BishopM

As a believer, my thought is that ALL people (believers and non-believers) are created in God's image. So, the innate desire to live a good life which is full of meaning has nothing to do with if the person believes or not, because we're all created the same cloth. Its in our DNA.

Blessings - BishopM

Scandal has also many times stated not to berate others faith...
Scandal is very smart, without a doubt...
Blessings Brother LI!

Hmmm...seems odd...like it is pushing the Bible to the point of idolatry...

That may be your version of US culture but it ain't mine. Too bad for you. In the meantime...Please don't throw a stereotyping bigotry net over me and mine. Thank you.

OP:
Set your own moral / ethic standards. You already know what's right and wrong.
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I went to a parochial school (Catholic) my freshman and sophomore years in high school, and beyond the passages spoken during Mass, I hadn't read the Bible. In fact, most Catholics do not read the Bible because the Church has a different approach to their religion, which is NOT based solely on scripture. So when I had my first religious studies class and we began to read the Book of Genesis, my teacher, Mr. Ribiki (who was from Detroit) told us students that there was no actual Adam and Eve, and that the Story of Creation is just that, a story. Catholics look at the Bible as clearly man-made, but inspired by God. While there are historical facts interwoven with storytelling, for the most part, Catholics do NOT regard each passage as the actually word of God. And even for most Protestants outside the U.S., they do not think it's literally the word of God. It's only the fundamentalists here in the states who started to think that anyone could pick up the Bible, read it, and know exactly what God was saying, no matter how bizarre, convoluted, or contradictory it was. The great irony in that is that these types of Christians who believe the Bible is literally the word of God and requires no careful study, understanding or discernment, habitually will have their preachers tell them what God is trying to say because apparently not everyone was given the gift of understanding what He wants everyone to understand.
But beyond that, the King James version is really not a good one to read from because the translation is not very contemporary compared to say, the American Bible. It is definitely not something that is easy to read and while there are some real pieces of good literature in it, some of it is just incomprehensible, like John's Book of Revelation.
While some Christians make the claim that their religion is based on the Bible, Christianity is really is built upon a concept or belief, which doesn't require the Bible or any other object to validate it. All it needs is faith.

Joseph Campbell said it best, when asked his favorite religion. He said, roughly, there are so many wonderful stories out there, that is, it would be hard to pick one religion over the other. I am afraid I lost my innocence.

I helped the environment today (and saved a nickel) by just-sayin'-NO when asked if I needed my 6 pack in a plastic bag.
I iz a responsiblz citizen.
Blessings!

I helped the environment today (and saved a nickel) by just-sayin'-NO when asked if I needed my 6 pack in a plastic bag.
I iz a responsiblz citizen.
Blessings!

Anyone who has spent time in a poor/rich neighborhood can easily see the difference, and I've noticed that trees are a part of the difference.

Same here...used for working around the house after mass :-)

I'll give you my 2cents on my experiences with the Bible...for what it is worth...
When I was about 12, I was sitting home in the summer (no school/nothing to do, because it was the pre-internet days ) so I picked up a book on one of our shelves at home. It was the Bible. No one in my house read it, it was just on the shelf. So, I shrugged my shoulders and opened it up (yep...I was THAT bored! ). I vividly remember only reading Genesis 1:1, the Creation story, when very suddenly 'something' deep inside/outside of me slammed that book closed! It scared the hell outta me... I never opened the Bible again...
...until about 20 years later. I then bought and read in one week the entire KJV Bible. Again, I remember when I read the final chapter, because I closed the book and thought to myself, "What in the HELL was all that about?" I thought it was, overall, a horror story...but some nice Jesus stuff near the middle. I never opened the Bible again...
...until after living in India for a few years and 'growing up a bit'. I was about 35 or so by this time and I learned alot about 'God' while living in India. But, everything I learned about God while living in India was just about 'God', without any Biblical references. I decided to learn more about God when I came back to the states so I went back to college and got a Bachelor's degree in Religion and started having my first real 'Bible Study', which really took the 'fun' out of God, to be honest. The university I went to was very fundamentalist, which quite honestly I didn't understand at that time. We learned Creationism and other 'weird stuff', which again took all the fun out of God...for me at least. They taught us to read the Bible very literally...which was next to impossible for me, but I read it faithfully for years. But, eventually I graduated and didn't open the Bible again until...
...I started my Master's degree in Theology, at a Catholic College. I enjoyed this style of learning more because a Catholic's understanding of the Bible is much more allegorical, which appeals to my naturally wandering mind...I suppose. Yet, even here we were taught things that I find hard to digest...but some of the 'Fun' came back into God. In the opinion of most Catholics, my style of reading the Bible is TOO allegorical...I simply don't take much of it at all as fact or history, but always try to look for a very deep meaning. And, this is why I love the Bible now...its 'never-ending'. I still read it everyday, but I don't honestly think that Joshua's horn blowing caused the walls of Jericho to fall, or that all the true-believers are going to be 'raptured' and the bad guys are doomed. In other words, almost every sentence of the Bible has a value to me, but also I take almost none of it literally. I read the entire book as allegory. Only in this manner have I found it to be valuable, and now I wouldn't want to live without it. But, if I had to live without it, I still could, because in the end what I love is 'God', not the book (even though I do 100% believe it is divinely inspired).
As mentioned in OP's article, Ecclesiastes is great book and I think most people can understand it. Job is the same. Both are useful books. Probably my two least favorite books of the Bible are the Song of Songs (love story...just can't get into it) and Revelation (too too too way weird, even for an extremely allegorical guy like me, this book is just too much...).
So, again to the OP's article, I too agree that everyone should read the Bible. Do you need to read it to be 'moral'? as per the author's comments? I think it helps but I don't think it is required. I believe we're all (believers and non-believers) made of 'God Stuff' so its in our nature to truly want to be good people, with or without reading the Bible. In my experience though, what I've found is that reading the Bible does very little good if you only read it once or twice, you really need to read it alot, perpetually at times, and also back away from it at times,...only then will it start to make sense, at least that is my experience! I don't honestly expect that I'll ever truly be able to 100% understand the Bible though, not even close,...but I suppose that is part of it's purpose and beauty...to keep us questioning and drawing closer to God.
Yep...that is my 2 cents on the Bible
Blessings to the thread on a Gorgeous Sunday!
VJB

