Religion and Spirituality

I support the full restoration of the High Anglican Church, enforced conformism and Anglican Blasphemy laws. I also want the full restoration of the Aristocratic High State, ending of democracy/Liberalism/Secularism and Multi-faithism. I wouldn't go as far to support the restoration of the Penal laws however. I am totally the oppose of most people in society and most people don't even know what a High Church Anglican is. I feel if more people know that restoration of the old ways was an option it would get more support. Sadly there is no actual debate or knowledge about these things. Even though it built this society and made it hyper functional, which is being eroded by Liberalism and the interventionist low state, to sweep away the Aristocratic, Aristotle, classical education based High State. State enforced multi-faithism is a huge example of this. 

TheCatWoman said:

I think some people are just bullies and it dosent' matter what faith or none they adhere to, they just look for differences to point out and try and make you feel bad about yourself.

I agree with that. Those sort of people actively look for a difference they can use as an excuse for their vileness. 

Hi Cat woman, I was sorry to hear that you've been bullied by atheists and people of other faiths. I do not have a faith and so would be classed as atheist, although I prefer the term post theist, but I cannot imagine why anyone would feel the need to bully someone about their personal faith. 

I have worked or studied with people of different faiths and respected them. I was particularly interested in the Pagan and Hindu ones, and also learning about the Jewish festivals and customs. I also like the stories of the Roman and Greek Gods.

I agree that there are a minority who just want to bully people because of differences. But whether you follow a religion/faith or not, I believe that there is no excuse for bullying or rudeness. 

Thank you Elfilis . What you say is interesting and worth thinking about.

In at least some primary schools where I live, lessons incorporate learning to be kind to those who are different, and they talk about left handed children, those who are tall, short etc, and those with disabilities. I hope that this is making a difference to how children consider one another.

Children can be very mean when they see anybody a bit different in any way at all. When I was about 6 years of age, a girl laughed at my toes, because they were quite long back then, although they look more average sized to me today. She called me ‘spade toes’. Now this seems such a ridiculous thing to be upset about, but back then, I felt awful. 

I've had atheists try and bully me too, as well as those from other faiths, on the whole I refuse to engage with them, with atheiests I've often asked them why its so important to them that I and everyone else believe as they do and aren't they in danger of becoming the very things they say they despise about those with faith. I've never had an answer, just anger and more aggressive attempts at bullying. One thing I've noticed with atheists is that most of thier arguments only really apply to monotheism, they can't seem to cope with polytheism and people who don't have a "book" to live by.

My son is left handed and has trouble with things like scissors, there are plenty of manufacturers that do things for left haned people, but they do tend to be expensive, probably because left handers are about 10% of the population. I'm fairly ambidextrous and have problems with things like muscial instruments because I want my left hand to dominate. I have a similar problem with sewing machines, I often want to use them left handed and don't see why they should be handed? 

I think some people are just bullies and it dosent' matter what faith or none they adhere to, they just look for differences to point out and try and make you feel bad about yourself. I don't think the opinions of people like that are really worth bothering about, just think of what it must be like to have to live in heads like that? All that seething insecurity, self loathing and most of all fear, they fear everything and to make themselves feel less afraid they try and push their fears onto others.

I’m not too sure about active discrimination today but when I was getting bullied in secondary school (which wasn’t religious) I always had to sit on the left end of the table because if I wasn’t and the person to the left of me was right handed, well they would tend to purposely knock or push my arm to ruin my work and then I’d get the blame for being a snitch. I also got bullied because they all knew I was Christian despite me keeping it to myself but they knew because of kids who went to my primary school and then I’d get the “why do you believe in God? If He loved you then you wouldn’t be left handed.” excuses and then I wouldn’t be able to answer. Non of these people were religious but I do find people who claim to be religious can bully left handers because they believe they are a sign from the devil. I don’t know if I’ve gone off topic but that was my experience anyway. 

I don’t know if people bully for religions or not now but I did get bullied by a lot of atheists and they literally made me question my faith and why I believe and they wouldn’t leave me alone until I just gave in and cried! 

As for products, like simple things that are easy for right handers can be bothersome for left handers. I mean I didn’t notice how hard it was to cut with right handed scissors using my left hand and it was something simple with the blades being the other way around. Also when I write I tend to smudge my writing and get half the ink on my hand as when I’m writing then my hand goes over the writing haha. 

Sorry if this isn’t helpful by the way 

 Elfilis  and TheCatWoman 

May I barge into the conversation here? I am not left handed so I don’t have first hand experience of discrimination, but I had a left handed family member and I have a LH friend, so I have some awareness. 

I do agree that there was much discrimination of LH people through how they used to be treated at school, in church and in other aspects of daily life. Manufacturers produced goods that favoured right handed people.

The production of goods aimed at a right handed market continues to be seen today in our writing systems, kitchen implements, gardening tools, musical instruments and so on. That is discrimination through inaction.

