Hatred of Christianity!

[Majikthise]

Not sure which post you are addressing .I am not the authority of how God deals with an individuals heart.

You either really don't comprehend or you are dodging the question. We really can't know which.

 

[Jainarayan]

Only when somone is honest with their own faults can they do something about them and make changes.You can't just be positive witout letting go of the negative. If you throw good apples on top of a bunch of bad ones then eventually all of them will rot.Face all that is in yourself that is wrong and let it go and then the positive comes automatically.

That doesn't explain fixation on sin, though. Jesus never said to keep facing your faults or kicking yourself. He said to lead by example, be a light to the world. Do the right thing, and everything else falls into place. I don't think there's any other religion so focused on sin and repentance, and guilt. Yeah, that's it... guilt.

I'm not hating on Christians, but I'm amazed, having been away from it for so long, and now having a feeling of closeness with a God who is playful, cheerful, and loving, who says "Do this, but if you can't do this, do that; if you can't do that, do the other thing... do the best you can... and you'll still come to Me" that there can be so much guilt and fear. Maybe it's just me.

 

[waitasec]

Not sure which post you are addressing .I am not the authority of how God deals with an individuals heart.

this one...

Only when somone is honest with their own faults can they do something about them and make changes.You can't just be positive witout letting go of the negative. If you throw good apples on top of a bunch of bad ones then eventually all of them will rot.Face all that is in yourself that is wrong and let it go and then the positive comes automatically.

are christians the only ones who are capable of
being honest with their own faults?

 

[Walkntune]

this one...



are christians the only ones who are capable of
being honest with their own faults?

Everyone has the ability to be honest with their own faults.

 

[waitasec]

Everyone has the ability to be honest with their own faults.

ok so what is the purpose of stating such an obvious truth...
it doesn't explain the results of being a christian, all you have to be is human, right?

 

[waitasec]

Everyone has the ability to be honest with their own faults.

therefore,
everyone is capable of doing something about them and make changes...without belief in god.

 

[Walkntune]

therefore,
everyone is capable of doing something about them and make changes...without belief in god.

If you can save yourself then who am I to stop you?

 

[waitasec]

If you can save yourself then who am I to stop you?

exactly.

 

[Walkntune]

That doesn't explain fixation on sin, though. Jesus never said to keep facing your faults or kicking yourself. He said to lead by example, be a light to the world. Do the right thing, and everything else falls into place. I don't think there's any other religion so focused on sin and repentance, and guilt. Yeah, that's it... guilt.

I'm not hating on Christians, but I'm amazed, having been away from it for so long, and now having a feeling of closeness with a God who is playful, cheerful, and loving, who says "Do this, but if you can't do this, do that; if you can't do that, do the other thing... do the best you can... and you'll still come to Me" that there can be so much guilt and fear. Maybe it's just me.

Guilt only comes when someone tries to justify their sins.God does not deal with you through guilt nor condemnation but through conviction.
Being a Christian is about looking at Jesus, not his followers.If you focus on He who was perfect love then your imperfections will show up in yourself and you can face them and deal with them and let them go.Those who truly seek the truth and righteousness will grow as they let go of the sins in their life.

 

[waitasec]

Guilt only comes when someone tries to justify their sins.

justifying your sin is a result of guilt

otherwise what you are saying is, if no one justifies their wrong doing then they are not guilty.

 

[pwfaith]

The US federal and state governments, and public schools are secular. It's a violation of the US Constitution to make laws based on Christianity or any other religion.

I was talking about the individuals who vote according to their worldview and moral systems (not different than I do). Religion does not have to be a part of the school for people to interject their standards based on their personal worldview which stems from their religious faith. Non-religious do the same thing. We all vote on issues for our country, state, leaders, schools, etc based on our personal worldviews/ideologies/moral compasses, etc. Since schools are secular my children are being taught from a worldly pov (which yes is our choice for sending them to public school). So forgive me if it strikes me as funny to hear people complain about all they have to put up with from the "religious people" in their day-to-day lives. Perhaps they should stand on the other side of the fence once in a while and think of all we have to put up with from the worldly worldview day-to-day. That was my point. (I am not advocating that it be changed from this, that is a totally separate debate, to understand you will need to reread the discussion previous in this thread)

 

[doppelganger]

Christianity is one of the most strongest love based religions I know of

It can be. It is frequently a breeding ground for hateful and sanctimonious garbage. Not unlike any other group of people. . . being "Christian" is no guarantee of anything. It's no better or worse than any other organized religion.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I was talking about the individuals who vote according to their worldview and moral systems (not different than I do). Religion does not have to be a part of the school for people to interject their standards based on their personal worldview which stems from their religious faith. Non-religious do the same thing. We all vote on issues for our country, state, leaders, schools, etc based on our personal worldviews/ideologies/moral compasses, etc. Since schools are secular my children are being taught from a worldly pov (which yes is our choice for sending them to public school). So forgive me if it strikes me as funny to hear people complain about all they have to put up with from the "religious people" in their day-to-day lives. Perhaps they should stand on the other side of the fence once in a while and think of all we have to put up with from the worldly worldview day-to-day. That was my point. (I am not advocating that it be changed from this, that is a totally separate debate, to understand you will need to reread the discussion previous in this thread)

Exactly what do you see as objectionable in secularism? As far as I'm concerned, it basically amounts to religious equality and protecting the government from undue influence from any religious group.

When it comes to education, I realize that things like evolution in science classes is considered "objectionable" to some people's religious beliefs, but as far as that's concerned, my feeling is summed up in that old line "you're entitled to your own beliefs, but you aren't entitled to your own facts."

IMO, complaining about secularism in the US is akin to complaining that your society isn't as completely theocratic as you'd like.

 

[Walkntune]

It can be. It is frequently a breeding ground for hateful and sanctimonious garbage. Not unlike any other group of people. . . being "Christian" is no guarantee of anything. It's no better or worse than any other organized religion.

Sometimes there can be too much focus on the black letters. There is a lot of love and truth in the red letters!

 

[waitasec]

But he is helping the spread of intolerance.

no not really, certain christians are doing that on their own...

 

[Heathen Hammer]

Sometimes there can be too much focus on the black letters. There is a lot of love and truth in the red letters!

There can never be too much focus on the black letters. Preferring to look the other way is tantamount to enabling.

 

[Heathen Hammer]

I'm not trying to deny, I am flat out denying. There simply is no historical evidence of such a thing. For instance, when Christians went underground (for a relatively short period), they left us with a huge amount of evidence that they still were around.

And now we have a Hellenistic tradition (again, which one) that supposedly remained underground for over a millennia, yet shows no such evidence of having existed. Instead, we see evidence for the tradition dying out, and then later on being reconstructed. And really, that makes the most logical sense as we have seen a recent resurgence of reconstructed religions. It falls under neopaganism.
I don't doubt you exist. In fact, I have heard quite a bit of a reconstructed Hellenistic religion. However, there simply is not much history to it.
I know quite a bit about Hellenistic religions. I have studied Hellenistic religions for quite a bit of time now simply for a better understanding of the world that surrounded Jesus and Early Christianity. I also know quite a bit about the recreational religions that have emerged in the last few decades. I also know that they don't have any real evidence showing that they are a continuation from the old religions, especially when most members are not even practicing the religion like the ancients did.
If you want people to believe that the gods have always been worshipped (it is a small g for gods. God refers to one specific god), you need to show evidence.

And I am sorry for your experiences with some Christians. However, insulting them all simply is ridiculous.

In this exchange you have an actual Hellenic worshipper, telling you he has associates who DO have long traditional family histories, with documentation; you then go on to state that you, an American who has merely studied this faith from afar, knows FOR A FACT that his faith died out and was only reconstructed recently... despite saying you studied what surrounded /early/ versions only in regards to your own?

... Does this arrogance not clue you in to possibly another reason why your faith isn't looked on too kindly? A bad reputation which you then compound with the weakening comment that his Gods cannot be addressed in writing with a capital 'G'? AND have the gall to label it 'recreational' as well?

The Norse indigenous faith also survived underground, despite a murderous campaign by yours to wipe it out. Please, tell me also about my faith's history, I'll be quite tickled.

 

[Jainarayan]

I was talking about the individuals who vote according to their worldview and moral systems (not different than I do). Religion does not have to be a part of the school for people to interject their standards based on their personal worldview which stems from their religious faith. Non-religious do the same thing. We all vote on issues for our country, state, leaders, schools, etc based on our personal worldviews/ideologies/moral compasses, etc. Since schools are secular my children are being taught from a worldly pov (which yes is our choice for sending them to public school). So forgive me if it strikes me as funny to hear people complain about all they have to put up with from the "religious people" in their day-to-day lives. Perhaps they should stand on the other side of the fence once in a while and think of all we have to put up with from the worldly worldview day-to-day. That was my point. (I am not advocating that it be changed from this, that is a totally separate debate, to understand you will need to reread the discussion previous in this thread)

I'm not complaining about putting up with religious people; I have my own religious views. I was addressing only the issue that religious views have no place in the voting booth, school board meeting or legislature. I don't care what anyone believes or doesn't believe in the privacy of their home, temple, synagogue, mosque, church or other place of worship. I just don't want to see anyone's "moral values" creep into government or schools if those moral values are based on religion.

 

[doppelganger]

Sometimes there can be too much focus on the black letters. There is a lot of love and truth in the red letters!

The Bible usually ends up being a reflection of the attitudes, feelings and fears of the particular believer augmented by their socio-cultural situation. So if you come to the Bible with fragmented psyche, heavy with unresolved guilt, you can be a "Christian" and spew some awful stuff all the while justifying it with Bible passages. And if you're more toward the integrated or self-actualized side of the spectrum, you can find in the Bible many beautiful writings expressing mystical, mythological and psychological truths that inspire feelings of humility, compassion and tolerance. Now, of course, the former type is probably more common under the guise of "Christianity" because ancient mythology is, in large part, a form of primitive therapy, and as such has a ready market in the fractured and injured. The divisiveness, arrogance, fear, etc. that comes out aren't intrinsic to Christianity. They are intrinsic to a damaged mind that might coincidentally be trying to use ostensibly "Christian" belief to soothe itself.

 

[pwfaith]

I'm not complaining about putting up with religious people; I have my own religious views. I was addressing only the issue that religious views have no place in the voting booth, school board meeting or legislature. I don't care what anyone believes or doesn't believe in the privacy of their home, temple, synagogue, mosque, church or other place of worship. I just don't want to see anyone's "moral values" creep into government or schools if those moral values are based on religion.

Do you completely separate yourself from your personal worldview when you vote?