I have known Wiccans, and most were not odd at all. Basically they "worship" nature and believe in something much like karma. Most see the whole "spell" thing as being much like prayer ... sometimes you get what you ask for. They also think that "black magic" gets you some serious BAD karma, whether you are successful or not.

Actually, Christianity can look pretty weird at times. No I'm not disrespecting my faith, I'm just saying if you look at the key parts; virgin birth, eating flesh and drinking blood and coming back to life it looks kinda odd. In addition, the old testament (which is my go to portion by the way) has various circumstances that are very weird.

I NEVER read that (Ezekiel 4)!! My my my. That's our God though. He tells you to do it, DO IT. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Wow......

I dated a chick that "spoke in tongues". She was pretty crazy (the can't ask for forgiveness on Sunday if you don't sin on Saturday type)

Dated what every a female jack Mormon is. She was cool. Conflicted but cool.

Dated a Baptist chick that got all in to restoration theology. She married a Jew.

Messed around with a chick that left the seventh day Adventist. Delightfully nutty.

I worked with a guy whose family was Zoroastrian. His family was from Iran, so I guess that makes sense. We never really talked religion, but I got the sense he didn't believe in it.

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I dated a chick that "spoke in tongues". She was pretty crazy

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Same. Her mom was bipolar and I think she inherited some of it. Ended up marrying at 18 and trying to get back together with me a year later (still married I think). Divorced now and I think she's still single. Good looking, just crazy. Turned into a huge lib which is never good.

Win At Life said:

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I worked with a guy whose family was Zoroastrian. His family was from Iran, so I guess that makes sense. We never really talked religion, but I got the sense he didn't believe in it.

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That's very rare, most Zoroastrians that are left tend to be from India nowadays. Very cool.

I've only ever met one practicing Zoroastrian, although I've known multiple Baha'i.

hypeiv said:

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Like the time God made Ezekiel lay on his side for years and told him he could only eat bread baked using human poo as fuel but after Ezekiel begged God decided he could use cow dung instead.

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Context matters. Jerusalem was under siege at the time and thus cut off from its usual sources fuel.

The marketers of Ezekiel 4:9 bread ignored this.

Oh yeah, you jogged my memory. He was from India, but he was Persian looking.

Win At Life said:

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Oh yeah, you jogged my memory. He was from India, but he was Persian looking.

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Yep. They are called Parsis and are descendants of ethnic Persians who emigrated to India. They're super tied up in the founding of India and Pakistan. The Parsis and the Ismailis - religious minorities with Iranian roots - played a huge role in the independence struggle and Partition.

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So what's up with speaking in tongues? Is it a possession type of thing or is it acknowledged as requiring conscious effort? How do they explain the difference in "skill" that I'm assuming exists? I've never been around it so I have no idea how seriously it's taken.

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Tonges lit. = languages.

In Acts 2 is was a legitimate miracle that would be equivalent to you speaking to an audiance in English, and people who only spoke Chinese, Spanish, French, Navajo, etc all heard you speak their native language. (I believe about 12 nationalities were mentioned)

As early as the 1st century Corinth, people were mocking and misunderstanding the miracle by speaking in jibber jabish which is address in 1 Cor 11 through 14 I believe. They were doing this for various reasons that were improper. Such improper reasons then and today include: being "Super Spiritual", evidence of the Holy Spirit,

IMO: Today there's no value to the jibber jabber. If someone is preaching the gospel as Peter did in Acts 2 then I'm all for it if the miracle happens people hear and comprehend in their own language but what I'm seeing in today's church is weird, confusing, and not spoken well of in the NT

AstroAg17 said:

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So what's up with speaking in tongues? Is it a possession type of thing or is it acknowledged as requiring conscious effort? How do they explain the difference in "skill" that I'm assuming exists? I've never been around it so I have no idea how seriously it's taken.

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I have a friend who's a former member of a church who takes this stuff seriously. To the extent of basically considering people not to be Real Christians if they've never had this "gift". It's a possession type thing, except considered to be with the Holy Spirit instead of demons. No conscious effort.

It's all just babbling though. One member of their congregation was claimed to be speaking Greek. And faced a skeptic who happened to have studied classical and modern Greek in college, and was firmly convinced that the guy was not speaking Greek.

Catholics are lazy

I would contend that there are weirdos in all religions. For instance, I knew a Wiccan who met her husband at an orgy. I knew a member of the Church of Christ that told me she felt the hand of god reaching down telling her to take me as one of her brothers. Weirdos everywhere.

Dr. Watson said:

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YoungWaltonAg18 said:

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I would contend that there are weirdos in all religions. For instance, I knew a Wiccan who met her husband at an orgy. I knew a member of the Church of Christ that told me she felt the hand of god reaching down telling her to take me as one of her brothers. Weirdos everywhere.

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How does that introduction work? Hi, I like your moves...

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Yep.

When a Christian based religion shuns blood and family because they've been disfellowshipped (kicked out), it couldn't possibly get worse. I'd like to talk to some JW's and tell them what I think about their f***ing cult for the poor and hard working poor.

Jesus