Originally written by Harry Bornemann on October 22, 2009 10:24 PM  I always wonder where these guys have been while I went to school or university - maybe on a Kaffeefahrt?

Whatever they have done and wherever they have been while doing it, one thing is sure: they're raking in harmonic wealth...

I thought the Catholic Church wanted the Anglicans to join, even the married Anglicans, but only, it seems, if they repent and avoid birth control...

“Many Catholics in high office have fallen woefully short in their performance in office,” the bishops wrote in an unusually direct document wrapping up a month-long synod, or meeting, at the Vatican on the issues facing the church in Africa. “The synod calls on such people to repent, or quit the public arena and stop causing havoc to the people and giving the Catholic Church a bad name.”

[…]

Calling women “the backbone” of the church in Africa, the bishops urged them “to be fully involved” in women’s programs, but said they should “make sure that the good ideas are not hijacked by the peddlers of foreign and morally poisonous ideologies about gender and human sexuality.”

The bishops did not veer from Vatican policy opposing the use of condoms to prevent the spread of H.I.V. and AIDS. “The problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics,” they wrote. Instead, they urged abstinence among the unmarried and fidelity among the married. “Such a course of action not only offers the best protection against the spread of this disease but is also in harmony with Christian morality,” they wrote.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/world/africa/24bishops.html?ref=world

Originally written by Jacek K. on December 9, 2008 11:56 AM " "church" as Christ defined it in the New Testament isn't a building. It's a collection of human beings, who are just as much a church sitting in a shut factory on a Monday as they are sitting in pews on a Sunday morning. "

The long-standing theory has been that the higher educated someone is the less religious he will be. But new research in 60 countries proves otherwise. It is economic security that leaves churches empty.

Insecurity not education determines church attendance

Published: 22 October 2009 15:32 | Changed: 23 October 2009 15:02

Originally written by Nanna Mercer on October 25, 2009 10:30 AM   Insecurity not education determines church attendance

That could mean that there is a grain of truth in old popular sayings. I still don't know whether the one from Post #164722 exists in other languages, though.

Originally written by Jacek K. on October 25, 2009 10:42 AM Originally written by Nanna Mercer on October 25, 2009 10:30 AM   Insecurity not education determines church attendance  That could mean that there is a grain of truth in old popular sayings. I still don't know whether the one from Post #164722 exists in other languages, though.

I see that I am cooking soup 'på en pølsepind' on a very dry bone. Looking at Post #164722 I come to the conclusion that 'Jak trwoga, to do Boga' -- When in fear, turn to God' doesn't exist as a saying in Danish. But looking further afield, I find the idea of regret described very well by Søren Kierkegaard: 

”Hvis du gifter dig, vil du fortryde det. Hvis du ikke gifter dig, vil du også fortryde det. Hvad enten du altså gifter dig eller ej, du vil fortryde begge dele.” 

My translation: If you marry, you will regret it. If you do not marry, you will regret that, too. So, whether you marry or not, you will regret either one.

The Danish priest Katrine Lilleør has a regular column in Berlingske Tidende. About Fear, Choice and Regret, she writes:   

"Aldrig har du så meget brug for Gud, som når du frygter. Som når du kom til at fortryde allermest, fordi dine valg var bange og frygtsomme. 

 http://kathrine.blogs.berlingske.dk/2008/01/21/frygt-valg-og-fortrydelse/#

When you fear that is when you will need God the most - when more than anything you regret that you choices led you to become fearful and frightened.

Nanna, who has the set-up blues

Unless you do not regret anything in your life: I personally do not regret anything, although I could not say my life was very easy, not terribly difficult either, compared to people who spent 15 years in labor camps, in wars and despair.  

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on October 25, 2009 11:56 AM Unless you do not regret anything in your life: I personally do not regret anything..

I would like to say that I have no regrets, but that would be untrue. In my life, I have made some bad choices and while I have come to understand just what led me to make those bad choices, I still regret my then inability to understand the choices that caused so much pain and suffering.

Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on October 25, 2009 1:56 PM  compared to people who spent 15 years in labor camps, in wars and despair

or at the army..

Originally written by Harry Bornemann on October 25, 2009 12:13 PM Originally written by Liliana Boladz-Nekipelov on October 25, 2009 1:56 PM  compared to people who spent 15 years in labor camps, in wars and despair or at the army...

None of the above sounds good to me, but then again: can suffering be compared? 

Originally written by Nanna Mercer on October 25, 2009 2:59 PM can suffering be compared?

Yes, it can:  When I evaded military service, my mother used to say: "Doing military service never harmed anyone." (and she was talking about peaceful times), but I replied: "In this sense, going to prison or labour camp never harmed anyone either, but nevertheless most people don't like to go there.."