Is the Chapstick Church Real?
97422
Their site:\n\nhttp://dhost.info/chapstick/home.html\n\n\n%Changed:\nThey are not serious... read this page:\n\nhttp://dhost.info/chapstick/aboutus.html#why\n\nThey only want to say ungodly things... and be coarse in joking, etc about Christianity.
533207
It is a book written by author Dan Brown.  Churches are doing him a favor by publicizing a fictional story about a fictional story.
240338
is that a real place/culture of people?
684848
People who have absolutely no idea will scream, "LIES" without even reading the book or investigating the history behind it. From what I was able to find, here is what's true and what's not:\n\n- Gnostic Gospels: True, except the text in the Gospel of Mary Magdaline where is says, "Jesus kissed Mary on the lips" is actually, "Jesus kissed Mary on the (hole in parchment)". Brown took a liberty here. Also, there are several references in the Gnostic gospels as well as the bible itself that refer to Jesus "favoring" Mary Mag but they don't go into detail...leaving room for speculation.\n\n- Priory of Sion: A real org., however every bit of information about links it to one of 3 men in the 1950s, and there's no information or reference of the org before that. It's thought to be a hoax.\n\n- Myth of Jesus's Family: The book is correct that Mary Mag was not a prostitute. The bible makes absolutely no reference to that at all. As for the legend of Mary Mag fleeing to France, the only evidence that I know of is a reference in a 15th century book, and an old French myth. Supposedly she had a daughter named Sara, which in Hebrew means Princess. So, the conclusion could be reached that she was the child of Jesus, but its a bit of a stretch.\n\nDa Vinci: Some agree 100% that Mary Mag is in the painting of the last supper. Several art historians claim that during the Rennesaunce (spelling) John was often painted feminine.\n\nConstantine: This was about 80% true from my research. Yes, Constantine formed the Christian religon as it is now (more or less). History is a little fuzzy though as to how much involvement he had choosing which books to include in the bible (some say it was him alone, some say it was several people over several years). However, he DID remove all other religions claiming to follow another messiah, and shape the Christian religion the way he wanted it and make it mainstream. Whether that's following God's influence or a personal agenda, you decide.\n\nOver all, as for the history and theory part of the book I'd say its about 50% fact, 40% legend-theory-assumption, and 10% false. Dan Brown even admits that, "the opinions in the book are conclusions drawn by the characters". He is himself a Christian.\n\nNow...isn't that better than an angry Christian screaming "LIES" when they don't have a clue what they're talking about?
673801
Jesus Christ married his favourite prostitute and left descendants who are alive and well and working as pizza delivery drivers in downtown Manhatten under secret identities. The crucifixion was a fake, the Holy Grail is being used as a sauce-boat in the North British Hotel near the Rosslyn Chapel, and anyone who can figure out antediluvian Greek puns can work out the truth from a series of ancient monuments, tablecloth labels and car registration numbers. \n\nI could tell you their names but then I'd have to kill you.
303370
It depends on if you are going to view it as fiction(which is what is intended).  But, it does make one stop and wonder if any of it is true.  Which would mean that the Catholic Church, and a lot of other important folks have kept a lot of truths from all of us for many years.  And why would they do that?  Check out the book"Demons and Angels", by Dan Brown.
992044
I have been to several different churches.  Some do, and some don't.  The focus never seems to be on an image, statue or drawing.  I think people are worried to much about the wrong things!
918198
It's real, but with some help from anim.\n\nThe buildings are in glasgow, the low level flats have since been demolished, but the multi storey is still there for the moment....
