Labels.

[Chase 390]

I know God exists. Feel free to say whatever.

[Max 10]

Labels are just a way of quickly letting people know your beliefs, like Democrat or Republican. Religious labels (In this case Catholic) can mean a number of things, but it lets you know, in a broad sense, what this person believes. Just as you say, most people who call themselves Catholic don't strictly follow the doctrine, but they are still Catholics, who believe in pretty much the same thing. It just shortens the process of explaining your political or spiritual standpoints if you call yourself a Catholic or a Democrat.

[Shadowknight 54]

My turn.

When I am asked to identify myself by my faith, I say "Christ Follower". It's simple, really. I try and follow the teachings of Christ as best as I possibly can. If someone bashes me for that, I think to myself, "to be insulted by a fool is nothing short of a compliment."

As far as the whole "Old Testament = Word of Jesus" thing, most of the laws set forth in the Old Testament were changed in the New Testament. That was the point when Judaism began to become Christianity, and now that Christ had payed for our sins, the ceremonies and laws didn't need to be so strict. We are cleansed of our sins through Christ, something that wasn't possible during the times of re Old Testament. Back then, the laws were harsh because they had to be harsh; things were much more difficult. You had to walk with God to get into Heaven. Now, that's not to say that everyone went to Hell, because they didn't. There was actually a 3rd place, almost similar to Purgatory. When Jesus broke the gates of Hell, he allowed these people to go one way or the other.

Now that things aren't so dangerous and you don't have to literally walk with God to get accepted into Heaven, the rules don't need to be as strict.

That probably won't make sense to some of you, but I gave it a shot. It's a complicated topic to explain over a message board.

[Chameleon 0]

Labels are just a way of quickly letting people know your beliefs, like Democrat or Republican. Religious labels (In this case Catholic) can mean a number of things, but it lets you know, in a broad sense, what this person believes. Just as you say, most people who call themselves Catholic don't strictly follow the doctrine, but they are still Catholics, who believe in pretty much the same thing. It just shortens the process of explaining your political or spiritual standpoints if you call yourself a Catholic or a Democrat.

If I actually cared what someone believed I'd want more than just a stupid label because it's not as simple as that.

Why can't a politician run without a party and express his views? Then people can simply vote for the candidate with whom they share the most opinions. If parties and labels were abolished third party candidates would stand a better chance... and there are a lot more benefits as well.

[Chase 390]

I completely agree with you there. Political labels should be abolished, they're outdated and there is no way a politicians views can be entirely republican or democrat.

[Aethix 129]

Especially since Republicans and Democrats have disintegrated into "politicians".

[mk12 0]

I agree with everything that zeldfancs has said mostly.

[Gin 0]

I always love to read discussions like these on the internet. And this is the first time I've ever offered any input. I am a Mennonite, not catholic, so I'm from a totally different denomination than Lionheart. And yet, I agree with him completely. I see no problem with choosing one denomination over another, it's totally yours to choose. And like he said before, We're all worshiping the same god, but in different ways. Anyways, the point is there is nothing wrong with giving yourself a label, as long as it's not someone else labeling you. The problem is not in fact the labels themselves, but the people who abuse them. You can't believe that everybody from one label is the same. That's Profiling. And You also can't truly criticize or label yourself anything until you know a decent amount about it, like people who walk around saying they're christian just because they went to church once or twice, or like the F*** (insert religion here) groups on facebook, who totally base their views of a religion on one or two single events(most of which involve cruel acts of violence or sexual assault). I don't see what your problem is Chameleon, Labels are both good and bad. There's really no point arguing about it. Sure they separate people, but they also bring so many people together. I really didn't mean to write this much, it just sorta happened, and I'm sorry if I made myself sound like a total hypocrite, I do that sometimes without even realizing it until someone points it out.