Using padres as social workers?

[brin11]

As I read through the last posts I was thinking that perhaps I'd erred on splitting this off to its own topic but the last few posts certainly seemed to have cooled off.

Although Sigpig has, again, mostly taken the heat for his comments I would like to address mine as well, esp. with pbi.   More of a reiteration than anything as I don't like to ride others coat tails.

First of all, none of my statements were meant to be glib.   I have put alot of thought into my beliefs or lack of.   I didn't just wake up one morning and decide to not believe in god.   As for the statement that we aren't discussing religion; I think we are anytime we discuss padres and their roles.

As for no one being forced to see a padre, I assume the author meant that no one is forced to see a padre for a personal problem and that other avenues of counselling are available.  If this is the case, I'm glad to see it.  During my one time of difficulty the only choice I was given WAS the padre.

Are you afraid that you might not be able to deal with the spiritual challenge involved in confronting a person of faith? After all, if you're a dedicated non-believer, there's really no danger of getting "infected" by that nasty irrational religious stuff, is there now

This was in response to my comment and I still stand by it.  I feel just as strongly about my beliefs, pbi, as I assume you do as a religious person.  I'll just try not to infect you with my heathenness. 

Anyway, all in all a good discussion.  Nothing wrong with a heated debate as long as everyone doesn't cross the line into personal attacks.





 

 

[sigpig]

As I read through the last posts I was thinking that perhaps I'd erred on splitting this off to its own topic but the last few posts certainly seemed to have cooled off.

I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable by pointing out someone besides me had started this as a separate thread. I was, and still am, feeling out the tone and temperament of the individuals on this site and how far things can go. As I was writing that post I thought that things were headed towards an apocalypse (pun intended) and wanted to point out that while I hadn't started the battle, I was going to go down fighting.

I thank you for making the thread and giving me the chance to get my feet wet as I did. And it is nice to see another non-believer stand up and be counted.

 

[brin11]

Sigpig, no problem!  And I apologize for making you uncomfortable for making me uncomfortable.    We are SO Canadian. 

 

[sigpig]

Sigpig, no problem!   And I apologize for making you uncomfortable for making me uncomfortable.       We are SO Canadian.    

Yes we are, and you don't know how good that statement makes me feel after living in the US for six years     I still have it!

 

[pbi]

Actually, I'm not really a very "religious" person (as my wife is often at pains to point out....) "Religiosity" as I call it, can result in people who (as one Chaplain friend of mine describes them) "are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good". I do have some personal beliefs, but to me they weren't really the issue. Rather, I felt called to defend the work that I know chaplains have done and are doing.

But what about the dyslexic atheist insomniac who stayed awake all night wondering if there really IS a Dog?

Sigpig: I note that you lived in the southern US for a time, and that has perhaps informed your thinking about organized religion. I see a possibly danger of overexposure there: it might be similar to forming your opinion of social drinking by living in a bar. Cheers.

 

[sigpig]

Sigpig: I note that you lived in the southern US for a time, and that has perhaps informed your thinking about organized religion.

Exactly. I realized that I have always been an atheist but in Canada I never really gave it a second thought as religion isn't as overwhelmingly present as it is here in the US and it isn't forced down your throat. As with any belief or feeling, if you are pushed, you push back.

In the areas of the US I've lived in - Louisville and south Florida, there is a church on every corner, sections of the paper devoted to religion, advertising on tv, radio, billboards, neighbours trying to convince me to go to their church, neighbour kids telling my kids we were going to hell because we don't go to church, co-workers putting up concerned christian voter guides. It never ends, you can't escape it.

And that is why I have become the militant atheist I am today. It was the only way to keep my sanity in this land of the sanctimonious and the hypocritical. The only way to be true to myself. If the religious here could just have their beliefs and leave it at that it would be fine. But noooooo, they have to save everyone else, even if the don't want saving.

Sorry for the rant. I will now climb off my soap box and try to return to matters pertinent to todays CF.

 

[Pugnacious]

I remember reading a saying in a book on Canadian military history during WW1 that said "when the shelling starts there are no Atheists in a Foxhole".

Cheers!
P.

 

[bossi]

... I haven't been on here that long but what I've seen lead me to believe that the moderators hardly tolerated any sniping between members...

What?  And miss out on a sorely-needed discussion of values, societal norms, military ethos, etc.?
Hardly.  The mods will normally kick the poop out of childish flaming, but an intelligent, informative, intellectual debate is an entirely different animal ...

Here endeth the sermon (pun intended).