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Wolf of Yharnam

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,004
Reading about this church gives me the shivers. They sell themselves as some kind of hip, cool kind of place with a rockstar vibe.

It's just another fucking cult to lure people in. The anti-LGBTQ stance is the cherry on the shit pile
 

BlackGoku03

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,271
But how will I know it's wrong to kill people and right to hate the gays (isn't it?) if a book doesn't tell me so! I'm a lost lamb with no moral instincts of my own.
Christians and non-Christians alike have to be reminded of this daily:
Matthew 22:36-40 New International Version (NIV)
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."


You follow that commandment and the rest takes care of itself. Gay people can be saved and become a Christian while still being gay. And we should love them like any other straight person. More and more churches have been speaking out about it, so hopefully we get to a point where their voices are louder than the churches who condemn homosexuality.

I mean, look at my church; we have whites, blacks, gays (Pastor's brother is gay), trans, and a Pastor who is a woman.
 

Khanimus

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
40,170
Greater Vancouver
Basically all christian churches has anti LGBT values for obvious reasons. I don't think call out a christian for not being pro LGBT has any sense.
I know you are banned, but I want to make this clear.

My family isn't Christian nor are we particularly religious, but both of the last two churches I have stepped inside in the last 4 years have indisputably pro-LGBT+ messaging posted within them. So this idea that christianity must be inherently homophobic and can go unchallenged is fucking bullshit.
 

The BLJ

Member
Feb 2, 2019
698
France
Christians and non-Christians alike have to be reminded of this daily:
Matthew 22:36-40 New International Version (NIV)
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."


You follow that commandment and the rest takes care of itself. Gay people can be saved and become a Christian while still being gay. And we should love them like any other straight person. More and more churches have been speaking out about it, so hopefully we get to a point where their voices are louder than the churches who condemn homosexuality.

I mean, look at my church; we have whites, blacks, gays (Pastor's brother is gay), trans, and a Pastor who is a woman.
This is absolutely off-topic but I need to ask you: isn't "whites", "blacks", etc. understood as a derogatory way to refer to ethnicities? I was yelled at several times for this elsewhere and was told to use "white people", "black people", etc. instead.
 

Bob Beat

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,916
Young upstart hipster churches are just the worst. It is the religious version of overt atheists ramming "god isn't real!" down your throat. Everyone is so happy to be there. And 80% of them are totally fake.

Also, good luck keeping this thread open with Pratt + religion.
But you are in a church. Isn't it expected for them to push their beliefs, that God is real? Couldn't they be happy?
 

BlackGoku03

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,271
This is absolutely off-topic but I need to ask you: isn't "whites", "blacks", etc. understood as a derogatory way to refer to ethnicities? I was yelled at several times for this elsewhere and was told to use "white people", "black people", etc. instead.
I don't know. If it bothers someone, I'll be glad to discuss it. I guess it's in the framing of the sentence and who is saying it.

Good question.
 

WaffleTaco

Community Resettler
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,908
We just had this topic a few weeks ago where a ton of celebrities go to this church.
 

GG-Duo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
885
Hillsong is not an upstart...

And why are people surprised that Evangelicals evangelize?
 

Falcon511

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,148
There are plenty of churches in the USA that openly recruit LGBTQ people by hanging pride flags outside.

LA is the biggest metropolitan area in the country.

Pratt has choices about where he chooses to worship.
Interesting.

I know Gomez in the past has questioned her own sexuality. Not sure why she would go there. It sounds like they brainwash them and make young celebs feel welcomed. At least the ones that are vulnerable.
 

Typhoon20

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,568
Like I said in the other thread. When it comes to Pratt and his beliefs It's not not there you just have to look and pay attention to what he says

When you're part of something so evil for such a long time you're fully aware of what they stand for... and Pratt shares them as well.

It's just that he doesn't come out and say it... yet. He knows that will risk his career. He's not that dumb.

Hollywood is filled with people like Pratt. Sadly. And people like Ellen Page are being shunned because they fight the system.

F Pratt.
 

Brinbe

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
58,038
Terana
Good for her for calling that shit out. Ask Aussies about Hillsong and they'll gladly tell you how fucked up it is. All the tithing and such is super questionable. And even regardless of the fucked up bigotry, any religion where the leaders themselves are balling like celebs themselves should give you room for pause. Fuck outta here with that prosperity gospel bullshit.
 

Mavis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,476
Blue Mountains
Hillsong is messed up, they are everywhere in Sydney. Founded by a paedophile. His son, the current leader, covered up the abuse. The current Aussie PM lists him and the Church as mentors.
 

Deleted member 48897

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 22, 2018
13,623
That dude really does look like if David Koresh took Shingy's idea of being a digital prophet just a little too seriously
 

John Dunbar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,229
Homosexuality is only broached in Leviticus, and all Leviticus laws were scrapped by Jesus- what in the New Testament is called homosexuality in English was actually originally a word better translated as "poor morality", or something like that. It was interpreted as meaning homosexuality when translating from Hebrew to Latin. This is further proven by how, historically, there were a lot of gay unions in the Christian church (note that marriages at the time were not about love so having such a union was actually more special and akin to modern marriage) until about the middle ages when the Latin translation took hold.

what's the basis for the whole new covenant thing i always see from christians? because as far as i can tell, jesus never wanted to get rid of the old laws, unless this is the kingdom of heaven:

matthew 5:17-20 said:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

and when christians say jesus overruled the old testament, somehow that never seems to include the ten commandments.
 

Deleted member 42055

User requested account closure
Banned
Apr 12, 2018
11,215
This aside, that Scientology isn't called out on a daily basis by anyone in Hollywood ( or pretty much anyone tbh) not making a doc about it speaks tonhow scary powerful they must be.
 

TheKeipatzy

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,716
California for now
while I agree calling him out for that is definitely a plus for me.... being who I was, raised how I was, I wanted to scream at the video when I saw him talking about the fast. Ugh...

Maybe part of me remembers it wrong but I'm pretty sure his Savior once said, if you fast you're not supposed to brag about it, but you know whatever...
 

ryseing

Bought courtside tickets just to read a book.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,546
For lovers
Holy shit, my sister's church is a carbon copy of that one. Totally different name, but it's obvious where they got their whole shtick.

Hillsong is the inspiration for most of the churches appealing to the younger crowd. The repertoire of the worship band at your sister's church is probably 50% Hillsong stuff.
 

Deleted member 32561

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 11, 2017
3,831
I don't know what's in that book. I just wanted to know if you had the service of adelphopoiesis in mind. It's a service that recognizes the friendship of two people (usually of the same sex) and blesses it. Some time ago, scholars found out that such a thing was done in the early Church, and therefore interpreted it as a proof of homosexual marriage, and this is sometimes used as an argument online; but the problem is that this service still exists in the Orthodox Church (it was still performed as late as the 20th century) and is obviously not a rite of homosexual marriage.
Ah, sorry, yeah, I was thinking of adelphopoiesis yeah. And in fairness it's been a while since I read the book, I probably should've just mentioned adelphopoiesis instead. I just remember my theology professor bring it up when we were talking and explained why I lost my faith in Christianity after class one day, and it was a good read.

I guess then maybe I was wrong about it actually being sanctioned same-sex love, but perhaps it was used as an excuse to bond two people in that way and hide what was really meant? I dunno!
what's the basis for the whole new covenant thing i always see from christians? because as far as i can tell, jesus never wanted to get rid of the old laws, unless this is the kingdom of heaven:



and when christians say jesus overruled the old testament, somehow that never seems to include the ten commandments.
Something about the different laws of Leviticus being subdivided into different types- certain laws being moral, some being the laws of Israel, and some revolving around what's clean or unclean (i.e., what was healthy or dangerous at the time). However, Leviticus itself doesn't actually specify which is which. So it's supposed the laws that matter now were restated by Jesus. I think that's about right, but someone is free to correct me. The Ten Commandments aren't excluded as they're from Exodus.

I think it's a bit weird double standard, still, that we're able to subdivide those laws and determine which to follow while ultimately benign stuff like crossdressing is still considered sinful, and part of why I drifted into atheism and then Buddhism.
 

Deffers

Banned
Mar 4, 2018
2,402
what's the basis for the whole new covenant thing i always see from christians? because as far as i can tell, jesus never wanted to get rid of the old laws, unless this is the kingdom of heaven:



and when christians say jesus overruled the old testament, somehow that never seems to include the ten commandments.

Full disclosure, I'm a Christian and bi. So I'm going to be coming at this question from this.

