The Fundamentalists Get A Hold Of Cardcaptors....Promotion Cancelled

[Dub]

**sigh** I was gonna ask someone (Vince) if I should post this in news, but I figured I'd post it here first.

Taco Bell was doing a Cardcaptors promotion and the fundamentists (i.e. American Family Association led by the infamous Rev. Wildmon) have gotten it cancelled due to its promotion of witchcraft and tarot cards... >:\


BAH !!!!


Taco Bell Halts 'Tarot Card' Promotion

By Rusty Pugh and Jody Brown
February 1, 2002

(AgapePress) - A national fast-food chain has stopped a promotion featuring cards that resemble tarot cards, which are associated with the occult.

Earlier this week, AgapePress reported on a promotion at Taco Bell that involved occult symbols. The company's "Cardcaptors" program involved the use of "Clow Cards," which are similar in appearance to tarot cards used in occult practices. Following that report, Taco Bell's national promotions director Lori Gannon says the company has halted the program following customers' complaints. She says it was a mistake.

"It's a cartoon program that's not meant to have anything to do with witchcraft, but we do see how consumers thought [the promotion] could have been misconstrued as that," Gannon says. "So we took a look at the items and we've held them all at the distribution center -- we're not sending them to our restaurants any more and pretty much have ended the program."

According to the Cardcaptors website, Clow Cards contain the magical power of entities such as water, fire, and wind, and were sealed in the "mystical Clow Book" by a powerful sorcerer to "protect the world" when the entities became "unwieldy and dangerous." By its own admission, the story behind the cartoon series resembles Eastern mythology.

Gannon says the company has learned a lesson. "We will definitely take a more serious look as we develop things in the future to make sure that they can't be misconstrued as something having to do with witchcraft," she says.

As of Friday morning, the Cardcaptors promotion was still featured on Taco Bell's website. The cards were being included in "Kids Meals" at Taco Bell nationwide.




http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/afa/12002c.asp


What I find interesting however is the fact that while you see this campaign going on now, its obvious biased "newsreporting" (if thats what yo wanna call it by Wildmon. I also find it interesting, that there is no reference in a respectable news source and that Taco Bell is still running the promotion.

The AFA only managed to get two of the toys delayed in the back office if the owners of individual stores decide they don't want them, but this is just another case of them sticking thier overly religious neck out to protect the wonderful people for thier own good whether they want protecting or not....

[Brian Cruz]

Idiots like them give all us sane Christians a bad name.

[Dee]

Sheesh kids cant enjoy anything any more. "It's the devil!"

[Singin' Stray Cat]

Originally posted by Brian Cruz
Idiots like them give all us sane Christians a bad name.

Ditto. I've already had to force myself to read this over at the Anigen board, do I have to endure another round of bashing here too? :(

Yeah, I know, this wasn't meant to be personal, but still... I always live with the fear that if I ever say I'm a Christian, I'll be lumped together with these ... people .... :mad: :(

[Dee]

then why do these big wigs have all the say

[Craig Marinaro]

Originally posted by Delia97
then why do these big wigs have all the say

These aren't bigwigs--they're eccentrics. And the reason they have so much say seems pretty obvious--the obnoxious, pushy, domineering people always wind up being the most outspoken in any group. The quieter Christians who are content to live and let live have neither the capability nor the desire to take them on.

[Sharklady]

> I always live with the fear that if I ever say I'm a Christian, I'll be lumped together with these ... people <

*sigh* I know exactly what you mean.

It particularly irritates me that 'these people' are continuously coming down on the Harry Potter books, because of their premise that magic can be used for good or bad purposes. News flash, guys: so does 'Chronicles of Narnia.'

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by Brian Cruz
Idiots like them give all us sane Christians a bad name.Hey calling them insane is an insult to insane people everywhere:)


Originally posted by Singin' Stray Cat

I always live with the fear that if I ever say I'm a Christian, I'll be lumped together with these ... people .... :mad: :( I always wonder if these guys smoked some bad bud before saying things like this anyway it is pretty obvious that they are in a world of their own you could probably get some of them committed if your really tried.

[Anthonynotes]

Re: Wildmon: Yeesh... first "Mighty Mouse" back in the 80's, and now this. Guess he doesn't have anything better to do...

Re: Giving Christians a bad name: I'm sure he does... (so says the board's resident non-religious poster :-)


-B.

[Nftnat]

Well, now it's time for the board's resident religious right fundamentalist to hold forth with his opinion on the whole thing. Keep in mind that I'm not sure how this is going to turn out. And I just might raise some hackles before I'm through but I ask that you hear me out as I will do my best to soothe any feelings I unintentionally hurt.
About boycotts, am I the only one here who perceives negative reaction to boycotts when Christians do it, but not when anyone else does it? I remember when Rush Limbaugh's radio program landed Florida orange juice as a sponsor. The NOW boycotted. It didn't work --- only four feminazis showed up & loyal listeners had already cleaned out the supply of o.j. from the target --- but they did boycott. Certain dare I say liberal interest groups were in action in full force during the best-selling runs of both of Limbaugh's books; camping out in book stores, hiding the books, placing them in the cooking & other sections, trying to intimidate people out of buying them, etc. Fresh in our minds is the hullabaloo that ensued from the get-go when Dr. Laura went on the tv airwaves; gay lobbyist groups went absolutely thermonuclear. And then there's whatever pressure minority groups have applied resulting in certain politically incorrect cartoons having been shown sparingly, if at all. I remember 10 years ago @ Super Bowl XXVI, the AIM was protesting both teams that were in the Super Bowl (the Redskins for denigration & the Buffalo Bills for glorification; talk about wanting it both ways). Was there any sort of reaction to these boycotts? (If so I will say so as soon as I know) And yet let a group of Christians get together to boycott 7-11 for selling porn, or let a housewife from Michigan organize a boycott of Fox, & America is at stake, everyone's civil rights are being violated. Well, Christians have rights too. The same rights that feminists & homosexuals & minorities have. Freedom of speech. The right to assemble. The right to petition for redress of grievances. The Constitution protects us just like everyone else. And you know what? You can ignore it. I can say whatever I want & you don't have to listen to a thing I say, just like you can say whatever you want & I don't have to listen to a thing you say. Freedom of speech does not equal the right to be heard, & that applies to everyone. Jerry Falwell has as much right to say whatever he wants to say as the protesters carrying a dead frog on a cross outside the Thomas Road Baptist Church, & none of us have to pay attention to any of them.
Now lest any of you are thinking that I have become a Stepford Christian, marching lockstep, getting my marching orders from Religious Right Central er sum junk, calm yourselves because I do have a brain & am able to think on my own. And I don't mean by that that other fundamentalists do not. I've noticed some of my fellow fundamentalists taking positions with which I am uncomfortable or merely uncertain. For instance, many fundamentalists think Billy Graham is dangerous. There are those who are of the opinion that only their denomination is going to Heaven & said denomination should not associate with any other denomination. Yes, I am talking specifically of independent fundamentalist Baptists, but it also applies to certain in other religions, Church of Christ, Catholic, Muslim, you name it, there are probably those in it who think they'll be the only ones in Heaven. I've heard people run down any number of televangelists --- and not for the same reasons as most people who do so --- saying so-and-so is dangerous, so-and-so is leading people astray, etc. Some would throw out all versions of the Bible that are not the King James Version; to listen to them you'd think no one in history was saved before 1607 or that somehow Jesus & the Apostles used the KJV. Some would even segregate music by denomination, & I'm not talking about contemporary christian, which might as well Marilyn Manson for all the good impression it makes on them. I'm talking good gospel music you'd hear in that old country church you might've heard tell of. I know a certain couple who will have nothing to do with music by the Cathedrals (possibly the most-beloved southern gospel group of all time), because they used to be associated with Rex Humbard. Then there's Promise Keepers. I still haven't made up my mind about that yet; all I know is when feminists & fundamentalists are on the same side something's wrong. And of course how can I leave out the hair debate. I've heard people go on and on about I Corinthians 11:14 (Doth not nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?) as if it's the only verse in the Bible; I have yet to hear one fundamentalist call up I Corinthians 11:16, just two verses away (But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.). I'm not going to hassle someone about the length of his hair even tho I myself like to keep my hair short or @ least not long, just like I'm not going to get on to Christians who dance (hey, I've read the Psalms) even tho I personally don't dance. The Jewish leaders of 2000 years ago, the Catholic leaders of 1000 years ago, the fundamentalist leaders of today: I can see the similarities in attaching a whole laundry list of requirements that aren't really necessary for salvation; whether not working on the Sabbath, penance & confession, or hair length & the King James (who was Catholic btw). But I'm rambling; let's get this to the topic @ hand.
There have been reasons I have not watched Cardcaptors, but the similarity to tarot cards is not one of them. Now that it's been called to my attention, I can see it. Does that mean I'll stop watching because of it? Well, first I would have to actually have been watching it. I don't see what the big deal is, but I'm not going to put up a fuss when I hear someone complain about it one way or the other.
The same goes for Harry Potter. I've been hearing fantasy condemned as tho it's bad period, like one should never fantasize about anything @ all. I wonder if people who take such a stance have ever heard of "Where there is no vision the people perish"? It's true, the Chronicles of Narnia do include heavy amounts of magic, good & bad. And so does the Lord of the Rings, written by the man who led C.S. Lewis to Christ. Some people are open-minded about the concept --- I've heard one Christian call Lord of the Rings the antidote to Harry Potter --- but some, I just don't know. I can say that I have no time to read it, which is true. I can say I haven't been to a movie since 1994 & see no reason to start with Harry Potter, which is also true. But if one of my reasons is that I don't want to take chances with that kind of supernatural stuff, what of it? That's my right. If I want to think that, I can. When I was in single digits I told my mom, "You can tell me what to do, but you can't tell me what to think. My mind is my own, & no one controls it but me". It's that way with everything; I will hear what others have to say & make my own decisions regardless of what others say.
Basically, it seems to me that what it all boils down to is that people want to protect their children from the corrupting influence of the world. I can understand that, & even agree with it. But one's children will be corrupted anyway & it is a constant struggle to keep one's children on the right path even in absolute purity. Children are going to see things they shouldn't see, & if their parents are paying attention they can catch it & talk with them about it. It will require investing massive amounts of time & attention in one's children, but does one dare not do it. One is not supposed to just leave their children in front of the set & count on the media to be to their liking; no, one must take an interest in their children. That applies if you're on the right or the left. In congressional hearings in the '80's, Senator Albert Gore Jr. said that it would be quite an inconvenience to have to read all the lyrics tor every song on eery record his kids listen to; & Dee Snider of Twisted Sister told him that children ARE an inconvenience. You can't go about youl lives business as usual, not when children enter the picture. If you don't think you can handle massive amounts of inconvenience, if you aren't ready or willing to devote massive amounts of your time to a cause as ignominious as the home, you'd better not have children. Look, I was partially raised on the old fairy tales --- was anyone here not? --- witches, magic, the whole schmiel. Snow White, Cinderella, Wizard of Oz, you name it. But my parents paid attention to me, they made sure I knew the Bible inside & out, & they made sure I could think for myself & come to my own decisions. So I'm against witchcraft & sorcery, not because my parents or religious leaders told me to, but because I have on my own come to the conclusion that is wrong. Just because I was raised religious right doesn't mean I'm going to go out & bomb an abortion clinic, just like just because I was born & raised in the South means I'm inclined to judge base on race (I was also raised on 'red & yellow, black & white, all are precious in His sight').
So what am I saying? I have no idea. Maybe I'm saying that I'm not going to raise a fuss about boycotts by religious groups. I might roll my eyes or groan about it, but I'm not going to publicly condemn them; it's not my place to judge. Maybe I'll try to persuade them to a slightly different pov. How? The same way I'd try to persuade any of you, by being a friend & using the friendly persuasion, emphasis on friendly. This stinks for an ending, but I can't think of the ending right now, & y'all can't think of anything else. If I have offended anyone or broken any tz rules in my diatribe, I apologize. This has been on my mind for some time & this topic has caused it to crystalize; I had to get it out & I appreciate having this opportunity to vent. Again If I hurt you I'm sorry.

[Kero]

Originally posted by Brian Cruz
Idiots like them give all us sane Christians a bad name.

A vicor(sp) I know does likes Cardcaptors and Cardcaptor Sakura.

Kero

[DR. BELCH]

--I've joked about someone claiming a connection between Revelations and Pokemon (flaming horses, giant dragons, serpents and mythical birds). Now should I be afraid when it comes to pass or try demanding royalties? :rolleyes:

[don Jaime]

Wildmon's still alive? I thought he died. It's been so long since I heard about him. It could have been longer....

Wildmon is an embarassment to America and Christianity, a publicity hungry dimwit who sees sex and devil worship in pretty much everything. This is just the latest example.

[Sharklady]

> ...all I know is when feminists & fundamentalists are on the same side something's wrong. <

Not necessarily. I think both fundamentalists and feminists* would agree that men should treat their wives and children responsibly.


* Just to avoid misunderstanding: I'm refering to *mainline* feminists, not those radical-fringe flakes the media likes to focus on.

[Nftnat]

Originally posted by Sharklady
> ...all I know is when feminists & fundamentalists are on the same side something's wrong. <

Not necessarily. I think both fundamentalists and feminists* would agree that men should be treat their wives and children responsibly.


* Just to avoid misunderstanding: I'm refering to *mainline* feminists, not those radical-fringe flakes the media likes to focus on.

Your point is well taken. And that also applies to *mainline* fundamentalists (including yours truly), not those radical fringe flakes the media likes to focus on. And yet, both boxes of flakes are against PK, for very different reasons.

[Dee]

right to assemble--- yeah whatever. Burning books, and banning kids cartoons--- what happened to the KID'S rights. Can't even live a childhood with fun and imagination anymore without being told it's all wrong. Heck, if Harry potter encouraged kids to read instead of sitting infront of the TV (nothing against TV hehe) then im all for it. Like watching a cartoon is going to teach kids witchcraft.

[Dee]

Originally posted by don Jaime
Wildmon's still alive? I thought he died. It's been so long since I heard about him. It could have been longer....

Wildmon is an embarassment to America and Christianity, a publicity hungry dimwit who sees sex and devil worship in pretty much everything. This is just the latest example.

man, here on Campus for a few months, there was some dude named 'Brother Matt" who would show up and preach loudly all day long. "Rock music is the devil! Sex is the devil! All college students are drug users and drinkers and listeners of rock music and are going to hell!". He would do this all day long. You walk past him and he'd just get louder and louder. He became quite a bother. Im happy its winter and he's not out side preaching his gospel (The Brother Matt Storybook of how all college students are going to hell was a delightfully stupid segment of his time here).

he left because well, he 1. got kicked off once for going on about september 11th--- I cant remember what he said but they booted him out of here because it was pretty bad.

and 2. no one ever listened to him. He started picking on groups of people and how we're all going to hell and we frankly got sick and tired of him so he didn't even get an audience of hecklers after a few weeks.

[Sharklady]

> Sex is the devil! <

Ohferpetesake- where does he think babies come from?

Or is he against those, too?

[Dee]

hes against everything. it's pretty bad. if he kept going, He'd eventually be against himself lol

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by Delia97
hes against everything. it's pretty bad. if he kept going, He'd eventually be against himself lol

"Brother Matt" sounds a lot like some old guy nicknamed "Brother Max" who used to do the same sort of stuff at my university's campus. He'd call various women who walked bay "jezebels" and, well, a less-than-nice word for "tramps"... his other main ax to grind seemed to be gays and lesbians, calling various people walking by "homo-sexuals" (as if he could tell from appearance alone they were gay), railing about how they're "evil"/"immoral", etc. He'd attract crowds sometimes who'd try to challenge him on such things (as did a few of the other "sidewalk preachers" at our school)... (shrug)

No clue what happened to the guy (if he's dead/retired/whatever...).

-B.

[mosszonedotcom]

I am a Christian and I like animation to be as bloody and violent as possible.

I would be offended by Satan: The Animated Series but not by Cardcaptors.

[Calhoun07]

This goes back I don't know how far. Fundamentalist groups like that tend to exist only to find evil in things that are rather harmless. Take Star Wars for example. Fundamentalists could argue that the Force and such are all based on pagan religions (which they are) but I am not out worshipping trees and nature because I saw Star Wars. I still believe there is One God that created the universe. If you have a belief system that's solid, Cardcaptors or Star Wars cannot shake that. I am not a Cardcaptors fan, but I am a fan of some other things that likewise get bashed, and I think that it should be up to the people who want the products and TV shows and movies to decide what they give their attention and money to, not a group of people to decide for the rest of us.

[Dee]

Originally posted by Brainatra


"Brother Matt" sounds a lot like some old guy nicknamed "Brother Max" who used to do the same sort of stuff at my university's campus. He'd call various women who walked bay "jezebels" and, well, a less-than-nice word for "tramps"... his other main ax to grind seemed to be gays and lesbians, calling various people walking by "homo-sexuals" (as if he could tell from appearance alone they were gay), railing about how they're "evil"/"immoral", etc. He'd attract crowds sometimes who'd try to challenge him on such things (as did a few of the other "sidewalk preachers" at our school)... (shrug)

No clue what happened to the guy (if he's dead/retired/whatever...).

-B.

DUDE! THATS EXACTLY WHAT BROTHER MATT DOES! Was brother Max balding and had glasses?

man! he'd get a crowd going and then the fun part was seeing the kids challenge him! The goths loved it!

[Dee]

Originally posted by mosszonedotcom
I am a Christian and I like animation to be as bloody and violent as possible.

I would be offended by Satan: The Animated Series but not by Cardcaptors.

NEW! THIS FALL ON WB! SATAN THE ANAIMATED SERIES! It's evil to THE EXRTREME! See Satan try to corrupt people--- tune in next week for the exciting conclusion of "Gee whiz--- that's evil!"

[DR. BELCH]

Delia97:
NEW! THIS FALL ON WB! SATAN THE ANIMATED SERIES! It's evil to THE EXRTREME!
Well, KWB has Chandu, on Jackie Chan's series--he's rather satanic (depicted as an evil horned serpent). I wonder if his name holds any significant meaning in Chinese? Like Beelzebub ("lord of flies") or Lucifer ("morning star").
Then there's Jamie Kellner, who used to be a halfway decent guy, I'm told, before he inexplicably lost his bloody mind. Maybe he secretly died around the mid-nineties and turned into a dybbuk (a mythical beast in Jewish folklore that possesses the dead and makes them do unspeakable things). lol...

[Anthonynotes]

Re: Brother Max: Yep, he was bald I believe (though he always wore one of those mesh baseball caps on his head), had glasses, and was pretty old... might be the same guy for all I know (assuming he leaves central Indiana to go to, um, wherever it is you go to school...)

Re: Promos: Leave that to the expert ;-)

ANNOUNCER: Coming this fall... (cue the usual Poke-onslaught of recycled stock footage) It's the Lord of Darkness himself in a *brand new, action-packed series!*

(Cue stock footage of Satan, as depicted on A!/PatB, blowing fire onto the screen)

ANNOUNCER: He's here, he's bad, he's demonically evil to the extreme, and he's comin' at ya *SIX DAYS A WEEK*!

SATAN: (Recycled stock footage) Um, not "6-6-6 Days a Week", is it?

ANNOUNCER: Erm, *Nooooo*....

SATAN: Oh....OK, then.

ANNOUNCER: Anyway, be sure to tune into "SATAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES", coming this fall on Kids' WB! It'll be *ULTIMATE EVIL-LY ENTERTAINING*!

CHANDU: (Recycled stock footage of his statue form) (Sarcastically) *Whatever*...

---

:-) (Insert protests to said addition of such a show here...and ignoring the "Jerry Springer" episodes they air in my town right after KWB goes off the air...)

-B.

[Sango]

We have a guy sort of like that at my high school. In the school paper, he somehow gets away with writing how everyone who isn't Christian is going to Hell. He rides my bus and all he does is bash other people's religion. He talks about Catholics and one day he had a "Book of Mormon" and he got a labler and put "Moron" over "Mormon." And he's always bashing and making fun of Muslims. He's always writing articles about them in the school newspaper and he's starting to get a lot of people really mad at him. The latest he's added is Wicca. I may not agree with what other religions believe, but I'm not going to go around bashing them and telling them they're going to Hell. Only God knows where you are going to go. Who am I to make a judgement of where a person will end up? I guess I just don't understand people like that....

[Sango]

That was funny, Brainatra! :) I can almost picture that actually happening. ^_^

[Dee]

Our Bro Matt doesn't look too old. Just stupid.

he bashes religon to no end.

As for a kid like that, we had one named Amber. She was like evil. She thought she was the top popular of the whole place (she had no clue either). Everyone hated her because well, she was an idiot. She was a dumb as they come--- she tried to be a valley girl so badly too---- It got to the point where I wanted to beat her upside the head. I almost did too. She "doesn't appreciate Artists" and cackled like a hyena when she laughed. (Shudders)

We would be perfectly fine eating lunch and talking about star wars or Weird Al Yankovic, and Amber would bust her way into the lunch room, TAKE MY SEAT, sit down, and, through a mouthful of bagel go "Weird Al Sucks" and then start on why her religon is supreme. I never bothered to listen, but shes full of it. She would upset my friend, who is religous, BUT doesn't go around trying to convert you. Arg! Horror filled High School memories! She wanted to do the whole religon in school thing and it upset me because she got away with it, and other kids I knew got in trouble for missing one day of Drama because of one of their religous holidays. She could go on and on and try to convert you and tell you your religous beliefs are wrong. UGH!

[Dee]

[/B][/QUOTE] We would be perfectly fine eating lunch and talking about star wars or Weird Al Yankovic, and Amber would bust her way into the lunch room, TAKE MY SEAT, sit down, and, through a mouthful of bagel go "Weird Al Sucks" and then start on why her religon is supreme. I never bothered to listen, but shes full of it. She would upset my friend, who is religous, BUT doesn't go around trying to convert you. Arg! Horror filled High School memories! She wanted to do the whole religon in school thing and it upset me because she got away with it, and other kids I knew got in trouble for missing one day of Drama because of one of their religous holidays. She could go on and on and try to convert you and tell you your religous beliefs are wrong. UGH! [/B][/QUOTE]

Im not against religons, but when some have rights and others dont, and people push their religons on me, i get bugged.

Im still trying to figure out who the men in black who visited me were. They were weird. They pulled a big shiny black car up and went door to door for like the afternoon. They bugged me three times (i dont answer the door) and they were looking in our kitchen window when I walked in and saw em. I screamed and hit the floor and crawled into the living room. Mormons? Witnesses? Men In Black? Eh, I still don't know. I didn't bother to answer the door. lol. They bugged everyone in the neighborhood a few times over that day.

[Sharklady]

> That was funny, Brainatra! I can almost picture that actually happening. ^_^ <


AAAUUUUKKKK!!!

Don't Say That! Brainatra's predictions have a disconcerting way of coming true!

(If *this* one does you're *Really* in for it, fella!)

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by Sharklady
> That was funny, Brainatra! I can almost picture that actually happening. ^_^ <


AAAUUUUKKKK!!!

Don't Say That! Brainatra's predictions have a disconcerting way of coming true!

(If *this* one does you're *Really* in for it, fella!)

If that's the case, then per one of those fanfic things I did, we're in for a full-fledged A!/TTA/etc. revivial come 2015 or so... ;-) Though I figure "SATAN: TAS" is probably more likely at this point...

-B.

[Anthonynotes]

In high school, don't recall any classmates pushing one religion or another on the rest of us (had two Muslim classmates, one of them the class salutatorian). College, though, seemed to be a different story---got pestered by several people on different occasions as to why I didn't go to church/pray/etc., and saw a friend of mine become over a few years a rather heavily fundamentalist Catholic (and criticize "Frasier" because the characters swear and even a certain pair of lab mice as being "unchristian" [since Brain deceives/tricks people as part of his plans]. That, and a few other things he said that seemed rather narrow-minded/bigoted made us stop talking to each other over time...). These days, I have a different friend who's Catholic, but doesn't evangelize (or find PatB "unchristian"...though he's never watched the show, not being a huge animation fan), but have been bothered by some at my part-time job over not going to church/being a "believer"/actually saying I took some interest in reading about Buddhism/etc...

