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Oh, My God
Townhall.com ^ | March 9, 2013 | Bill O'Reilly

Posted on 03/09/2013 12:57:21 AM PST by Kaslin

With the shorthand "OMG" (oh, my God) becoming a huge cliche, it might be worth taking a look at how Americans are seeing the Almighty these days -- that is if they are looking at all.

A recent Gallup poll indicates that just 31 percent of Americans worship publicly on a weekly basis, while 43 percent rarely go to a church, synagogue or mosque.

Growing up under the heavy hand of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, it was drummed into me that attending weekly Mass was not an option. It was a must to avoid eternal damnation, which was not a prospect filled with many positives. Hellfire was perpetual, and no parole would be offered.

And so I went to Mass and was even an altar boy, memorizing a variety of Latin prayers that basically said Jesus was a good guy and everybody should avoid offending him. Not a bad message, so I really had no beef -- unless I was assigned to the 6:30 a.m. service. Was Jesus even up at that hour?

Today, only 24 percent of American Catholics attend weekly Mass, and so Lucifer must be very busy expanding accommodations. There are many reasons for this, but two stand out.

First, Mass is often deadly dull. Sometimes the priest is from Botswana, and you can't understand him. Other times, you can understand the padre, but 20 minutes on the Corinthians can be challenging, if you know what I mean. It would be great if priests, ministers, rabbis and imams would spice it up a little.

The second reason that churchgoing is in decline is that we are living in a narcissistic time when self-gratification has largely replaced the golden rule of treating others as you want to be treated.

Far be it for the public schools to teach this, but the USA was founded on basic Judeo-Christian principles. Don't take my word for it. Take a trip to Washington, D.C., and tour the Supreme Court building. There you will see a sculpted copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall.

But why? Moses wasn't an American. He didn't cross the Red Sea into Delaware. The reason the commandments are on display is that the Founding Fathers based the American legal system on honesty and on the avoidance of doing harm to others -- the basic tenets of the commandments.

But many secular Americans, including the ACLU, would dismantle the Supreme Court display if they could. We are now in the age of anti-religion, where pious folks are looked upon as odd. Religion is a bad thing to the secular-progressive. It's too judgmental and stands in the way of unfettered abortion, gay marriage and other sacred causes of the S-P movement.

Faith-based organizations such as the Catholic Church should be fighting against secularism, but they rarely do. Instead, they are on the defensive, as scandals and apathy have devastated organized religion. The Gallup poll reflects that.

But for me, a sinner, it is worth an hour a week to think about things of a spiritual nature in order to try to improve my life. I even turn off my cellphone. In pursuit of a higher calling, it is just not needed.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: aclu; catholic; church; conclave; faithandphilosophy; galluppolling; romancatholicism; secularists; thevatican
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To: what's up

If I be lifted up...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xId81zjj4fs


41 posted on 03/09/2013 1:02:03 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

Looks like about, oh, 8*8*8 inches to me: 512 cubic inches of GOLD.

I wonder how HEAVY that would be?

Density of GOLD is .698 pounds per cubic inch...

512 * .698 = 357 pounds

I wonder how fast and how far a man could run carrying that?


42 posted on 03/09/2013 1:37:08 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Hilda
I didn’t vote for the Muslim OR the Mormon.

So YOU're the one!

Heat up the oil; boys!

43 posted on 03/09/2013 1:40:16 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Colonel_Flagg

Honey Boo Boo quotes:

http://www.realitynation.com/tv-shows/here-comes-honey-boo-boo/honey-boo-boo-quotes/23623/


44 posted on 03/09/2013 1:44:55 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

That’s about O’Reilly’s speed.


45 posted on 03/09/2013 2:13:58 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg ("Don't be afraid to see what you see." -- Ronald Reagan)
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To: IbJensen

“O’Reilly is demonstrating his flippancy and what a shallowly religious man he truly is.”

I agree!! I am not even a Catholic, but his attitude, especially in the beginning of the article, is almost mocking...his own church!!


46 posted on 03/09/2013 2:23:56 PM PST by Adventure gal
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To: Kaslin

Mass is often deadly dull. .....It would be great if priests..... would spice it up a little.

I’m not Catholic but went to Christmas Eve Mass this past December. My wife and I were watching news on the Pope picking and I told my wife the same thing from the article that is written above. Bottom line ...It’s boring!.


47 posted on 03/10/2013 12:42:28 AM PST by Terry Mross (How long before America is gone?)
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To: Terry Mross
If onbe does NOT hear a really good presentation of the GOSPEL at a CHRISTMAS service, then that 'preacher' needs a good butt kicking!

When ELSE would you get a houseful (HOPEFULLY) of the unchurched and poorly churched??


Ezekiel 33:4

...then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head.

48 posted on 03/10/2013 5:02:25 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
 
Isaiah 58:1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Isaiah 62:6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest,
Jeremiah 6:18 Therefore hear, O nations; observe, O witnesses, what will happen to them.
Jeremiah 7:28 Therefore say to them, 'This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
Jeremiah 25:4 And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention.
Ezekiel 3:17 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
Zechariah 1:4 Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed:

This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.'

But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.
 


49 posted on 03/10/2013 5:06:43 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: ravenwolf
If i had voted anti God at the polls i would be ashamed to go to Church.

AMEN to that! Pro-God, Pro-Family, Pro-Guns. That's how I vote and I don't worry about it.

50 posted on 03/10/2013 5:11:15 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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Comment #51 Removed by Moderator

To: SamuraiScot
That's called a "sinner." There's only one worse place to sit next to a sinner: outside of church.

Oh my most humble apologies! I missed the word worse when reading your original post! I am so sorry!

You are correct! I shall go rub the sleep out of my eyes and get my morning coffee and refrain from posting further this morning until I'm properly awake....

52 posted on 03/10/2013 5:24:56 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: Admin Moderator

Please delete post #51 - I completely mis-read what SamuraiScot posted and my reply is in appropriate. TYVM.


53 posted on 03/10/2013 5:30:01 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: usconservative

AMEN to that! Pro-God, Pro-Family, Pro-Guns. That’s how I vote and I don’t worry about it.


Right.


54 posted on 03/10/2013 8:01:11 PM PDT by ravenwolf
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