Allow me.
WHOOSH.
I personally am a big fan of the ellipses… I don’t know why but I just use it as my general purpose punctuation… only when writing informally of course… and i also try to restrict it to three per use…but whatever
It would make sense to not base her lack of belief in God based on the fallibility of man… but don’t try to use a shining example of the fallibility of man (ie: Christian doctrine) to help her see beyond this… along the same line, yes there are other views of the world, and its good to point this out to her, but don’t use the one she’s definately not a fan of to expose her folly to her
I think it was M.R. James who said “Ellipses are generally considered a good substitute for effective writing. They are certainly an easy one. Let us have a few more…”
Off on another tangent: I’m a good Anglican Protestant (well, moderately good) and hold no particular brief for the Roman Catholic Church… but, really, is there any actual evidence for the Pope (any Pope) raping children? Yes, I know that there have been scandals involving paedophile priests, and that the Church has tried to cover these up (and many other large organizations would do the same) - but that doesn’t mean that the leaders of the organization make a habit of it.
As to the OP: I am inclined to raise a quizzical eyebrow at the apparent suggestion that God’s mercy to repentant sinners is a bad thing. Personally, I disagree. I think one of the good things about Christianity is that you don’t get anywhere by just following a set of rules; God’s Grace is available freely to anyone who wants it. (The correlation between Christianity and “being good” is, in theory, a natural consequence: the sort of person who seeks out God’s grace is also the sort of person who does the right thing, because it’s the right thing to do - not because s/he has anything to gain by doing it, in this world or the next.)
Hmmm. Nice view from the top of this prediastole.
I think the point of the pope/rape thing was that theoretically the pope COULD rape a child but in the end as long as he accepts Jesus and all that jazz he’s ok
And about the seeking God’s grace thing… I say that’s bull… I have an adamantly Christian friend who “breaks the rules” all the time… he’s a total oddball and not by any means the norm, but he fucks various girls all the time, used to be a heroin junkie, and a whole host of other things… but at the end of the day he says “I’m but a weak human, please Jesus allow me to follow you”… and the next day he goes out and fucks again… there are a whole mess of Christians out there who follow this path… they do whatever the hell they want and at the end of the day “sorry Jesus” or there’s always the guy who crosses himself when he’s about to do something he’s been told not to… These people indeed “seek God’s grace” and accept Jesus, so somehow they’re going to heaven?
Um. Theoretically possible, I suppose. Of course, you could argue that they’re being hypocritical, saying they’re turning to Jesus but not actually meaning it. That’s equally possible. But only God knows for sure.
(Look, I don’t know for certain that I’m saved… I’m in no position to speculate on the state of anyone else’s soul.)
You know, a lot of you have come down hard on Reality for all she has written (the way she has written, etc.) but I commend her for actually having an opinion about such matters.
I’m 23, so I can kind of identify with the vigor and intensity of her search for the always elusive Truth capital T.
But so many people my age have not even questioned their spirituality, their place in the world, in this universe… they simply swallow whatever they were told about religion from their parents, and that is that… their mind is made up and anyone who happens to think for themselves and come to a different conclusion about God is doomed to burn in hell for eternity.
It’s that close-minded brand of person (uncommon at the SDMD) that really bothers me. But Reality is at least scratching around… that’s a good sign.
To get back on topic, I’d like to say that if you are willing to look past the hypocracy of religion (which is there), then it may be for you.
I’ve found that the thinking crowd takes their salvation into their own hands and makes their relationship with God or otherwise PERSONALLY.
Acco, I disagree. She seems to be closed-minded to the idea that the spirituality is of any usefulness at all, seeing only the negative.
If nothing else, she’s thinking thoughts that are different from those of her peers. That’s commendable for a seventeen-year-old. And since her post here was specifically in regard to Christianity, it’s a little tough to tell her stance on spirituality in general.
Now that I’ve talked about you as if you weren’t here: welcome to the boards, Reality. You will probably find a lot of interesting discussions here in great debates; just don’t forget to be open-minded and you’ll have a good time here.
As for the writing issue–it’s a lot easier to discuss things if you can understand what the other person is saying with a minimum of effort. I can only devote so much time per post, and the less time I have to spend trying to figure out what the post says, the more time I can spend thinking about it and responding to it.