People who diss Christianity really piss me off...

Yup, all the animals, plants, planets, humans, and every other miracle simply came out of nothing billions of years ago....

Search for God and you will find him. Theres a God in everyone and everything.

 

Their biggest fear is being taken over by another group with different ideologies that affect their way of life, AKA RELIGION. The Christian ruled west turned a blind eye to the Jewish death camps. America only got involved when the Germans posed a threat to Americans way of life. “Oh shit, now their taking over our European trade partners and what next, we better send and army over now!”.

I also used to call Religion a tool, and it surely is but it is far more than just a tool. It is a whole tool Box. It is a whole set of components, or tools, that work together to build something much bigger. Together they build a powerful machine, an engine powerful enough to trample entire races.

The religious toolbox accommodates and utilises all of which you attribute to war and more: Greed, power, selfishness, fear, distrust, paranoia, ignorance …

 

So, if you say, there's a God in everyone and everything, it follows that there is God in Satan and God is present in Hell.

OK. Gotcha.

 

Great post Skip! I agree with your way of thinking!

Peace and love

 

Wow Skip. I like the way that you think. Let me expand your analogy a little, if you would allow me. I think the bible is like an instruction manual. Without this manual, these people are lost and cannot live their lives without it. These people are incapable of making decisions without their moral framework. This manual is full of fairy tales and mythology that unfortunately many today take as being "God's honest truth." These people forget that this manual, held so highly by many, is nothing more than a creation of ignorant men thousands of years ago. It was written so long ago that they forget that it was influenced by the politics of the day.

Peace and love

 

Grim, why didnt you just state that there are some religions that are exceptions to what westerners usually consider 'religious' in fact, many westerners view buddhism for example as a philosophy rather then a 'religion' despite its supernatural side.

Having considering this is a Christian forum it is reasonable for people to talk of the 'world religions' as the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Judaism and Christianity) in this context perhaps you would have even agreed. So i must ask, it was obvious that the poster missed what you were driving at (that there are more religions then the Abrahamic), so why didnt you just point it out?

Having said all that i would define religion as superstition and tradition, rather the bi-products of spirituality, and unless held in proper context of their meaninglessness, arent conducive to the way

 

jesus was a carpenter.

 

Right on!

Peace and love

 

I disagree with a lot of the things being said here... because there's a lot of generalizing happening-- and it even comes off as a little ignorant.

It seems to be the popular opinion that it's impossible to be a dedicated Christian and to be capable of thinking independently at the same time. Some people here (FedUpAmerican, or example) have even gone so far as to completely ignore reason or rationality to the point that they are incapable of hearing anything other than their own voice.

I really don't think a lot of the whole 'mind control' angle is so much a matter of religion as it is a matter of politics, or of self-esteem, or even of confidence... you can choose to blindly believe things and it's much easier, and I suppose a lot of people are attracted to religions for that very reason. Or maybe they like the sense of community, or the comfort attached to always knowing that there will be a place to go-- with all the paranoia surrounding the general public (especially in the US, where anyone could be a terrorist, or a pedophile, or a mass murderer), it must be a comfort to think that you can always rely on Christian duty... and the willingness to accept everyone as deserving of love and forgiveness.

Christianity has never been about blindly believing in anything or about an evil being who will get you if you don't do what the Bible says you should-- Satan isn't Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees or even Michael Myers. True Christians don't want anyone to go to hell... in fact, the only reason you even go to hell is because you want to.

If there's one thing we've learned from the story of Saul/Paul, it's that redemption is always, always always possible!!! The whole religion is basically founded on the idea that Jesus died for our sins, relieving everyone of the burden of Original Sin-- so basically, everyone is forgiven, and you will always be forgiven... all you have to do is accept that someone out there will always love you no matter what you do. I really can't see what's so horrible, or so oppressive or so evil about that!!!!!

