Questions to Jews & Christians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Muslima, I have noticed that this thread is full of mistakes and misinformation. Please go out and read a book or authoritative source about different religions. I get tips on baking or saving money on DCUM, not spiritual matters.

People especially seem to have a lot of confusion and misinformation about Catholicism, even Catholics!

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:

Muslima wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslima,

I am a reform jew. I am not particularly observant -- I do not keep kosher and observe the sabbath in the way I choose...I will use power, and will drive to synagog.

If you are interested, I am sure you would be welcome at many synagogs for friday or saturday services. I am confident my synagog would be welcoming (Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church). If you do come to services, please be aware, you will here strongly pro-israeli speak, even if specific policies are debated.

At my synagog, people are very supportive of Israel, even though we want to see some policies change.

To be honest, though id love to , I'd be bit scared to go to a synagogue. I have been to churches before but never dared enter in a synagogue, especially now with all the Israeli-Palestinian discourse. I've already lost 2 Jewish and one Israeli friend over it and they unfriended me on Fbook as well, so I know it's an emotional topic.

Wait until things settle down. They will settle down. At my synagog, you would probably be safe. There is heightened security, though, and people might question you. If you were to come, I would encourage you to reach out to the clergy first.

In general, jews do not try to convert. And we alway pray for peace.

Good to know, thanks!

[Muslima]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslima, I have noticed that this thread is full of mistakes and misinformation. Please go out and read a book or authoritative source about different religions. I get tips on baking or saving money on DCUM, not spiritual matters.

People especially seem to have a lot of confusion and misinformation about Catholicism, even Catholics!

I think this is true for most religions, but it's always interesting to see how people understand their faith, I appreciate all answers~

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslima, I have noticed that this thread is full of mistakes and misinformation. Please go out and read a book or authoritative source about different religions. I get tips on baking or saving money on DCUM, not spiritual matters.

People especially seem to have a lot of confusion and misinformation about Catholicism, even Catholics!

Can you point out something here that is misinformation about Catholicism?

[Anonymous]

I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

+1. Christianity as a whole is quite different from other religions like Judaism and Islam. There may be degrees of difference within Christianity, but there are many more commonalities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

+1. Christianity as a whole is quite different from other religions like Judaism and Islam. There may be degrees of difference within Christianity, but there are many more commonalities.

So what are the basics of Christianity?

I'd say Jesus Christ as Savior. what else -- the trinity? bodily resurrection and ascension? hell as eternal punishment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

+1. Christianity as a whole is quite different from other religions like Judaism and Islam. There may be degrees of difference within Christianity, but there are many more commonalities.

So what are the basics of Christianity?

I'd say Jesus Christ as Savior. what else -- the trinity? bodily resurrection and ascension? hell as eternal punishment?

Just Jesus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

+1. Christianity as a whole is quite different from other religions like Judaism and Islam. There may be degrees of difference within Christianity, but there are many more commonalities.

So what are the basics of Christianity?

I'd say Jesus Christ as Savior. what else -- the trinity? bodily resurrection and ascension? hell as eternal punishment?

Jesus being the son of God and the savior of the mankind is a huge commonality. Do you really need more than something that specific?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

+1. Christianity as a whole is quite different from other religions like Judaism and Islam. There may be degrees of difference within Christianity, but there are many more commonalities.

So what are the basics of Christianity?

I'd say Jesus Christ as Savior. what else -- the trinity? bodily resurrection and ascension? hell as eternal punishment?

Son of God or God incarnate?


Jesus being the son of God and the savior of the mankind is a huge commonality. Do you really need more than something that specific?

[Anonymous]

Muslima wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Muslima wrote:
-If you're Christian: Do you guys have a certain number of mandatory prayers that you do every day? For ex, Muslims pray 5 time a day.Does it depend on what branch of Christianity you follow? What is the difference between Catholics, Protestants and Methodists? Can you guys go to each other's churches?

Christians do not have "mandatory" prayers as far as I know but there are many different types of prayers. Here is what I know of:

Prayer books: many churches have prayer books with readings that you can pray with. These readings are usually taken from the Psalms and other Biblical passages. The Coptic Orthodox church's prayer books have five different sets of prayers, or "hours" that are read five times a day, very similar to Islam.

