Free lunch and bible!

[magick777 10]

I feel Atheists and Agnostics are more evangelical than any other faith (although Agnostisism isn't really a faith, it's more sitting on the fence). I believe this is because they want to be right and are subconsciously afraid that they may not be. The more people they convert the less lonely they are in hell, should they be wrong.

 

This is why they are so quick to judge other people that are just doing their own thing and getting on with their lives. Before anyone asks, no I'm not a Christian.

 

I noticed the Gazzette also had a leaflet advertising Asda but I can't find the thread critisising this.

[Leah-Lacie 10]

.

 

I noticed the Gazzette also had a leaflet advertising Asda but I can't find the thread critisising this.

 

Mine didn't have an Asda one, just the one leaflet for a change!

[Squiggs 11]

There is no need to turn every thread about an event into a full blown discussion of Christianity.

 

Quite

 

However just ignoring it is to pass by worrying accusations such as pasted below (taken from Wikipedia and are nothing more than accusations and an example of concerns about some forms of this "Exclusive Brethren");

 

Surely if we can keep the existence or otherwise of deities out of it, we can still voice concerns of the possibility of a group said by some to be a controlling cult, that they may be "recruiting" by offering food and company to the lonely, but with an ulterior motive?

 

That is what concerns me, I don't wish to waste my time on this earth worrying or arguing about if there is or isn't something afterwards.

 

Critics of Raven/Taylor/Hales group have accused it of using cult techniques by controlling all aspects of its members' lives.[15] The group's influence over its members is such that many who have left the group have had trouble adjusting to life outside. To help with this problem, several websites have been set up to assist people that have left the church to adjust back into mainstream society.[16][17]

Among the various criticisms raised against the church are:

 

• Members who leave or who are expelled from the group have often been treated with what outsiders may regard as great cruelty.[18]
  
• Leavers are shunned by members of the group because leavers are seen as having chosen the world and the devil against God, and because they could bring members into contact with the sinful world.[18] The Brethren have been accused of using their considerable wealth and power to punish members who have decided to leave the church and to have allegedly actively used their influence to split families up in order to protect the organization's interests.[19]
  
• For the most part, members who have left the Raven/Taylor/Hales group are completely ostracised. Members are not permitted to live with those who have left and this causes families to break up; remaining members do not speak, eat or otherwise socialize with those who have left the group's membership. To leave the group, either voluntarily or to be excommunicated, means to be asked to leave one's home, and the subsequent breaking of all normal family relationships with those who remain within the group.[18]
  
• Since virtually all of the Raven/Taylor/Hales members work in other members' companies, to leave the group means also that they have to give up their jobs, in addition to their family and their home.[18]
  
• Accusations by former teachers in Raven/Taylor/Hales group schools that the group "brainwashes" children[15] in order to control everything that children do in life; a former teacher was quoted as saying "the children are told what jobs they will do and who they will marry. They were not being equipped to live in the outside world".[15]
  

This is not a criticism of Christianity, this is concerns about a body of people operating in a very real world.

Edited November 10, 2012 by Squiggs

[Bypassblade 10]

When I was a young teenager, trying my 1st "sup" of ale in the pub (shandy I was 14 Xmas day, with me bro & dad). I was told that when in a pub 3 things you never argue over, football, politics & religion.

 

Now I'm older I'll argue about anything, I just prefer not to talk about religion, or be bothered by "god botherers".

[Nagel 10]

Originally Posted by medusa

 

Does every thread which mentions Christianity have to turn into an argument about whether or not God exists? I don't think it really does and I'm not about to let the forum degenerate into that either.

 

If you are interested in meeting up and having a free bible then this is what the thread is about.

 

If, however, you are not interested then you are completely at liberty to ignore the flyer, ignore the thread and go about your day as you would otherwise. Nothing in either the flyer or the thread demands that you start a character assassination of Christians, of anybody who may be interested in reading the bible or of those who are interested in engaging in further discussion about this.

 

In the words of an old admin of this forum, there is no obligation to post on every thread you read and for an awful lot of these threads the message is that if you have nothing to actually add to the discussion then please say nothing at all.[/Quote]

 

 

I don't agree. I presume you're answering in a personal capacity as you're not using bold mod-type.

