Padredos Amigos

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About Padredos Amigos

  • Birthday 08/31/1971

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Marital Status
    Single
  • Location
    Las Vegas, Nv

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  • Doctrine /Affiliation
    Unitarian

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  • Occupation
    IT Technician
  • Website URL
    http://

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  1. Wow Rattlesnake, nice way to take all of those verses out of context and then start taking one and two words out of their own verses out of context. The truth is very easy to see and requires no councils or creeds. The Bible was written with the intention to be read by all, thus simplicity and clarity is implicite in its lessons. It is when a person takes just one verse out of its lesson and especially when one takes one, two or three words out of its context to try to justify their arguements that the true lessons are lost. Matthew 19:17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Clearly Jesus is indicating a separate individual and it is not him. John 20:17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” Once he clearly states that he is not God. 1 Cor 11:3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Yet another indication that God is not Christ. Colossians 1: 9-16 9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood,the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Yet another example that while Jesus was the first of all men, the exemplar of humanity, he was not God. By reading the entirety of the statements do you gather the lesson that was intended to be taught. So many times I have heard others try to take sections out of context to justify their own arguments for a great many things (Rapture, Anti-Alcohol, Anti-Gambling, and the list goes on) that when I see examples such as yours that I just cringe. I do not expect you to accept my position and I am not trying to convert you, but understand that you will not convert me. The only relevant thing in this argument with the original post was that the Mormons (loosely) accept the trinity. But then I was also taught as a child that when I died, heaven was going to be on a planet named Kolob.
  2. I think that this is why I am Unitarian. Any group that has a prerequisite for being Christian other than believing in Christ always seems to put me off. Having been a member of the Mormon church from my birth up until I was 18, I can promise you that we were not Gnostic. And I rather think that calling the Mormons Gnostics kind of degrades them both. The Gnostics were their own ascetic group with their own mysteries. But being your own group with your own mysteries does not automatically define you as "gnostic". Check your history. The idea of Trinity only started turning up about 200 years after Jesus's life. And it was originally an idea in a very few persons mind. God has always tried to keep it simple for us. The idea grew in the minds of the so-called "learned people" and they became certain that they were special because of the "special knowledge" that they held. The churches did not even officially recognize either trinity or unity until it was unified into one central organization under Emperor Constantine in 352. In fact, the word trinity does not even show up in the bible, much like the word rapture. Most Protestant churches that come to us as offshoots of the Catholic faith still hold very close to their faith of Trinity. But there have always been groups of believers that have not accepted this idea. Such as the amish. No, I am not saying that I am amish. As I mentioned before, I was a member of the LDS church from very early on. My take on whether they were a cult has always been bled through the lessons that I learned from them as a child. I guess the answer depends on what you consider a "cult". My view has always been that a cult is prone to isolationism, absolute belief in their own views, and defensiveness of their religion to the point of violence. Scientology falls into these catagories as they have been known to utilize violence with some of their members and are prone to isolationist actions themselves. The Mormons in their early days were cultists because they were all of these things. Modern Mormons defend their actions by reminding people of the persecution they dealt with, as most cultists did in those days. They will always point out that Joseph Smith died at the hands of a lynch mob in Missouri. But they were cultists. Modern Mormonism has changed and I don't think that they still qualify for the term 'cult' but they are still different enough that people are nervous about them.
  3. I dunno if this will help but... Recently in searching through various seminary and religious schools I started looking at official accreditation for many of these schools. Apparently the Department of Education does not accredit schools of a religious/spiritual nature...at all. There are private accrediting agencies/organizations out there, I know of the (read: have recently learned about) WWAC (World Wide Accreditation Commission) for christian schools but I don't know about other religions. As far as I know since the DoE doesn't accredit these schools (I have no idea why) most states take the various religious degrees at face value, but don't quote me on that as I may be way off base.
  4. I have studied quite a bit about Christian Unitarianism and have wanted to be come ordained as such but unfortunately there are no seminaries for it, only for the Unitarian-Universalist which is rather humanistic in its structure. I have the opportunity to attend an interfaith online seminary and am considering it but haven't made up my mind about that yet as (maybe I am just too particular) I really desire more Unitarian focused ordination. For now I have become ordained through the ULC as this does give me a bit more legal recognition which is rather required in the Las Vegas area but I am still looking for more formal training so that I may start a congregation in my area with all of the correct training, but for now intend to simply use this ordination as a stop-gap. I have been trying to find Christian Unitarian congregations in my area but this is apparently a very small subset of christianity and not many exist in the nation as whole.
  5. Does that mean that you personally are not allowed to run one of those wedding chapels like all of the others on the strip or does it just mean that youj need to be a part of an organization to do it?
  6. I am not in the military but am a contractor supporting the military IT infrastructure out here. I will be returning around the 18th of this month though.
  7. I have found that alcohol is mostly an acquired taste. Since most people do not start drinking until adults, it takes a bit for someone to get the taste for it. Alcohol itself is a bitter liquid that can be poisonous. But if you care for a certain type of flavor or taste in drinks, then I am sure that you will be able to find one of the liquors out there that suit you. Me personally, I am partial to beer and other barley based drinks. Oh, and Aftershock Red
  8. Pets have character. Pets add character to the household. Pets always become a part of my household and in there own right a part of my family. Yeah, I always have to include my critters in that answer.
  9. Mostly business casual. I work in an office environment but because I do the IT work and am always moving Suit and tie is not good idea. But jeans would be inappropriate unless work is expected to be dirty that day. This means button up shirt with collar and comfortable khaki's or slacks or sometimes cargo pants for a more casual day. Once you start dressing like that daily, it gets to be habit forming.
  10. I am currently in Baghdad right now and won't be returning until mid-to-late December, so I am unfortunately not able to spearhead anything right now. I was really just wondering if there was something being organized that I could join up with when I got back. Sorry.
  11. Not wanting to seem like a meaningless bump here, but... Is there an interest to get a congregation together to get over this hurdle here? If so I am interested. edited; sorry, a few typos
  12. My beliefs are, at their core, christian. But as I learned more about the history of many of the tenents of christianity I began to question them. I made the mistake of expressing these questions to others and they often simply laughed off my questions or simply said that these were improper questions to ask. So I chose to step away from the mainstream churches and walk my own path. Now I believe the answers have been coming much more easily and without obstruction. Who knows, maybe someone else would agree with my point of view?