For profit skoolz are the scuk.

As a Catholic, I haven't met many truly inspirational/spirit-filled Priests. However, when I was living in Michigan I did have the opportunity to become close with a deeply spiritual and inspirational Priest. I remember talking to him about receiving Communion. He and I were not on the same page as to whom may receive it, in the eyes of the Church so I asked for his, and the Church's explanation. I thought his words to me were spoken with true wisdom when he told me, "The Eucharist is the Church's most sacred sacrament and should be taken seriously by devoted Catholics. Therefore, the Church does believe that a person should be in a state of grace when they receive the Eucharist. However, when a person comes up the line for communion, I won't deny them the sacrament, that is between them and the Lord."
He was/is a great Priest, and that is a difficult job!
Blessings, VJB

As a Catholic, I haven't met many truly inspirational/spirit-filled Priests. However, when I was living in Michigan I did have the opportunity to become close with a deeply spiritual and inspirational Priest. I remember talking to him about receiving Communion. He and I were not on the same page as to whom may receive it, in the eyes of the Church so I asked for his, and the Church's explanation. I thought his words to me were spoken with true wisdom when he told me, "The Eucharist is the Church's most sacred sacrament and should be taken seriously by devoted Catholics. Therefore, the Church does believe that a person should be in a state of grace when they receive the Eucharist. However, when a person comes up the line for communion, I won't deny them the sacrament, that is between them and the Lord."
He was/is a great Priest, and that is a difficult job!
Blessings, VJB

Last month = 9 years since I first met my wife in Singapore. She moved here almost 5 years ago. We've been married 4 years in the eyes of the civil court, and 3 years in the eyes of God via the Catholic Church....
Each day with my wife is better than the last day, and the last day was absolutely perfect
The Bishop has been blessed with a real Angel
Blessings - VJB

I am glad that he and the archbishop were able to approach the subject with respect.

Last month = 9 years since I first met my wife in Singapore. She moved here almost 5 years ago. We've been married 4 years in the eyes of the civil court, and 3 years in the eyes of God via the Catholic Church....
Each day with my wife is better than the last day, and the last day was absolutely perfect
The Bishop has been blessed with a real Angel
Blessings - VJB

Keep telling yourself that. The gas prices aren't set by the economy, they are set by the oil industry. Do you have an alternative energy source for your vehicle? No, and neither does anyone else. They have everyone by the balls and they know it. It is what it is.

Bishop + Marilyn + LuckyTxn = Walking on Water
Please see my autosig for example
Blessing! BishopM

It is possible to know the truth, and still be impressed by our Founding Fathers. What a bunch of idiots!

@ Brother5
Personally, I kinda like the idea of a cashless society. I have rarely used cash in the past 5 years or so. I pretty much pay for everything by credit card (earning points) and then pay that credit card at the end of the month from an app on my iphone. It works well...
Blessings to OT
BishopM

These questions are answered in the Indian Spiritual Classic, The Mahabharata, classified as one of the world's greatest (if not the greatest) works of literature. This is an absolutely wonderful work of theology in which there are two warriors who are cousins from the same bloodline: Arjuna and Karna. Each are equal in all physical and mental attributes and both are outstanding human beings on every level, morality included, and both are very pure and disciplined in all their thoughts and actions. Yet, according to the Epic, Arjuna is a ardent seeker/lover of God while Karna has a more distant relationship with God...more like an agnostic (to try to put the original sanskrit into an English concept we can understand). In this beautiful Epic, it is shown that both men live wonderful and fulfilling lives...almost mirror images of each other's existence. However, Arjuna's life shines more fully when fully tested, because of his seeking/belief in God.
Its unfortunate that Christian literature is so very weak when compared to the Epics of some other religions. In my case, I've often only found the true meaning of Christianity after reading other religion's literature.
Blessings - BishopM

As a believer, my thought is that ALL people (believers and non-believers) are created in God's image. So, the innate desire to live a good life which is full of meaning has nothing to do with if the person believes or not, because we're all created the same cloth. Its in our DNA.

Blessings - BishopM

SisterSusitala is wise, as is my brother LuckyTxn and Sister Girl from Celebes.
Blessings - BishopM

Ya...your's is a good question. However, I never felt like I had to 'jump through hoops'. All I had to do was follow the legal process...thats it! I actually thought it was pretty simple...or else I couldn't have done it Papers...and time...that was the only requirement, it doesn't get much simpler than that...in my opinion.
I can't sweat the illegal immigrants, which is why I say if we enforced the rules we have, we'd probably all be alright with the outcome. I can't blame them for wanting to come here, but I think they should only come here legally.
Amnesty...tough topic...I really am on the fence on that one...but I'd lean to sending all home.
Blessings to you!
M