mainly for a sense of unity and common intrest( atleast in the case of gay friendly churches) but for the most part i dont believe it to be an "absolute" necessity( i dont really need to be with other people to show my devotion to the lord)
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The greatest sin the modern Christians have committed is to deny access to God and Christ to groups of people based on what they (those churches) have lied about when it comes to sin.
In the 1980's I attended many the side of terminal patients. Many of them had the AIDS, this is in the decade where there was no treatment options and patients were sent home to die a slow, debilitating, fearful and often lonely death.
Many a gay man confessed his 'fear' that he was going to hell. Many had turned the back on God thinking that that was how they would get away from the church. Many believed that they were exempt from salvation because of who and what they were.
At death's door you cannot change a lifetime of programing by a society that has tortured that soul without mercy. Little that I could do or say could give these men peace of mind when they took their final breath.
The official message about church attendance is that it is needed to give the spirit spiritual food, that we need to surround ourselves with individuals of like mind to be 'in Christ'.
The unofficial reason is to hold the masses captive to the propaganda and brain washing campaign, to cause them to isolate and see others as 'the enemy', thus enabling them to ignore that little voice telling them it isn't loving to condemn others to hell and fire. This is all done for the modern churches to hold their power.
This ball was set rolling back in Ancient Rome when Constantine saw the potential power of one religion to hold his empire together.
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I've considered my self Athiest since about 9th grade. My dad's side of the family nearly burned me at the stake for it (Hadn't even told them I was gay yet, which oddly enough they were cool with for the most part). That being said I was born and raised Catholic, went to Catholic school, church, I've been Baptised, Confessed, Confirmed.
When I was young it was just the norm, to go to chruch on Sunday morning. Of course as I got older, that wasn't enough. My young brain wanted answers and the church didn't have them, the priest was ignorant to it, and God sure as hell wasn't saying anything. So for me, being catholic didn't mean anything. Too many things were way too hypocritical. Being told I'm going to hell because God in his infinite wisdom made me gay just didn't quite make sense. So in the end I said good bye to the church. I actually went a decade from my grandma's funeral to my sisters wedding without stepping foot in a chruch.
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that faith, whether it's in a religion or just that the sun is going to come up tomorrow, gives people hope. Hope for better things or a brighter tomorrow, maybe just the strength to get through one more day of cemotherapy, or to accept the fact that someone they love is gone forever. So I guess if only 1 person in a thousand finds strength in the church or in God to get through their life, I have no right to tell them otherwise and neither does anyone else.
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Oh I go to church occasionally for various reasons. Usually, it's the Anglican Easter or Christmas service for my mother, she likes to go to sing the hymns around the holidays, sometimes I agree to tag along. I was baptised in a Methodist United Church of Canada, which is actually a gay tolerant church that performs gay marriages, but I don't attend because I don't believe in God haha.
Over the years I've attended synagogue a few times for various functions with my Jewish cousins. I've attended some Catholic services out of curiosity, and I do enjoy the architecture of the older churches. There was a Vatican art exhibit that toured in commemoration of Pope Jean-Paul after he died, it was quite interesting.
There was also a collection of Buddhist relics that were being held as a fundraising event at the Vietnamese Pagoda in Montreal, so I went to a Buddhist prayer service and saw that, chatted with the monks.
I've yet to be in a mosque, and I have been in a Sikh temple, but not for a service of any kind.
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At school, from the age of nine, I had to attend church three times a week. It never made much sense.
Later, I read the bible from cover to cover looking for answers. I have some sense of there being a God, but I can't square my own ideas with any orthodox ones.
The whole thing about Christians not accepting the GLBT community seems like so much hypocrisy. Apparently Jesus came for the sinners, and if you're a Christian, you're supposed to receive the grace of God simply for believing in Christ as your redeemer. The idea (as far as I understand it) is that you ask for forgiveness for your sins, while knowing that you are imperfect and will go on sinning. So if homosexuality is a sin (in Christian belief) I don't see why it differs from any other sin. And the whole thing about abstaining is nonsense. In the Christian sense, everyone sins. The whole point of Christ's sacrifice was to save the sinners. You receive the grace of God regardless.
So church? No, I don't go.
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I'm religiously Jewish, so I guess my view doesn't apply so much.
But in general I think that the primary force driving people to church is that it's a pattern they were started in and have never taken time to break the pattern.
We are creatures of habit, which is a shame because we are the most adaptable creatures on the planet. For many, fear of change is normal and the thought of changing a deep-seated routine is unnerving.
I am fairly sincere in my faith. I go to religious services to be a part of the community. I don't believe I get any spiritual benefit from the service itself (my greatest moments come from my own personal meditations, which can take hours if done right). I consider myself a part of the community, and in our community a lot is centered around the synagogue culture. So it's for that reason that I go.
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WalkingParadox Wrote:... I consider myself a part of the community, and in our community a lot is centered around the synagogue culture. So it's for that reason that I go. bring your boy friend to church and hold hands 
WalkingParadox Wrote:... I don't believe I get any spiritual benefit from the service itself (my greatest moments come from my own personal meditations, which can take hours if done right)... I never really got much from the sermons and the god thingy too:
-The sermons were ever so basic logic, the difficulty is the application into your life. To be self correcting is difficult and that is one thing i get out of a relationship is the significant other in your life can see you as you are.
-There are thousands of gods, each one is the one true god.
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pellaz Wrote:I never really got much from the sermons, its basic stuff, the difficulty is the application into your life. when i was old enough to observe how arrogant most ministers behave it was time to cut the middle man.
The Jewish religious tradition is very different from Christianity (besides the fact that the entire notion of cutting out the middle man operates off of a Protestant understanding of Christian faith), The synagogue is more a locus of community activity in Judaism.
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OrphanPip Wrote:Jewish religious tradition is very different from Christianity ... The synagogue is more a locus of community activity some how thinking the Jewish tradition is sub optimal for a young gay and not supportive of a loving gay relationship. Little bit of step back if you ask me but wahtever, not the worst thing.
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pellaz Wrote:some how thinking the Jewish tradition is sub optimal for a young gay and not supportive of a loving gay relationship. Little bit of step back if you ask me but wahtever, not the worst thing.
Nonsense, plenty of Jewish people are tolerant of gay people. Neither is gay identity somehow going to supplant someone's ethnic and cultural identity. It's not so simple, who is going to say what identity is most important to an individual, who are we to dictate that they can't find support in a community they grew up in.
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What's the appeal of going to church?
