Originally posted by jhill76
Originally posted by Deetermined
reply to post by AfterInfinity
Actually, there is a single line in the Bible that states that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are all one.
The same reason too that people were told to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Another question: Is baptism required? Or, is it just an outward showing of Faith?
If you are talking Catholicism, yes it is a "requirement". Let me be clear - anyone can enter a Catholic church for service. It's "required" if
you yourself want to consider yourself part of the Catholic faith. So is "confirmation", being able to properly receive communion, and penance
(confession). Many devout Christians also believe that receiving last rights (where a priest prays over your dead or dying body) is also a necessity.
This is partly why you will often see priests in hospitals. Anointing of the Sick is another sacrament, as is Holy Matrimony.
And not to start up dust, but the whole Holy Matrimony thing is why so many Catholics are against gay marriage. They believe without a shadow of a
doubt that because getting married is such a sacred occasion, it should only be performed for a man marrying a woman. That gays won't simply accept
civil unions further angers them, because they feel gays are purposely hijacking what for them is again - a Holy Sacrament.
Maybe you can already guess - I am a "recovering Catholic". I was totally into this as a child but as I started to get into science, history, news,
and just a thirst for knowledge, the more I experienced that stuff - the more I couldn't justify what I was told to blindly believe in. That said I
would not trade the 12 years of Catholic schooling I had for anything because I know I am 10 times better off education-wise than the kid that went to
the public school down the street. Plus we only had "religion" as a class for 1 period a day. Don't get some goofy idea that this is all we were
taught - it was a fraction of the school day.
As with almost anything else, the private school systems can do so much more in terms of actually teaching than public school systems can at a
fraction of the cost. In my county, 50 cents of every tax dollar goes to public schools. Crazy - especially given the way kids can't speak or spell
properly here.