Category: the Rant Board
ok, this is gonna go off topic and i'm sorry. i'm just fucking sick of so called christians judging people because they do not go to church or something. and some churches have the audasity to make people donate. what the heck? i can garentee you that god would not want that. also, i know of people that have had people walk away from them because they did not go to church or the right church. i'm a christian myself and i hate to hear about people doing shit like that. and another thing, what is with all these damn christian station translators and shit? i mean you can't even really use an ipod transmitter anymore because you have all these damn translators on. it's crazy. i can't believe people were allowed to do this. there has to be a loophole somewhere that people have been exploiting for years. ok guys my rant is over. i know i went all over the bored but i feel much better for saying it :). later to all.
I second this. Everyone's a hypocrite, but my grapes! there should be a limit. Us Christians aren't supposed to be judgmental and we preach it up and down, then we start to think we can tell people where they'll be going when they die and what their future holds. It's so annoying. I think it's religious folk, for the most part, that are so quick to judge and label people. Then we wonder why people don't have a faith. People are so quick to go back on their word and not practice what they preach.
I have so many ideas to throw around, and I'm not even Christian. I'll give you the one that I think is the biggest problem, I think. OK, so when a person does whatever they have to do to officially be considered a Christian, they have not given up their humanity. They are unfortunately still subject to all the flaws in human nature. Unfortunately, I think many people are very lazy and believe that when you become saved, you don't have to actually work on being a nice person anymore because your place in the afterlife is guaranteed. Again, not sure if this is Christian doctrine, but it's what I observe of people. So, people will just fall back into their old stupid jerk ways, but now they have religion to justify their actions, so they believe they are just right because they hooked up with the Lord. They're wrong, I believe, and I bet god's gonna say a thing or three about it to them, but there ya go. Another problem is that although there are many denominations, each one claims they are the absolute truth straight from God and all other churches are false, so everybody wants to be right and not suffer the humiliation of being wrong. Third, so many people are raised in religious teachings which emphasize fear and guilt and threats. So people are taught that people should become Christians solely out of fear of going to hell if htey don't or some such thing.
Godzilla, you are so right. I totally agree with all three points. They make perfect sense.
this whole topic is so very very sad. Going to church has very little to do with being a christian. Some of the meanest most destructive behavior i have observed and experienced has occurred in churches. There is no such thing as a perfect religion, congregation, or christian. All of us are sinners who have been saved by grace. Even if a perfect church existed, when I joined, it would get messed up because I am not. .
All that aside, I believe in the romans virse "if you say with your mouth that jesus is lord and believe in your heart that he has risen from the dead, then you will be saved." I feel so grateful that he died for my sins that I want to honor, worship, and praise him forever. Now, I often don't do this the right way, and I am a sinner. I do gossip, eat too mmuch, yell at my kids, worry too much, am lazy, am vain, unkind, and act like an idiot. Thank goodness the God I believe in loves me and is extremely patient. He gets asked to forgive me often and repeatedly for the same things I can't learn not to do over and over again!!!!
Comparing myself with others only leads to bitterness and dissatisfaction. My spot in the earthly puzzle was made to fit only me. No matter how hard I try, i can't make any one else able to go in to my space and I am unable to live in theirs.
In order to have a happy and productive life, I have decided that instead of worrying about what bad Christians my fellow churchgoers are, I should work on improving myself. If I spend enough time trying to make my tiny part of the world better, then what my neighbor does or does not do shouldn't be that important.
Now, you don't have to reach for the insulin. I promise you won't get diabetes from reading all these sweet thoughts!!! I try. Somedays all the high flown ideals above work and often they don't. the glorious part of life is that each day we go to sleep and tomorrow we wake up standing at the top of a new page in the book of life. it is our choice if it holds a beautiful poem, a roadmap to success, an exciting adventure, a dream fulfilled, or a bunch of bullshit or hate. We are humans we can decide.
