why can't religious poetry win?

I dont think topics make poems better, because if I had to pick a category that I find to be best, it would be eroticas, and I doubt those will be winning the weekly's anytime soon ;).

Point made?

Good poems are not dictated by type.

I agree that they should be considered, but I dont think they should automatically win because they are "better."

People may get offended.

You can't please everybody.

KOT- Sometimes it isn't the poetry that matters it's the message that our poetry sends to others. I think when you started this thread you were alot like peter. Remember when peter said he was ready to go and die with Christ, but when the time came where he could have been there for Christ, he denied the very fact that he knew Jesus. Also remember that peter eventually became a great preacher with Gods help. God has given us all individual talents to use to glorify Him, not to be for our own glorification. Pride is a very hard thing to overcome. ("Pride cometh before a fall.") In fact we won't completely overcome it untill we get to heaven. However we as Christians nead to ask God to help us overcome our sin. "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins."
~anne~

"religous poetry is better"...

What about the people who don't believe in the aspect of God or any other higher being and think religion is a primitive and foolish sense of hope and security therefor cannot take the meaning of the poem seriously or into context
hmm?

Pink:

Then they can think that.

As Kaitlin said, you can't please everyone. I think there are some brilliant religious pieces out there, but I don't do the choosing.

In the past, however, several religious poems have graced the front page. Of course, that was before the poems were chosen by whoever chooses them now.

And just because a poem is religious, doesn't mean it should be considered over any of the other poems on the site.

~Ciao Lipton

Maybe religious poems don't win awards because they are based upon lies?...(my opinion)...no, I'm not religious...:P

Was Dante a very religious poem? Or was he a poet?

Another one of Life's great questions:P

Religious poems ARE considered. I have actually suggested some, KoT. Being a writer of many poems of faith, I guess I shied away from suggesting too many for fear of being accused of bias. I really enjoy reading poems about faith, etc... but even so, I do NOT dare use a blanket phrase like "religious poems ARE better". No poem should be deemed better or worse merely because of its subject matter.

Maybe if you prayed more eh?.,..sorry...that was...typical of me....ha.

I always find that poems about how great God is are always kinda boring, because like 90% of love poems...it's like a pop song...you know whats coming next and it feels like waking up on the wrong bus, i've never seen one in here that has structurally or in any other way suprised me.

There ya go.

"its only bias if you chose a poem strictly because it is the same religion as you believe, but if you chose it based on its structure and vivid detail like the mods supposedly do for the others then its not bias at all."

Hence, religious poems arent better. The same standards apply to a religious poem as any other poem. BETTER poems are BETTER.

Okay KOT you have gone way over the edge on the defensive side. You were wrong to think something without having clear evidence to back it up.
I think God is using this topic to humble your pride. (Please do not tell me that you don't have any pride becuase that would be a lie.) The very reason you are on the defensive side is because of pride. We all have it am I am sure for that reason anyone that wouldn't be forgiving when they see your pride deserves the same thing treatment (even though that would not be Biblical "Do unto others as you would have them do to you")
Before you answer this one post I am going to ask you to please have a LONG talk with God. Calm your anger down and be more relaxed. I think it would be extremely wise if you took this advise.
In saying this I am not trying to be rude or mean in any way. If I was in your situation I would definitely want someone to tell me something similar to what I have said. What more can I say?
~anne~

No one disrespected your opinion, Morgan, they just didnt happen to agree with it. It is a discussion, not an attack on you.

Plus, you are being biased. This is the very reason that religious poetry wont win anytime soon.

Refer to my example of the eroticas, some poems are just not ones that you offer to a mass group of people. Both those genres are very hit or miss.

I was raised Catholic, and maybe, just maybe i'd still be a practising one if i'd been encouraged as a child to be open minded and investigate other faiths and belief systems with respect and the natural curiosity of a child.

