent pregnancy.  Anyone with any intelligence would gladly prevent pregnancy than terminate it because any surgery has risks far beyond the risk of any contraceptive.

You are saying that the Catholic Church holds negative opinions about behaviors, contraceptives, and who gets to be bishop, priest, etc. (statuses that are missing in Protestantism because each church is independently owned and operated, interpretations of the Bible may vary).

Aside from negative ideas, does the Church do anything bad to anyone or just make a lot of noise?

I am glad they have stopped the Inquisition though.

Lots of sense
Can't believe you had to spend 6 hours to fill out a 50 page form!! YIKES. Paperwork.

Yetti-you are not a doctor either, and listing medications here-some of which could be potentially harmful for some people- is not helping anyone.
I understand that perhaps your goal is to try to help people?
May I suggest that you try not to be so obsessive about Max? It seems that every other post of yours starts with, or includes his name..
( doesn't that just sound so familiar?!)

Is it my turn?
well, you could read all about Canada's health care system -in this
interesting paper: Socialized Medicine-the Canadian Experience by Pierre Lemieux-
just one of many articles that could help answer the question.

Yay! Not even officially "freely" diagnosed, and I helped someone on this board!

I Love Karma!
and ...  Gal 6:7
Hey, Back On Topic!

I think the movie Saved is riotously funny.  

[scene in which they have sex ed course: chart, male and female drawn with bare skin where gonads would be]
(teacher: "the state said we had to have a sex education course.... it's for having babies and you can't get jiggy with it until you're married.")

Sort of like the parody of Twisted Sister (Christian Sister) "I Wanna Rock" ("I Wanna Preach") but let's just say that was from another time place and state of mind....  the perfect ornament around her neck, too.... symbol for female, but longer cross (Christian)

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Driving to and from that Homecoming weekend gave me a little time to reflect.
There was a time, maybe October or November of 1991, when there was a car accident outside Miller Hall (the honors dorm).  Smash!  Out go the lights!  I was too chicken to go outside, but what did RA Rachael Meads and the sisterhood do?  Bring out blankets for the injured.  (It was chilly.)

I wondered what the Christians on campus were doing in the world.

The fellowship's slogan: students loving a hurting world.
That night, I saw Ms. Meads and company do some loving a hurting passerby or passers by.

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Later I became a Christian when I saw another group of Christians who were stronger in their faith, and their deeds impressed me enough to get saved myself.

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But here is the irony, folks.

Rachael told me a dozen times to give the fellowship a break, and I wanted to but couldn't.

I couldn't live her way in peace and love to all humankind but only Jesus' way.

That is why she played such a big role in my salvation.  I couldn't live a life of peace except as a Christian.

Lately, the Republicans in Virginia have been so hard on the immigrants, especially those who cannot demonstrate permission to reside legally, it seems they are finally giving sexual minorities a break?  Mind you, this is only a political observation, and it is not my political party.

ever notice the similarity between god and Santa? Both check their list.. making sure who is naughty or nice...

No, you are wrong

Night-Night, Sleep Tight. Hope the bed bugs do not bite. If they do, do a poo. Put it in a Cornish Stew. Into the ambulance, dring-dring-dring! Fish trousers elephant in Peking. Saw a busy bee; Diddle-diddle-dee. Daddy's an accountant just like me. Night-Night, God Bless.


Cornish, not Irish.