VABills

It's actually more then the ten commandments, you have the 7 deadly, etc... But you're right there is a lot of dead air space when asked. Most have a real issue with the coveting part. They think only if they have sex with her is it a sin, lusting after her is a laso just as bad. That one always gets me BTW.

Has more to do with how birth control works. Most do not prevent conception, but rather prevent the embryo from attaching to the uterine wall. There have been some discussions about permitting estrogin type contraceptives (which block ovulation) and condoms, but the IUD, Norplants, etc... But again for the hot pocket folks they don't see the big picture and understanding. They just see the Catholic Church bad because all contraceptives bad. What the Churches major issue is those that just kill the embryo. While I know currently all are banned the ones that abort a child are on another scale. Breaking one of the major commandments of thou shall not kill, which these effectively do.

If you don't want to follow the rules, then don't be Catholic. But this world would be a better place if one didn't be-little others for their choices on religion. If that religion is not affecting you (like Islam does) what do you care what they accept and don't accept? If you choose not to follow then you take the change in 100 years or so when you die that you made the right decision.

So you buy no products made overseas, because they are cheaper? Check your clothing labels, cell phone, computer, cups, glasses, tools, cars, etc.... You are just as guilty if you buy something made there.

If it would have been me, I would have borrowed a sniper rifle from a friend who just bought a used one on ebay and showed him.

Actually that's not entirely true. You can actually be gay, and still receive the sacrements. However, there is a catch. You must go to reconciliation, ask for forgiveness and promise never to sin again. Basically you can be gay receive the sacrements as long as you abstain.

I never even knew about that until 4-5 years ago. Visited a friend, and went to their service and was amazed to see that. I inquired a little, and turns out they had to hand over their taxes each year and a church and pew fee assessed based on their income.

That's great. I have actually been to one Catholic Church that was that way. No collection, but the parishoners knew what to do to give, and this way "guests" did not have to feel obligated. Yeah the whole peace thing sucks though. I have had arguements with the nuns in our hurch when they were considering having a discussion about not letting Harry Potter books be brought into the school by the students. I had my say and the discussion ended real quick and so did the ban. They now have multiple copies of each in the school library for the children to check out. As I said, I don't always agree, and I will voice my opinion when they try to do something stupid. So far I haven't been excommunicated.

It was just Richmond. Everyone else was fine.

Again, notice that there is no dollar sign over the box next to the candles. It is give if you can and want, but they will let you light one or more candles in honor of whoeevr you would like.

I don't disagree, and I believe there are some liars and scum that are preists, nuns and administrators in the Church. But again with the Catholic Church you can always go to another parish. Unlike some other faiths where you basically have to buy your ticket in and even your pew if you want to sit.

The Catholic Church accepts you, you just can't receive the sacrements of penance for those "sins" and I put it in quotes so it is not meant to be judgemental. Also, you are not allowed to receive Sacrements of marraige, communion, confirmation, etc... I do not believe they withhold last rights however, but will not give you the host. They will not however preclude you from attending mass, etc...

Actually my church does have that lock box at the back that if you choose to anonymously (sp????, I don't want to !@#$ing look it up either) contribute you can. Secondly that portion of the mass is really the only "down time" during the mass and the perfect opportunity to collect. Again it isn't like some Churches like Jewish or Mormon where you basically need a ticket to get in and the only way to get one is to tithe. The Catholics accept all and you only give if you can. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar and a scum. I don't listen to NPR, and I don't give to street urchins.

Why?

I know of plenty of people who do not "put into" the basket on Sunday. Some cannot afford it, others have money automatically donated and sent to the church on a given periodic basis, I know one guy who donates a lump sum once per year, and other who will wad some bills up and put them in the basket so others cannot see what they give. Trust me those in the pews do not really care whether one gives or not nor how much. And those that do have issues and should be concerned with themselves. Again there are Good and bad Catholics. It is not my job to judge those that give too much or too little. Where I go, the emphasis is more on donating your time then on giving money. I know money is an issue, at our Church, but the priests have always tried more to push the people to volunteer, get involved and help out with the mowing, the cleaning, the school setup, etc.... Never a big push for money. I cannot say about other Churches, but most I have gone to, it really was not lectured on during the mass and if something was said, it maybe one sentence about combining collections. But I look at that as administrative detail and pass over it. Anyone who picks that out is being overly sensitive in my opinion.

And he is also a potential target for a nutcase to harm him. Remember Monica Seles? Cruise doesn't know if it's water, sewage, some highly corrosive blood agent that is used on HARM missiles deployed from drones. This is why a lot of these guys are jerks. Why do you think it is okay to attack anyone in public? This is not a controlled venue where security was all around. The crew should and probably should be tried under current terrorism laws.

And if you read what I said, and what I bolded, I agree. But sometimes they have errored on the side of too much forgiveness.

COWS Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington. And they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow. CONSTITUTION They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore. TEN COMMANDMENTS The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse? You cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" and "Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians! It creates a hostile work environment! And Last but not least . . . George Carlin said it best about Martha Stewart . . . "Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's behind bars. O.J. Simpson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the one woman in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and haul her ass off to jail."

Christianity isn't about living like Jesus and forgiving? Since when. I didn't get that memo.

Wrong but try again. Unlike the government, the "taxation" is done on a local level through donations. The dioceses and up then "tax" the local parishes to garner their money. Obviously this is needed to support the bishops and the Pope. Unlike some religions that force you to tithe, and a lot are very forceful in that you are required to tithe 10% and they check your wages out to confirm. I have many Jewish friends and they are required to pay a set donation every year to join the synagogue. The Catholic Church is different in that they do not force anyone to donate, or tithe. It is up to you and on your honor. There is a lot of administrative overhead and they do need to make appeals to help fund these things. The Catholic Church and charities are second only to the US government (and they might be first) in providing services. money, etc... to the needy. While most churches do this none do it on a scale that the Catholic Church does. And yes the Church does have a some bad priests, nuns and parishiners who do things in the name of the Church. But just like any other organization there are always going to be bad apples. The Church has taken a lot of flak and rightfully so for attempting to forgive and absolve some who have done aggregious things. But this is what Christianity is all about.

And if it was any of you folks, you would have been very upset and tried to do the whole plastic cup routine on the guys. It was complete bull sh--, immature on their part and Cruise is right. He was being a good guy, offering an interview and people took advantage of him. Now you know why stars, etc... can be jerk because of people like them and you guys for saying Cruise was being a jerk. Grow up morons, it isn't funny, and in fact could have been a very dangerous situation.

You're kidding right? The acting was horrible in both. Special effects and looking at Angelina Jolie only goes so far. The last really good movie that I can think of was Pirates of the Caribbean. There have been a few acceptable ones, but those two have been bad.

I have seen two movies so far, Star Wars and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I have to say the movies are both bad, and if these are some of the better ones coming out, Hollywood is in major trouble. There's a reason the ticket sales are down, because the movie scripts, acting and overall production is terrible.

Problem being, Cuba, would gladly take most in and then sneak them into the US, which would be real bad. I like the idea of marching them to the beach, but chum up the sharks first, then shoot each in the arm or leg and toss 'em in the water. If they make it, then Allah meant for them to be free.

If you only knew how close that is to the truth.