Karen

heh well, this is like NOTHING compared to you guys' (WHAT UNIS DO YOU GUYS GO TO, JEEZ!!! I've never had to do anything as tough as 30 page papers!!) but in junior year high school, AP english, we had to read huck finn and write a research paper on it. Now, this was a TON of work. we had to have like notecards with so many quotes on them, etc. and i wrote this SICK paper on how jim was a slave in the literal sense of the word but huck's a slave to society and i got a 75 on it! There were no comments or anything, i SWEAR TO GOD he just marked the grammar - which was good but apparently I inde

I think the evolution from paganism to catholicism is suuuuper interesting, like how the catholic liturgical calendar corresponds to the wiccan wheel of the year, and how christian holidays actually have a TON of pagan influcence. From what I've heard and read, christmas (yule) and easter and halloween etc etc were all pagan days but the catholic church renamed them and gave them a different spin. I'd love to hear from another Catholic about this! I like reading about Wicca as well, I think it's a very peaceable religion. I'll post a comment about the hispanic culture thing on your profile.

I don't think your intention is to insult anyone here, but what you say might be taken offensively; please choose your words more carefully and try to be as unbiased as possible. It is interesting though, the history you posted - but each side has their own story and there is no "right" or "wrong" answer. We try to keep discussions as level headed and unbiased as possible. Thanks No sarcasm, please, anyone can contribute to the discussion. Thank you, Arie

I've never been but I'd love to go! That's definitely top on my list

In Catholicism, we have patron saints for different things; like Saint Joseph is the patron saint of carpenters because he was one himself, etc. There are saints for musicians, saints for blind people, saints for every day of the year, IT GOES ON. What I was getting to is that Saint Anthony is the patron saint of lost things, so whenever I lose something I say, "Saint Anthony, please come around, something has been lost that can't be found" (just one of those little rhymes that grandparents pass down, ya know?) and then I describe the item (to st. anthony) and it usually turns up! Crazy, right

aw dax!! I'll miss you <3333 even though I don't really care about the celtics, it was nice to have someone across the country who knows and appreciates boston teams good luck, kid!!

There are so many types of Judaism O.o I guess it's the same in the Christian World, with all the different offshoots of christianity. Catholic, Orthodox (greek, roman, eastern...), protestant (and dont even get started on the different sects of THAT!) It's intense. I think the temple down the street from me must be Reform or Conservative. I definitely don't see people there three times/day and only a few people on fridays and saturdays lol. There are a lot more on holidays, of course. I just don't think there's a huge Jewish population in Medford. I love that you have so many different type

What are your favorites? As in, "world" music. I love love love Celtic Woman, and this is one of my favorites: I also love this one called Punjab Nachada. I actually just heard it when I went to India day last week:

I have a great quote that'd I'd like to share with you guys here. Well, it's actually more of a passage from one of my favorite books: The Bean Trees. It's about a young woman who leaves Kentucky to go out west and picks up a native american baby on the way as one of her relatives didn't want her on the reservation because she was being abused. So, the scene is (just so y'all don't get confuzzled): Lou Ann (Taylor [the protagonist]'s roommate/friend), Estevan and Esperanza, a young couple from Guatemala, Turtle (the baby) and Edna Mae and Mrs. Parsons (two neighbors). The scene: a big dinne

Yep, that's right. History, and conflicts, like a lot of other things, is in the eye of the beholder. But it's important to know what's going on in the world as well as it's good to know what went on in the past so we don't repeat it. Ok, I have a question Arie - what goes on in a Jewish service? I've always wanted to go to temple to see, but I don't know if I would be allowed, do you think I would be able to go if I called in advance and asked? There's actually a temple right down the street from me and I really want to go. I guess that was two questions - what goes on, and would I be allow

fooled around with picnik on facebook a bit

I know you've explained this one to me a million times, arie! I think the problem for me, when understanding conflicts, is who's considered the "good" guys, and who are considered the "bad" guys. And I know history is a lot more complex than that but it helps me to figure out conflicts that way.