Personal prayer and reflection: This how people pray in movies. They are thanking God or asking God for help, guidance, forgiveness, etc. Giving thanks before meals would be another type of this prayer.

Liturgical prayer: The liturgy and mass of many churches is a form of prayer, coming together with the rest of your church community and praying together.

Praying with Scripture: Many people read a piece of scripture on it and reflect on it in prayer. Some people keep journals where they write their thoughts and prayers down. This is a type of prayer that I really like, because I believe that I express myself best in writing.

Praise and rejoicing: Many people like to sing in praise of God, or even dance, as I've seen in some churches.


So there's nothing "mandatory," but as you can see, you can basically have your whole day revolve around prayer if you want to. It's up to you as an individual.

Interesting. We also have different sorts of prayers but there are 5 mandatory ones that need to be done daily. I never heard about the Coptic Orthodox, and that they prayed 5 times a day. Do we have a lot of them in the US? Never heard any reference to them. I also love to write, so it's interesting that you have the liturgical prayer. Thank you for answering!

About the Coptic Church, the church of Egypt: http://www.coptic.net/EncyclopediaCoptica/

About the prayer book of the Coptic Church, or the Agpeya, which actually has 7 hours of prayer: http://st-takla.org/Agpeya.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"The World's Religions" by Huston Smith is a well-written, readable book that explains the basics of major religions. This is a better way to learn than relying on the possibly uninformed opinions of us DCUM'ers!

I agree. There is quite a lot of ignorance and prejudice on this thread and a lot of uninformed "Christians" and "Jews."

Please go to your public library and get a good book on religion such as suggested above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

+1. Christianity as a whole is quite different from other religions like Judaism and Islam. There may be degrees of difference within Christianity, but there are many more commonalities.

So what are the basics of Christianity?

I'd say Jesus Christ as Savior. what else -- the trinity? bodily resurrection and ascension? hell as eternal punishment?

As stated in the Nicene Creed, the fundamentals of Christianity are:


There is one God the Father who created the Universe.

Jesus Christ is the son of God and is one in being with God the Father.


Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and became God incarnate for the salvation of mankind.

He was crucified and died for our sins and rose from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead.

The Holy Spirit, who together with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified, has spoken through the prophets.

There is one universal Church.

There is one baptism for forgiveness of sins.

We believe in the resurrection of the dead at the end times.

And an afterlife.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was raised Catholic but am now atheist/agnostic..and to answer your questions about Christians -

There is no way to answer this question! There are so many different types of Christian churches and types of so-called Christian people. I often wonder - what is the point of being "Christian" when it is all so loosey-goosey anyhow? you have everything from your nutty mega churches to your Pentecostal churches to your "home" churches to Unitarian churches and everything in between. They all interpret the Bible differently. Services are different. There are all sorts of different types of priests and ministers and seminaries and crazy bible colleges etc. It is not really a cohesive religion. It is a free for all and I would argue - not really a religion at all. Everyone believes what they want to believe.

I am an atheist, but I found your posting to be really strange. Do you really think Christianity is not a religion? That is an argument you would make? How do you define religion?

+1. Christianity as a whole is quite different from other religions like Judaism and Islam. There may be degrees of difference within Christianity, but there are many more commonalities.

So what are the basics of Christianity?

I'd say Jesus Christ as Savior. what else -- the trinity? bodily resurrection and ascension? hell as eternal punishment?

As stated in the Nicene Creed, the fundamentals of Christianity are:


There is one God the Father who created the Universe.

Jesus Christ is the son of God and is one in being with God the Father.


Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary and became God incarnate for the salvation of mankind.

He was crucified and died for our sins and rose from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead.

The Holy Spirit, who together with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified, has spoken through the prophets.

There is one universal Church.

There is one baptism for forgiveness of sins.

We believe in the resurrection of the dead at the end times.

And an afterlife.

right -- that's the creed, but not all christians believe all that stuff.