But is active discrimination in the form of targeting a person in the name of religion a reality in the UK and the rest of Europe these days? 

I think some people might use the now debunked argument of ‘sitting at the right hand of God’, and they may quote the Latin ‘sinister’ in a malicious way. That is because they are mean and nasty people. I can’t accept that they really believe that of a LH person today. I think it is just another lie that is used to target a person, rather than a true reflection of Christian faith.

TheCatWoman said:

Everything is set up for right handers and I think the prejudice against them is similar to that faced by us as ND's.

Being an autistic left hander I can totally agree with that. I just hope one day all this discrimination and stuff will come to a complete stop one day but that’s wishful thinking. 

People did used to be "made" to write with thier right hands and did sometimes have thier left hand immobilised, it wasn't just in religious schools but all schools.. Everything is set up for right handers and I think the prejudice against them is similar to that faced by us as ND's.

Ahh I’ve been putting these “thingy” marks around lately because our relationship is that like broken and distant that it doesn’t feel like calling him dad is right. I know I sound harsh but as I said he hasn’t been there for me and when other people have said that he just snaps and tells me to stop seeing professionals when they are telling the truth that he can’t handle. And well my holiday from hell was like the last straw, he busted me last week and still won’t accept he’s in the wrong and moaned at me for my messy flat despite the fact I was unwell from med withdrawal and jet lag. Even my mum seems to be pushed away from him. I think the planet he lives on is aeroplane planet, all he is interested in is a C130 or a boing 777 or something 

As for the left handed thing, I think it’s because lucifer the devil is meant to be left handed and also Jesus sits at the right hand side of God. I remember my mum, her brother and younger sister (all left handed) said that they were forced to write and do like everything right handed and they didn’t even go to a religious school or anything. I have also heard something that if a left handed person went to a religious school then they would be punished badly and have their left hands tied behind their back or something. I could be wrong or getting confused with the Simpsons though. Speaking of the Simpsons I want to mention Ned Flanders who is also a fellow left hander and it’s safe to say he is the most religious character in the show. Though I have seen him do things right handed too but hey cartoons are inconsistent ha! 

Good grief Elfis, what planet does your "dad" live on? By the way why do you always put him in "thingy" marks?

i think it is sheer ignorance to think that left handed people are somehow bad, I think it comes from the Latin Dexter-right and Sinister=left, sinister came to take on more negative connotations somewhere along the line, possibly from shield walls in warfare where you hold your shield with your left arm and your sword or spear in your right. A shield wall is a line of interlocking shields protecting not just your own body, but that of the person to the side of you, swords or spears and then jabbed or slashed over or under the shields, if someone's domminant hand is the left and they naturally want to hold a shield in their right hand and a sword with thier left it would leave a gap in a shield wall that would make it vulnerable in what is basically a pushing match.

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Almond, I would like to see the church and state seperated too, but it dosent' gaurantee a state not dominated by religious thought and beliefs, America has no state religion, but it's politics seem to be very much dominated by Christianity and seems to be becoming more so.

As a personal opinion, what I'd like is a secular state, which is quite common en.wikipedia.org/.../Secular_state,

Though some cases in the map are debatable imho.

It would be nice if there was a thread here, or somewhere with religious traditions, I guess? Though I personally wouldn't have anything to add.

Ahh well I live alone now so I’m not being watched or anything now but when I was living at home that’s when things got out of control, considering I needed comfort with my panic attack with worrying about ceasing to exist. I expected more comfort and thought my “dad” would be happy that I showed more interest but guess not. Say when on holiday there was a bible in the bedside table draw and I got moaned at for just picking it up, as you said I don’t think he really understands religion at all. 

I am feeling more of a calling towards following Jesus and Christianity but I do have interests in other religions but I do feel the strongest connection with Christianity. I am C of E but I’m unable to find any local churches in my area so I tend to practice in my own time, I just feel guilty doing so as I keep getting my “dads” voice in my head which is a real struggle. I will have a look into something like an mp3 or podcast though, lately I have read some of the children’s Bible stories online but when I go to Liverpool I might go into a shop that sells biblical stuff, I actually felt a sense of peace when I went there earlier this year. 

I also believe in heaven and afterlife and I remember one of my therapists who used to be a nurse, she worked in a small hospital for people who had intense surgeries and the ones who were proven “dead” actually said about experiencing heaven which I thought was very reassuring. When I told my dad this though he refused to believe it so I can’t understand why he claims to be catholic and say I can’t understand why he would want religion all to himself. I’d be happy to share religion, though I do like to keep religion to myself at times too but if someone else is interested then I’m happy to talk. I do worry if I’d be welcome in heaven because I am left handed. Hmm. 

Faith is a personal thing. We should all be able to have one if we want. A personal relationship with the faith makes all the difference in my faith. Your dad doesn't seem to understand things properly. It is not his thing to have a monopoly or interest of a faith. Jesus said to people to follow him and he wants more people to. He asked them to seek and knock and find him and that applies to everyone if they are ready to. He also said that people need to believe in him for eternal afterlife.

