Yea, i know what lent is, my grandma usually ate fish. Which was nice because we'd goto long john silvers or something lame like that.
I remember Indulgences as well, just wasn't sure if they were the same thing as atonement.
"which digests meaning from Scripture into morality, theology, and life."
That's how I feel it should be, but it generally doesn't absolve that way. Morality(which kind of goes hand in hand with life), in my opinion, should be the greatest lesson learned from religion, really. Regardless of if theological lessons are learned, morality is more real and active than anything else you can gain through the bible.
Generally when you gain some kind of theological knowledge you gain some kind of moral lesson as well, though.
"I think the whole point of his argument is that it ISN'T a manual on how to condemn your fellow man"
Yea, that was part of it i guess. I did point out the irony on second cor. being about judging while I was judging. I can't remember if this was before the tirade about judging people or not, but either way I found it hilarious.
I was also trying to express that I *do* feel a lot of responsibility for what other people do, as I feel we all should. Not in a condemning way, but in a loving way. When you feel responsible because your child spilled punch on someone's sofa, you're not condemning them. When you say they are clumsy, you aren't saying they are worthless bastards who are going to hell to live in pain and you hope they do because they deserve it. The only thing being responsible for your child can do is to show you to be more careful about them, to take better care of them and teach them how to be more careful about things. In the same respect I feel that responsibility towards the afairs of humanity, whether christian, american or satanic. I feel that it helps me be both a better person, and to treat people more fairly than they often deserve.
I don't consider that a bad thing, do you? Think of the implications, for now we vote assholes like bush into office who start wars(crappy example, sort of). How many people do you think feel responsible for that? I do, personally. I feel responsible for crazy people, and sometimes serial killers because they are
often a result of outside influences(outside influences that may be me, or could at least be a result of something i or someone i know did) and society(which is a result of all of us). Which serial killer was it that thought he was a vampire, and when he was found covered in cows blood saying his blood was drying up and the only way to moisturize it was to get new blood? After that, they released him from the institution with barely a slap on the wrist, and he went out and killed a bunch of people. I feel responsible for that, and feel the doctors should as well. There's tons of examples like that, and I'm sure you can think up your own.
I guess I was trying to express that we should feel responsible for what other people do without condemning them? I was merely quoting what was considered condemnable in the bible since he was asking for scriptural references, and I found that some of the scriptural references sort of complimented the idea I was getting across. The others I threw in because they made people look already condemned which i found kind of hilarious in a juvenile way.
I'm actually a horribly peaceful person in real life, even if i do like to talk shit for entertainment purposes. I'll probably be gone for the rest of the night, and possibly for the weekend. I have to do assessment testing for a community college tomorrow. I'm moving up in the world
So, sorry if i don't respond to you guys before then.
Any classes at a community college you would reccomend, seth?