I'm really not even into going to Church or reading the Bible everyday or anything-- I don't want to tell anyone I'm a Christian because the fact is everyone just totally jumps on you the second they hear it... and I suppose I don't even think of myself as one. But if it comes right down to believing that I'll be forgiven for my sins and be released versus we die and that's it, then I'm going to have to say I believe I'll be forgiven for my sins and released. The universe has order to it, and even though I don't understand it, I really don't think that science is capable of offering anyone enough of a perspective to actually accept that we know everything, or that it isn't a good idea to have faith in the idea of universal forgiveness.

And in the Bible it's never those who commit wicked acts who go to hell, it's those who refuse to accept forgiveness, or who refuse to admit that their actions were sinful... that their actions hurt other people, or hurt themselves. I really don't think there's anything at all about it that people should find objectionable!!

And I really really really don't think it's fair to dismiss a religion which has had immeasureable impact upon Western culture just because you've met a few jerks who consider themselves Christians, and get too preachy and egotistical, and think they always know what's right and how things should be.

 

Maybe you are a Christian who thinks for themselves... unfortunately, I met many, MANY more who don't.

Peace and love

 

Oh yeah, and I REALLY REALLY disagree with the idea of monogamy being like some kind of enslavement. There can be plenty of sexual variety between two committed partners... all that marriage means is that we should use a lot of discretion when choosing who we commit to.

 

OK, so Hitler believed he was a good Christian, if Hitler asked forgiveness, so Hitler must be in heaven now.

Next stupid rant, please.

 

If he could find it in his heart to forgive himself, or allow himself to be forgiven, then YES!!!

Forgiving Hitler is your taboo subject, not God's.

 

Sin is basically the same thing as bad karma... Christians just deal with it differently... and I suppose that humans are always inherently good as well-- however if they are weak, they succumb to temptation. It's not about good people and bad people, it's about people who make bad decisions.

The fact that you and everyone has a soul (implying some sort of consistent form between existences) means that you have to go somewhere-- there's no saying it's just one thing forever. So yes, I suppose there are levels of heaven and levels of hell within THIS reality as well... reincarnation is not completely at odds with the Bible.

As far as I can tell, Christianity offers basically the same thing as the eastern religions offer... which is the ability to overcome those things which would impede your entry into heaven, the astral plane, whatever... and it is my belief that people will refuse to allow themselves to be forgiven if they know that they have done wrong... which will result in their finding a place where they know that they can eventually learn to forgive themselves (even if it takes a long time). That's the same thing as karmic debt... you work off your sin as well... I mean, just because Jesus forgives you, it doesn't mean that you forgive yourself, or allow yourself to be forgiven.

Even entry into the kingdom of heaven doesn't mean that your existence in heaven won't be without change, or will be some sort of 'happily ever after'-type ending. That's a little shortsighted if you ask me!!!

 

This isn't about who is good or who is evil, it's about forgiveness. The Jews don't believe that Christ is the saviour-- they don't believe there has been a saviour!! So from their point of view, original sin hasn't been forgiven.

This isn't what I believe about the Jewish people, but what they believe about the human race. So once again, it's really not about Jesus not wanting to forgive them... it's about them not believing that they have been forgiven. And that's their choice and I respect it. More than that, I wish them happiness and hope that they find salvation for themselves!

And when you're talking about spirituality, it's really absurd to mention taboo subjects like Hitler... I mean, who are WE to say that he doesn't deserve forgiveness... and who are YOU to call me stupid for pointing out that you really don't have the right to say that Hitler doesn't deserve to be forgiven.

Bringing up Hitler is all just the media-- the media creates taboo topics and people use them to try to prove their points. You bring up Hitler and I'm supposed to say 'Oh no, Hitler was the most evil man ever... no one could possibly forgive Hitler!!!'... but the fact is there were a lot worse people (Mao Tse Tsung, Pol Pot, Stalin) that people never bring up because they don't have the same media presence.

It's actually a big part of what makes your argument so pathetic. Well, that and the fact that you're so uninformed, and too angry or lazy to look up the facts.