Religious recruiting

[gobear]

Hi, Emjaycue. MM, a few corrections.

A. I’m not witnessing. You people witness because you wish to make converts. I do not wish to convert anybody to my beliefs. Since religious faith is based on unfalsifiable principles, it is not subject to logical debate. I personally think that there is no God and no basis for belief in the supernatural, but that’s just me. You can pray to God all day long and I’ll cheer you on. Just don’t try to turn America into a theocracy. See, that’s the difference between atheists and Christians (at least the evangelical sort). We are content to leave you alone, but you are not willing to do the same.

B.

Au contraire my good friend, prayer and God, has been making an active change within myself and within my heart, which last time I checked counted as part of the universe. And that’s just one example.

Well, I can’t argue with that, since only you (and presumably God) know what’s in your heart. However, let’s see prayer make it rain, or raise the dead, or heal the terminally ill. When it comes to the fuzzily subjective, prayer is as good as anything else, but prayer can’t affect the material world.

C. I said that “tenets” don’t pay rent because Esprix had used the wrong word. Tenants are renters, tenets are beliefs or principles. There was no derogatory intent there, so your mini-sermon was based on a misreading of my post.

[Jackmannii]

An additional factor in religious recruitment is the menace of the reformed sinner (what might be termed the Dr. Laura Effect). There are few sorts of people as intrusive and annoying as the ex-pleasure seeker/smoker/doper who has Seen The Light.

I also have faith in the following, though I cannot prove it so: once certain people have achieved spiritual oneness, the existence of non-believers is a constant source of nagging doubt (how can those people be content when they’re not confined in the same rigid little set of beliefs as me? This is a threat to my peace of mind. I must witness!).

[stkelly52]

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by jmullaney *
**
[QUOTEAny help on that “honor parents except…” thing he is talking about? **[/QUOTE]

I know that this is a little old now but I will try to help you understand this anyway.

• from the NIV study Bible, note on Mark 7:11* an irresponsible Jewish son could formally dedicate to God (i.e. the temple) his earnings that otherwise would have gone for the support of his parents. The money, however, did not necessarily have to go for religious purposes. The Corban formula was simply a means of circumventing the clear responsibility of children toward their parents as prescribed in the law. The teachers of the law held that the Corban oath was binding, even when uttered rashly.

The point here is that the Pharisees and teachers were putting their traditions before the scriptures.

[emjaycue]

Goboy you write:

You can pray to God all day long and I’ll cheer you on. Just don’t try to turn America into a theocracy. See, that’s the difference between atheists and Christians (at least the evangelical sort). We are content to leave you alone, but you are not willing to do the same.

Again, not true, at least not for me, for my thoughts on the “theocracy” question check out this thread:

The Establishment Clause
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=41673
–M

[gobear]

I will grant that you are not interested in turning America
into a theocracy. I wish more Christians felt as you do.

[Guinastasia]

I’m not trying to witness to anyone if I do good. If you’re just doing good because you want people to see it and to convert, then that’s wrong too. I think people should do good things, well, just for the sake of doing them. As for witnessing, it’s just that maybe it’s a way of setting a good example for other Christians and anyone who wishes to follow them.