Alzarius

I think location means a lot. People in Nigeria, today, have every reason to be concerned. People in Tennessee on the other hand, have much less to be concerned about. (Especially in my small town) I wouldn't say its insignificant, thats not what I am trying to say. I would say you're more likely to be hurt by your neighbor when you step out of the door or a car crash than some Islamic terrorist. I have not left my house once thinking "I need to be careful because some terrorist may get me today" Now tomorrow my store will be bombed and itll be all your fault

The spire held several very old relics. I've read that they got a lot of artwork out as well as some relics out and as of now, they are still trying to save some "in the back of the church" I wont argue whether they are authentic or not, but at least one that is believed to be authentic dates all the way back to Constantine.

It's not just this story. I belong to several religious feeds that most here wouldnt touch. I'm Catholic and every time the Pope mentions getting along with Muslims, the feeds are littered with the same typed of comments. "They just want to kill us" I also work in a mom and pop shop where a large portion that come in, are religious. I hear passing by comments weekly. Last week I had to listen to a guy go on and on for 10 minutes about how God us going to come lay waste to all Muslims because of their violence. I'm not trying to put a number or percentage on it but there are plenty of people who feel this way about them. It may be less than Starkiller believes and more than you believe but they still exists in large enough numbers to be noticable.

I bet I've seen 50+ comments already blaming this on Muslim terrorist It's not absurd. Some people really think this way.

Even if it's no, getting this thing back into the shape it was in will take many years. Pictures seem to be getting worse.

What do you call a fake noodle? An im pasta I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon. I'll let you know..... What do vegetarian zombies eat? Ggggrreaaaaiiinnnssss Those are pretty clean jokes but I warn you not to read the one below if you get offended easy because I'm going to say something offensive Something offensive

Theres already 3 places near me that sell CBD "flower"

Hes playing a part in a ballet. Mother Ginger from The Nutcracker

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/09/12/report-nfl-tells-titans-hit-on-marcus-mariota-was-illegal/

Why?

The argument, and studies, about how much of a role celibacy plays is still being debated all over the place. I do believe it's a factor, but I always fall on human weakness as the root cause of most sins. Every person has a choice whether or not to engage in sexual activity. Every person who deeply studies their faith, eventually become self aware of their own weaknesses. They know it's wrong but do it anyways. There are a large number of gay priest who try to run away from their sexuality and enter the priesthood as a solution. That's good and all but that doesn't magically take away the temptations that they will continue to have. Many are actually given a buffet of options to pick from when they suddenly find themselves surrounded by like minds. That's not the solution they probably hoped it would be. Many times what happens is a place becomes a hotbed for activity. Take Boston for example. 271 priest. 271!!! What the hell??? The wiki link also spoke about Burlington Vermont. Right now there are problems in Chile where everyone offered to step down and half were ordered to step down. There is also a factor of spiritual warfare that non believers disregard. I touched on it earlier but I can tell story after story about a persons struggle to get closer to God, and how much harder they are attacked. What better way is there to discredit the church? Name a couple priest who raped kids and watch the disgust. Take that number and change from a couple into thousands, and it's a epidemic. There are also abusive households with overbearing Catholic parents. I have heard many stories of Catholics (without proper catechis training) pummeling their children into submission. To the point to where they leave the church all together the moment they turn 18 and are done with the church for life. Many factors go into it but it's a problem. One that the church has struggled with to overcome. Sipes himself is on record saying "people want a quick fix, but there's no quick fix to this" I'd like to have it fixed as much as anyone but what do you do? There is already a shortage of priests to go around. This isnt going to get solved soon. Itll be an ongoing problem. Some have proposed married priests. While there are ways of it happening, it's not the norm. I'd love the idea. I'd have a new job. In the end, I am also aware that the things I struggle with would be taken into the priesthood with me. It's not a magic fix like many homosexual priest initially believe when entering the church. I would expect my struggles to continue and/or even get worse. Allowing priest to have sex wont fix the problem that's already there. Especially with homosexuals and pedophiles, which is the center of these controversies. These particular priest arent out screwing women. Many are homosexuals (which wouldn't work even if they didnt gave to be celibate because of our stance on homosexuality) or pedophiles (who just need to be in jail anyways)

Excommunication usually is involved with more serious things. We dont kick people out for sinning. (And yes, I know several churches around here that do) I'm not going to pretend like I know how many screw their cats or organist or argue a made up percentage.

I suck at politics so that leaves me out of a lot of threads lol. Religion and theology is something I've studied extensively so I feel I have more to offer in some of those threads. It's so weird to quote a game, especially one where a cult were the bad guys but there is a quote in Farcry that stuck with me. My memory kind of sucks so its paraphrased. "You think you're on the side of righteousness, that you're a force for good. But you're not" I visit a lot of Carholic feeds. Its littered with petty bickering over everything. It gets even worse when "Bible thumpers" come along and tell everyone how they are wrong and they have figured everything out. Call no man father! You worship Mary! You worships idols! We will sit there and explain, in detail, how they are wrong and they will just reply "nu uh. I've known a few Catholics and......." I stopped trying on Facebook a long time ago. They just arent fun arguments anymore. While I dont expect everyone to go along with Catholic teachings, I do feel it's important for every follower to try to emulate the teachings of Jesus. ALL of them, not just the ones that allow us to point the finger at someone and point out their sinful behavior. I feel that we will be judged as we have judged others. I'm already in deep shit so while I may echo certain teachings, I'm not pointing my finger because I realize that when I do that, there are always 3 more pointed back at me. The last thing I want to do is alienate people from the faith because to be honest, it's one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed. The problem is simple. Too many humans. We screw up everything up. Corruption always finds a way in, everywhere

Its important to remember that unless he is speaking ex cathedra (when Popes are supposed to be infallible), then his words can contain errors. All hes doing is trying to get people to stop playing pharisee and focus more on the love of God. I wasnt around for JP2. Benedict was an amazing writer and theologian. I have several his books and he was ahead of his time sometimes. Going from that type of theologian to a Pope like Francis is a huge step in another direction.

I saw people equating them to terrorist today. "If God made gay people gay, then he makes terrorist that way too. Are you as forgiving towards terrorist" Cant make this stuff up. Also, I'm always here. I refresh this page probably a good 50 times per day. I have this and Gotitans pulled up on my phone at all times. I just lurk more than I post