this is a moral story i got from the email.. it is not funny compared to the other one but read on .. and i hope you would enjoy
--------------------
A powerful senator dies after a prolonged illness. His
soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the
entrance.

"Welcome to Heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you
settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see
a high official around these parts, you see, so
we're not sure what to do with you."


"No problem, just let me in," says the guy.


"Well, I'd like to but I have orders from higher up.
What we'll do is have you spend one day in Hell and
one in Heaven. Then you can choose where to spend
eternity."


"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in
Heaven," says the senator.


"I'm sorry but we have our rules." And with that, St.
Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down,
down, down to Hell. The doors open and he finds
himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the
distance is a club and standing in front of it are all
his friends and other politicians who had worked with
him, everyone is very happy and in evening attire.


They run to greet him, hug him, and reminisce about
the good times they had while getting rich at the
expense of the people.


They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on
lobster and caviar. Also present is the Devil, who
really is a very friendly guy who has a good time
dancing and telling jokes.


They are having such a good time that, before he
realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a
big hug and waves while the elevator rises. The
elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on
Heaven where St.Peter is waiting for him.


"Now it's time to visit Heaven." So 24 hours pass
with the head of state joining a group of contented
souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and
singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes
it, the 24 hours have gone by and St.Peter returns.


"Well then, you've spent a day in Hell and another in
Heaven. Now choose your eternity."


He reflects for a minute, then the senator answers


"Well, I would never have said it, I mean Heaven has
been delightful, but I think I would be better off in
Hell."


So Saint Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes
down, down, down to Hell. Now the doors of the
elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren land
covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his
friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and
putting it in black bags. The Devil comes over to him
and lays his arm on his neck.


"I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday
I was here and there was a golf course and club and we
ate lobster and caviar and danced and had a great
time. Now all there is a wasteland full of garbage and
my friends look miserable.


The Devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we
were campaigning...... Today you voted for us!"

personal note: this of course is not restricted to catholics or christians only.. you can view this as good or evil or base on your own morals

LOL

An old joke but gets better every time I hear it.

ok, one reply and then I'm outta here. Why do alot of people refer to Catholics separately, and then lump every other Christian denomination merely as 'Christian'? Even calling non-Catholic denominations 'Protestant' is too general. Weird. Christians and Catholics.. Catholics ARE Christians man...

good question.. i have always asked that myself but im a roman catholic and i was raised to know chistian as seperate religion with the same god just with different traditions. anyone here to help me on that?

As for understanding the joke, your relegion doen't matter. Most religions has a place to put the good ones an another place to put the bad ones after they are dead.

It is like a combination of the strong-arm and the carrot method to teach people some good manners;)

If you live in a democratic state/country with free elections, you would probably recognize some other parts of the joke too :D

[img]graemlins/greenbounce.gif[/img]
Insane

hmm.. strange i viewed it as a religion story.. and some found it as a joke..

and after reading it in a different point of view.. :D i do get some parts of it.

One of my favourite quotes:

"No matter who you vote for a politician always gets in"

good joke:)
heard it before in a slightly altered state,
went more or less the same, except it was with a meetings/conventions planning person - they go to hotels to find out how good they are for their meetings. so hell had a meeting/convention party going on, and heaven was rather boring. i forget what the end quote was, but it was much like that one except geared towards the convention/meeting industry.

Funny Joke. didn't make me laugh, but it's still funny. As to the "are Catholics really the same as Christians" debate. There are arguments for both sides of that. I know Catholics who say they are not the same and others who say they are. I know people on all sides of the debate and honestly I cannot find any sort of consensus on the subject.

I don't know how it works in the US but here Catholic and Christian is never disputed as being two different things. However that may be because Catholics are the majority in Austria and South Germany.
Technically Catholics are of course Christians. [img]graemlins/doh.gif[/img]
a bit of history
the first schism 1054 separated Orthodox (right teachings from greek: orthos=right and doxa=teaching) from Catholics (all-embracing from greek: kata=about and holos=all)
The reformation in the early 16th century separated protestants (or Evangelics) from Catholics and spawned a lot of other reform movements namely the Hussits (who were killed by the Catholics after promising them favours) the Calvinists and the Anglican church and many else. Many of them traveled to the "New world" to seek refuge from religious persecution. The catholics had no need for that (as they were dominant) and therefore are now a minority in the US (if you count the "other Christians" as one of course, if not they are in fact the majority).

[ 09-10-2003, 06:18 PM: Message edited by: Faceman ]