Jehovah's Witnesses
 

One of my really good gay friends is an ex-witness and from what he's told me, this is definitely the most backwards, restrictive religion I've ever heard of. I dont really know much about it other than what he's told me, but I sure as hell am gla I didnt have to grow up in that sort of environment. I mean they evern encourage young people not to further their education after high school. What kind of F**ked up people wouldnt want their kids to have every competitve advantage in today's world. OH sorry I forgot, they think Armageddon is right around the corner.:laugh:

mormons are scarier, imo. go read under the banner of heaven!

You can probably guess what happened when my friend came out to his parents...

My ex-husband's family are Mormons. And they're not freaks. Anything can be taken to extreme. :shrug:

Very good point. it always seems that the bad ones ruin it for the good, doesnt it?>

Exactly.

I've also had good friends who are Jehova's Witnesses - and they went to college - no problem. You were fed one-sided or bogus information.

edit - got a little mad...said some things...deleted them. I have the post before thinking problem.

this is true ... but it's more fun to make sweeping generalizations! :D what i meant was i find the belief system scarier, not the actual people.

I'm sorry I offended you. That wasnt my intent. Please accept my apologies.

whatev. I should have just stayed out of it - and will from here on out :) Smack away.

No I have no problems with someone criticizing an opinion I have. I mean if it helps me be more enlightened, all the better. Have a nice day.
:)

Sorry...
 

but being that I live in the heart of the Bible-Belt the worse of the worse are the Southern Baptists (Not all are bad, but most I have had contact with are misguided-One of the reasons why Deb will not let those she works with know that her religion of choice is Wiccan, Because they can have her fired.)

The Baptist church I was forced to attend as a child was similar to the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka:

All gays/lesbians/alternative lifestyles will burn in hell
All minorities will burn in hell (No minorities at this church, Which was the largest in my hometown)
Any person who doesnt submit to the Church will burn in hell
All other religions are mockeries and shall burn in hell

(The above rules caused some of the views I USED to have towards people...Until I totally rebelled against those views)

As for Mormons, I also got along with them fine, As I have with Hindus, Wiccans (I married one) & Satanists (Yes, In the past I had friends who were openly Satanists-Probably the most honest people I met...And no, they do not sacrifice ANY animals since that is against one of the basic laws in the Satanic Bible.).

Except for the caffeine thing with Mormons I always liked 'em (My former high school prinicipal was Mormon. His son was a friend of mine and I used to tease his Father when I would see him buying Coca-Cola from the pop machines at school early in the morning before schools start. His excuse "Oh well, I dont think God would mind a Coke every once and awhile...Cause I need the jolt from the sugar rush" :lol: )

southern babtists can be scary too. in actuality, i find all religions scary, though. i think they do more harm than good.

I work as a secretary for a Southern Baptist church ( I live in North Carolina, which is most definitely the Bible Belt). I am not a member, as I was not raised Baptist, but I have to say that these people are the most amazing and wonderful people, ever. They give and give and give. We, along with 2 other churches make up a group called West End Ministries. Our church feeds the homeless, another one clothes them, and the third runs the Boys and Girls Club. My boss (the pastor) is the chaplain for the local Police and Fire Departments. In addition to feeding the homeless, he works tirelessly to fight crime in our area. Just yesterday, he was interviewed by CBS and NPR because the crime rate in our medium sized town has gone DOWN this year, whereas most mid sized cities' crime rates have gone up.

Do I agree with all the tenets of the Baptist religion? Hell no (heh). Do I respect these Christians that give so much of their time, money, and energy to serve God? Most definitely.

My boss has taught me more about spirituality in the year I've known him than anyone else in the 38 years I've been on this planet.

Personally, I think we talk about religion too much. Bad experiences, bad images, bad everythings have made many people bitter. My bottom line is that one's relationship with God is a personal one. I don't care what other people believe. I feel for people who suffered in the "name of God". But that suffering came from the people involved, not the religious belief.

you've brought up an interesting point ... would people who commit atrocities in the name of religion commit them anyway in a world without religion? hmm.

Cool...
 

Like I said not all Baptists (Or Southern Baptists)are bad, but here in Oklahoma they seem to be more zealot-like than I prefer...Another turn off to me (Let me worship God in my own way, Not in someone elses distorted way...That is all I ever asked for.)

Hell, I used to live in Tulsa, OK (population 520,000)-The city with the most churches per capita of ANY city in the US (That is a fact-More churches than LA, NY, Chicago, Houston which are the 4 largest cities in the US) and every street corner had some type of church, Yet that was the most evil city in the US if ya ask me (Vegas has nothing on Tulsa)...A city half as large as OKC (OKC is over a million in populatin, It is actually larger than New Orleans), but with more crime, hatred, racism-Maybe someone is missing a message in Tulsa :shrug: