Welcome to Gaia! ::

all right, here i am.

i already replied in the spirituality post.

i am a member of the Progressive Christians guild here.

i am a mennonite, like amish with cars and computers.

we believe in simple living, supportive communities, honesty, mutual aid, kindness, generosity, and nonviolence.

i know many older men who went to jail or served as janitors in mental hospitals furing the wars. they were beaten and abused.

we will not carry or use an antipersonnel weapon although many of us like to hunt.

we will not serve in government.

we will not swear an oath or pledge allegiance.

we believe in freedom of conscience, that no one should make up your mind for you. for that reason we as a group do not grow very quickly. no kids are made to go to church or become members, so many just leave. the ones who do stay tend to be quite committed.

we believe in families and do what w can to strengthen them. some of us (including me) feel this should include gay marriage as well, since the point is fauthfulness and stability. right now this is a local option for each congregation, and there is no national rule about it.

we have a priority for scriptural authority. what comes first are the words of Jesus, his sermon on the mount, and parables. then come the gospel accounts about him.

third are the letters of paul and John.

fourth are the Old Testament prophets.

Fifth are the psalms and proverbs.

Sixth are the laws of Moses, and seventh the supposedly historical accounts of the OT.

so if somebody asks how do i justify some OT things such as wiping out villages including women and children, or burning an adulteress to death, i simply say i dont bother. Jesus' sayings of love, forgiveness and second chances trump those other passages.

I agree with chessiejo. You don't have to like some one beacuse of there reiligon. ninja And you can't control the way some one thinks. It's so rude.

eighty years ago there were giants in the land, true progressives who were also believers.

i admire and recommend for anyone's reading the writings of Jane Addams, Leo Tolstoy, and Dorothy Day.

I'm not a Christian.

However, one of my closest friend is a very progressive catholic priest.


Father Frank tells me all the time that despite my lack of Faith, how much God loves me for what I do. I.E. Help with the Homeless, antiwar, Gay Rights. Actually, some church goers got pissed at him on that one. He supports gay marraige, and topped it off by stating that he will perform them when legal. He simply told the church people "It's between me and God."


His ecological thing was pretty cool too. "God made this world, stop destroying it. God's gonna be ticked."

That's awesome. More power to him!