A single unified LGBTQ+ conversation

I'm intrigued. What are masses like?

That guy sounds like a complete jerk. You shouldn't pay attention to jerks who oggle and make fun of people's bodies like that. I know that's easier said than done, but people like that don't deserve a second of your time. There will always be people who judge you solely on how sexually attractive they find your body, but they're just assholes

edited 25th Sep '16 4:00:02 PM by Cailleach

They don't have masses, at least not where I'm from. Technically, anybody can be a UU, even an atheist. It's also notable that U Us are incredibly pro-LGBT. I'm sure you would fit right in.

See http://www.uua.org for more information.

I just checked out the website of a Unitarian Universalist church near where I live. It sounds like a great place. They do a lot of charity work too, and I'd love to get involved with some of that. Thanks for the recommendation!

Is belief actually necessary to be catholic? I think most christians don't actually think god literally exists. I think most christians believe in the teachings of the bible but not the truth of the bible.

No, I'm... pretty sure literally believing in God is a pretty big part of Christianity.

Do you mean that they don't take the Bible literally? That's a bit different than saying that they don't literally believe in God.

Yeah, like... Belief in God and Jesus is the defining part of Christianity. Hell, Catholicism in particular is impossible to combine with a lack of belief in God. One of the most notable parts is the fact that we believe the bread and wine in communion actually becomes the body and blood of Jesus. Not metaphorically.

There are groups out there that follow Jesus's teachings but don't actually believe in God... but they're far in the minority.

I know some agnostic/atheist theologians (including myself) who do that. Just because you don't believe in the truth of the Bible doesn't mean that a lot of the parables don't have good morals. They're like Aesop's Fables. You don't believe that they're true but you can still learn from the morals

You never know. There might be a cult of grasshoppers.

edited 25th Sep '16 6:55:11 PM by SpaceWolf

I think bread becoming the flesh of Jesus is an excellent example. Now, I am pretty sure there are a few people who managed to get their minds to literally believe that is what actually happens. But you are not going to convince me that most of the people sitting in the church managed to do that to their brains.

That is what Catholics genuinely believe. Episcopalians and many other denominations believe it's a metaphor, but Catholics view it literally.

Also, it really sounds like you're talking down to people who view their religion literally.

edited 25th Sep '16 7:42:41 PM by smokeycut

But at the same time, viewing every aspect of religious text as literal is problematic thanks to some of the metaphors making no sense otherwise.

Yes, I know that. But talking down to people who view the spirituality seriously isn't okay. Catholics believe that communion involves the bread and wine actually becoming Jesus' body and blood. I do believe that, even if I don't believe God literally created women from a man's rib.

I think most reasonable and religious people at least attempt to separate "fact" from "fiction" when it comes to judging their own religious texts. Except for the parts they are unreasonable about.

Saying "at least attempt" might be me projecting one of the reasons that led me to becoming apatheist, that is, most people have no actual theological background (including me) to really discuss religion, even if some of these people might actually want to. I'm talking about group of people that have no theological background and want to discuss religion. Then, I talk about a subgroup of such.

I am not talking down to anyone. Actually believing that is an impressive feat. To eat a biscuit and taste flesh is not easy. And to think it the truth and not an illusion would be even harder.

jfc dude how do you not get how condescending you're being

You're coming across as incredibly condescending when you say it like that.

...I believe the idea (I could be wrong here, feel free to correct me) is that it is transubstantiated in the body based on the consumer's faith. Not while currently eating it. That would indeed be a strange sensation.

You are correct, Psyches (at least to my current understanding of it as it's been explained to me. I'm in the process of learning/converting to Catholicism, so they've been explaining it all to me).

I just want T to do stuff already...aaarrrgghh!

How long has it been?

Only 1 and 1/2 months.