667469
Doesn't look like it; it's a very rural area, very low-church.\n\nThe nearest is probably St. Teresa's, in Dumfries:\nhttp://geocities.com/saintteresas/
525800
Hi Tari,\nI met the ChristopherBetchel once, a few weekends ago. I was walking to the corner market for a loaf of bread when I had to pass by a neighborhood church. I was somewhat acquainted with the structure as it was always mentioned in the newspaper's community section. Known as "The loft," folks would gather there on Thursday evenings for poetry readings.\nHowever, this day happened to be a Saturday afternoon and a pair of gentlemen greeted me as I walked by. They invited me inside to sample an hour of their presentation. Ok, I went inside and found myself to be a prospective new recruit for their brand of religion.\n\nMost of the pews were filled with hooded monks chanting a haunting rhythm. There were others who like me, were wearing their regular denims. The service began like most others that church-goers would be familiar with. A grand master of ceremonies led the group through some songs and gave a sermon. Near the end of the hour it was time for their ritual of "laying on of the hands." Some of the parishioners would come forward and ask for prayers for their ailments or for a sick grand mum who fell down in the tub. All the hooded dudes whose faces could not readily be seen would all place a hand on the person and their combined energies were presumed to have a strength and expedite a solution to the problem.\n\nOK now, there was another new guy in the pews who was watching eagerly. I recognized ChristopherBetchel from a wanted poster viewed earlier at the post office. When he saw a chance, he approached the ring of conspirators and described how he was always moving around and never able to settle down. The hooded goons closed in upon him, all to make a physical connection. The master of ceremonies began a prayer, a dogmatic mix of logic and pure hocus-pocus. I immediately saw the effects of the procedure as the tension went out of ChristopherBetchel's body. When the beseeching was near an end, the master asked, "Are the brothers ready?"\n\nA suspenseful few moments passed until he almost shouted, "NOW!"\n\nOn that cue, the brothers began to pummel their hapless victim. Continually delivering blows over head and to the solar plexus until ChristopherBetchel was down on the floor getting stomped. After another minute, the grand Pooh-Bah decided the treatment administered was sufficient to induce a relaxing calm that would assuage the nervousness of ChristopherBetchel for a long, long time.\n\nI can't say for certain if ChristopherBetchel got the comeuppance he deserved as I had a loaf of bread to buy and some other errands to do that day. I hope for you Tari, that you do find a sense of closure to this difficult episode of life.\n\n-Justin
502394
No(yes). It is not real(it is).\n\nhttp://www.poleshift.org/sublim/
682151
I DO NOT BELIEVE THEY ARE THE TRUE CHURCH AND THEY DO HAVE POSSESSIONS. THEY DO NOT GIVE BLOOD AND DON'T VOTE, BUT THEY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS SUCH AS WELFARE, UNEMPLOYMENT, HOUSING ETC...  I HAVE FRIENDS THAT BELONG AND I HAVE BEEN TO THE HALL, BUT IT IS NOT FOR ME!
995218
Whats a mega-church??
1029286
It's astonishing how many people think the DaVinci Code is a real story.\n\nNo, it's just fiction. There's no such office at Harvard (or anywhere else) as that of religious symbology. What a waste of a PhD's mind that office would be, don't you think?\n\nThe Priory of Scion was invented in the 1960s as a bizarre way for some unemployed French 20-somethings to get elected to office.\n\nThe Rosicrucians were a similar "joke" order as no one has verified whether this order actually exists.\n\nThe stories reflected in the gnostic gospels (ie, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Jesus) are apochryphal at best, having been dated several hundred years after the commonly-accepted time of Christ's life on earth.\n\nMerely because someone says or writes somethign doesn't make it true, and the denial of that thing does not constitute a conspiracy.\n\nBesides, there are no monks in Opus Dei. Albinos perhaps, but no monks. It's mostly an order of married persons.
1185328
no.\nthere was a priory. but it was just a religious sect that eventaully died off within a few hundred years, by the 1300's.\nthe papers the book talks about are forgeries.
1154391
Hi Stan,\nI met the theRoomate once, a few weekends ago. I was walking to the corner market for a loaf of bread when I had to pass by a neighborhood church. I was somewhat acquainted with the structure as it was always mentioned in the newspaper's community section. Known as "The loft," folks would gather there on Thursday evenings for poetry readings.\nHowever, this day happened to be a Saturday afternoon and a pair of gentlemen greeted me as I walked by. They invited me inside to sample an hour of their presentation. Ok, I went inside and found myself to be a prospective new recruit for their brand of religion.\n\nMost of the pews were filled with hooded monks chanting a haunting rhythm. There were others who like me, were wearing their regular denims. The service began like most others that church-goers would be familiar with. A grand master of ceremonies led the group through some songs and gave a sermon. Near the end of the hour it was time for their ritual of "laying on of the hands." Some of the parishioners would come forward and ask for prayers for their ailments or for a sick grand mum who fell down in the tub. All the hooded dudes whose faces could not readily be seen would all place a hand on the person and their combined energies were presumed to have a strength and expedite a solution to the problem.\n\nOK now, there was another new guy in the pews who was watching eagerly. I recognized theRoomate from a wanted poster viewed earlier at the post office. When he saw a chance, he approached the ring of conspirators and described how he was always moving around and never able to settle down. The hooded goons closed in upon him, all to make a physical connection. The master of ceremonies began a prayer, a dogmatic mix of logic and pure hocus-pocus. I immediately saw the effects of the procedure as the tension went out of theRoomate's body. When the beseeching was near an end, the master asked, "Are the brothers ready?"\n\nA suspenseful few moments passed until he almost shouted, "NOW!"\n\nOn that cue, the brothers began to pummel their hapless victim. Continually delivering blows over head and to the solar plexus until theRoomate was down on the floor getting stomped. After another minute, the grand Pooh-Bah decided the treatment administered was sufficient to induce a relaxing calm that would assuage the nervousness of theRoomate for a long, long time.\n\nI can't say for certain if theRoomate got the comeuppance he deserved as I had a loaf of bread to buy and some other errands to do that day. I hope for you Stan, that you do find a sense of closure to this difficult episode of life.\n\n-Zealnik
148268
It would be considered as cult since it teachings do not line up with the teachings of Christ.  It embraces many old testmament practices, which is fine, but it denies the identity of Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins...it looks like a jewish version of jahovah's witnesses.