A question for religious people

reply to post by TNTarheel


Oh I know it's racism, but they were saying she was a sinner because she was dating a black man lol. So they somehow were trying to blame the racism on the religion, or something like that. Cousin is now married to said devil, happily with a couple rugrats.

I don't like to enforce my believe in a god to anyone. I don't go to any organized church but I believe there's spirits and god.

Good topic hun...

Personally i enjoy it when people preach about their religion every chance they get... No im not religious, but i know God...

Adjenson said it best...

If it annoys you, ignore it, because annoyance is as much about intolerance on one side as it might be about inconsideration on the other, and the only side that you control is your own

reply to post by TKDRL


A little self centered are we? Do you realize you had used the word "I" 14 times.not to be disrespectful however, I think I would rather hear people talking about Jesus, than you talking about yourself. You just dont sound that interesting.

reply to post by TKDRL

1)Do you feel the need to mention your religion, or your god every chance you get?

2)If so, why?

Don't you realize this is really annoying to some people? Do you even care?

As a non-christian, I used to feel the same kind of annoyance for most of my life, until I had the opportunity to see inside the mind of a passionate evangelical christian. In their heart, they sincerely believe they have found a wonderful soul-saving truth, and they wish nothing more than to share this truth with as many people as they can.

These days, I try to accept that they are offering me what they consider a precious gift, though I reserve the right to question their teachings whenever I please.

The one thing I find a challenge is knowing that, in their own eyes, I am lost and lacking faith and understanding. It hurts my ego, my pride, though in my better moments, I see that as beneficial.

I too wonder about this, why Christians come into a site such as this, and try to convert/save everyone in the first few replies, and then get mad when someone shows them up, and becomes a religious troll.....

This website is a site full of knowledge. Knowledge, as we all know, is the supreme enemy of religion, especially Christianity. When Christianity was young, it was easy, just kill off the heretics and witches, ban the gnostic forms of the religion, and threaten everyone with the same if they didn't convert. Most people back them were illiterate, and only the Priests could read and write. Many tricks were perpetrated on these innocent people, and many lies were told them that are still believed today.
We will always have to put up with them, just ignore, or argue with, or, do as I do and attempt to educate them. One day they will wish they had listened to us.

Originally posted by autowrench
I too wonder about this, why Christians come into a site such as this

I'll tell you why I am here, as a Christian.

I came here accidentally, via a Google search for something that was important for me at the time. When I got here, it seemed like a site that I'd been at before, but not for a while (sort of like Slashdot.org, lol) so I spent a little time looking around.

What I found appalled me, as a Christian. Incredible amounts of ignorance regarding my religion, not just by dissenters, but by Christians, too! I have spent a lot of time studying the history, theology and background of the Christian faith, and I was surprised by the number of people who had accepted ridiculous versions of the truth -- even those who claimed to believe it.

I created my account in order to post corrections to posts that seemed to be based on Dan Brown's view of Christianity, rather than the actual historical view of the faith.

To this day, my efforts on ATS are the same -- if you are a Hindu, Buddhist, follower of Thor, agnostic, atheist, or even disenchanted Christian, I have no complaint or criticism. You are what you are. But if you wish to disparage Christianity, or distort it or misrepresent it, I will respond to your claims, citing the evidence that I have found in my years of study.

I defend my faith, just as anyone would defend anything that they had a devotion to.

Originally posted by TKDRL

One example... My cousin was happy, head over heals in love with a guy. Well, it turned the guy turned out to be black. I guess I must have missed the commandment "Thou shall not date a black dude" when I read the bible. Well there was a big fight about that, parents ordered her to stop dating the black guy, she refused, they disowned her. This isn't even in the south FFS, I don't know what is wrong with these people.

Frankly, this is disgusting, and I can understand your revulsion to people who act like this. Barring ridiculous extensions of Judaic Law, there is nothing in Christianity that supports racism such as that which you cite. If it were me, I would question the basis your relatives had for making such judgements, and regardless of their reply, noting Christ's two commandments -- love God, and love your neighbour (who is everyone) as yourself -- should resolve that issue (for you, at least -- for the ignorant racist, whose personal prejudices are not supported by scripture, they are unlikely to ever change.)

reply to post by Theophorus


Lol congratulations, you can count I guess...

reply to post by mysticnoon


I guess it is nice to have found truth in a mainstream religion. If I mentioned my religion all the time, I think people would probably be annoyed too. Maybe I will try it next family reunion and see how it goes

reply to post by autowrench


I think people like that lash out, because they don't really believe, they just wish they did. When people raise a doubt in their mind, it reminds them they are just scared people, clinging to a religion, because they are afraid of death.

