Posted on 10/15/2001 6:54:40 AM PDT by malakhi
| Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue. - John Adams |
So true. I have a different situation, I think. My husband was baptized a Lutheran but is now an agnostic. He is pretty hostile to the Catholic faith but not around the kids. We do not fight over religion at all but I do the religious training and take them to church. I have to give him credit for being there at any serious religious ceremony like baptisms, communion, first penance. Not sure how this is all going to work out for the kids when they are older, but I try each day to integrate God in my kids' lives. I guess we all do our best and let God figure it out!
Then perhaps this is the way out of your impasse. It's the only one I can think of so far. Do you have others that have possibility?
I kinda like the one from the Psalm in the reading SoothingDave posted this morning:
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the Lord,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
But you see my mother is dead. If dad was to at this point admit something is wrong with the catholic faith, he would then have to worry about mom. See where I am going. That is a huge thing to deal with too. So I am just trying to be patient, but the man is 72, has had cancer, and is not in good shape. So pray for him.
Becky
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/3251/genjp2000.html
Becky
Yep, that's us, although (my poor wife!) I was Catholic when we married. Our children will be raised Catholic, because that is what we agreed upon before we were married. My wife is hardly an orthodox Catholic either, but unlike her sister has not chosen to leave the church, so really they are being raised more as 'nondenominational' Christians within the Catholic Church. She likes the priest, the parish and the school. I take care of the Hebrew scriptures, and my wife covers the Christian scriptures.
I liked the article on Gorbechev as well.
A Fundamentalist is a born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who--
1. Maintains an immovable allegiance to the inerrant, infallible, and verbally inspired Bible.
2. Believes that whatever the Bible says is so.
3. Judges all things by the Bible and is judged only by the Bible.
4. Affirms the foundational truths of the historic Christian Faith: The doctrine of the Trinity; the incarnation, virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, bodily resurrection and glorious ascension, and Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; the new birth through regeneration by the Holy Spirit; the resurrection of the saints to life eternal; the resurrection of the ungodly to final judgment and eternal death; the fellowship of the saints, who are the body of Christ.
5. Practices fidelity to that Faith and endeavors to preach it to every creature.
6. Exposes and separates from all ecclesiastical denial of that Faith, compromise with error, and apostasy from the Truth.
7. Earnestly contends for the Faith once delivered.
"Fundamentalism is militant orthodoxy set on fire with soulwinning zeal."
Many varying definitions of Fundamentalism have been given through the years, and the truth of the matter is that Fundamentalism has taken a great variety of forms. As a movement it has been largely interdenominational, yet many independent, separatist churches, such as independent Baptists and independent Bible churches, have accepted the label. Regardless of this variety, though, one of the chief hallmarks of Fundamentalism--its very essence, if you will--has always been a MILITANCY for the Faith of the Word of God. Anyone who is not truly militant in standing for the Truth has no title to biblical Fundamentalism.
Some have concocted a position that Fundamentalism historically was not militant or separatist, but was merely a belief in "the five fundamentals." This is a serious perversion. We reject John Calvin’s system of predestinarian theology which has been summarized in five points by the acronym of TULIP: Total depravity of man, meaning man is incapable of responding to the Gospel; Unconditional election, meaning God chooses which men will be saved and which men will be lost; Limited atonement, meaning Christ died only for those who will be saved; Irresistible grace, meaning the sinner cannot resist God’s call to salvation; and Perseverance of the saints, meaning those who are saved will hold out faithful to the end.
BigMack
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/3251/
It's the "traditional catholic reflections and reports" website and they have a good article about the Pope and the Koran. Sorry I'm a knuckledragger.
Ritual will be meaningless without the presence of the Holy Spirit, but I think we need to be on guard against developing a dependence on emotion as well. Prayer may leave our mouths feeling like dust but still reach God.
I agree with you. I think you can find the Lord anywhere you are - if you look for him.
Don't misunderstand me, I don't need the rituals and pomp and circumstance at all - they mean nothing when it comes down to basics, I just love tradition and the sense of history and wonder I find at the Mass. If Mass could only be sacrificed in an empty cave, I would miss the externals but I don't need them to find God.
I was the same as you as a kid - I think most kids are the same. We were fidgety and distracted at times. Don't you think that is the nature of kids? I don't think it is caused by anything other than age and selfishness - not the church. I don't think I would have been much different no matter what religion or church I belonged to.
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