What i'm trying to say is that if any of you are really people of God, then surely you would be willing to reach out to people on their ground, through the issues they feel drawn to...and with a little more tact than bluntly preaching the gospels or cutting and pasting cliche maxims, use your faith in a non converting manner to show others another way to think.

As soon as people quote the bible i turn off from them because it's not personal...they are just copying from a book...and how is that faith in action?

Okay my opinion. Religion has become obsolete from so many people. Cant pray in School, cant pray in puplic places without people judging you. and using your religion as something to make fun of. I absolutly hate every single person who talks to me like im some anarchist. Im a true believer in god.

N e whoot.
In poetry i think so many people have so many different opinions that they dont want to have a voice on it, because its a never ending battle between almost everyone. Then there are the people who are so much into their religion that no matter what other people say, they dont care. its still just the same to them.

i dont know, i could ramble on forever.

But i think that much more people should at least have an open mind to it. And at least vote/comment of what ever according to the poems make.

god bless
-courtney

"I was raised Catholic, and maybe, just maybe i'd still be a practising one if i'd been encouraged as a child to be open minded and investigate other faiths and belief systems with respect and the natural curiosity of a child.

What i'm trying to say is that if any of you are really people of God, then surely you would be willing to reach out to people on their ground, through the issues they feel drawn to...and with a little more tact than bluntly preaching the gospels or cutting and pasting cliche maxims, use your faith in a non converting manner to show others another way to think.

As soon as people quote the bible i turn off from them because it's not personal...they are just copying from a book...and how is that faith in action?"

Kevin you are fantastic.

dido, I must say however I most likely wouldn't have ended up religous either way if I was given the oppertunity to explore. I was raised catholic as well, (still being raised) and my parents have no idea I stopped "believing in God" almost 3 years ago lol

i only say this because I stopped "believing" when I learned to think for myself and realised (in my own opinion) that evolution was far more likely and realistic to christianity (again, my thoughts, I mean no offence)

My point: being in an insanely christian home I was raised to believe that everything from the bible was right, one of these things being that homosexuality was a horrific sin. It wasn't untill I was older that I figured out it's not, and theres nothing wrong with it, then I started to study the bible more and found that I hardly agreed with anything it preached.
(this is directed to your statement of people quoting from the bible)

I know my statement seems pointless, but heres my message: perhaps religous poetry doesn't recieve as much attention on this site because people don't appreciate reading one religous idea, or the words saying "God is perfect, god heals all, god will be there for you" (not in exact text of course) because many people aren't religous or don't accept those ideas.

Sometimes I will enjoy reading certain religous poetry, but nothing on this site so far, only previous famous authors that have been published. And the only reason why I enjoyed those works were because they discussed the ideals and evolutions of religion (among other things) and not just praise or critisizm of 'the lord'

I know my statement seems pointless, but heres my message: perhaps religous poetry doesn't recieve as much attention on this site because people don't appreciate reading one religous idea, or the words saying "God is perfect, god heals all, god will be there for you" (not in exact text of course) because many people aren't religous or don't accept those ideas.
You bring up a good point that many don't like reading it because they do not believe it, faith is a virtue that you must have in order for any spiritual healing to occur you can accept Love or regect it.
All of the virtues work together for a healthy spirit. I have compasion for the unhappy people who write poems about wanting to die but I always see in thier poems doubt despiar and hate rather than Faith Hope and Charity many times the things that should be assoiciated with evil are associated with good. Evil is just the absense of good

"many times the things that should be asoiciated with evil are assotiated with good. Evil is just the absense of good"

nicely stated, I must remember that.
(but you might want to practice spelling "associated") :)

thank you for pointing that out it is embarrassing that i have written a book that is published yet i type with one finger and can't spell without a word processer but at least I am honest. VIRTUES ARE LIKE SPELLING THEY HAVE TO BE PRACTICED

