General Chat

John


Mithras really was one of those bloody (literally) Roman gods, worshipped mainly by warriors, in the early centuries after Christ (ie, AD in the version that I learnt).


Just like Christianity ......... there was very little written down, so what anyone thinks about the Mithraic religion (or religions) is just as shrouded in mystery as is the belief in christianity.

Mithras is always depicted as slaying a bull ................. and slaying a bull may have been a part of their ceremonies.

It was of course a secret religion, with rituals, and initiations

Almost no Mithraic scripture or first-hand account of its highly secret rituals survives, with the exception of the scrap of papyrus that contains an incomplete (parts not decipherable oath and catechism, and a document known as the Mithras Liturgy, from 4th century Egypt, whose status as a Mithraist text has been questioned by many scholars.

The main sources for Mithraic texts come from graffiti scrawled on the whitewashed walls of the underground temples.

There were seemingly 7 levels of initiation, with the topmost one being called Pater ........ or Father


sound familiar?????

YES GINS REALLY

Sylvia

Well, yes, but none of that explains why i shouldnt make fun of bishops lol

Im not totally sure which culture or society you refer to where women were the true rulers unless you speak metaphorically. Modern day iran? Places whe women get acid thrown in their face for not wearing a burka or young girls shot in the face for wanting to go to school? You get no argument from me about the abilities of women in any given position or role. Its the men in frocks that dont want it!

sorry but I have never been banned



Really!

And why would you need to PM me John , anything you have to say can be said on the boards .. and sorry but I have never been banned ,, wishful thinking on peoples part ..but untrue .. nice to see that some people think it is ok for John to post the stuff about me ,

Eldrick Mithras? Same as Cynthia says :-D

The Bible is a book for me that fits together perfectly. It is history, music and prophesy all wound together with a mystical cxrinmson ribbon that wraps itself round every saint through every age and wraps itself around Jesus and the Cross of Calvary.

As John says in the last verses of the Bible - nothing must be added or subtracted from the words of this book. So latter day prophecies or Books of Mormon probably are not helpful.

Eldrick


Have you really taken in what I said earlier ............


I consider myself a-religious


that does not mean that I know nothing about the church,

I was after all raised by parents who went to church themselves (usually to Evensong) but did not insist on me going to church or to Sunday School

I was educated from age 4 until 11 in a church school ............... but my parents chose that simply because it was so much better than the local State school


I have also educated myself about many so-called pagan religions ............ from the druids to the Egyptians to the Roman, etc etc


........ and about the early days of Christianity in the 6th to 8th centuries.


It happens to be one of my hobbies.


I was also raised in a matriarchal society .............. and with the belief that the world was my oyster.


Never forget that women have ruled the world since time immemorial, even if men thought they were suppressing women, or that women were the weaker vessel

................ in the background women were usually in charge.

and that applies to christian religion, to pagan religions in Europe, and to the First Nations religions in North America.

I do not know enough about Asian religions such as Shinto, Buddhism, etc to make any comment.


I do know that I believe that woman who are capable should be allowed to practise whatever vocation they wish ...................

and so should men.


The problem arises when incapable people are raised above their level of competency ....... whether male or female.

John stated what religion has done for him. I stated what it had done TO me.

He came to religion late in life(relatively) I left it late in life.

He therefore has no idea of what church teachings were like in the 50s, 60s, 70s and I do.

As for all the rest? well, there is only so much you can say about the current division between the church and the lay panel. THEY DON'T AGREE!!

JohnlovesCocoa

You have failed to see that I was in approval of your opening post. You gave your stance and asked for others opinions.

Unfortunately, the thread went from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I admire anyone who has the courage of their convictions, but cannot abide the fact that some people deny others their perceptions.



:-|

AnnC Not sure I have changed as I always think I am a bit confrontational but quite kind and loving and modest (seriously).

What I have been surprised about since I started on the threads is the reaction to my posts. Perhaps I smile and wink in real life and my sense of humour or straight talking does not get me into trouble. I have probably treid hard to adapt my writing style and that is why I get in less trouble now :-D :-D

I did get upset when you said you knew nothing about who was standing for Police Commissioners in our South Wales area. It is possible now to find out what curtains are in a person's house and how big the mole is on someone's back. And there seemed quite a bit on Welsh TV and radio and on the internet. And in Western Mail. That was why I got a bit curt. Sorry, you would be the last person I would want to upset :-(

John, oh dear. There is a vast difference. If you class your bible as factual then by dint of that, you must accept the book of morman and all of hubbards work as genuine! The bible is not factual. I can back my science facts up, you cannot back your bible facts with anything, lol. No one can.

I dont understand your reference to eunuchs. You cannot use a computer and deny science! It is utterly irrational, lol. But, i confess, a good wind up.

Anyway, back to mithras. What do you think of him and his pals?

Hayley


what has poor Cynthia to do with what you have just posted?????????


I assume this is directed at me???

"Sorry about this John but I have followed this thread with interest even though I havent contrbuted to most of the debate but I would now like to address Cynthia ....simply agree with you about the bullying and harrasing and I totally support you in your right to do so,however I shall follow your lead and will be reporting anyone and that includes your good self , that I think is replying to anyone in a tone that I think is totally unacceptable or threatening. Have a good evening"



Do make sure you report the correct person :-D


It would be most unfair to Cyn

That thought went through my mind Gins......Ann goes to church :-S

Dear me, it's been such a long and busy weekend and I am worn out with all this debating.

Have a good night all...........

:-D

Oh, Sue


read what I said, and then read the thread .....................



of course, I am not saying that you are not allowed to express your views ............ just as John has the right to express his views, and I have the right to express mine.


BUT there are posts made, especially during Saturday evening, that made no mention of disagreements with John's views, or expressing their own views.


There very veiled jokes at him,

there were comments implying that he had NO right to express his views

there were implications that he should shut up


NONE of those had anything at all to do with the topic of the thread ............... which was what do others think about Women Bishops"

They were just against John ..............


and it happens every time that John starts a thread.


There seems to be a posse of people who follow him around, just for the sake of being nasty.




That is what disgusted me.


and what finally goaded me into posting as I did.


It has, after all, been going on for months.

also, I know aivlyS was quite rightly outraged at one point, and very upset at the time, and she had my total sympathy, I think the time has come to stop sniping all the time

Hayley...whats that all about?

Eldrick. Not a fact????? If you take away my Bible facts and I take away your scientific facts, we would both be eunuchs!!!!!!

I want to keep what little I have of my manhood. The Bible is my ............Bible. A man of one book. What I would take with me on Desert Island Discs.

And I would also take the Welsh singer Iris Williams with me - to sing "Amazing Grace" to me each morning. Beautiful, and penned by a man who made a fortune out of captaining slave ships from Africa to America :-0

I have to agree with Sue, Gins and Sylvia in Canada - I was very upset by John on the Police Commissioner Election thread when he said I was "too idle to vote"- really made me very angry, but that's in the past and I think the hostility should be dropped - having said that, John does seem to come across as patronising on times and I've had a couple of goes at him over it and I think he's now changed

Sorry, sylvia, you cant on the one hand promote free speech and the next moment say you shouldnt make fun of bishops. I reserve the right to make fun of any component of religion. And priestly celibacy is a joke, come on. If you want to open that door i'm game..:-)

Surely you know the totally hypocritical reasons for the break from Rome by good king Hal? And making yet another brand of male dominated power?

I honestly cannot see how any woman can belong to any form of organised religion of any flavour.

Mithras, john? Mormonism, etc?

Sorry about this John but I have followed this thread with interest even though I havent contrbuted to most of the debate but I would now like to address Cynthia ....simply agree with you about the bullying and harrasing and I totally support you in your right to do so,however I shall follow your lead and will be reporting anyone and that includes your good self , that I think is replying to anyone in a tone that I think is totally unacceptable or threatening. Have a good evening :-D