You will be hard pressed to find a black female that is not a christian. I have gone through the same trials with females I was interested in. Seems like they were also interested in me but my subtle christian disses that take place in my everyday conversation were too much for them to handle.

That dude that said taking the road less traveled made all the difference had a point. In this world of conformity, a person with the audacity to think for themselves is an oasis…especially a person whose ancestors were forced into a religion that is accepted without question generations later.

I say let the sheep happily chew their cud - even if those sheep are close to us. The communal reinforcement thing is powerful. Most people find comfort (bliss) in not knowing. This is the way things have always been.

Again, I know your pain. Some of the baddest women my eyes have ever seen go to church religiously. But if you ever do run across one that is a freethinker - she will make all the difference.

“lets make heaven right here just in case they wrong” - boots riley

Feeling like you gotta sneak into heaven…
When the reverend looking like a pimp and the pimp look like the reverend

I remember one time when i was tryin to leave the house for school and these door-to-door preachers came and blocked me in right before i could turn the key in the ignition…Asking me about being saved…

So, me, being the smart ass, replied, “How do YOU know you’re saved? Wouldn’t you knowing you’re saved defeat the purpose of judgement day?”

That effectively shut them up and they let me on my way. I remember reading Hawthorne’s “The Devil and Tom Walker” in high school. I don’t know how many of you remember the part when the Devil took your boy into the swamp and showed him trees signifying the people in the town. The biggest tree was this big-time merchant that did a lot for the community, but the tree was rotten on the inside, just like the merchant. I guess it was symbolism or something, but that always stayed with me…

If the preacher’s the pimp, that does not make the parishoners his bottom beeyatches. Well, maybe the ones he’s sleepin’ with on the side, a la Richard Pryor in “Which Way Is Up.”

Like somebody said, I don’t really trust people with “The Rev.” or “Bishop” or “Pastor” or “Father” or any other religious title in their name. I also don’t trust people that talk fast, but that’s a different story.

Besides, one culture’s religion is another millennia’s mythological studies…

But Bo, you need to tell whoever knockin you for you for your beliefs….If You Don’t Like It, Learn To Love It…’Cuz It’s the Best Thing Goin’ Today!!!! Whooooooooooo”"”

I want to begin by thanking you for baring your soul in this environment. You share your joys and your pains and offer them up for our discussion. This is a commendable thing.

I’m a “struggling” Christian myself. I try to do the right thing, and I try to be an example, but I have certain things that keep me from freely worshiping.

We have some real “g’s” in the pulpit here in the “A”. Jigga and Fiddy have nothing on Eddie Long and Creflo Dollar. The AJC did an expose:

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/0805/28natlong.html

Bishop Long runs a charity that 3.5 million dollars in revenue from 2000 to 2003. It paid out over 3 million of those dollars in salary to bishop. He lives in a mansion on 20 acres in Lithonia. Now what is “Godly” about this situation.

I’m a “beatitude” Christian. You know, Blessed are the meek, Blessed are the peacemakers, etc. These values have no voice in the modern Black church. Its hard to tell the difference between the preaches and the pimps.

If the preacher is a pimp, then what does that make us as parishoners?

I need to be understanding to get people to listen my testimony. If I spend all of my time yelling at you about your shortcomings, while conveniently ignoring my own, then I will never be able to reach you.

By the way, I think that God would be pleased with the work that you have done on this site in the wake of the hurricanes.

I want to begin by thanking you for baring your soul in this environment. You share your joys and your pains and offer them up for our discussion. This is a commendable thing.

I’m a “struggling” Christian myself. I try to do the right thing, and I try to be an example, but I have certain things that keep me from freely worshiping.

We have some real “g’s” in the pulpit here in the “A”. Jigga and Fiddy have nothing on Eddie Long and Creflo Dollar. The AJC did an expose:

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/0805/28natlong.html

Bishop Long runs a charity that 3.5 million dollars in revenue from 2000 to 2003. It paid out over 3 million of those dollars in salary to bishop. He lives in a mansion on 20 acres in Lithonia. Now what is “Godly” about this situation.

I’m a “beatitude” Christian. You know, Blessed are the meek, Blessed are the peacemakers, etc. These values have no voice in the modern Black church. Its hard to tell the difference between the preaches and the pimps.

If the preacher is a pimp, then what does that make us as parishoners?

I need to be understanding to get people to listen my testimony. If I spend all of my time yelling at you about your shortcomings, while conveniently ignoring my own, then I will never be able to reach you.

By the way, I think that God would be pleased with the work that you have done on this site in the wake of the hurricanes.

I think it’s really un-Christ-like to judge anyone/have prejudice against someone/refuse to love someone because of their beliefs. It belies an attitude of superiority and that’s so negative.

I personally don’t claim any religion. I was raised Catholic, but I thought so many people in that environment acted with so little actual compassion… I don’t even think Catholicism is a religion now, I think it’s just an oppressive institution.

I’ve since dabbled in Buddhism and Jewish Mysticism and all kinds of thought, and I just take a little bit of what works for me from all of them: Just spirituality in general, being a good person, and acting with humility (as someone in an another post said).
One fairly common tenet that turns me off absolutely is the belief that only the people who think THIS way are going to heaven. That’s blackmail. And whatever - Maybe we just rot.

But, back to love - My recent ex was a pastor’s son, from a really conservative, tee-totalling, Evangelical background. And, despite my never even pretending to be like them, he (an avowed Christian Existentialist) and his family embraced me as true Christians should. I really respected them for that.

So I can feel love for people whatever they believe - I simply will not tolerate an asshole - you know: puppy-kickin, abusive types. (arrogantly religious ones, too). And I think that’s the way it should be.

And I’m a lady, so, hey Bomani, we’re out there.

Your beliefs are important- they are part and parcel of who you are…so if you find that being with someone- even somebody as wonderful as yourself ;-} -might put you in a situation where you have to compromise those beliefs, you might be forced to make a choice. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. They may not have wanted to make that choice because they cared about you, but they did what their conscience told them to, so I can’t knock them for that.

The chick who was lying and just went back to her ex- that was grimy.

But for the others- I understand. My husband and I do not share the same religion, and whereas it was different when it was just the two of us…we now have a daughter, and we’re entering holiday season- and my religion doesn’t celebrate. For me, celebration would be a compromise of my faith, so I won’t be. I can’t say that I will ever leave my husband because of our respective religions- we both knew the deal when we met, and we accepted each other regardless- but I do respect somebody for wanting that same foundation, whether it be Christ or Allah or Buddah or whatever.

Plus, some people know what they were raised in. As a man, I feel (know) that I will have to take over some of the roles my female’s family has traditionally played in her life. From this, I think that She and I should come to our own agreement about faith.

Plus, is she wanted to marry the preacher or deacon’s son, she would have only met men in church, not @ The Club, College, or in the Mall.
(JOKING people!, joking).

I always find humor in people trying to “out-christian” eachother.

The club, actually, is THE place to meet a preacher’s kid.