Just Plain Embarrassing

Let’s look at some of the things that religion and poetry have in common
Or at least the way we view them. It is a waste of time to try and force your ideas and beliefs on someone. Everyone has their own reason for what they want to believe or believe. I have noticed on this site that opinions are strong. We have a lot of choices in styles of poems we have people who don’t see their selves as needing to believe in anything. I have enjoyed a lot of comments. And I am thankful if someone wants to make me feel good about my work I think I see a lot of self-deception in why we write and post
But I don’t see how I could ever place my judgment on poems above anyone else’s because I agree that we should and do choose what we like when it comes to style format wording and al of the things that differ in poems. It does make me sad that so many see religion as a bad thing now

Yes they were probably writing poems about the way things should be while they were burning literature about the way things were

I'm a Christian, and I don't agree with the Pope. In fact, I don't agree with most of the Catholic Religion.

Way to change the subject, eh, Ismail?

~Ciao Lipton

The pope is not treated like a king among Christians. The pope is treated like a "king" among Catholics. I whole heartedly disagree with this veiw, but they believe that the pope is like a gateway to God. In other words they confess their sins to him or their "fathers" who then tell them that their sins are forgiven. Therefore, they apear to believe that without the pope etc they could not get to heaven since they believe in salvation by works. Most catholics will deny this, but if you study up on it you will find that what I have written makes since. If you are catholic and reading this I'm not trying to bash your religion.
~anne~

JPM-Techanically(sp?) they are a cult which is a group of people who call themselves Christians. A Christian is someone who claims Christ as their personal savior not Mary. A Christian also does not claim both as their savior. The Bible says you cannot serve both God and mammon(-man or could also be the devil).

I would say more but I need to get to class.
~anne~

Okay I had a long thing written out I was going to answer you with, but it logged me off when I was almost finished and there is no short version except: I have relatives who are catholic and lutheran so I do know about luther and Roman Catholisism.
I wasn't very clear in my post when I said those things and for that I am very sorry. They do make Mary above God and they do believe that there is no salvation without Mary.
~anne~

Just Plain Me is just plain right this time exept about you being stupid of course. Though, there could be a misunderstanding about this, even among Catholics. Mary, is only to be viewed as an Intercessor. I know it is confusing to protestants. In the prayer known as the Hail Mary Catholics ask Mary to pray for us. I have a poem that is a brief explanation for those who are interested.. its title is
Holy Mary

I just have to write in really quick
(note i haven't been following the whole convo)
I just saw Anne's post and I had to say I was raised catholic and...

I seriously don't think you know what you're talking about.

correct. I must say thanks we have someone who has actually studied the religion rather than pretended to know it.

Anne, where did you get that catholics put Mary above God?

Mathew chapter 16; 17 Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever thou shall bound on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever thy shall loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. That is when Catholics believe Christ appointed the first pope. The title means father and catholics believe this succession has not been interrupted since the authority was passed to Peter by Jesus. Peter by his authority passed it to pope Linus and so on to the present pope. The King James Bible that Protestants are familiar with was not translated until after the protestant reformation. Translated in 1619 .The catholic bible was still in Latin. The powerful Catholic Church was becoming tolerant of the heresies that the Catholic Church thought was threatening it.

In one of the gospels or maybe I'm thinking of Acts, Jesus gives the apostles alot of authority. They had the power to cast out demons and heal the sick. However I do not think that that scripture is talking about anything having to do with a pope. You are right JPM catholics do twist things for their own benefit.
~anne~

Pink- I got it from Macabees (sp?).

~anne~

The name Peter which means rock was given to the apostle Simon by Jesus. In the period following the crucifixion of Jesus the pagan Romans would arrest the followers of the apostles and martyrdoms were common. The bishops of Rome could not openly be seen. The church was indeed simple before the Emperor Constantine made it legal to be Christian
The earliest recorded reference to the term catholic which means universal was around 110 A.D. used by St Ignatios of Antioch The oldest creed of the church The Apostles Creed was an expansion of the baptismal formula Matthew 28;19 the first English translation of the Catholic Bible from the Latin 405 AD was the new testament Douai New Testament published in 1582

Catholics interpret everything to their benefit If only that were true. The churches are made of members. The catholic faith only has a membership of 1.07 billion today The Church reflects the humaness of us all and the Divine redemption which frees us from ourselves There have always been schisms

violaxcore I think you're on to something what are we blaming the catholics for?

