1- Universal healthcare
2- Free public education through college/trade school
3- Mandatory military/civil service for two years after graduation
4- LGBT citizens would enjoy all the rights of heterosexuals
5- No guns
6- Religious organizations would lose their tax exempt status
7- Religious...
Part of the beauty of Jesus' life was that God chose this way to live as one of us and to experience all that we go through as human beings, the good and the bad. It is written that he was hungry, tired, scared, thirsty - I can only imagine that he endured other things like sickness as well...
I can picture people saying this to Jesus after He said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."
The Italian in that instance would be Pontius Pilate, of course.
Actually, Catholic mysticism sounds very Eastern. For example:
The eye by which I see God is the same as the eye by which God sees me. My eye and God's eye are one and the same.
- Meister Eckhart (1260-1327)
You would think he was describing the Atman. As Paramahansa Yogananda said, all...
I would not think that the majority of people who do not have high paying jobs lack competitiveness and drive. My experience is that the majority of people are hard working, no matter what their level of pay. It would not be fair to assume that someone in a low paying job lacks drive any more...
This is the quandry one runs into when confronting philosophies like Calvanism, where mankind is considered totally depraved and all the responsibility for salvation is given to God. We are made in the image of God. We freely choose to love, as God does. He has chosen to love each of us. We...
No political move is required. Jesus said "my kingdom is not of this earth". The kingdom of heaven has nothing to do with who is in power politically. We are all children of God, and it doesn't matter if the Christians or the Muslims hold Rome.
I believe there was an actual person named Jesus that was a teacher and healer, and embodied God in some special way. That is quite different from believing that the Bible is 100% true, as the original post asked. The message of Jesus was very simple: love God and other people. The Bible was...
I can understand the anger of Islam for Christianity, and I sincerely hope that one day peaceful coexistence will be possible. Nevertheless, it does not matter if Rome falls. The kingdom of heaven is within each one of us, and does not reside in a marble palace. Mary is the Virgin Mother of...
No, the church is wrong. The child should be allowed to attend school.
The church has a responsibility to act as Jesus would. I cannot picture Jesus denying this child access to the school, or treating the child's parents in any but a loving way.
From the National Catholic Reporter:
"Pope Benedict XVI was implicated in the deepening sex abuse scandal for the first time late Friday following disclosures that he ws involved in the transfer a priest who had forced an 11-year-old boy to have sex.
The priest, who was named by Germany's...
I agree. No one deserves eternal punishment. God is love and the only thing that separates us from God is ourselves. He is already with each one of us, in that divine spark that emanated from Him when we came into existence, and will one day return to Him. As Jesus taught, the kingdom of heaven...
The ego, the false self, will die with the body and the spirit will be reabsorbed into God like a drop of rain falling back into the ocean. The spiritual awareness will expand completely and individuality will decrease completely. Unity with God will be achieved, and a timeless bliss will be...
I belong to the Diocese of Burlington and I was dismayed at the way the bishop handled the abuse settlement. I do not think he exemplified Christ in his actions. I am not surprised that people leave the church over situations like this.
Every participant in a society has a right to certain basic benefits, including health care. Other countries have come up with solutions to this problem. It is time for the United States to do so as well. People should not have to choose between health and crippling debt.
The Bible, or any other sacred text, should not be taken literally. The point of sacred texts is to help us in our quest for a personal relationship with God. Whenever these texts have been brought out of the spiritual realm and applied to the physical world, much suffering has resulted.