For one, the Pauline epistles themselves provide the pattern for this argument themselves-- Romans and Corinthians both have bits about being dead to the law and being live to Christ instead. I believe the Epistle to the Galatians, one of the shortest among them, is a pretty harsh condemnation of trying to strictly follow Mosaic law while being a Christian (if that wasn't already your thing, as there were Jewish converts as well, obviously).

Furthermore, as I've posted before, there's indications that Jesus Himself wasn't particularly homophobic, but quite the reverse. And there's an ongoing debate about whether or not Levitical code has been edited to condemn homosexuality (here's a dissenting argument, since it also covers the original argument for that reading in depth). I've got further stuff I could argue, but I'm going to leave that spoilered since it's my own speculation and I don't feel confident presenting that alongside academic arguments and stuff I've backed up.

Jesus' own assertions about certificates of divorce In Matthew 19 demonstrate an assertion that Biblical law had been misinterpreted since Mosaic times-- and your own reading of that passage will lead you to different conclusions on what assertions Christ made about the way the Bible was written. Commonly, people interpret reference to Moses as the standing of the Rabbinical school, which I find suspect because the Deuteronomical passage referenced by Jesus in Matthew 5 regarding divorce was already part of Deuteronomy and consequently part of Mosaic law. So why would Jesus describe Moses permitting divorce when He intended rabbinical interference, having already quoted Mosaic law on the subject of divorce? Jesus is effectively asserting that the law was taught wrong from its inception having been handed down by a man who talked to God on the regular according to the Old Testament. If we combine that reading with the aforesaid indications that Jesus was way lighter on homosexuality than we'd expect, there's plenty of leeway to believe we got something wrong in an authoritarian prohibition of homosexuality.
 

game-biz

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,711
Why are these celebrities going to church? Does it help their publicity somehow? Hard to imagine they would waste their time going to religious services. As for Pratt, he probably actually believes in the Bible, which is frightening.
 

Acorn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,972
Scotland
Get em Ellen. One of my favourite actors since hard candy and seems like a really great person on gaycation.

Don't sleep on gaycation.
 

The BLJ

Member
Feb 2, 2019
698
France
Something about the different laws of Leviticus being subdivided into different types- certain laws being moral, some being the laws of Israel, and some revolving around what's clean or unclean (i.e., what was healthy or dangerous at the time). However, Leviticus itself doesn't actually specify which is which. So it's supposed the laws that matter now were restated by Jesus. I think that's about right, but someone is free to correct me. The Ten Commandments aren't excluded as they're from Exodus.

I think it's a bit weird double standard, still, that we're able to subdivide those laws and determine which to follow while ultimately benign stuff like crossdressing is still considered sinful, and part of why I drifted into atheism and then Buddhism.
The division between "ritual", "cultural", and "ethic" commandments is indeed very artificial, and while it did gain a lot of ground in Western theology (because Latin Catholic theology has always been fond of categorizing things), it's not universally accepted.
An Eastern perspective (I say "an" and not "the", because the division between "types" of commandments is not completely foreign to those traditions either) would rather be that the commandments given by God in the Old Testament are not perfect (in the sense they themselves do not save, not that they're not holy) but rather a pedagogue (see Galatians 3) to teach a still spiritually immature world about the high moral expectations God expects from His people, and the inherent holiness ("holy" meaning "set apart") of God. The commandments are for a spiritually immature Israel, but the Church has reached maturity and is therefore ready to follow the perfect will of God perfectly, in light of the salvific work of Jesus Christ. For instance, see the ten commandments: "do not murder" becomes the much stricter "do not even hate"; "do not commit adultery" becomes "do not even look at someone with lust"; "commemorate the Sabbath, the 7th day of creation" becomes "commemorate Easter, the 8th and final day of creation"; and so on. (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17, where it is said that the scriptures - meaning the Old Testament for the author - are useful for teaching and training in righteousness, but does not say more) Commandments that call for capital punishment completely lose their power, not because God does not want to purify the world from sin but because this purification is done through Baptism and the final judgement rather than a unhealthy alliance with death (as death is against God's primary will, and Jesus's whole shtick was about destroying death forever), although even this sentiment is found prefigured in the Old Testament (see Proverbs 24:11-12 and Wisdom 1:12-15 for instance). At the council of Jerusalem in the book of Acts, the apostles figured that the only Old Testament laws that Gentile converts (and therefore all Christians) absolutely need to adhere to strictly as written for salvation are to abstain from idolatry, abstain from eating blood, abstain from sexual immorality, and abstain from eating animals that were not properly slained, and that is because they didn't find a way in which the gospel would change the application of those commandments, not because they made a certain distinction between "categories" of commandments. (incidentally, partially as a result of this different approach from Western tradition, Roman Catholics are permitted to eat blood as they consider it to not be a moral law, while Eastern and Oriental Orthodox are canonically expected to abstain from blood still)

