Hey guys,

Are you up for a little debate? ok, here it goes....I'm a Christian, proud and happy to be one, I love God/ Christ and I humble myself to Him because I want to and I like it, I enjoy that humbling experience... and I do have other reasons to believe........

Of course, I know that not everyone agrees with me but I respect everyone's opinions, yes.... even if we can't agree, LOL!

I normally don't listen to celebrities talking about religion or politics, in my opinion, they show ignorance most of the times, specially when they talk about politics.... but an article popped up in MSN about Brad Pitt and I do admire his humanitarian work, so I read it , and I thought it was interesting what Brad Pitt said about his view/feelings on religion.... I personaly agree that religion in general is good....no matter what yours is... what do you think?

The following is the article:

"Religion works, Brad goes on. I know there's comfort there, a crash pad. It's something to explain the world and tell you there is something bigger than you, and it is going to be all right in the end. It works because it's comforting. I grew up believing in it, and it worked for me in whatever my little personal high school crisis was, but it didn't last for me. I didn't understand this idea of a God who says, 'You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I'm the best, and then I'll give you eternal happiness. If you won't, then you don't get it!' It seemed to be about ego. I can't see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me."

Thanks for reading guys, later.....

Helen;)

gee....I'm moving with you! do you have an extra room there for me? hehehehe...

How could I possibly pass on those lifestyles? they sound so wonderful...NOT...

Yeah, if you really want to go crazy, check out our local yellowpages.... for things such as "Crystal healers", etc. You would really get an education. And sure, you could move in, but I wouldn't sell your home just yet---you probably wouldn't want to stay here for long! :biggrin1:

P.S. But the weather is beautiful!

I have wanted to respond to this before when you have mentioned it, WABB....to tell you how wonderful I think it is that you handle that situation in this way. Whether you pray or just think of how to better assist your patient...well, they are both "Christian" (sorry!) in my mind, and both very loving and helpful. You sound like a wonderful nurse and I would want you on my side in an emergency! Maybe you really SHOULD move to California?? :biggrin1:

People are frightened enough going into any surgery. Especially the little old lady types, they have enough on their minds. They need someone holding their hand and telling them all is good, nothing more. If they feel better if we all bow our heads, damn straight I'll do it.

I learned a long time ago that the opportunity to do big things don't come along very often. The opportunity to do little things comes along all the time.

But anyway, thank you.

Thanks, Wheets, for telling me this. I found your story fascinating, again because it describes a situation which is so stunningly different from mine and yet so similar to the stories which I have heard from those other atheists who live in the BB. In truth I am tempted to think that the difference of persecution for being different when you live in certain areas of the new world as contrasted to when you live in those infamous Islamic countries may well be one of degree.

I will tell you that when my parents, a mixed marriage of a British mum and a Polish Jew father, immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1947, life up here was much as it still is down there. People were Christians, did attend church, and did make your beliefs their business. In fact, employment forms asked what your faith was and this was legal at the time.

Now, my mother was a baptised Christian although she did not trouble herself to become confirmed in the Anglican (Episcopalian) faith until after she arrived in Canada which was when she was in her late 20s. The Canadian upper crusties were Anglican, a bland, conservative, and safe faith - no speaking in tongues, testifying, or harrassing folks in their homes - and thus my parents had us done up as Anglicans. My father was an atheist. My mother was a spiritual person but her spirituality was not specifically anchored in Christian belief though this was incorporated, I guess one could say.

When I was in grade four, my last grade spent in public school, I used to dread going to school each Monday because our teacher would ask all of us who had gone to church on Sunday to put up our hands. I almost never did put up mine but for some reason it never occurred to me to lie. And thus the humiliation. And a free-floating childish fear.

My mum would get dressed up to go to church on Sunday mornings leaving the rest of us Greens lolling around the breakfast table in our pajamas. We would beg her not to go and occasionally she would drag me, the only girl, along with her. The truth is that she didn't want to go either but there was that awful 1950s standard to uphold and she was the one who was stuck with the job.