I like your thinking about angels, and no i don't think you're crazy for performing rituals lol. When you think about it, every religion has their own ritual, in the catholic church it's the breaking of the bread and the whole section of the mass, the "liturgy of the eucharist". Anyway, evil people becoming evil spirits....yeah, I see that. If I have a "guide" in life, I think it would either be something from the hispanic culture or native american culture because that is very interesting to me! That would be an interesting thing to consider; what everyone's "guide" in life might be. If peo

I like the idea about the crystals, that seems very practical and a small little thing to stay on track during the day. I agree about the respect thing. I wish people knew how to spread love instead of hate and judgement. Saying something nice and saying something hateful takes the same amount of effort but saying something nice makes you (and the other person) feel so much better. We kind of strayed off topic though, lets bring it back. Displaying faith doesn't just have to be a physical, material thing; I think we've established that. Displaying faith is how you act in every day life as

You speak to the dead? How so? I mean, some people are more paranormally inclined and I've known a couple in my time. One of my friends is what is considered an "indigo child". It's really interesting actually, but I think not many people know much about if. If you feel comfortable elaborating, I would love to hear! Your thought about the devil (or lack thereof) is really interesting because I've been thinking about it recently. I've come into conflict with myself a lot recently because I've been thinking about the devil. Since switching my church, I've been thinking a lot about the catholic

YAY! Thank you so much for posting! I actually made a thread about wicca/paganism, so feel free to post in that and get ideas going and stuff, that would be much appreciated! I've been frustrated for a long time about the stereotypes of wiccans and I'm very happy you posted!

we have the same layout! you have good taste Here's mine!! Erenowlove

AHH RUGBY WORLD CUP. I WANNA GOOOOO SO BADLY!!!! *ahem*. Anyway. I'm working on...well, does getting through a bunch of books count as "working on" something? It's not for school, just my own personal knowledge. One is called Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee which is about an infamous massacre of Lakota (Sioux) people in erm...1890 I believe. It was very, very sad. Roughly 200 Sioux were killed in the span of a few minutes, all because of a misunderstanding. I'm also going to watch the DVD of that tonight if I get the chance. Finally, the next book I'm going to read is called Black Elk Speaks, ab

Gaelic, Arabic, and Danish! Also American sign language. I've always LOVED gaelic for some reason, it is an incredible language and unlike any i've ever heard before but it is super difficult to start learning. If I really truly want to start, I'll need to take a class. I've tried online stuff and all that but I think I definitely need an instructor. Also, on a side note, if anyone wants to start learning spanish or needs help with tutoring send me a message and I'll make up a lesson or something

I saw a Mercy Me CD at Border's and I was wondering if they were any good and this answers my question! Thanks Sarah! This is one of the songs I was going to sing for the New York trip that my choir was going on (I didn't get to go, but that's a different story). It's an absolutely beautiful song and this isn't my school's choir performing but it's one of the best versions I've found so far.

Yes! It took me a long time to realize (and even longer to put it into action), that being close to God is having a relationship with Him. I had heard it, been told it, etc, but I had never realized how to do it. Now I'm on my way to being a better Christian because of it. When I was Catholic (I guess I still am but attend a different denomination church...) I used to think of God as this unattainable figure but now I just talk to Him as if he were sitting right next to me. When I first started branching out of Catholicism and looking into other forms of worship, a friend told me, "I know it s

That sums up my point quite nicely! And that is how I try to live my life as well...God is too big for one religion/one name. I love this quote so much!!

Well thank you so much! I do enjoy what I do I'm curious, what is the book of mormon? I mean, I understand that it is one of your holy books, like the Bible is for Christians and the Torah for Judaism, etc. I would like to know more of the details about what it says and who Joseph Smith was, etc. I know some vague details but it will be really interesting to learn more concrete stuff. And you are right, there are fundamentalists and extremists in every religion and it's unfair that they have to set a stereotype or wrong image for that particular group.

Welcome to you both! My name is Karen and I'm the moderator of this forum Feel free to come to me with any questions or issues you might have. I LOVE this topic, thank you SO much for posting it!! I was actually thinking about Mormonism and the LDS because of the Warren Jeffs trial that's been so prevalent in the news recently. I'm curious, what are your opinions on the trial and on Warren Jeffs? You already answered the question about polygamy which I'm sure is probably something you both get asked a lot. What are some stereotypes you face, if any? And how do you address these? Again, tha

@Jade, arie, dina, sammy, and breakevenly, THANK YOU! my mom paid loads for my orthodonture lol, it's totally worth it now