I would say ignore if interested and perhaps listen to something like an mp3 Bible on your own and take it from there. Faith Comes by Hearing may be a good place to look. I use one downloaded from there, non dramatised version.

If this continues with your father and remember you don’t have to discuss your faith with him if you don't want to, but secrecy can be hard at home to. Could you look into alternate housing to get away from this, It's not good.

About end of life, some Saints are in Heaven, but we are now waiting for the 2nd Resurrection with Christ to return and then will go to New Jerusalem or Heaven itself and only God determines that in my faith and I am a Christian, but I am a non demontioal, but was baptised as a Catholic. There is something called the Cennacle charismatic and I am not young and don' go, but I have seen it. They support people with social media to so may be that might be something to look at as well. Good luck

I am aware of that. I don’t know that much about it and I have seen protests against it. The SpongeBob religion may be better. I’d probably stick with Christianity and the more original religions more than anything. I tend to like to go into details and see various views. 

You're very welcome and I'm glad that I was able to help you.

I'd be a bit wary of Scientology though, it seems to be one of those where it's hard to get away once they've got their hooks into you. 

When my mum comes back off her holiday I might ask her if she can take me to some churches for reassurance. There are a couple of Cathedrals in Liverpool as well so we will probably pay them a visit at some point too. I don’t have any local churches near me at the moment and I’m not best with public transport so as I said I tend to practice at home in my own time. I will definitely explore other religions though, say I do have a strong interest and belief in the Greek and Egyptian Gods and Goddesses but I also enjoy studying Judaism and Scientology as well. I think they are all very interesting if I’m honest. I actually have a little table top zen garden with a tiny Buddha statue and I do that daily and get a sense of spiritual peace as well. I actually remember praying for either me to get my own place or the horrible neighbours at my mums place moved and well I got my own place so my prayer got answered but I prayed to so many Gods and Goddesses and well at least someone answered me hehe! I was kinda like Lisa Simpson when she prayed to Buddha, Jesus and SpongeBob. Surprised I haven’t prayed to SpongeBob myself haha. 

Thank you for being so kind and understanding and I am grateful you respect my views and I respect yours and everyone’s views here. I’m glad I was able to talk about this so thank you! 

Have you thought about talking to your priest about this nonsense your Dad comes out with? Maybe talk to a couple of different priests, a Catholic and a CoE one, they will all tell you God is for everyone and no one has the right to try and deny God to you because they've taken some sort of ownereship of him/them. Maybe what this is telling you is that it's time to start exploring your faith outside of your family? Maybe a god is calling you? The only way to find out is to take the time to listen and explore. Nothing you've said about any crisis of faith is in any way wrong or uncommon, most people have the same fears at some point or other, some never get past them. If you don't explore these crisis's, then I think and this is only my belief, that your faith is either extremely deep in that you have no doubts at all, or it's superficial, because you're not really engaging with it fully.

Don’t be sorry at all! What you have said about him is completely true. Had time to myself lately so I’ve been doing my own things which has been much nicer! The only things I can talk about in my family are things they are interested in, not me. I just come across as boring to them but it’s because I have nothing in common and I just feel the outcast. 

I always thought God belonged to everyone but it depends on whether or not the people choose to accept him and believe in him. I don’t understand why my “dad” doesn’t like me talking about religion when for years he’s always tried to convince me to become catholic myself but when I started taking Christianity in general more seriously, he didn’t like it and said only he can be the religious one as it’s his thing. Not to mention that time when I had an awful panic attack by the fear of death and nothingness afterwards, I honestly expected to have more comfort and reassurance but all I got was “JUST LIVE YOUR FLAMING LIFE AND STOP CRYING AND MOANING!!” Ouch! Did not expect that from a catholic. It was my mum who calmed me down and reassured and she was struggling with her faith at the time but as far as I’m concerned she has reclaimed her faith again.  

As for afterlife, I think you are right about pagens and if I’m correct some Buddhists don’t believe in afterlife either. I know Lisa Simpson is like that. I am a big believer in heaven and the afterlife and even reincarnation if I’m honest and I also enjoy studying other religions whether it’s Christianity, Buddhism or even Greek or Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. I believe in all of them but I choose to follow the Christian faith. I just have to keep quiet from my “dad” which really upsets me considering he’s supposedly catholic. 

Some Pagans don't believe in an after life or reincarnation, but I don't know about any others. As a Catholic he should believe in heaven and hell, it all part of the point of it, isn't it? 

Does God only belong to one person? How can he claim it's his thing? Christianity of any sect is an evangelical religion, it actively seeks out converts, so how can it only be his thing?

I'm sorry to say this, but your Dad sounds like a really abusive and manipulative person, is there anything you can talk about with your family and not get put down or guilt tripped?