The ten commandments are highly revered, since the other commandments given to Moses are basically just a large elaboration on those 10, but a Christian should rather look to the Sermon on the Mount to see what exactly is the divine will that the Torah had only revealed to a level where it was condescending to what the Hebrews, who were normal people, could do.

edit: Sorry, I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching... I just wanted to say that the approach is not "let's trim these parts of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, and use the rest", even if it may look that way when some people point directly to commandments in Leviticus or Deuteronomy without explaining further what they mean other than "the Bible said it, that settles it".
And, incidentally, to avoid going too far off-topic, this is exactly why it's really difficult to find a single common "doctrine" throughout Christendom about not only homosexuality, but also what to do with same-sex couples.
 
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Riversands

Banned
Nov 21, 2017
5,669
I have stopped following him on instagram and twitter aftet i found out that he might be anti lgbtq. Still wonder why producers are still using him in his movies.

I never understand why people can hate others just because of a book
 

Riversands

Banned
Nov 21, 2017
5,669
Personally, I don't think it's my place to judge whether or not homosexuality is a sin. I just love people the same and have gay, lesbian, and transgender friends

I hope you meant it. Because from your post, it seems to me you infer that you dont hate lgbtq because you have friends like them. I have to break it to you, generally thats not how it works

There are many churches who are not anti-gay, proof that it's very possible.

Your attitude is fucking worthless to combating homophobia. If anything your oh well that's who they are attitude normalizes it

I knew one or two churches in singapore who are accepting lgbtq. In their statement, lgbtq are just as people and through the eyes of jesus they are all equal as long as they believe in jesus.

Even though for the latter, it is not my business since im not even christian though. But yeah there are actually some, but i dont know about christian churches in america
 

Tokyo_Funk

Banned
Dec 10, 2018
10,053
Before I did not care that Chris was religious or announced he was, it was a big fat "Yeah, ok good for him". Knowing now it is the Hillsong cult, yeah he's not on my radar now. Keep drinking that Kool Aid Chris.
 

VeryHighlander

The Fallen
May 9, 2018
6,376
Always side eyed this guy since his "Blue lives matter" comment. Not surprised whatsoever. Seems like the type of dude that would whisper the n word with a hard R under his breath if he stubbed a toe or something
 

-Pyromaniac-

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,363
I'm torn. On one hand I hate this religious nonsense and Pratt sucks for being part of it all but on the other hand I'm just exhausted when it comes to call out culture. Like just phone the man or DM him on twitter and say your piece. But I guess that's a separate rant altogether that surely everyone on era disagrees with and will kill me for lol. Not saying she can't call out bad behaviours (like religious nonsense) but leave Pratt out of it and hit him up personally.

Don't think the tonight show is where hard hitting journalism is taking place.
 
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Pacify

Member
Oct 30, 2017
246
I'm torn. On one hand I hate this religious nonsense and Pratt sucks for being part of it all but on the other hand I'm just exhausted when it comes to call out culture. Like just phone the man or DM him on twitter and say your piece. But I guess that's a separate rant altogether that surely everyone on era disagrees with and will kill me for lol. Not saying she can't call out bad behaviours (like religious nonsense) but leave Pratt out of it and hit him up personally.

Don't think the tonight show is where hard hitting journalism is taking place.
While I have problems with call out culture, I don't think any apply here. The Tonight Show doesn't do any journalism, and any talking points are chosen/fed before they get brought up. I'm sure the church encourages their celebrity clients to do this sort of thing, as it's a classic Scientology era technique. He's likely contractually obligated to do press for this movie and he's using the platform to push the church. It's advertising that's generating further articles about his diet and church. It's a very public strategy so why not respond publicly? Ellen Page is actually responding to a fluff piece article in her tweet that further advertises the church in a cutesy way while ignoring any negatives. The way I read it she was calling out THR for being part of the problem.
 