Finally, I strongly believe on that so called judgment day, lots of people are going to be surprised where they end up. I hope I end up in the heavenly club med and not the hilton in hell.
we're all sinners? that doesn't make sense. so a baby, that's just been born an hour ago is a sinner? no. we wern't saved buy anything. we make our own choices in this world. it's all bollocks. how can you sit there and say god loves you, yet is perfectly happy to sit back and watch all the trouble that goes on in there world. if there is a god, he's forgotten about you all, or he doesn't give a toss. just my personal opinion.
as for the hole christians steriotyping and trying to force you to believe what they believe thing. that's just people who can't accept the fact that people don't want to clutch at the same straws they do. i know quite a few christians, and the majority of them are fine. they believe, i don't. and they're cool with that. i even have a friend who is a witness. and she's never tried to force her beliefs on me. in fact, we spend hours argueing about religion. on the other side of that, i had someone write into the radio station where i work, and say that i was a dispicable young man who shouldn't be aloud on the radio. all because i used the words, "for god's sake" or "for christ's sake". that as far as i'm conserned is just stupid.
anyway, i think i've digressed. lol.
dan.
no, babies are not sinners. that is ridiculous. i know it is logically inconsistent with what i said in a previous message, but it is my right to be logically inconsistent.
god is huge and multifaceted. in order to grasp him, if we believe, we tend to put him in a box of our understanding. i also think god gets blamed for a lot of stuff. the god i believe in is like a good parent. he lets us experience the consequences of the dumb stuff we do and will help if you ask. the problems in this world are cause by the choices we make. intollerance and cruelty are as universal as love and kindness.
yeah, sure.your god will help if you ask. that's why they'res still an aids eppidemic in africa, war and fammin all over the world...people havn't asked him for help with these things? i'm sure they have. he hasn't done bollock all.
Dan:
First off, babies are not sinners, but they are born into sin. Their parents have sinned, the doctor that delivered it has sinned, and the child will sin in the future.
As for God's assistance, God helps those who believe in and have faith in Him. Just because a few people pray for Him to help everyone, doesn't mean he will. Why should He? That everyone that those few people are praying for don't believe in Him. God isn't going to intervene in every bad situation or circumstance by default.
And where in the Bible does it say that when a person get saved, their life is supposed to be perfect, nothing will go wrong, and they'll have a life without pain, loss, and hurt and harm? If you can find it, give the book, chapter, and verse, and I'll be happy to admit I'm incorrect.
If we make a choice, we must deal with the consequences. If you touch fire, you get burned, and that's all there is to it. How long you leave your hand on the fire determines the degree of the burn. Sometimes, we are able to relieve ourselves of troublesome circumstances, and if not, others are. But other times, if we're stuck, we're stuck. And if a train comes along, then we're fucked. Wow, that rhymes! I digress.
And Turricane, I love your writing style. You're amazingly articulate.
Oh yes, and I forgot, I have a question. Using the Lord's name in vein is wrong, and I know atheists and such people don't care. But why do atheists ans such people say things like "Oh, my God!", or "For Christ Sake!" Why use expressions like that if one does not believe in God or follow Christ? It just doesn't make any sense to me.
ok raven, first off. people use things like oh my god and jesus christ just in everyday language these days. doesn't mean they believe, and i don't know why they do it. i asked the same question myself a few weeks ago. but it's just something people do i guess.
secondly, my point is, we're all supposed to be, and i quote, "god's children". whether i believe or not is different. but if we're all apparently his children, shouldn't he love us all equally?
and...i've more to add to this. but it's 04:30 in the morning, and i can't think straight. lol.
dan.
Benito why are you so angry? What are you doing to help the aids patients, suffering people in africa etc? What are you doing to take care of the poor in your neighborhood? Get over yourself.
Instead of worrying about what God is not doing, try thinking about what you can do to solve the problems. As my dear son would say "get your head out of your butt and look around."
Raven, you are on target completely. Keep up the good work.
God loves everyone equally. Do you realized that giving us the ability to choose shows this? When he created the world, he could have made us all like my daughter's cat or my neighbors slobbering idiot beagle? We could have had our paths and goals programmed ahead of time. The fact that we have the opportunity to do great things or be villains shows that he has faith that at least some of us will appreciat him and do the right thing.
I will reiterate. God loves us all and watches us equally. Like me, I kknow that he cries over starving babies and people who murder in his name. He never turns his back. It is we who shut the door, turn out the lights and walk away.
Phew. I guess this is why I am writing on the rant board.
turricane, i'm not at all angry, just cinical. extremely cinical. and you ask what i'm doing? well, what is your so called all powerful all loving all forgiving god doing? the people are still starving, babies still die of aids, the poor still go without. they prey, and he doesn't listen. nothing changes. and nothing will. there's no god coming to save us. we wern't born into sin. we make our own choices of wheather we sin or not. admittedly, we're not perfect, who is. but the world will always be the same, no matter how many people pray for it to change. people will still die, people will still starve, people will still go homeless. there will always be wars in the world as long as there are humans. because people are corrupt. and there'll always be people who hunger for power and money. and people who don't care how many innocent lives they have to destroy to get what they want.
having said all that, let me reitterate that i am in no means angry. just extremely cinical and skeptical about the hole thing. i have nothing against the majority of christians, except these people who knock on your door and try to force the bible down your throat. or these people who think they're better than me because they have some sort of faith. well...i'd choose to have faith in myself and the people around me. rather than in something i can't see and have no proof of existing. and i've made it clear above, i've already lost my faith in the majority of humanity. lol.
but no, i have nothing against the majority of christians, like i said. except catholicism. which i think is one of the most evil institutions in the world. but...yeah. there's not enough space here for me to rant about that. lol.
I just believe that there are no supernatural forces that govern or orchestrate human affairs at all. Things happen just because they do, and there's no great cosmic reason or purpose to it. I do not believe in gods or fates or what is or is not meant to be. As for prayer, one thing I find amusing is that when people talk about prayers being answered, people assume whatever force or agency is in the business of prayer processing and response will always answer yes. Now, I think that "no" is a perfectly acceptable and legit answer. Makes the supernatural look like some sort of otherworldly Santa Claus, really. Think, for example, of the faith-healing example of blindness. So some person who believes in faith healing sees a blind person on the street. They encourage yonder blind person to attend their church service so that their god can magically turn the person from a blind person into a fully sighted person by the power of healing magic. The blind person goes, the rituals occur, and when it's all done, the blind person is still blind. The blind person is then blamed for not having enough faith, probably because the healers did not consider that god heard the prayers and saw the rituals and said, "Hey, far as I'm concerned, I'm cool with this person the way he is. The answer is no."
Dan my dear, let me ask you something. Would you help out a person if they shunned you, tried to degrade your name, and never gave a shit about you? I'm sure the answer is no. Just like people choose to befriend others, people choose to believe in God. If someone chooses to be your friend, they're choosing to talk to you, spend time with you, put some form of trust in you, and to give assistance or receive your assistance. Well, it's the same way with God. When people choose to believe in and have faith in Him, they're choosing to talk with Him, trust Him, and take His advice and assistance.
I'm not trying to get you to believe in God, just to help you understand the logic behind it all.
Yes, there are some hideous things that go on in the world. While some people bring it upon themselves, others are affected by circumstances beyond their control. This is where you'd expect God to come in. But God is not some fairy godparent who will come to your assistance at the snap of a finger.
Dan, say you have three children. Two of them love you dearly, and the other treats you like you're nonexistent. One day, the child that never speaks a word to or visits you, calls and begs you for money. What would you do?
digressive distortion bingo great jjob again.
Benito i still ask, instead of whining about them what are you doing to solve the world's problems? it's easy to point a finger and blaim someone you can't see. it's far more dificult to use that pointing hand as a helping one.
As I said before, you are putting god in the box of your negative experience.
As for the faith healing thing, here is my answer when I'm approached on that touchy subject.
In the bible, where healing blind people is discussed, the greek word for blindness refers to spiritual blindness or turning away from god. English is such an inexact language.
The requester of faith healing is putting god in his box. to him blindness is an existance in hell. Now we all know that kind of life is a choice not a given actuality. I tell people that God made me blind so people will remember me and what I stand for. There are plenty of them. How many blond blue eyed christian ladies in prairie dresses do you see? Most folk don't know that many blind people. So if I live my life according to my principles, which happen to be christian ones, then I will be remembered and have a good witness.
AS a christian, I have a veryi hard time with door knocking. If you come up to my house, I'll shut mine in your face. The rolls royce company doesn't have a high advertising budget. Why should I talk to someone who is advocating a belief system. I won't follow it unless and until I see it in action
ENough pontificating for this day.
fair enough raven, you make good points. and i see where your coming from.
turricane, i'm not blaming god for anything. to blame him means i'd have to believe in him in the first place.
I'm glad I helped you understand. I figured that with the right examples, I could make this at least make a little sense.
it makes sense. but i'm still always going to be quite skeptical about the hole thing. but thank you anyway raven. :D
I’m glad to see that others have experienced the feelings I have regarding Christianity and its hysterical followers. I am in my last year of college and during a bad spot in my life I was brought to Christianity… I sucked up the bullshit for a couple years and when I realized it was a huge mind fuck I left the church. I was consistently pressured into being healed of my visual impairment and the list of crazy accusations of having an spirit of anger and frustration and other demons inside me continues. I’ll believe that demon shit when I see some one pull it out of me.
If there is a hell the blood of us hell bound people is on the hands of the closed-minded and exclusive members of the church. I have experienced the harshest of treatment and I went to church each Sunday and led with prayer teams, dance teams, praise teams and was a part of bible studies. My physical distinctness caused people to speak to me as if I was a child and take the credit from projects that I work on or ideas I thought of. This happens in the world everyday and I’m not naive to that fact. I know the Christian doctrine and no bible reference or threat of hell or any other fear based method of mind control will change my mind. The worst of it is I’ve seen amazing people turn into airheaded gender oppressing bitches and bastards. Oh and lastly when my pastor asked me if I ever had sex when we were alone in my apartment I dropped any faith I had. A married man of God shouldn’t be concerned with a single females sex life especially when he has confessed to having problems with lusting after other women.
I think that if church works for people that it’s amazing and beautiful. I’d rather figure out the root of my faith on my own without any threat of hellfire’s.
I didn't realize that anger and frustration were caused by invading spirits/demons. I thought they were just emotions, and perfectly healthy ones to have. But what do I know, I'm agnostic.
Once again, I am totally flabbergasted by the crap people perpetrate in the name of God. Often I think he just shakes his head. I've said this on several topics today, but where oh where did common sense go? Oh where oh wear can it be? If going to church means that all so called negative emotions must be denied and expunged, then I truly have lived on this earth too long. If this is the bs that young kids are hearing, no wonder the church is endanger of extinction in this country.
Emotions are not demonic. The god I believe in makes all things including emotions Therefore he doesn't put destructive ones in to us. We are given freedom of choice. Therefore we are allowed to use emotions positively or negatively. Is the anger righteous? Does it cause the angry individual to turn it outward to solve a perceived or actual wrong? Is it turned inward on the angry person who lets it eat him/her up and take over their entire life letting them become bitter and hate filled? I suspect that most of us would fall between those two extreme examples. God provides the emotion. We decide how to use it.
Maturing is learning how to identify and proactively and positively use our emotions. My god does not want us to become happy happpy happy stepford wives or husbands. Enjoy your day.
Oh I'm a christian, some would say I'm not because I don't go to church, but i said that's bull... you can talk to god where ever you are.
yeah, they say going to church doesn't make you a Christian.
some of the least christian people I know are the most fervent attendees at church. When my daughter was in 2nd grade we attended an elaboratelly beautiful wedding at a particularly well known congregation. It was a very modern and huge building. During an especially moving and quiet time of the ceremony she looked at me and said in that little girl whisper that can be hurd 150 miles away "mommy, where is god?" I said "not now sweetie. You know he is everywhere. Why are you asking?" "well if he is everywhere, how come he isn't in this church."
Frankly, I felt just as she did. I said "sweetie, hush we'll talk about this later." Too bad it was before the advent of harry potter. An invisibility cloak would have been most welcome.
you know we have been discussing this topic and i just had an epiphany which i had to pass on. the "so called christians" are not christians. They have hijacked the adjective but are not using it. therefore they are not christians. no christian who really walks the walk and doesn't just talk the talk would do this stuff. don't judge the entire barrel of delicious sweet apples by a few rotten nasty ones.
I've had my share of negative and, in some cases just plain bizarre, experiences involving this very issue. My first ever girlfriend was a self-proclaimed devout Christian. Now before I continue I want it understood that I have no problem at all with Christianity in and of itself, even if I'm not necessarily part of a faith. I've got friends who are Christians and don't buy into the judge everybody else bullshit. I believe God's out there and, although some might call me a sinner for saying it, I like to think he's got a sense of humor. I mean where else would our ability to laugh come from? I like to think the way he was portrayed in the movie Bruce Almighty captures what he's really all about. A wise parent who just happens to also be a bit of a wisecracker. He's give us all the power to do what we need and want to do. My guess is he's trying, by allowing all the suffering and hardship and stuff, to get us all to buckle down and realize we can do more for ourselves and work towards bettering our condition. As others have pointed out he could easily have made us all the way he wanted and given us no choice in the matter. Instead he chose to give us free will, knowing full well there was every possibility we might end up as we are.
But as I said my first girlfriend was a Christian. Unfortunately she's one of those people who would probably, if given an opportunity, go door to door with a bible prepared to ram it down your throat. In short one of those people who tells you you'll go to hell for reading the Harry Potter novels or even the Lord of the Rings, which I need hardly point out was written by a very devout Christian and, when you get right down to it, is a Christian story. Oh and let's nnot forget C.S. Lewis. They go on and on about his books on Christianity while conveniently forgetting about the Chronicles of Narnia, another Christian themed story, even if Lewis hadn't necessarily intended it to be such. But the parallels are there. It didn't matter what you did. Chelsey would find fault with it. And then of course there's the lovely little gem about what sin your parents could have committed to cause you to be born blind. I've never gotten that one directed at me but I know folks who have.
Then I had a bizarre experience a few years ago while sitting in a bus station in Salem, Oregon. I was sitting there waiting for a bus and an elderly gentleman walked up to me and handed me a paper. He told me to find someone to read it to me when I got home and I'd get two new, working eyes when I got to Heaven. I don't know about other folks but I'm ok with being blind even if it does have its drawbacks. But then again it could also have been something to do with redemption again. I don't know.
There's nothing wrong with saying that God has a sense of humor. He does indeed! If He can cry for us, He can laugh at us, too.
And I hate it when people come up to you and want to pray over you to have your vision returned. I am a Christian, but it just bothers me that people think that just because someone has a disability, handicap, or impairment that they must be miserable, or just can't possibly live a happy and fulfilling life.
I myself would never take my vision back if the opportunity was available or possible. I don't know how to live like a sighted person, and I think that it would be a huge step back this late in the game of life.
Anyone agree with or oppose this? Why? Why not?
I agree. Even if a surgery or some similar operation existed to correct my vision loss I most likely wouldn't take it. Like you I have no clue how to live as a sighted person. A lot of people are shocked by this, but oh well. Such is life. And sighted folks also seem to have this notion that we should have no sense of humor, particularly about blindness. I actually had a girl tell me once that I shouldn't make jokes about my being blind because that was a sign of low self-esteem or something. It's a little thing alled human nature. We laugh at ourselves from time to time. I'd rather live with blindness and laugh about it than get all uptight about it and wish for a surgery or something that probably won't appear in my lifetime. Anybody ever gotten the fix you remark? "Someday maybe they'll be able to fix you." I'm not broken. The environment is. And the truth is I'd give the same answer in the probably highly unlikely event that a car was someday developed that a blind person could drive both safely and totally independently. Even if such a car were to come along someday, and more particularly in my lifetime, the likelyhood is extremely igh that by that time I'll be far too old and crusty and set in my ways. And it's nice not having to worry about car insurance. Besides, getting back on topic here or as close as possible, maybe God had a reason for my being blind. Or maybe there are limits to even his power (obviously or he would have mmolded us into his design without giving us the ability to choose), and blindness was the price for my being spared. And if that's the case then it would be ungreatful at the least to try to pray for me to get my vision back even if I truly wanted it. Don't get me wrong I get frustrated with blindness from time to time, I don't know anyone who doesn't at least sometimes, but that's how I am and will always be. After all, he could have let me die in spite of all those people's prayers. He didn't. So that ought to be enough.
agreed raven. even if i had the oppertunity to have my site, i wouldn't do it. i've always been like this, i cope fine, i'm happy. why change it?
I would never take my sight back for anything.
Their not really Christians when they judge & sterotype, just remember that.
Agree with Brian on this one. God had a reason for making us the way we are. We'll never understand it until we can ask Him, and He chooses to answer us in some way. When people talk to me about acquiring sight, I tell them I wouldn't want to. For starters, at 52, I don't want to have to "rebuild" my life. I tell people that learning to live with vision for me would be as difficult for them as learning to live without theirs.
Lou
What do you expect from people? Everyone is imperfect. What were you expecting to find in a church? Saints? members of some superhuman race?
What I think is funny is that you Christians who criticize your "brothers" and find so much fault in them can't do any better than them even though you supposedly know better. This is just more proof to me that religion doesn't work.
Some of you might be better off joining up with druggies or homeless persons, people who are shipwrecked in the thick of scum and really know what life is all about. There aren't any hypocrites among them. I bet they'd treat you a lot better.
Ok. Time for the Baptist preacher to weigh in on this topic, not because I feel like it will solve a blessed thing, but because I have a voice, too. I'd first like to say that I agree with Turricane, and Raven's "theology" regarding this subject.
As for Aids, starving people in various countries, and the rest of it, let me say that God is not obligated to get us out of a mess he didn't get us into. Africa has the most mineral-rich soil of any country, and from what they say, anything can grow there! Tell me why the starving people there are not making food grow, and bettering themselves? They also have the most gold in the world. Why is nobody mining it, selling it, and providing for their families?
India is another starving country, full of goats, cows, chickens, pigs, and many other species of animals. The problem is, they worship the animals, rather than making food out of them! Tell me why they're starving? Is it God's fault, or is it their own belief system that keeps them starving? While we're at it, why is there no rants on things like this? Why does nobody rant about all the starving people we send money to who have a cow outside their door that they worship, when they could be eating it?
As for the AIDS epidemic, that particular disease has been linked with sex, and IV drugs, yet the incidents of unprotected sex and IV drug use has not declined because of it. Both have skyrocketed. Now, you will argue with me about the innocent people who get blood transfusions that are infected, and you may have a valid argument there, but the dirty blood usually comes from a dirty lifestyle! Blame the perverts, not God for that problem.
If you vandalized your neighbor's house, killed his cat, and abused his child, why would he help you? That's what this world is doing to God every day! Why is he just going to help them? He's not a whipping post, you know.
Just some thoughts.
Well, Jesse, I find it interesting that a preacher is basically using his interpretation of scripture to justify Social Darwinism.
Not that I have a problem with Social Darwinism or your religion, I just think it's funny that the more religion tries to modernize itself and deal with real-world problems, as opposed to purely theological ones, the more in line it gets with realist or secular ideologies. Even the Catholic Church has accepted Evolutionary Theory as valid these days.
As for the first post, one could easily swap out the word "Christian" with any other groups label. People love to divide each other and fight amongst each other. That's the history of the world.
I'm convinced people are hypocrites by nature. Yeah, you can argue about those who do it once in a while and those who make it a lifestyle, but that's just splitting hairs, which doesn't interest me. Once we can accept that humans are all hypocrites by nature, then perhaps we can stop using that tired accusation.
There is one thing I forgot to say regarding God though. If a person believes in him according to the Bible, regardless of what he or she has done, but just takes Him at His word and accepts His free gift of salvation, He will give them a new life, forgiveness of sins, and a home in Heaven. He may not take the AIDS, the starvation, or any other of the worldly problems away, but at least there is grace to bear them.
As for Darwin, even he had a thread of truth in his lies. Also, he confessed that his theories were wrong just before he died, recanted them, and trusted Jesus Christ. Why would we believe a guy who admitted he was wrong?
Pretty heavy logical fallacy there. Darwin's alleged deathbed confession has no bearing on the verifiable facts and body of theory known as Evolution. If it indeed happened, which no credible account indicates, it may have been motivated by fear, dementia, or any other factor. Also, the Evolutionary thought has expanded and refined itself way way way past anything Darwin ever wrote.
You might want to actually read up on Evolution before you attempt to tear it down with such weak arguments.
Nobody seems to consider the fact that both arguments could have truth in them. The world might have been created by God, but I personally believe e ust set us on the way, so to speak. God might have merely started the machinery, so to speak.
To the last post... That's a fucking awesome point and a good reminder that a few words can say a lot.
It does seem like at least in this topic, it's the non-Christians who are being judgmental for the most part. Just my view, but usually, if somebody says they're a Christian, all the unbelievers jump down their throats, but people say they're atheists, and God forbid one of us says anything negative to them. Why do we have to sit back and take it, while they can run wild with their judgmentalism?
How are we being judgmental here, by recounting our experiences? And just because we don't follow the bible to the letter and all that does not make us unbelievers.
I believe all people are judgmental for no better reason than it's just something people do. That's a mighty unsatisfactory answer, but it's what I think. I do not think either having a faith or not having one takes a non-judgmental person and turns them into a hater or a biggot or any other sort of mean nasty ugly person. That stuff was already written into the software, so to speak. We all think we can somehow prove we are superior by implication by pointing out the flaws in others because nobody wants to look at the monster in their own mirror, so to speak. Yes, I'm cynical, before you say so. LOL!
Oh I'm pretty much the same wayy.
You're right. We are, but it doesn't make it right. I mean, shouldn't we all work to clean up that part of the bug in the software?
I get the feeling we're all waiting around for somebody else to do it first. Hahahahahaha!
Agree with the "bug in the software" analogy. I think that by our very nature we're all not going to be 100 percent consistent in our beliefs and behaviors. I think we try, but the real "joy in the journey" is that if we're brutally honest with ourselves, we work toward that goal of consistency between our beliefs and actions.
Lou
That's an excellent point Godzilla. I think we've come to depend on God for things that, when you get right down to it, are quite within our power to change.
No, I don't think people are waiting around for God to just make people better. It's kind of like a bunch of people sitting around saying "I'll quit judging people if that guy over there quits judging first" and the guy over there says the same thing about somebody else and so on. Nobody wants to take the initiative because they'd rather somebody else take the responsibility first, then they might go along afterwords. LOL!
Well that's true too.
I'm totally in agreement with those who are against religion. I'm right there with ya!!
Heilsa, I am a Heathen, a practitioner of an ancient Germanic faith called Asatru. I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me I'd "Find God" one day. Who's fucking place is it to say when/if someone will find the Christ God? I know for a fact I won't, it's just not in me. I worship Odin and the Aesir and the Vanir too, nothing wrong with that. Since when did Christianity go from the oppressed Faith of a hand full of folks to "Judge You Inc.?"
Exactly. People should be able to practice whatever faith they want without other people putting them down.
If people can't have whatever handicap they have, be whatever nationality they are, and make whatever kind of income they do without being put down, why would you ever expect people to be able to practice whatever faith or religion they desire without someone undermining them? I'm not saying that putting others down because they are different is right, but I'm saying that it should just be expected. And it's something we must all live with and learn to cope with.
why is judging bad? every one makes observations. Everyone has opinions. It's what we do with the information that is either good or bad. If we use it to put someone down, then it is negative and unproductive. If it is a part of building up others or encouraging them then it is the ideal toward which we should strive.
No one on this earth owns right. No one on this earth is the sole keeper of truth.
Just an observation but the majority of you who defend your right to not believe in god certainly back it up with a lot of bad language. The over use of fuck shit damn and hell doesn't convince me of anything except that you need to expand your vocabulary. If your belief system encourages love and respect, that is not the way to show it.
Nobody should ever just get used to persecution. If it isn't right to persecute the different, why continue doing it?
Undermining people because they are different isn't right. But I wasn't saying that people should get used to it, I was just saying that we should expect it. Those who continue to shun and undermine those who are different do it by choice, and there really isn't an assured way to stop them. They do it because they think their way is the right way, and the only way.
it can be argued that if I am a christian and I am putting down others, then I am not acting as God would want me to. I'm making a big departure from the teachings I'm espousing. The Bible clearly state to love our neighbor as we would love ourselves.
We can disagree with someone's beliefs. They have the god given right to express them. It is when they want me to follow them or criticize me for not doing so that I draw the line.
It is ok to say that my beliefs are dumb, but saying that me or anyone else is stupid for believing something is wrong.
From birth, each of us was given the ability to make choices. We don't need to step on others while doing so. Am I making sense?
Indeed, Holly. I agree with you one hundred percent.