I've been inside a Hindu temple before. They're quite different from the churches I'm used to, but beautiful in their own way. The one I was in had a lot of open space and wasn't very ornate anywhere except the shrines, which were gorgeous.
Also, another decidedly left and religious troper here, checking in. Catholic, to be more specific.
edited 29th Mar '18 4:30:17 PM by randomdude4
"Can't make an omelette without breaking some children." -BurI just accidentally break a religious tradition...and strangely, I am the one that do care about it, heck, my mother just broke it right now.
Said tradition is not eating meat in both Holy Thursday and Friday (actually is not eating red meat, chicken is technically OK...) and just eating fish or shellfish (or straight up no meat).
Now that I think of it, I might not have broken it (Chicken is OK)
...Phew. I feel better right now. (I eat chicken without realizing that it was Holy Thursday)
Is not a real religious biblical law, is just...a local tradition that I like.
(Wow. Chicken was OK. I was lied all my life, thanks Internet)
edited 29th Mar '18 5:28:38 PM by KazuyaProta
Watch me destroying my country![]()
Actually, it's not. While not in the Bible per se (there's a lot of religious traditions that aren't actually in the Bible), there is a long tradition of not eating meat on Fridays during Lent
. In fact not doing so during Lent is the remnant of a much more extensive tradition of avoiding certain foods (usually meat) on certain days.
I've never been a huge fan of churches, not even during my Christian days. They just give me this weird feeling of unease that's hard to describe. It's like the building has no soul or something. (I don't think that they usually do, but you get the idea.) The architecture can be pretty cool though. I love the look of gothic cathedrals and such.
These days, the closest I ever get to any kind of "spiritual" experience is usually the result of music or movies, rather than anything with an obvious religious connection.
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.@Corvidae
Churches give me an uneasy feeling but in a good sense. I feel naked, laid bare upon them. As I see the sound echoing, augmented by the acoustic of the walls, I am reminded He hears it all. As I see the angels and saints of marble gazing down with lifeless eyes, I am reminded He sees it all. As I see the men of the cloth going about their business, I am reminded He works through us all. As I see the faithful preaching across the humble wooden rows, I am reminded He listens to us all. Both for our triumph and our downfall, if we deserve it.
He knows what you've done, He knows what you intend to do, what you're hiding from and what you'll have to face for your actions, be that a reward or a punishment. You can't hide from him, no matter how much you pretend otherwise. You can't run. Your false atonement for your actions is only worsening your case. And you will get your just rewards, be through His cosmic hand or by one of his emissaries, who surround you from every angle, aware of their role in the Plan or not, they serve Him. And you can't run forever.
Psalms 2:11: "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling".
You can run for a long time...run on for a long time....run on for a long time....sooner or late God's gonna cut you down.
edited 30th Mar '18 12:43:34 PM by Gaon
"All you Fascists bound to lose."Or as Disney would put it:
"You can lie to yourself and your minions! You can claim that you haven't a qualm! But you never can run from nor hide what you've done from the eyes....the very eyes of Notre Dame!"'
"All you Fascists bound to lose."If only they had dispensed with the comic relief gargoyles, this would have been one of the most deafeningly epic films of all time. OF ALL TIME.
Pity that the actual cathedral is not remotely that impressive.
That scene is kind of funny if you've read the book. It's like Archdeacon Frollo is Talking To Himself, having been spilt between his good and evil sides. One thing I didn't remember was that, all along, Quasimodo was a "gypsy" himself, which brings dramatic irony to a lot of his scenes.
edited 30th Mar '18 3:20:17 PM by TheHandle
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.@ Gaon: Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Personally, I very much prefer this
kind of feeling, or this one.
I thought I had it bad with the awkardness of pretend faithfulness whenever I had to go to church as a minor, but feeling like someone's watching your every move seems worse.
Anyway, I find almost all big religious buildings to be fascinating, in terms of all the culture and mystical traditions there translated to architecture, it's something else.
Life is unfair...My personal kind of church is usually one with a band, and everyone singing along to some really good religious songs. That are usually from Hillsong, which is pretty good.
It's really fun, it made me feel very much in touch with my faith, there was an overwhelmingly good sense of community and I loved it.
That was my first church back in HK, and it's what my bible study group enjoys too.
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The music was usually my favourite part of Mass too, if only because I truly enjoyed the rythm. I have to say though, I prefer chorus to bands because they feel like a quick attempt to modernise the church (unfair, I know, but that's the perception you get when you constrast it against the traditional style I was raised in).
edited 30th Mar '18 5:26:39 PM by Grafite
Life is unfair...

Thanks.