 

This thread is equally about the Plymouth Brethren and their out of character behaviour in inviting people into their meeting hall, something they have never done before as far as I know. They're a very closed group normally and have strict rules about mixing with non-brethren to the point of appearing rude to non-brethren.

 

They're also not allowed to eat with non-brethren, so inviting everyone round for food is an interesting development.

Edited November 10, 2012 by Nagel

[jaxter30 10]

i had never heard of these before, but tbh sounds like the religion i was raised in, except i was allowed to watch tv and listen to radio, but it was monitered. couldnt watch soaps etc.nature programmes work away...anything else i watched when parents werent in, and god help me if i got caught.

i couldnt go on school trips, do R.E, go to assembly and couldnt have friends from school as friends after school.

if a person gets disfellowshipped- that person is treat like the bretheran, except they dont go as far as breaking up families- if one decides to leave then religion matters are not discussed with them.

 

i googled this topic and found that the bretheran have applied for new land in Aston rotherham as they have outgrown their old place of worship and school and hope to have the school and place of worship in one place, so maybe the leaflet is an invite so they they can either recruit more people...or simply say good bye carterknowel road....hello aston.

 

at the end of the day you cannot judge someone by what they believe, children MUST do as their parents say and if that means your going to worship/pray/sing and read bibles 3 days a week then so be it. i made my choice to leave at 16 after falling in love with my now husband, i was booted out by my own mother at 16 with her god fearing words- it will never work- come back when it fails!!!!! 20 years later im still with him, have 2 children and been married to him for 10.

 

up yours muvva!!

when you have been drilled in the head from an early age that the outside world is scary and people are evil...u will believe it. it takes a brave person to break away from something like that, leaving you alone with no one to talk to, no friends and no family. leave these people alone tbh, its their choice, its their life, its not like theyve come knocking on your door and trying to get you to join unlike the religion i was brought up in.

[Leah-Lacie 10]

I'd never heard of them either when I made this thread, I actually just presumed 'Brethrens Hall' was the just name of the hall/building they used You learn something every day!

[Ickle Ed 10]

I don't agree. I presume you're answering in a personal capacity as you're not using bold mod-type.

 

This thread is equally about the Plymouth Brethren and their out of character behaviour in inviting people into their meeting hall, something they have never done before as far as I know. They're a very closed group normally and have strict rules about mixing with non-brethren to the point of appearing rude to non-brethren.

 

They're also not allowed to eat with non-brethren, so inviting everyone round for food is an interesting development.

 

I think Medusa is reffering to posts which have been removed which were offensive to all Christians.

[medusa 16]

I think Medusa is reffering to posts which have been removed which were offensive to all Christians.

 

I was referring to a number of posts which have been removed and also to the tone of people who feel it appropriate to take potshots at anybody of faith, irrelevant of whether they were asking for a critique of their lifestyle and beliefs.

 

I don't tend to type requests in all bold unless people ignore my polite requests, mostly because I'd rather be asked to do something than told. Most people understand that a request is a less confrontation way of posting a warning.

[Ryedo40 10]

Those who have concerns can turn up at the event to express their worries, or ignore the whole situation can't they?

 

Why is it that religion gets undeserved respect in this way? If it was an unpleasant political group that people were expressing their concerns about, I guess you wouldn't make comments like the above. Why give religion a free pass?

[Twitcher 10]

They were at the junction at the traffic lights at Millhouses today near the Robin Hood pub. About 4 young boys all with huge sandwich boards handing out leaflets, felt a bit sorry for them really, there was a man directing them in which way to face the cars as they pulled alongside....weird

[medusa 16]

Why is it that religion gets undeserved respect in this way? If it was an unpleasant political group that people were expressing their concerns about, I guess you wouldn't make comments like the above. Why give religion a free pass?

 

There have been plenty of threads about christianity/faith as a topic, but this thread is about the free lunch and distribution of bibles which happened today, and if it ends up being yet another attack on christianity by atheists/agnostics/other faiths then it will just end up in the bin the same as all of the other threads which have ended up that way.

 

This is a family friendly forum, which means that even if you disagree with someone on their faith/decisions/beliefs you should address them politely rather than stoop to ad hominem attacks.