So... Do you attend church regularly? If so, which flavor of a church do you attend? If not, why not?
The question do you attend church regularly took a strange turn for a bit. I kinda thought the question was strange. I'm more curious about why people go to church. What do they get from it?
No need to be defensive Frank...I really mean it! You're as skilled with your speech as you are with your scientific knowledge and your impressive engineering projects! Sincerely, Harold I. Pollner
I think that you may just look at the whole question to Lon in a completely different manner than either Bobby or I would think about it. Neither of us think that religion should be “pushed”, but when someone is asking questions about religious beliefs , then that is indication that it is something they wish to know more about. Why else start many posts asking questions in the religion section of the forum, which is what Lon has been doing ? If someone were asking you a lot of questions about how you built the small-scale train and track, it would be fair to assume that they at least had an interest in that subject, right ? Since that is something that you love talking about, most likely, you would be more than happy to share with them, and ask them what they would like to know about the little train. If someone is asking to know more about a belief in God, then it only makes sense to ask them if they are just writing threads, or if they have an actual interest. Most of us do not start threads about something which we have no interest in, especially repeated threads about the same subject.
@Ken Anderson , keeping this crowd on topic is a bit like herding cats, isn't it. But, at least, we're not boring. Let's see.…………. the topic is church attendance, right? I don't attend church anymore and from the posts of most members here, they don't, either. Even the ones who are Christian don't attend a church. They read their bible and pray but don't feel the need to attend a brick and mortar building.
Post #73, that is exactly what Bobby did, was just ask Lon whether he was starting all of the religious threads because he was searching, or for some other reason. Lon did not reply. Frank thought it was wrong to ask Lon why he was starting threads about religion. Personally, I do not think that whether a person goes to church or not is any indication of their spirituality. I never saw my mother go to church except for one time (my baptism), but she read her Bible every day, read religious books by many authors, and set aside money in her Bible which she used to help anyone who asked for help. She never pushed her faith onto anyone, but was willing to spend as long as necessary talking and praying with someone who was searching for a belief in God. There is no one whom I have ever known who showed more of what I consider true Christian Love to her fellow humans than my mother did, and from the earliest time that I can remember, she shared her faith and belief with me, and I am thankful that she loved me enough to do that. Sharing our faith in God is something that is a caring thing for those of us who are believers. The other side of that is that going to church is an important part of their religious beliefs for many people, and if they feel that this is a necessary part of their faith, then I think that it is good that they can go to church.
That principle is true even in some of the Muslim countries. The son of a pastor we had here was a missionary in the UAE, where Christian proselytizing is against the law, and severely punished, but he said that when the person is asking a question about the Christian Bible or about Christianity, they were allowed to answer.
Well, as you see I had deleted that post as I recalled that Bobby had asked Lon why. But thanks for the response. I'll just say that sometimes we ask questions to see if others are of a similar mind. Lon may not want any further religious instruction but may only be curious about who among us lead similar lives. But all is speculation at this point.
Either way, the door was opened. When a question is asked about church attendance, replies on the subject are welcomed.
No more churches in my life and I tried to make plenty "fit"...But in the 80's I found or it found me, Science of Mind (SOM) and love love love the principles of this New Age Religion. I can't live in the past.