what do you think about it.? This is common in latino catholic familes although im not a big catholic myself but I belive in some of the beliefs of santaria. I belive in praying and lighting diffrent candels of diffrent saints to help you pray for some one in need and to give you gudiance if needed. although I do not like the eviler side of santaria where alot of harm can be done to people with it. Im not a big jebus freak but I have to say that I was content with the fact that every week I lit a candel of the gaurdian angel for my uncle the whole time he was in Iraq. What do you'll think about it ??\n\n        *stupid comments keep to yourself*
136464
I think santaria is a very interesting example of religious syncretism between west african beliefs and catholicism.  I am not Catholic but I think if someone is true to Catholicism and the legitimacy of the pope then they would have to reject Santaria.  That is just my opinion though.  I find it very interesting how much variation there is in catholicism despite the authority of the vatican.
108895
What an amazing event. I hope you treasure it for the rest of your life as a message of God's love for all his creatures.  I believe in angels, and I am convinced that all of us act as angels sometimes.  I know I have been blessed plenty of times by people whom I know, who have helped me in several ways. ALso, I have been touched by complete strangers who have actually saved my life in many ways.  God bless you
190099
No, you are not sick minded.  You have caught a connection with pagan mythos that of course was picked up by the early ROMAN Catholic Church.  There is at least this much truth in the Da Vinci Code:  The early Church did indeed consciously suppress pagan religions except that in the case of the Roman Church, they absorbed far more easily than they were brutally suppressed.  So the "pagans," in the sense of country folk, were turned into devils, demons, witches to burn.  But the Gods and Goddesses who were appreciated by the cultured Roman citizen was incorporated.  They show up all over the early saint stories.  Brigid, a pagan holiday on February first, became St. Brigid, with a pretty little martyr's story.  So it goes.  So it went.\n\nAnyway, Zeus coming down from heaven and creating demi-God offspring is a big theme in Roman mythology.  Of course it got adapted to the making of a "miracle" birth for the Chosen One.  How else could it be so?  And the wise men and their gifts were telling us that even those of very different beliefs recognized his divinity.  Gold, frankincense and myrrh were, after all, magical and royal gifts.  And so it goes.  So it went.  And here we are.
591350
I read voodoo books and been to afew of there ceremonies.  I honestly think alot of it is in there heads.  One friend of mine is into it but he said he never heard the spirits or anything that if good things happen then it is from them.
314746
a big thank you thank you, this is what i have been trying to get through to ppl. Its an mental illness that affects people from all walks of life. Not just a catholic priest. Only reason they pick on the catholics about this is because the church doesn't allow the priest to get married. so there  is where they come up with this bs. My point is if  that is the case. then whats  the excuse of all the others that do this  and are married?
243716
Hi Tari,\nI met the ChristopherBetchel once, a few weekends ago. I was walking to the corner market for a loaf of bread when I had to pass by a neighborhood church. I was somewhat acquainted with the structure as it was always mentioned in the newspaper's community section. Known as "The loft," folks would gather there on Thursday evenings for poetry readings.\nHowever, this day happened to be a Saturday afternoon and a pair of gentlemen greeted me as I walked by. They invited me inside to sample an hour of their presentation. Ok, I went inside and found myself to be a prospective new recruit for their brand of religion.\n\nMost of the pews were filled with hooded monks chanting a haunting rhythm. There were others who like me, were wearing their regular denims. The service began like most others that church-goers would be familiar with. A grand master of ceremonies led the group through some songs and gave a sermon. Near the end of the hour it was time for their ritual of "laying on of the hands." Some of the parishioners would come forward and ask for prayers for their ailments or for a sick grand mum who fell down in the tub. All the hooded dudes whose faces could not readily be seen would all place a hand on the person and their combined energies were presumed to have a strength and expedite a solution to the problem.\n\nOK now, there was another new guy in the pews who was watching eagerly. I recognized ChristopherBetchel from a wanted poster viewed earlier at the post office. When he saw a chance, he approached the ring of conspirators and described how he was always moving around and never able to settle down. The hooded goons closed in upon him, all to make a physical connection. The master of ceremonies began a prayer, a dogmatic mix of logic and pure hocus-pocus. I immediately saw the effects of the procedure as the tension went out of ChristopherBetchel's body. When the beseeching was near an end, the master asked, "Are the brothers ready?"\n\nA suspenseful few moments passed until he almost shouted, "NOW!"\n\nOn that cue, the brothers began to pummel their hapless victim. Continually delivering blows over head and to the solar plexus until ChristopherBetchel was down on the floor getting stomped. After another minute, the grand Pooh-Bah decided the treatment administered was sufficient to induce a relaxing calm that would assuage the nervousness of ChristopherBetchel for a long, long time.\n\nI can't say for certain if ChristopherBetchel got the comeuppance he deserved as I had a loaf of bread to buy and some other errands to do that day. I hope for you Tari, that you do find a sense of closure to this difficult episode of life.\n\n-Justin
285232
You are right, it sounds stupid when it's interpeted that way.  Perhaps the preachers and priests are pulling a fast one eh?\n\noh, and three gods in one? what's that about?  father/son/holyghost????  where did the ghostie come from???????\n\nthe only explanation i can really give you is that most people simply listen to other people about who to follow blindly.  I read the bible, and I know that this stuff about praying to jesus is crap, jesus is not god, never was, and he would tell you so if he was here right now.\n\nJesus always admonished his followers to pray to his father, God, he never said "Pray to ME!"
