- The guy who owns the company that makes Segways died. They found him at the bottom of a cliff, in a river, WITH HIS SEGWAY!!!!! He very possibly drove his Segway off a cliff into a river and somehow this is not huge news. Or he just died of old-man-being while putting about on his Segway, but that's not as funny. And he's British, so you can imagine Benny Hill music playing as he rides his Segway down a cliff like the man from Snowy River, but without a very stupid horse or making my mother and sister drool.
Some sort of new cross country version, I think the reports said.
- On the other hand, Mormons are better informed about their relgious beliefs. I don't understand how anyone can call themselves a member of a religion and NOT know the important issues of their faith. Out of 32 questions about their own religions, Mormons, Jews & Atheists did better than Catholics, less than half of whom even understand the point of communion. That was one of the two crucial facts Homer Simpson wrote as clues on his hands when he dabbled in Catholicism in the Liam Neeson episode! I shudder to think how people did on the other such topic he noted (God = Good, Devil = Bad). And what's with Aetheism? What do you need to know about your religion that they were able to come up with 32 questions, that many people got wrong? How many ways could they phrase "Is there a god?" (answer: No) And who is to say whether or not they were wrong? What does the magisterium of the Church of Aetheism teach about the Valar, for instance?
You are showing the sort of inquiring mind that shows why atheists and agnostics out did those of faith - a small amount of interest and a little bit of typing would answer your question
I looked earlier but then I'm an atheist so I would have shown that curiosity
Dan actually shared that with us on Skype earlier, and quite a little discussion ensued.
I like to think I have both an inquiring mind and a strong faith. I may not be the only person like that you know. Of course, I was also a bit dumbfounded that half of Roman Catholics don't know what transubstantiation is; I'M not Catholic and I just analyzed it in detail in a post last week. And then explained why I don't think it matters either way; the importance of Communion lies in what's imparted spiritually rather than physically, and the commitment of those receiving it. So long as those are present, an omnipotent Being could impart the spiritual benefits through the medium of bread and wine, Christs literal Body and Blood, or "just do it. " I don't know OR CARE if literal physical transubstantiation occurs because I think it's irrelevant.
I suspect some of it may be that this a US survey though; there are some very orthodox Roman Catholics in this country, but there also a lot who pick and choose doctrinally. Though you'd expect people to research beliefs before deciding to accept OR reject them, but then, in areas where the Church is seen more as a social than religious institution a lot of people aren't going to care much either way. What's ironic is that I think the widespread ignorance of basic Christian and Baptist doctrine is a direct result of attempts to reverse perceived "false doctrine" in past seminary graduates. The Baptists problem is they turned into a political party at the end of '70s, and there were a lot of causes, but the relevant one here is the one Wikipedia notes thus:
In 1976, a Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) masters' degree student, Noel Wesley Hollyfield, Jr.,[15] presented survey results that revealed an inverse correlation between length of attendance at SBTS and Christian orthodoxy. While 87% of first year Master of Divinity students at SBTS reporting believing "Jesus is the Divine Son of God and I have no doubts about it, " only 63% of final year graduate students made that claim, according to Hollyfield's analysis.[16] In 1981, redacted information from Hollyfield's thesis was put into tract form and distributed by conservatives as evidence of the need for reform from apostasy within SBC agencies.
With the PEW poll that's a strong argument that reactionary right wing church leaders saw the certainty of some doctrines diminish as seminary students became more knowledgable of them, and fixed the problem by simply teaching seminarians not to delve into doctrine. Which might be OK (it really wouldn't) were it not for the fact that THEY WERE TRAINING TO BE PRIESTS! Given a choice between a less certain but more knowledgeable priesthood vs. a completely (but EMPHATICALLY) ignorant one, they chose the latter. God must be so proud....
Sad thing is, "doubt" is a big word. I'm not prepared to take a firm position on transubstantiation because I recognize that I MIGHT be missing something; I'm pretty sure I know the difference between the tastes of blood and wine, but there could be other facts I don't have. So yeah, there's doubt there because I see both possibilities as at least theoretically possible, and because I don't feel it really matters in the end anyway.
And now I must go; there's a limit to how many times I can state my views on the Eucharist in this thread without paying the price.
Honorbound and honored to be Bonded to Mahtaliel Sedai
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
This message last edited by Joel on 29/09/2010 at 11:13:38 AM
Some odd news items
- 28/09/2010 06:08:14 PM
292 Views
Re: Some odd news items
- 28/09/2010 06:21:29 PM
137 Views
I assumed they just lived together, and called themselves married
- 28/09/2010 10:34:57 PM
123 Views
Yes
- 28/09/2010 08:40:53 PM
141 Views
Let's not paint with too broad a brush here, eh?
- 29/09/2010 11:12:30 AM
127 Views
I also read recently that atheists and agnostics are more knowledgeable about theology in general.
- 28/09/2010 11:42:59 PM
114 Views
Yes, same study from Pew
- 29/09/2010 12:19:26 AM
113 Views