I think what the original poster might be trying to get at is that while many people of a more spiritual viewpoint may have stronly held beliefs that they have crafted as being right for them, while also accepting that JoeBob next doorhas his own personal belief system that is also just right and meets his won personal spiritual needs. That some people can take the major themes from many of the worlds belief systems and see the similarities and the positive themes that run through them all and accept that maybe the journey is more important than the name of the street you choose to travel on. <-----Im rather proud of that quote LOL!

As opposed to the viewpoint of much of dogmatic organized religion believers or followers who feel that their belief system is the only one true way to salvation.

RedNeck, You present a view that seems to be becoming more and more scarce in the present day, moderate christians who are able to practice their own faith and deeply believe, while also affording others the right to do the same without passing judgment or damnation.

I personally have been put through the ringer by more than one god fearing christian, called all manner of names, insulted, damned to hell for my heathen ways, told I was unfit to be a mother, and also called a godless whore..to which I replied that technically Godfull or at least Goddess whore would be a better name to call me

The gospels of the new testament were written long after Jesus death, quite possibly by more than one person and after being told time and again. Ever play Telephone?

Not only that but many many books of the original bible were severly altered and many others were completely tossed out as heretical or untrue. Many of these books contained the more esoteric spiritual side of things while the books pertaining to history, moral behavior and rules were left in.

[edit on 11-2-2008 by gluetrap]

in buddhism no one told they are right, but buddha came a step closer to the real truth.. and what he did was to show others how to get there.

the majority of religions do not say what one can do to find the answer,
instead they give us answers, stating that there is one real answer
that is worng: you can look at something from different positions, and the same "truth" to us will be different from other points of views..

I think this can be explained by saying:

"Christianity is good, Christians are bad."

Try it. It works with any religion, because religion itself is not a fault, human beings are. Which is also why some religious texts can be confusing, incoherent, and contradicting... because people wrote them.

But that's just what this Atheist thinks.

This is what drives me nuts about threads like this. It is never anything new but the same arguments over and over and over and over and over again.

The historicity of Jesus, the canonization process, the reliability of the New Testament authorship, the difference between Old and New Testament revelations, etc. etc. I'm counting down the pages until someone posts the Zeitgeist movie. That is how predictable it has all become with how these threads always turn out. It would be so nice to discuss a topic relating to Christianity without having to drag in the same stale criticisms that have been answered repeatedly.

I apologize for being brief but the same arguments are brought every single time and it gets tiresome.

[edit on 2/12/2008 by AshleyD]

hmmm.....
Why do Christians always assume they are right?

Quick answer: For the same reason anyone with beliefs assumes they are right (otherwise it would be foolish to believe something assumed to be false).

Why do people who aren't Christians always assume they are right? (see answer above)

This thread is ridiculous. If you want to debate religions, this is a prime example of how not to start a conversation. Obviously, the OP has had a few bad experiences with Christians and the way they carry themselves. I have had these as well, but I have also had good experiences with them(the same could be said for any population I have experienced).

The OP is the mirror image of those Christians that inspired this thread in the first place.

I am not going to go out and say that anyone here is anti-Christian but from the volatile comments made, it could seem that way. One needs to explain their ideas in a way that others cannot mistake it for bigotry.

Response to original Ppster:

You won't know what I am (I don't even know what I am), but I have a beliefs. You don't know what those beliefs are because you don't know me. But because I am, therefore I think. Thinking leads to belief or some version thereof.

Why does anyone believe they are right? Because they think. Do you believe you are right? Well alrighty then.

Why do Christians always assume they're right?
They don’t so much as ‘assume they’re right, they know they’re right. They have this hard headed mind set that everyone who doesn’t accepting Jesus as their savoir is misguided and has fallen short of god’s glory.
Try talking to that (…..) from the bible camp and tell her she’s wrong, try telling AshleyD her god is just humanities expression of the universe. I, on the other hand am willing to accept Jesus and god as long as I’m given some physical proof – some logical evidence

That sounds a bit like someone is afraid of Christians. Why would you be afraid of someone that just has a belief system just like you have a belief system? Because you can't change their minds? or because your feel guilty?

Why would someone think a Christian is any more hard-headed than someone else who has a different belief system and refuses to think otherwise? These explanations above do not make sense.

Originally posted by idle_rocker
Why would someone think a Christian is any more hard-headed than someone else who has a different belief system and refuses to think otherwise? These explanations above do not make sense.

We're really not any more hard headed than devout atheists. They do not believe because they haven't seen anything. Many Christians have had something happen to them to validate our beliefs. We're both stubborn but for different reasons. They're not going to budge until they "see it" and we're not going to budge because we have.

OR..... perhaps... "Christians are the mentally ill?"

Originally posted by idle_rocker
That sounds a bit like someone is afraid of Christians. Why would you be afraid of someone that just has a belief system just like you have a belief system? Because you can't change their minds? or because your feel guilty?

????.........I'm afraid of Christians

Guilty..?

Why would someone think a Christian is any more hard-headed than someone else who has a different belief system and refuses to think otherwise? These explanations above do not make sense.

Because they're the ones who actually think they're running the world. You've got Bush sending troops into Iraq against the UN and the American people and the government doesn't seem to care what the UN think and then when North Korea start building Nukes, Bush has the audacity to point the finger at them for going against the UN.

And if Christians were not in support of bush's actions they wouldn't have voted for him in 2004, clearly they did support his "i do what i feel like" attitude. Clearly Christians think they're right and everyone else's wrong as even Muslims are against the 9/11 attacks.


[edit on 12-2-2008 by andre18]