592181
I think I heard this one on the radio.\n\nThe Catholic blesses the food, the Protestant takes a bite off the plate, the Muslim grabs the gun and kills everyone else in the room.....I think that's how it went.\n\nBAD joke though.  It's it amazing how we put stereotypes on people that are not positive at all?  I would prefer it go this way:\n\nThe Catholic, the Protestant, and the Hebrew get everyone to clasp hands; they all say a blessing in their own way over the food, then they all pass the plate, each taking a bite, and say, "Do this, in rememberance of me.  This is my body that was broken for you, take and eat, all of you, in rememberance of me."  Then they bow their heads and pray silently, each in their own way, while they eat.\n\nThey all hang the gun on the wall to remind them that while they are all in this place, they are brothers----and the gun is a reminder of the sin they left behind.
251605
Interesting thought. Thanks for sharing.\nViva La Raza!!!!!!!!!
416945
Luckily for me I had no formal religious up bringing. When I was little some one did give me a book called" The greatest story ever told." I was really impressed with a wizard that could walk on water and heal people.  I was probably in my early teens before I realized that it was jesus the book was about.  But  it did not change my perception of the book or jesus for that matter.  So today I am a pagan but I was not forced into any religion.  I did go to a catholic church with my friend once I was really disturbed by the wine and wafer aspect of the rite.. I thought that was a little on the cannibalistic side.
650137
How sacreligious you are!!! The bunny and Santa are make believe. God is real and true and He is my Heavenly Father. I hope you come to know Him and trust one day.
259796
Hi bellbree,\n\n I was walking to the corner market for a loaf of bread when I had to pass by a neighborhood church. I was somewhat acquainted with the structure as it was always mentioned in the newspaper's community section. Known as "The loft," folks would gather there on Thursday evenings for poetry readings. \nHowever, this day happened to be a Saturday afternoon and a pair of gentlemen greeted me as I walked by. They invited me inside to sample an hour of their presentation. Ok, I went inside and found myself to be a prospective new recruit for their brand of religion. \n\nMost of the pews were filled with hooded monks chanting a haunting rhythm. There were others who like me, were wearing their regular denims. The service began like most other church-goers would be familiar with. A grand master of ceremonies led the group through some songs and gave a sermon. Near the end of the hour it was time for their ritual of "laying on of the hands." Some of the parishioners would come forward and ask for prayers for their ailments or for a sick grand mum who fell down in the tub. All the hooded dudes whose faces could not readily be seen would all place a hand on the person and their combined energies were presumed to have a strength and expedite a solution to the problem. \n\nOK now, there was another new guy in the pews who was watching eagerly. I recognized Mark W. Reinhold from the wanted poster at the post office. When he saw a chance, he approached the ring of conspirators and described how he was never able to settle down. The hooded goons closed in upon him, all to make a physical connection. The master of ceremonies began a prayer, a dogmatic mix of logic and pure hocus-pocus. I immediately saw the effects as the tension went out of Mark's body. When the beseeching was near an end, the master asked, "Are the brothers ready?" \n\nA suspenseful few moments passed until he almost shouted, "NOW!" \n\nOn that cue, the brothers began to pummel their hapless victim. Continually delivering blows over head and to the solar plexus until Mark was down on the floor getting stomped. After another minute, the grand Pooh-Bah decided the treatment administered was sufficient to induce a relaxing calm that would assuage the nervousness in Mark for a long, long time. \n\nI can't say for certain that Mark W. Reinhold was apprehended and locked up because, I had a loaf of bread to buy and some other errands to do that day. I hope for you bellbree, that you find a sense of closure to this bad episode of life. \n\n-Bryce
144208
My rebellious story......I was Catholic for about 35 years and had trouble in believing that an all loving god would condemn people to hell for what he determined to be indiscretions.  \nShoot...I love to master bate, have pre marital sex with men and women and sometimes a freak fest or two with a couple of friends of mine.  So I guess I was going down to the fiery brimstone pit.\nThe clincher for me was that I was signing up my kids for another year of CCD classes and they told me I had to pay $150 for the classes (which is about double what it should be) because I didn't use the "envelope system" every week, even though I was a registered member of the church and would throw in $1 or two when I would have it.\nI took the CCD applications and ripped them up into tiny pieces and threw one right at the lady and the other one I threw up in the air so it landed in a million pieces all over the floor.\nI've been a practicing eclectic witch, but lately I've been leaning more towards Hinduism and spirituality with a little bit of quantum physics
558589
Well, in Puerto Rico there are a lot of ppl that are part of the religion Santeria.  So I imagine there may be more people examining their ESP and paying attention to such things where as here in America we blow such things off as coincidence
388586
It is obvious that the seeds sown in your spirit by the catholic church are not as easy to get rid of as you supposed. I am amazed that for someone who does not believe in God,he takes a great proportion of your thought and your writings. I personally think you should change your stance to, God if you exist please reveal yourself to me or help me discover if you are real. Seekers of God always find him. I checked your questions over fifty percent are about God to spend that much time on someone you don't believe in is to have a pretty miserable life. Please do not take this as an attack if I hate someone I defintely want to stay away from them or the thought of them as much as possible. Wake up please leave God alone and truly move one with you life if it is possible to have one without God.
639149
It's a great concept. I am leaning towards it. I'm not in religious organization nor do I go church but I do believe in God. I have been studying religious Humanism which I believe is the same as Christin humanism. I believe in the trinity but yet I see contradiction in the scriptures. In my heart, I believe that Jesus was God. I just started studying this in the past few months.
589680
I am Catholic but i was not raised too strictly, sometimes i make my own beliefs. in my opinion there are lots of people out there that fit the word "saint" who are working, in a quiet way or not, to help others selflessly, and in turn bring out the good in others.