reply to post by adjensen


I guess I can see why you might feel the need, if you thought what people were saying was outright wrong. You seem to be one of the good ones so far in what I have read by you. The hypocrite christian types seem to throw the label sin on anything they don't agree with. It is a sin for me to drink beer, but they can drink wine, because jesus turned water to wine. That is one that always got a chuckle out of me

reply to post by TKDRL

Valid questions, happy to share my opinions

Originally posted by TKDRL
1)Do you feel the need to mention your religion, or your god every chance you get?

No, though if people are interested about my beliefs, I'm happy to mention them, and point them in the right direction if they want to know more. Religion might also come up in conversation from time to time, or I might be discussing a topic with close friends and give a religious/spiritual perspective.

Originally posted by TKDRL

2)If so, why?

I have a personal interest in religion, particularly Christianity, which influences my world view. I also believe that Christians should ideally take an active role in teaching the willing about their religion - Christ didn't just set up a church and expect everyone to go to him, he actively preached his message, which some modern-day followers consider an example to do likewise.

Originally posted by TKDRL
Don't you realize this is really annoying to some people? Do you even care?

I agree that beliefs shouldn't be flaunted, though the religious have a right to preach/share their faith, and others have a choice whether or not to listen. Some faiths even consider it a duty - for instance, Jehovah's Witnesses take the examples of Christ and other 1st-century Christians as indications that Christians should have an active ministry.

Originally posted by TKDRL
I am sick of their constant boasting about attending christian conferences, and how it makes them so blessed. I am sick of their constant boasting about how much money they gave their church. I am sick of it!

Were they truly boasting about attending conferences (ie. 'look at me, I'm a good Christian for doing this and that', etc.), or innocently discussing it, and mentioning how it makes them feel blessed? If they were boasting, trying to make themselves look better than others, it's not something to be approved of by Christians, in my opinion - it's like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14.

Originally posted by TKDRL
JW, I guess take it one step further bothering people on the weekends in their own homes, I don't know if they are always like that though.

Like I mentioned earlier, some Christians such as Jehovah's Witnesses feel that they should actively give others the opportunity to learn what they believe and why, rather than giving everyone else the responsibility of coming to them. Personally I tend to agree with this, and think there's sound scriptural reasoning supporting it - for instance, at Acts 20:20, Paul made mention that he spread the word both publicly and from house to house.

Originally posted by TKDRL
Do they bother the hell out of people fulltime, or is it only when they are going door to door?

Their primary ministry is from door to door, but they consider it a good thing to share it publicly too if a good opportunity arises, ie. they try not to keep people from going about their day. Generally, it's mostly their door-to-door ministry, and most of their remaining time is spent doing whatever it is they need to do, the same as you or I.

Happy to explain a little why some preach, peace

EDIT: Also I agree with adjensen that another thing Christians often need to do is correct misconceptions about their faith, and in the case of different denominations, explain the differences and the reasons behind them

reply to post by HardbeatAcolyte


Thanks for answering, as you could probably tell, I was in an annoyed mood when I wrote this up.
Some good points brought up to think about. Maybe I am a bit hard on them, but I don't see the need to put in a status every time you write a check to the church. It does come off as boasting to me. And thanking jesus that your favorite team won the game, as if it was some sort or miracle, I don't know, seems just wrong. I guess it seems to me with all the crap going on in the world, there are more important things to be asking whatever god it is you follow to help out with. If that makes any sense.

Originally posted by TKDRL
Maybe I am a bit hard on them, but I don't see the need to put in a status every time you write a check to the church. It does come off as boasting to me.

Comes off as boasting to Christians, too. Christ specifically admonished people against doing this, the whole "don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."

And thanking jesus that your favorite team won the game, as if it was some sort or miracle, I don't know, seems just wrong.

That always cracks me up, because it implies that either Jesus wanted your team to win for some weird reason, or you're such a fine person that he granted your wish, as opposed to everyone who was wanting Jesus to help the other team to win.

People like that strike me as those who would be just as happy with a genie in a lamp as they would be with Christ.

As for your relatives who base their racism in Biblical teachings, I'd call them on it and ask them to explain where they're getting that from. Chances are they either have no idea, or they'll pull out some Old Testament quotation that they've twisted into a justification. At which point you can slap them with the "I didn't know that you were Jewish, because you're rejecting the teaching of Jesus, who said to treat everyone equally."

In Christ, there is no black or white, rich or poor, man or woman. That's in their Bible, too, so saying otherwise is, in effect, a heresy.

Originally posted by TKDRL
reply to post by HardbeatAcolyte

 

And thanking jesus that your favorite team won the game, as if it was some sort or miracle, I don't know, seems just wrong. I guess it seems to me with all the crap going on in the world, there are more important things to be asking whatever god it is you follow to help out with. If that makes any sense.

I too get a little miffed at this, What did a man ever do anyway? Mother Earth gives us everything. Foods we eat, lumber to build homes, crops to grow food, animals for meat, trees for shade, natural herbs for healing. For my own self, I have always thought of the Divine as being Feminine, even as a small child I knew this to be true. I just cannot wrap my mind around a patriarchal religion, where women are the subordinates of men, and must "obey" men as their "Master and Lord." I have no Master, and I have no Lord. I know what those two words entail, and I do not like either.

I think what gets me the most is you will see on TV a man, or woman who has lost their entire family in a storm, or whatever. They will stand there and Thank the "Lord," and say, "this was the Will of God." When someone dies, it is always "the Will of God." And I am just certain that God and Jesus sit on their sofa drinking beers and watch the football/basketball/baseball game on their big screen. they probably watch NASCAR races too, and bet on who will win.

I have found, and experienced the pure love of the Goddess, and that is enough for me. She is the mother of us all, and gave birth to the Gods. Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Goddess worship: that real "old time religion?"

The Goddess in History, Religion, and Art

GODDESS WORSHIP in PREHISTORY

The Gods and Goddesses of Africa

Inanna, Mother of all Humanity

Originally posted by autowrench
I think what gets me the most is you will see on TV a man, or woman who has lost their entire family in a storm, or whatever. They will stand there and Thank the "Lord," and say, "this was the Will of God." When someone dies, it is always "the Will of God."

Technically, it would be "in accordance with the will of God", unless God intentionally killed them. When my wife died, I never viewed it as God killing her (it being "God's will") but more a matter of him not saving her, indicating (within the scope of my faith) that the greater good to everything (it being "in accordance with God's will") came from her not being saved. I don't understand that, and I certainly don't like it, since I bear the majority of the pain on the negative side of that equation, but I accept it.

And I am just certain that God and Jesus sit on their sofa drinking beers and watch the football/basketball/baseball game on their big screen. they probably watch NASCAR races too, and bet on who will win.

Well, I think the whole "omniscience" thing would take a lot of the joy out of betting.

I'm not a believer in any religion but I've studied quite a few of them and as whole, religion fascinates me as does why people believe what they do and why they follow.

I always look at it this way, if I find a really good game or a really good website such as ATS, I will go on and on about it to everyone. I'm even guilty of sending stuff and quoting things from ATS to friends just to get my point across but only if I think they would be interested. Am I being a pain?? Probably. But...I wouldn't go round knocking on peoples doors about it......well not just yet

With regards to people posting things on Facebook, I deactivated my account because I couldn't stand to read what relatives wrote anymore. Mostly private stuff that should be kept private, not shared with the public! And yes, some people blaming their God for bad things in their life. Personally I think these people would blame anyone but themselves and whats better than blaming a God who can't answer! .......and at last check, wasn't on Facebook

People of all religions like to pimp out their beliefs whenever they can. This goes for atheists too. I've heard someone sneeze and someone else say "God bless you," and a religious debate come out because of this small statement. Not everyone is like this but every belief system will have people that are out to prove why they are right whenever thay get a chance.

I'm not a believer or a disbeliever. I've come to the conclusion that I just don't know. So really I'm the only one that's right, as well as other agnostics out there, but I don't try to convert people that have their own beliefs.

reply to post by Michelangelo

I don't try to convert people that have their own beliefs.

I don't either. Why do some feel this a necessary thing to do, and do often? I have had countless people come to my home, where there is a Pentagram on the front door, and tell me I am going to Hell, a place they themselves invented, for themselves, I reckon, because no one else believes in it. I stand dutifully and argue with them until they finally see that I am not about to join their little cult, and only then do they leave.

Ok.... I just now recieved notice people replied... I will get to everyone tomorrow when I wake. This was not meant as a hit and run attack thread on religion. I am a bit buzzed now, and tired, about to hit the sack though. Thanks again for all the insight of people who took the time to respond.

peace