-Pyromaniac-

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,363
While I have problems with call out culture, I don't think any apply here. The Tonight Show doesn't do any journalism, and any talking points are chosen/fed before they get brought up. I'm sure the church encourages their celebrity clients to do this sort of thing, as it's a classic Scientology era technique. He's likely contractually obligated to do press for this movie and he's using the platform to push the church. It's advertising that's generating further articles about his diet and church. It's a very public strategy so why not respond publicly? Ellen Page is actually responding to a fluff piece article in her tweet that further advertises the church in a cutesy way while ignoring any negatives. The way I read it she was calling out THR for being part of the problem.
I just read the tweet and kind of skimmed it but you're right in that context I think it makes a little more sense to call THR out but even then it just seems like a weird callout. The article is about Pratt, not about the church really. It's a pointless puff piece fluff article to grab clicks from Pratt fans out there so the harsh callout just didn't resonate with me as much. I just feel like people are on the prowl to call things and people out and are doing it at any given opportunity. But again, I'm trying to avoid that discussion here because I don't want to derail and I'm sure the majority disagree.

Also it's THR not BBC lol. I just find it weird. There's like a sentence and a half in that 100 word article about the church.
 

Futaleufu

Banned
Jan 12, 2018
3,910
Colberts parents taught him you can criticise your church and still be Catholic.

I used to be a catholic 20+ years ago. Raised catholic, had baptism and eucharist, never confirmed. The moment you show any dissent (never cared about the Dogma because it never made sense) they wont want you there anymore. They've kind of opened their stance on LGBT people in the last years but when I was there it was even taboo to suggest that they deserved any kind of respect or salvation.

The reason that as a catholic you can't criticize the church, the clergy or the Dogma is the reason it took so long to crack down the paedophilia, rape and abuse commited by catholic priests.
 
Feb 8, 2019
82
Colberts parents taught him you can criticise your church and still be Catholic.

I had not heard that, actually. I am an orthodox Catholic, and Colbert has always interested me because of his knowledge of Catholic "stuff," from actual Church teaching to Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings. I was intrigued by his arcane knowledge of both. I think I have consumed just about every interview and media that he has ever been in where he talks about his personal life, and I am unaware of any time he has flatly contradicted the teaching of the Church. Anyway, I was just wondering why Ellen Page did not go after him since, even if he does disagree with the Church on this, it seems to me that progressives usually go after celebrities for even affiliations they find objectionable.
 
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Waddle Dee

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
3,725
California
We need more celebrities like Ellen Page. She's always ready to call people and groups out and shows a level of bravery you don't see much in Hollywood.

Also not surprised Chris Pratt is a member of this church. He acts very cowardly about his beliefs. He'll gladly mention he's a christian but he never makes his stances on issues clear even when asked. He just walks around those kinds of questions because he knows he's got shit beliefs. Killing animals for "sport" already put him on my shit list.
 

Emwitus

The Fallen
Feb 28, 2018
4,101
Why are these celebrities going to church? Does it help their publicity somehow? Hard to imagine they would waste their time going to religious services. As for Pratt, he probably actually believes in the Bible, which is frightening.
A large portion of people believe in the Bible. Why is it hard to believe someone like Pratt that was probably raised Christian would attend church? Infact as a Christian myself, the older u get, the more spritiual you get. Probably tied to the clock ticking down.
 

Tokyo_Funk

Banned
Dec 10, 2018
10,053
Gay people can be saved and become a Christian while still being gay. And we should love them like any other straight person.

This comes off as unbelievably condescending. They are now part of the group once they accept the Christian title? You should love them like any other straight person? Where does the comparison or need to say they need to be loved like a straight person, as though they are the standard of morality to be compared to? Why not just love them regardless of religious title or sexual identity? Why not just love them as is as a human being? The second you have to jump through someone else's hoop to meet their standards, it is not worth jumping for.
 

Boiled Goose

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,999
Young upstart hipster churches are just the worst. It is the religious version of overt atheists ramming "god isn't real!" down your throat. Everyone is so happy to be there. And 80% of them are totally fake.

Also, good luck keeping this thread open with Pratt + religion.
.yeah no.

I don't see how discriminating against actual people is the same as obnoxiously calling out unjustified beliefs
 

Boiled Goose

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,999
A large portion of people believe in the Bible. Why is it hard to believe someone like Pratt that was probably raised Christian would attend church? Infact as a Christian myself, the older u get, the more spritiual you get. Probably tied to the clock ticking down.

It's honestly hard to believe that there are still religious people given the availability of the internet and exposure to other ideas.