Well Slap my Wrist and Call me Pagan!

And excellent question Derek! I'll use that if you don't mind the next time I'm told I'm doomed, condemned, evil, etc.

I hope the question works for you as it does for me. If all else fails though, you can always yell, "booooooo!" . I don't think life is meant to be that serious. The Buddhists don't think so. The Dalai Lama always seem to be laughing in spite of the situation in Tibet.. And what of all those laughing Buddhas? - Derek

I don't think so. They're not forbidding Sparks from practicing or expressing her religious views, they just don't want her in their club where they have to listen to them.

Deb
http://www.fullerbrushamerica.com/
http://newenglanddeb.typepad.com/

Exactly right Deb. It's not illegal, just very unChristian!

Forgive me if I am jumping to conclusions, but wouldn't the use of these christian e-cards give the people who are less tolerant a little bit of hope that maybe the cards might change some minds? I am not sure exactly what kind of cards these are, so I could be totally off.

Oh horn, no worries. I know that not all Christians are the same. But the net is the perfect place don't you know to indulge in all sorts of over the top behaviour, and fundamentalists are now discovering that freedom.

rebelmel..........it is obvious that these particular Christians don't read their bibles properly, let alone their own E-cards! lol

God lord.....now the net will never be the same......

You're right that evidence of hypocricy often comes down to fundamental beliefs used for personal reasons rather than to honor a deity. Good observation..........
And thanks for the advice about the e-cards!

First, welcome to the lot Deb. Second, it's not a good idea to have links to your sites as a signature on your posts..............they are supposed to be on your profile only. Just letting you know, so you won't get reported.
Third, being angry with God is common and very human. Anger at God is misplaced of course, because He gave us free will, but I do understand why you would feel that way. I hope now, you are finding some peace in your life and that your relationship with God is gentler and more accepting. He's not ALL about anger and abuse. The New Testament changed all that.........
And don't get me started on the Mormons! lol

We live in a very permissive society. I don't totally consider that a good thing in a lot of ways, but on the other hand, it has brought issues into the open that need to be dealt with and understood in order to affect positive change. Some issues however, especially in the minds of some Christians will remain forever sins of the greatest magnitude and a sure fire ticket to hell on a freight train.
Like homosexuality and paganism. Ignorance is the driving force of fear, and fear is the driving force of hate. You'll find a lot of that here on certain threads, so don't take it personally.
And yes, as a matter of fact, I did catch the Jesus Camp program. Scared the hell right out of me!

It made me wonder if a person who had similar beliefs had watched this, if it would make them proud or not. Like the few Christians who commented in here saying that they were shocked and misrepresented from the website. Do people who follow this religion feel like they are being misrepresented? I sure hope so.

Like any widespread faith, there are various factions that differ in certain fundamentals of belief and behaviour. I think the site in question is just a little more fundamental than most of the Christians here, and that's why there has been some outrage displayed about what happened. It's actually good to see so many of our own Christian members be upset by what happened. Because there are a lot of others here who would not be which you'd see if you spent much time on the religion discussions here. They can get quite heated! lol

The more I think about this the madder it makes me. Who the hell do they think they are and how freaking arrogant for them to assume you want or even need their forgiveness?

If I remember the URL correctly, it's 'Christian E-cards.com'. My short term memory sucks and I've deleted the link from my bookmarks.
You have to remember though sndcain, that no amount of logic or argument is going to change anything. The net is a breeding ground for all kinds of sites that promote their own agenda, no matter what it is. This site may be 'Christian', but I'll bet my bottom dollar, it's a fundamental sect that sees paganism as a mortal sin without redemption. Just getting an email from them asking me to declare my Christianity publicly was enough to set off alarm bells.............like, WHAT? Ok, so they have Christian E-cards, but now apparently they are using their site to go fundamental all over the net? Not on my computer! But there's nothing I can do about it, because they are protected under the rights and freedoms act......

Still, if they are free to be douchebags then I am free to tell them what I think of them...lol

And I'm sure you'll tell them in grand style! LOL
Just be prepared for their brand of 'Christian' deniability!

"There are none so blind as the righteous', someone said. So true!

yup

Or maybe someone monitoring the emails was just having a bad day? LOL
It surprised me when I got the 'declaration' email. Alarms bells went off, and then to be rejected for being Wiccan, well that just took the cake. And yet I do understand how THAT declaration would set off alarm bells for them! Just didn't expect to get slapped for it! LOL

I've seen things on the net that would frighten God Himself! Sad that such a wonderful tool to do good, is used more often to do harm.........

sometimes you will find sites that are like that but I have never non one until now. Till you said something. Witch I think is crazy for what they are doing. But what can we really do about it? I don't think anything makes God afraid lol.

LOL, I don't think much scares Him either sweets! But He sure must have a sense of humor to put up with us! LOL

I agree I don't know how he puts up with people on this earth. I am sure he could be funny. We get scared easy but him lol never. I wish I was as brave as him.

You know sweets, I discovered a long time ago that the best way to combat fear is to always, always, find the humor in a situation. Whether it's just within your own mind, or comes out of your mouth, it works. And there is ALWAYS a funny side, even to tragedy. I know. I've found it. And I always feel closer to God when I use my humor to combat fears, make sense of senseless things, or whatever crops up in my day to make me pause and think "Oh sh*t, what do I do now?!".

I think you are right. I have never tried that before. To try to laugh or make something funny in a bad situation. I need to try that myself. Because when I go through anxiety it hits me hard at times. God always said laughter is a good medicine.