Do you attend church / synagogue / mosque?

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I will vote after you vote...or tell us your schedule.

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CHILCUTT~
The secret to a long life. Is knowing when it is time to leave.

Nope.

One of my best friends, who is a Jewish lawyer mentioned this in a recent email:

" Anyway, a good
movie for you to see is Woody Allen's "Whatever Works." It may be a lapsed Jew-agnostic's
point of view, but it may indeed work for you. BTW, the one thing that led Woody to almost
believe in God is that someone had to create Scarlett Johansen, right? ......And she turned
out pretty OK. "

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Hell no

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

How about an option of "I would if I found any use for it"?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I'm not big on religion, but our church has an amazing choir and their rendition of O Holy Night is spine tingling. The music alone is worth the trip. I'm on the C&E schedule, but as I get older I might find the order and stability of church comforting in an otherwise chaotic world.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

After exhaustive study and research into this thing called 'organized religion', I made the decision to quit. My reasons for resigning are probably quite different than other's for not participating. If a friend gets married or one of their relative's dies, I'll attend a church service, but that's about it.

After more than a few conversations with people who have experienced near death, I KNOW there is a hereafter. After your heart stops and your lungs quit breathing, there is an existence on the other side.

Nobody gets out alive. Nobody.

Either that, or there is a electrical/chemical reaction to those conditions (lack of O2, too much CO2) in the brain, which seems much more likely.

hoo boy. Here we go.

again

strap in. It's gonna be a bumpy ride!

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Can you be assured of everlasting salvation without it? - That is assuming salvation for the believers of salvation exists in the hereafter?

Statistics have shown time and time again that a religious person is most often happier than their non-religious counterparts. I for one can verify this in my own experiences. As I used to work at a place where about 90% of them never attended church or did anything regarding religion or volunteering or basically anything for the common good. (A rather self absorbed group of individuals) What an unhappy/unpleasant group of people......I am glad to no longer be near them. Sad for them I guess, as I am a generally happy person, an I attribute a good part of that to religious involvement and faith....the rest I attribute to not being raised to be a greedy self serving person.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I had attended a church, that at one time, seemed to be the best I had ever been to. The Pastor was well versed in the Scriptures, using comparative Greek and other texts to clarify what appeared to be paradoxes within the passages. Many questions I had about the 10 Commandments and other non-related texts in the Bible were answered with very reasoned explanations. That was the business end...now the kicker...

What surprised, and disappointed me terribly was this...having a deacon coming up to me after church services and wondering if there was a "money problem" in our household in that my "contribution" (tithe) wasn't up where "they" were expecting it to be.

First off, I FIRMLY BELIEVE that any parishoners' financial information is to be known by only the secretary/bookkeeper (S/BK) and that's that. Even the pastor shouldn't have that type of knowledge. And WHAT a person gives is HIS business, not something for discussion with other members of the church, either behind closed doors or at home, later, with the significant other.

I left that church that week.

It took about 2 years before I found another church that didn't find your presence a source of income first, and salvation a poor runner-up at second or worse.

I've been given those "envelopes" that has a number on the UR corner, so it makes it easier for the S/BK to enter whatever data you fill in on the front. They sit on my dresser collecting dust.

I put whatever I choose in a plain envelope IF there's a particular way I would like to see the donation used...i.e.: A widow's assistance fund, a child's fee for going to a church camp, etc... I don't sign it or show where the money came from. Outside of that, when the plate is passed, green goes in and NO, I don't make change for myself.

As for the worship service? If the message appears stale and it sounds like it's being "mailed in" - then I'm out and looking elsewhere.

Right now? Out and looking elsewhere.

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Christmas, Easter, Father's Day, Mother's Day. I think that's it. My daughter sings in the choir, so while not "forced" per se, I still feel my atttendance is mandatory. I know that religion is semi-important to my wife so I defer to her and my kids when it comes to this stuff.

mg-the whole "money" thing has struck me odd as well. The baskets always pass through the aisles a couple times. And every few months a stack of envelopes with our information on them "for our convenience" shows up in the mailbox. Of course we don't use them. Wouldn't want to make our lack of attendance easy to track.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

There's a reason Marx called it the opium of the masses.

That said, I'm glad you get something out of it. I could never stand religion, and I went to a church and was a confirmed Lutheran with an excellent pastor that I liked very much on a personal level. Yet even as a kid just didn't get how people could believe the stuff that was in the bible (sorry if I am bashing the bible, it is what I was exposed to). Literal interpretation of the bible is no more valid to me than Greek or Norse mythologies, native American spirits, etc just folk stories people made up to explain existence and mysteries when there was minimal understanding of science.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi