Tired of being called a sinner?

[TheAceOfKnaves]

Well lets put it this way, I don't have a problem with it one time. It's when I have asked the person to stop and they don't that I do think it is disrespectful. You see, I don't see how another human can adequately decide my status with God. It is an assumption on their part that I am wrong and going to hell. It is pretty hard for them to be coming from a place of not feeling superior to me, or feeling that I am wrong when they do "lovingly" tell me I'm a sinner. So given that fact, it is disrespectful imo.

No, I agree. I'm not going to shove my religion down someones throat, much as I'd sometimes like to. I think too many Christians have adopted this "convert everyone or die trying" mentality. That's not to say I'm not going to try to "convert" people, or however you want to put it, but if someone is tired of what you are saying there's no way you're going to convince them any differently.

 

[Comicaze247]

I have a couple of thoughts on that. First, God IS all-loving. The Bible says God IS love. He has been that way forever. BUT, He is also totally a righteous Judge. That is just as much a part of His eternal nature. In a sense, His justice protects His love. Second, the notion that God would enjoy sending people to hell is at best ill-informed. He died on the cross to provide a way to satisfy both His love AND His justice.Lastly, during His three years on earth before He died for us, Jesus spoke more about hell than He did aboiut heaven. So it is definitely a part of what God says is reality.

We are God's children, correct? So he is our parent.
The way I view the ideal parent-child relationship is this: unconditional love. He would love us for all our faults. For better or for worse.
Some define Hell as a place with the "absence of God." So that means he has abandoned those who are sent to hell.
So, if your child were to make a mistake or live a lifestyle you don't approve of, does that mean you would disown him/her? How is that loving? How is that unconditional love?

And about Jesus dying on the cross to "save" us. He's harming himself for us, correct?
If your parents were harming themselves to "save" you, wouldn't you be concerned?
Isn't that a guilt trip? Is guilting somebody into doing what you say love? Isn't that a bit manipulative?

IMHO, if this is who the true "God" is, he's mentally ill at best.

 

[challupa]

No, I agree. I'm not going to shove my religion down someones throat, much as I'd sometimes like to. I think too many Christians have adopted this "convert everyone or die trying" mentality. That's not to say I'm not going to try to "convert" people, or however you want to put it, but if someone is tired of what you are saying there's no way you're going to convince them any differently.

Yes, people tend to dig in their heels when they are confronted time after time with the same tactics. Not everyone in the world needs to be Christian. There is room for all the religions and non-religions imo.

 

[challupa]

We are God's children, correct? So he is our parent.
The way I view the ideal parent-child relationship is this: unconditional love. He would love us for all our faults. For better or for worse.
Some define Hell as a place with the "absence of God." So that means he has abandoned those who are sent to hell.
So, if your child were to make a mistake or live a lifestyle you don't approve of, does that mean you would disown him/her? How is that loving? How is that unconditional love?

And about Jesus dying on the cross to "save" us. He's harming himself for us, correct?
If your parents were harming themselves to "save" you, wouldn't you be concerned?
Isn't that a guilt trip? Is guilting somebody into doing what you say love? Isn't that a bit manipulative?

IMHO, if this is who the true "God" is, he's mentally ill at best.

Yes there are so many contradictions like these in the god story. I think we have projected ourselves onto a being we call god.

 

[Comicaze247]

Yes there are so many contradictions like these in the god story. I think we have projected ourselves onto a being we call god.

And I have yet to hear actual answers to these contradictions.

 

[Storm]

Yes there are so many contradictions like these in the god story. I think we have projected ourselves onto a being we call god.

And I have yet to hear actual answers to these contradictions.

Which God story? There's not just one, ya know.

 

[Comicaze247]

Which God story? There's not just one, ya know.

The Christian "God" story. I mentioned Jesus in a previous post. I don't know enough about other "God" stories to really say anything about them.

 

[Storm]

There are contradictions in the Bible, sure. Apart from that, could you provide an example?

 

[Comicaze247]

There are contradictions in the Bible, sure. Apart from that, could you provide an example?

An example of other contradictions? From my understanding, the Bible is absolute and all the rules and beliefs of Christianity are drawn from it, so I don't know where else to look for contradictions.

 

[Storm]

An example of other contradictions? From my understanding, the Bible is absolute and all the rules and beliefs of Christianity are drawn from it, so I don't know where else to look for contradictions.

Christianity does not necessitate the doctrines of Biblical inerrancy or Literalism, popular as they are. I know there are minor contradictions and scientific errors in Scripture, and I'm not arguing that. What I was getting at was, Scriptural minutia aside, do you see any contradictions in the general story? The Passion, for instance?

 

[challupa]

Which God story? There's not just one, ya know.

That's perfectly true. However, I do think we as humans project ourselves onto a higher source because it seems like gods are an awful lot like us in their actions. Many who believe in a higher power are not able to conceive of a being that may actually be totally loving and non judgmental. It kind of goes like this, God is Love, BUT......

 

[Storm]

Fair enough. I don't think we can help it, though.

 

[Comicaze247]

Christianity does not necessitate the doctrines of Biblical inerrancy or Literalism, popular as they are. I know there are minor contradictions and scientific errors in Scripture, and I'm not arguing that. What I was getting at was, Scriptural minutia aside, do you see any contradictions in the general story? The Passion, for instance?

If you're talking about the movie, The Passion of the Christ, I haven't seen it. And I'm getting the feeling that I'm really not understanding what you're asking. Perhaps it's because I should get more than 3 hours of sleep a night in order to function properly, lol.

 

[challupa]

Fair enough. I don't think we can help it, though.

You know I think I would have to agree with you there. That's why I think it's important that we don't buy into our projections to the point where we think our projection is better than any one else's. Although I'm also not sure we can help that either:thud:

 

[Storm]

If you're talking about the movie, The Passion of the Christ, I haven't seen it. And I'm getting the feeling that I'm really not understanding what you're asking. Perhaps it's because I should get more than 3 hours of sleep a night in order to function properly, lol.

No, not the movie. The title comes from the formal word, though:

pas⋅sion –noun
[snip]
11. (often initial capital letter

) Theology.

a. the sufferings of Christ on the cross or His sufferings subsequent to the Last Supper.
b. the narrative of Christ's sufferings as recorded in the Gospels.
​

You know I think I would have to agree with you there. That's why I think it's important that we don't buy into our projections to the point where we think our projection is better than any one else's. Although I'm also not sure we can help that either:thud:

Oh, I think we can help that. I do, anyway, as do most UUs, so it must be possible.

 

[Comicaze247]

No, not the movie. The title comes from the formal word, though:

pas⋅sion –noun
[snip]
11. (often initial capital letter

) Theology.

a. the sufferings of Christ on the cross or His sufferings subsequent to the Last Supper.
b. the narrative of Christ's sufferings as recorded in the Gospels.​

​

I'll come back and answer that when my mind is in better working order, lol.

 

[challupa]

No, not the movie. The title comes from the formal word, though:

pas⋅sion –noun
[snip]
11. (often initial capital letter

) Theology.

a. the sufferings of Christ on the cross or His sufferings subsequent to the Last Supper.
b. the narrative of Christ's sufferings as recorded in the Gospels.
​

Oh, I think we can help that. I do, anyway, as do most UUs, so it must be possible.

Yes that has been my experience with Unitarians. They are one of the religions out there that truly do try to practice tolerance of one another. Another group I found when doing my research that quite surprised me was the Salvation Army. They are very tolerant and seem to have their priorities straighter than some.

 

[idea]

Tired of being called a sinner?

I don’t see what is so bad about people telling you your faults. I mean if you are walking around with your fly open, you want someone to tell you right? Personally I want to improve myself, if someone points out some way I can be a better person, I am going to listen and act on that. I mean what reason is there to go on living as a “sinner” or rude (sometimes you don’t realize what you are doing), or closed minded, or boring, or disloyal, or gossipy, or ….I mean wouldn’t you rather someone tell you what you are doing wrong, rather than continue to walk around in front of everyone with … your fly open so to speak?

If someone points out something to you say “Oh – I’m sorry, thank you for pointing that out. I’ll try to be better.” And then try to be better.


We all want to be better people right?

tolerance of one another. ....

Why not learn from one another... rather than just "tolerate" one another?

 

[CaptainBritain]

If anyone calls you a sinner, simply fire it straight back at them, the Good book tells us we all are and that we should not be the judges of others sin, I assume it was a Christian/s that said it, just tell em they should know better.

 

[challupa]

I don’t see what is so bad about people telling you your faults. I mean if you are walking around with your fly open, you want someone to tell you right? Personally I want to improve myself, if someone points out some way I can be a better person, I am going to listen and act on that. I mean what reason is there to go on living as a “sinner” or rude (sometimes you don’t realize what you are doing), or closed minded, or boring, or disloyal, or gossipy, or ….I mean wouldn’t you rather someone tell you what you are doing wrong, rather than continue to walk around in front of everyone with … your fly open so to speak?

If someone points out something to you say “Oh – I’m sorry, thank you for pointing that out. I’ll try to be better.” And then try to be better.


We all want to be better people right

Why not learn from one another... rather than just "tolerate" one another?

Well to answer your first question, I don't think anyone is a sinner, so I see no need for someone to tell me I am just because they hold the belief. I have no problem with people telling me about the other things you mentioned. I think it's true that most people want to be as good a person as they can.

Tolerance of each other is good. Learning is also good. If we can do both, wonderful.