Yes I agree... to say that the oldest and largest Christian organization in the world is a self serving cult is something that is far beyond my comprehension

Anne, I'm afraid you misinterpreted.

in no way, shape or form, do catholics put Mary before God.
She is seen as the MOTHER of God, (or christ if you will) but she was never seen as a higher being.

people of faith need a pope, like I need to be assisted to walk across the street, think about that..... well I suppose it depends on what faith you are talking about, and who I is
If I is a Catholic I may not need the pope to help me cross the street. But if I is a catholic and believe that he has the authority to bound on earth what is bound in heaven. I may see the pope as an assist to heaven. I personally have no desire to assist 1.07 billion people to cross the street but I have respect for one who would.

"Catholics interpret everything to their benefit If only that were true."

'How is that not true?' The problem with a simple statement is that it is misleading If the word 'their' means Catholics as the church, the statement’ Catholics interpret everything to their benefit’ could be true in the context of a time frame.. I was thinking in a broader sense if that were true their would have been no need for a reformation.

They don't even believe that most of the bible is true, when the bible is supposed to be the word of God'. Though I'm speaking from a protestant standpoint. Most Catholics that I know do not ask protestant’s what Catholics are supposed to believe. Most protestants don’t ask Catholics what protestants are supposed to believe. It seems that Catholics are not the only ones that interpret the bible

Though the interpretations of the bible by the Catholic church are somewhat excellent interpretations for living a moral life they are interpretations

JPM I believe you are the rudest human being that ever lived

"Most Catholics that I know do not ask protestant’s what Catholics are supposed to believe. Most protestants don’t ask Catholics what protestants are supposed to believe. It seems that Catholics are not the only ones that interpret the bible"

It seems clear to me, but I will attempt to explain it simply, so it can even be understood by a slow person who proudly proclaims that he smoked something, and it took him six months to discover he did not like the taste of it.[ Cite drugs in this discussion forum. This is off topic; refer to original topic. poems & quotes | forum home | forum rules
why can't religious poetry win? My opinion is that moderators are the reason].
But the reason the last sentence is connected to rest of the paragraph is that all beliefs are based on interpretation.

I hate to burst your bubble, but discussing theology with the Pope does not make you a Catholic. If your mother in law is teaching that Catholics do not believe the bible is true.
She is teaching something that is contrary to what is in the catholic dictionary, which states the bible is a collection of books, all written under God’s inspiration which are accepted by the church, as the word of God. Anyway you need to give more authoritative sources

With all this talk of religion I thought I would lighten things up with this little joke I found.

A Catholic priest and a nun were taking a rare afternoon off and enjoying a round of golf. The priest stepped up to the first tee and took a mighty swing. He missed the ball entirely and said "****, I missed."

The good Sister told him to watch his language.

On his next swing, he missed again. "****, I missed."

"Father, I'm not going to play with you if you keep swearing," the nun said tartly.

The priest promised to do better and the round continued. On the 4th tee, he misses again. The usual comment followed.

Sister is really mad now and says, "Father John, God is going to strike you dead if you keep swearing like that."

On the next tee, Father John swings and misses again. "****, I missed."

A terrible rumble is heard and a gigantic bolt of lightning comes out of the sky and strikes Sister Marie dead in her tracks.

And from the sky comes a booming voice .......

"****, I missed."

Haha, Angela... Comic relief.

I don't agree with the Catholics on much of anything. Need I go into detail? They pull things from the Bible that never even existed in the Bible.

~Ciao Lipton