When I was 10 my parents shipped me off to a boarding school run by Anglo-Catholic nuns. I briefly got religion, just long enough to spend 6 months or so harrassing them with hellfire whenever I was allowed home.

But life up here has changed since those days. The city is a multi-cultural one and both the legislation and the local attitudes have changed. We have become accustomed to diversity and diversity is protected under our legislation. And our state has become rigorously secular, a good thing, I think, but one with a downside.

Let me explain: the forces of Canadian political correctness work hard these days to banish all mention, let alone celebrate such traditional holidays as Christmas in the public school system. The Christmas break is now referred to as the Winter Break or Winter Holidays. This practice is the norm throughout all public institutions. This is really most offensive, I think, for our Christian history forms a significant part of our folkways regardless of our own beliefs and thus should not be edited out.

I am awfully relieved that my neighbourhood and my city have moved such a long way from the conditions under which we lived when I was in the under 10 group. At the foot of my street there is a Catholic church which serves the local Portuguese community. From time to time throughout the year this church will conduct religious parades which pass up our street. The church hires cops who will temporarily block traffic from entering the street and these parades do not last for more than an hour max. I really love watching these and the only complaints I have heard have come from a Marxist friend. And nobody pays him much attention for he is still stuck in the 1960s.

Around the corner is a store front mosque. On my street there is a car which has a bumper sticker which reads I (heart) Islam. I find it very cool that this car has never been vandalised. My tenant and close friend is a dyke. Although she works in the world o banking she has never taken any trouble to grrlify herself. We, my mate and I, have a number of friends who are gay, some of which stay with us when they are in town, and none of us have ever received any grief from the street.

I guess that I will conclude this memoire by noting that my mum, a woman who was born in 1918, had always been accustomed to the company of gay men and women. And as for my macho pop (a guy who was born in 1914), he, too, was cool about homosexuality. The truth is that he did believe that sexual orientation was like race - something which he, as a Jew and a Holocaust survivor, figured he knew something about; he knew that no sane person would voluntarily choose to marginalise themselves by opting to thrust themselves into these dreadful perilous zones.

Ahh, once again I have drifted off topic.

People are frightened enough going into any surgery. Especially the little old lady types, they have enough on their minds. They need someone holding their hand and telling them all is good, nothing more. If they feel better if we all bow our heads, damn straight I'll do it.

I learned a long time ago that the opportunity to do big things don't come along very often. The opportunity to do little things comes along all the time. But anyway, thank you.

I have had many surgeries, some very intense and scary, including one in which I almost bled to death on the table. I don't remember much about the doctor or the hospitals...but I remember the nurses. I am so thankful that I have had some great nurses. The nurses made all the difference between a good experience and a bad/scary one.

Thank you for doing what you do. You should be paid much more....and the doctors should be taking orders from YOU!

I have wanted to respond to this before when you have mentioned it, WABB....to tell you how wonderful I think it is that you handle that situation in this way. Whether you pray or just think of how to better assist your patient...well, they are both "Christian" (sorry!) in my mind, and both very loving and helpful. You sound like a wonderful nurse and I would want you on my side in an emergency! Maybe you really SHOULD move to California?? :biggrin1:

I will second that, Wassa does sounds like a good nurse...and that in my book is Christ like....

sorry Wassa...LOL!

Elena

People are frightened enough going into any surgery. Especially the little old lady types, they have enough on their minds. They need someone holding their hand and telling them all is good, nothing more. If they feel better if we all bow our heads, damn straight I'll do it.

I learned a long time ago that the opportunity to do big things don't come along very often. The opportunity to do little things comes along all the time.

But anyway, thank you.

I will second that, Wassa does sounds like a good nurse...and that in my book is Christ like....

sorry Wassa...LOL!

Elena