What is a church?

[I Think]

Well Nab, that is a great rant, but what does it have to do with anything in this thread?????

In this neck o the woods, we get no door to door sales people, just Christians trying to get us to fall for their imaginary friend. Church is a huge shuck, people in Mexico live in small very sparse homes, right beside these monstrous Christian edifices. And look out for father Nelson whilst inside these monster shrines.
Christians can loot, shoot, and ravage the earth and each other, then "take up the lord halleluja" and buy into heaven, gimme a break!!

[NAB]

Well nibs, not that your little rant above was particularly on topic either, if you are not interested in getting answers that may not please you, then I suggest you not ask questions. I made a post that was very "on topic". You asked a question related to it that could not be left unanswered nor go unchallenged. Playing moderator again are we? ;-)

Anyway, now you have me wondering what it is that seemingly makes you so special and extra popular with your "Christian loonies" compared to most folk. Perhaps some mutual attraction going on there???

Nab

[I Think]

No Nab, the local Christian bunch doesnt single me out, they tour the neighborhood quite often.

[steven lloyd]

must be something 'bout that bus.

[NAB]

:-k must be something 'bout that bus.

I must be blessed. I only see them (JW only) in my neighbourhood twice a year. I have never had any other "religion group" even come a callin'.

Nab

[JLives]

You're lucky. I get them every 1-2 months. I repeatedly tell them I'm an atheist and to take my house off their list. They continue to feel their right to market trumps my right to be left alone.

[NAB]

No Nab, the local Christian bunch doesnt single me out, they tour the neighborhood quite often.

So now I have to ask, who EXACTLY are your "local Christian bunch". I.e. what church do they belong to?

And do you attribute their behaviour to every other church, just 'cause? ..even though you are not bothered at your door by any other church, or even ever where.

Nab

[NAB]

You're lucky. I get them every 1-2 months. I repeatedly tell them I'm an atheist and to take my house off their list. They continue to feel their right to market trumps my right to be left alone.

jenny, a little sign at your property line works wonders. It can neutrally say "NO SOLICITING", or more specifically "NO JEHOVA'S WITNESSES", or even both. Asking that your house be "taken off their list" is as useless as asking that your telephone number or e-mail address be taken off a spammers list. In the case of the JW's, they don't even maintain "a list" anyway.

Nab

[averagejoe]

So if someone has no interest in becoming a member of the group and participating in their activities, then the solution is quite simple - don't join, and stay away.

I have no problem with that Nab, as long as the Christian loonies quit knocking on my door, trying to get me to join in their fantasies, of heaven and invisible friends.

Freedom of religion and the right to practice it is enshrined in Canada's Constitution

Is it too big a stretch to say that freedom FROM religion is also enshrined?

Hey nibs, maybe you would like these guys knocking on your door instead?

The last goat standing: Satanism fear stalks village as animals are tortured and killed.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1MZ7JUZUx

[Bsuds]

In the case of the JW's, they don't even maintain "a list" anyway.

Nab

I think they do. After a minor incident/discussion with some, they avoided my house like the plague. I would see some coming down the street and they would cross to the other side just to avoid me/us. That to me suggests they keep a list.

[NAB]

In the case of the JW's, they don't even maintain "a list" anyway.

Nab

I think they do. After a minor incident/discussion with some, they avoided my house like the plague. I would see some coming down the street and they would cross to the other side just to avoid me/us. That to me suggests they keep a list.

They don't keep "lists" of friendly houses to call on (what's the use of preaching to the choir?). In fact they make a point of not canvasing in their own neighbourhood. Someone puts together a 2 or 3 member team to go canvasing to collect their annual brownie points, and go to a neighbourhood in which they are not personally known. Nor do they even know the neighbourhood intimately at all. They head up and down the streets knocking on every door. They are not usually persistent, so if you don't answer the door they will move on. And if you have a no soliciting sign up they will not even bother you in the first place.

I lived next to a JW couple once for over 5 years. They wre great neighbours, and not once did they ever try to discuss their religious views with me or mine.

Nab

[JayByrd]

The church is mostly what you make it.

You assume too much. The church is about paying tribute to an imaginary being, as directed by charlatans who try to convince people that they have an inside track to the thoughts of this imaginary being. Then you can die and go to this imaginary valhalla.

I don't believe in God, yet I attend church several times a year (my wife and her family are religious, and I work as a caregiver for a disabled man who attends). I don't pay tribute to an imaginary being, yet I usually find something in the sermon I can apply to my own life. I don't believe in heaven or valhalla, yet I usually find common ground with the people I meet there, despite not believing as they do.

Am I doing it wrong?

[fluffy]

...a little sign at your property line works wonders. It can neutrally say "NO SOLICITING", or more specifically "NO JEHOVA'S WITNESSES", or even both.

I have been considering one that reads "Attention Uninvited Callers: I will be happy to listen to what you have to say, but my time is not without value. There is a $20.00 permission fee payable in advance, and the cost for my attention is $10.00 per minute with a five minute minimum, also payable in advance.

[I Think]

I thought this was interesting, and sort of fit the discussion here.

LONDON -- Famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking finds no room for heaven in his vision of the cosmos.

In an interview published Monday in The Guardian newspaper, the 69-year-old says the human brain is a like a computer that will stop working when its components fail.

He says: "There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

In "Grand Design," a book published last year, Hawking had declared that it was "not necessary to invoke God ... to get the universe going."

Hawking is nearly totally paralyzed by motor neurone disease, diagnosed when he was 21.

Hawking says he is not afraid of death, but adds: "I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first."

[fluffy]

I think "heaven" isn't so much a place to go after you die, but a conceptual idea of the rewards that living a life of higher purpose and morality can bring, such as a life free of fear, guilt, and all that other nasty stuff. The other side of that coin would be that you don't have to wait for death to find out what "hell" is, it's just another way of describing what a life without morality can bring.