Posted on 11/07/2004 12:44:21 PM PST by saltwater
I sent my children to Church and Sunday School.
As they grew up I let them decide for themselves if they wanted Church. I laid the foundation for them. They read their Bibles and pray...but not attend Church. They and I agree..Churches are filled with hypocrits.
God does not only live in churches, he lives in our hearts and souls too.
I do believe in acting in accordance to a decent moral code.
I do not believe this code must come from religion or religious texts; secularists can have morality as well.
I think human freedom is basically a good thing, and any "decent moral code" should be compatible with life in a free and open society.
Whether or not I could be called a "conservative" is debatable. I voted for Dubya, and while I lean that way, I'm not a libertarian, so leftists would pretty much all consider me one. But real conservatives would consider me a radical, because I'm a social liberal.
Church is important to me spiritually (and Christ asked us to fellowship together, so it must be important).
The church has no affect on my conservatism, however I do have an effect on the church's conservatism ;-)
Just as hanging with fellow conservatives is pleasurable as well as intellectually stimulating, so is hanging with christians spiritually stimulating.
For those that complain that the church is full of hypocrits then either change churches or change yourself. Cynicism lends me to believe you are engaging in the spiritually and intellectually deceptive practice of accusing others of what you are guilty of yourself.
I'm a very conservative Christian.
I rarely attend church simply because I haven't found one that I "click" with. So many churches in my area are becoming "mega-churches" and seem to be obsessed with having huge buildings, sports and fitness centers, televised services, etc. I also find that fewer preachers will preach "the word" for fear of offending members of their congregation and losing members. I'm amazed at the amount of money sitting in church coffers to pay for all mentioned above. I'm of the opinion that if churches were doing what God really intended for them to do there would be very little left to spend on fancy buildings. I remember reading a similar thread here on FR months ago about how the Catholic church had millions available to pay off those who had been victimized by priests. Why do churches have all this money sitting around? Why isn't it being spent to help people as fast as it is collected? I'm sure EVERY church congregation has at least one family (probably several) who is going without basic necessities or food, has huge medical bills, etc.
I am a firm believer in the word of God and have witnessed the power of prayer this week with Bush's victory.
"How important is church to you as a conservative? I think you can be moral and christian without church."
That is true for some people especially those whose careers keep them on long journeys away from having a permanent church to attend on a regular basis. As long as you keep the faith it's all good with Christ. And he knows who the religious hypocrites are.
oh and I attend church on a pretty regular basis. I'm trying to save the small intimate ones.
Conservative and Atheist (or agnostic if you catch me on a good day).
But, I also find the christian bashing by the left to be very offensive and I'm very grateful that we have christian like GWB in office rather than that phony POS Kerry.
You can be moral and conservative without even believing in God - not sure what your really asing here...
"You can be moral and conservative without even believing in God..."
"It's okay if you don't believe in God because he believes in you."
Dosen't matter how much he prays to me, after that flooding the world stunt he's not getting anything from me for Christmas :-)
I'm a born-again Christian who attends church regularly, but not necessarily every Sunday. I didn't go this morning; did some Bible reading and praise and worship here at home (miss the praise/worship most when I miss church).
I fellowship regularly throughout the week with Christians -- I generally don't mix much with non-believers or Christians in Name Only in my private life, but will speak up when necessary and will help anyone as I can. I think people can be ethical and conservative without religion.
There's nothing in the Bible commanding us to "go to church" or join one. The church is the body of believers throughout the world, not a building. The tabernacle, the place where God meets with us, is now located in our hearts thanks to the work completed by Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Why do you ask?
<><
"So.... try as you might you're giving when you least expect it."
I'm pretty benevolent... one of my commandments is that when someone makes you smile you have to pass it on ...
was raised catholic, but after a bible study in the catholic church a priest told the group that it is official catholic doctrine that there is NO DEVIL, that was the last straw. Have never felt comfortable anywhere else. Do not attend.
Grew up attending church every time the doors opened.
Went to Vacation Bible School each summer. LP: Haven't attended church in many years.
I do believe in God and Jesus Christ.
HE is my Savior.
Ditto
In 1968, I was expecting a third baby.
When the church started hounding me for weekly donations of a minimum of $20.00 per week, I got angry and quit going to church.
It appeared the church cared more for my donations than my soul.
Looking over the churh expenses on the weekly bulletin, I got more angry they were HIRING a gardener for the church AND the ministers (free) house.
Now, the minister was a fairly young able body guy with 3 teenage sons, that played in many sports. I had to ask myself, 'Why can't they do the yardwork for the church and their (free from rent) home?'
I did my own yard with a push type mower and I was expecting a baby.
That is so upsetting. Was it the Catholic church? We all belonged to a Catholic church growing up in our hometown, my parents were members for 30 years. Well, when they retired and headed south, they never found another church. My mom died two years after the move south, and my Dad wanted to have her buried in the church cemetary in our hometown. They said "NO" and it's for current church members only. Now mind you, us kids were still members but the church was very firm in their decision. My Dad was so distraught over everything going on that he didn't bother to argue. We were all furious and stopped attending.
A few years later after I moved to NY and hubby and I had our baby, we knew we had to have him baptised. I figured I'd give the Catholic church another chance since it was all I knew. We knew we wouldn't be weekly attendees anyway since hubby is less religious than me. Well, we're still members but get stern letters because we don't really attend (CONTRIBUTE) except for Christmas, Easter, Ash Wednesday and others. And that is enough for us. God has blessed us with much, and we are thankful to him in many ways.
me
I have four beautiful acres of giant old trees and a fresh water pond here by the house. I'm in my church about 16 hours a day, 7 days a week!
Church is a wonderful thing for some -- God bless those who attend.
My church however is nature, by God's hand!
Me....
Put me down as somebody who isn't comfortable with politicans using religion as a political issue.
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