-B.

[Dub]

In college (first one I went to before transferring to SCAD), my once best friend got pulled in by a cult and CONSTANTLY tried to "religiousize" me for lack of a better word.

I'm a Christian, but at times I tend to think organized religion or rather huge churches can be worse than everything :P But thats just one surface opinion on a whole nother broader perspective, so take that comment at face value. Doesnt relate to what we're talking about here.

Anywho - i'm familiar to the whole sidewalk evengelists who preach at you and damn you to hell and fire and brimstone and condemn you for wearing atrocities like short sleeve shirts, short pants, white after labor day, yadda yadda yadda :) I tend to just ignore them and go my own way.

[The Dork Knight]

Wow, they pulled this off faster than you can say "Polictically Correct"!

- Foley Is Good

[Sharklady]

> I'm a Christian, but at times I tend to think organized religion or rather huge churches can be worse than everything <

That can definitely be argued. People in large groups will frequently commit acts they never would as individuals- this seems to be a sad fact of human nature.

[Dee]

it's always the human's fault lol

[DR. BELCH]

There were a couple at ASU, although they weren't anything like "Brother Max", or whatever he called himself, thankfully. I don't know what affiliation they were, but I'm inclined to say Bapstist becasue there's a lot of them in Jonesboro, and the college houses one of the biggest Baptist Student Unions on its campus.
One was a bald black fellow; the other was a white guy with a fringed leather Indian-style jacket. Both were pleasant and willing to listen. As I believe in God yet question Him, I gave them both my standard stock answer whenever they asked me if I believed and accepted Christ as my Savior, "Yes, but I am a cynic at heart, and I ask myself why a God who supposedly loves us would allow us to suffer needlessly and give no answers to our questions, nor feel He needs to." They'd usually say something to the effect that He has a Divine Plan and it is not for us to know, give me their cards/pamphlets, shake my hand, and go on their way. That's how I avoided any big harrangues--essentially dancing around the issue. I never pressed for answers and they never pressed me to take theirs.
Fringe-Jacket once suggested I start my own church, as I have an aptitude for speaking. High compliment, I suppose...although I never really seriously considered it, the ramifications are staggering. It'd be akin to The Brain starting his own church to accumualte donations/tax-exempt status to fund his scheme to put giant speakers at the Poles and play the sound of yipping poodles every five seconds to throw Earth's populus into frequent, crippling epileptic-like fits, allowing him optimus time to step into the breach and take over the world. (Okay, maybe I have considered it a little.... :rolleyes: )

[Sharklady]

These guys don't sound so bad.

The person to mistrust is the one who substitutes slogan-chanting for thinking.

[Dee]

dang it's true. I went to the mall and taco bell had the advertising for Cardcaptors but it was NOT in the meals. very depressing. talk about ruining the party!

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Sango
We have a guy sort of like that at my high school. In the school paper, he somehow gets away with writing how everyone who isn't Christian is going to Hell. He rides my bus and all he does is bash other people's religion. He talks about Catholics and one day he had a "Book of Mormon" and he got a labler and put "Moron" over "Mormon." And he's always bashing and making fun of Muslims. He's always writing articles about them in the school newspaper and he's starting to get a lot of people really mad at him. The latest he's added is Wicca. I may not agree with what other religions believe, but I'm not going to go around bashing them and telling them they're going to Hell. Only God knows where you are going to go. Who am I to make a judgement of where a person will end up? I guess I just don't understand people like that....

The school shouldn't let him get away with the religion bashing in the school newspaper, but I guess that's the "free speech" thing. A very liberal school it must be.

[Sango]

Yeah, I guess my school is kind of liberal. It surprises me how much they allow stuff like that in the paper. I always hear about how other schools you can't mention religion at all, but at ours they do all the time. We have a Bible Club and the last Wednesday of every month they pray around the flagpole. I really don't have a problem with that, but I think they allow some people to go a little too far. I guess you'd have to read his article to understand...:\