The above comment was general and not pointed at any one person.
man this site either gets hit hard or is very very slow!
Thaidog – I got around to checking out the reference on your homepage (nice résumé, BTW! --but the links to your friends’ websites don’t work) and there’s little in it that I could disagree with. But it doesn’t refute my basic point, just talks about an increasing asceticism in later Judaism and early Christianity.
Yes, that trend is almost completely opposite of todays views of sexuality. There is much more I have not yet scanned to any website… I did that only because it was itching me so bad. I will find some good references… I know where they are back at my library in college, but I’m not driving to Greenville over this. The would be a bit extreme.
btw my finished website (or the state it’s in right now anyway) is at: www.tyler.mcadams.com
but I’ve yet to build another flash resume as of yet;) Somebody said in another thread I misspelled some words on my resume, and still can’t find them. Would have been nice of them to at least point the words out… I hate my grammar skills!
Thaidog,
In all of your discussions it seems to me that you despise hypocrisy, have very strong disagreements with many matters of theology, and contempt for ritualistic submission to secular church authority.
So far I haven’t seen much of a real chip on your shoulder about love for your fellow man, charity to those in need, kindness to all you meet in the world, or a desire to live your life according to a standard that requires trying to do good, and avoiding doing harm. So, while I would not even pretend that Christians don’t do all the things you despise, I don’t think your differences are about Christianity, but rather about folks being kind of sanctimonious, and not all that sanctified.
I could not disagree with that.
But let us decide you and I to cut those poor bastards a little slack. We don’t get it all right all the time, ourselves, do we? So, we will love them, with their faults, and try to change in ourselves those things that we despise in them the most. (Those are the ones, aren’t they?) If we try to become what we think a Christian should be, then even as we fail to do so, we will make the world a better place, even if there is no Christ. Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
I am a Christian, by the way. But I am no less guilty than your mother, or your Sunday School teacher of being less than the righteous child of God might be. It’s a human thing. That doesn’t make me think less of your mother, or more of myself. We are both sinners, and unworthy of the love of Christ. Fortunately, being worthy is not part of it.
Take hope, my friend, and seek faith, for the greatest of all things is love, and love is there for you, if you will seek it.
By the way, take Polycarp up on his invitation. He’s good folks, and the kindest soul I have met for many a year.
Tris
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” ~ Will Rogers ~
Hey… I live and let live… I just want people to be educated about the views that the take sides with so they know what others think of them… It is in most cases not their fault… they have been classically conditioned to think that it’s ok… And well may be ok. I’m not here to judge anything but the word and what it stands for, not people. I would hate to become a monk only to have everybody think I’m gay because of the rumors surrounding the catholic church… see what I mean? Who wants to become a christian in order to be considered a hypocrite? like I said, I’m not a Christian simply because of my views on the subject. Not to say that people mistake me for one. Why? I basically have the same values, with the exception of what I give credit to having them. I don’t give credit to neotraditional Christianity.
My mother is a whole different subject… but it basically all crumbles with one verse: Man can not worship both God and money… it’s one or the other. You can’t be a retired millionaire in the middle of Hilton Head, get remarried after you told me you would not and then shamelessly keep me informed on your Church going activities and think I’m going to care. I don’t. Especially after the way she force fed it to me for my entire childhood. Why the hell else would I have all this useless information!:rolleyes:
If you’re going to be a true tennis player you’ve got to know the rules!
Hmm.
Well, if I became a monk, I don’t suppose it would matter much to me what everyone thought about my sexuality, since I was giving up everything of the world anyway, including listening to the opinions of gossips, or hitting on girls.
For you, it seems to be all in the individual opinions of each and every person who says he is a Christian, and your interpretation of the Bible, which you seem to view as a rulebook. It seems odd to me that you are applying the exact same logic to the philosophical judgment of Christianity as a whole that you despise in Christians individually.
Come to think of it, it doesn’t seem odd after I think about it. You were raised in a very dogmatically applied strict sect of bibliolatry, and it dictates the method of your theology, even as you reject it for its false and bitter message. You should go ahead and reject it all. For a lot of people, Christianity is about Christ, and about love, and about living their lives, not preaching, and condemning, and saving the heathens. Admittedly, those people are harder to hear, because they don’t talk as loud.
I think you are carrying a big load of hatred around, which you have decided is Christianity. If that is your Christianity, you should drop it, and look elsewhere for your emotional needs. Hating religion is a useless endeavor. If you believe in it, it is self-destruction, and if you don’t, it’s a waste of time. I won’t burden you with any other explanations that what you are despising is not the message of Christ. You are not listening for the message of anyone at all at this point.
Just find a place, and people that you can give your love to, and do that. Pick people who seem to need the most love, and give them your love. If they happen to have a religion, don’t worry, they might be nice people anyway. Stay away from the message, and concentrate on being kind, being open, being loving, and doing no harm to anyone.
Tris
I think the hamsters ate a previous post of mine.
I second the recommendation that you take Polycarp up on his offer of a meeting. There are few more respected and none more liked on the SDMB.
As far as the idea that sex is always sin, try 1 Corinthians 7:3-5.
Or the whole Song of Solomon.
Regards,
Shodan
I can sum up my problem with the larger organized religions in two words: absolute faith.
Whats the real truth you ask?
Nobody has the slightest clue. Its all wild speculation masked by blind obedience, shrilling church officials, and fear. I can respect a preference to a particular flavor, but absolute faith? How can you fool yourselves like that? Because your mommy told you it was that way? You don’t know anything more about it than the next guy, and yet you’ve convinced yourself beyond all doubt that you’re right no matter what. That is big religion’s fatal flaw IMHO and the biggest point of contention I have with them.
Thaidog, I would like to reiterate what I said earlier. It appears to me you might be judging Christianity by the Christians instead of by Christ.
This is my one big hang-up, too. If I could only turn a blind eye to the Christians, I could focus more on Christ and thus be a better Christian myself.
Accepting Christ does not make you perfect! Only God is perfect. The difference is that we then strive to be like Christ. However, we are still very human, with our own little human failings and foibles, so each of us are varying distances from that goal of being Christ-like. Folks like Polycarp have gone the distance, folks like your mom and me are still struggling badly just to clear the first hurdle.
The only measuring stick you should use to judge any religion is its imprtance and relavence to you.
BTW, yes, the board is very slow.
May I share you with the joys of Unitarian Universalism?
(Can UU’s witness? 
)
Esprix
Understanding your spiritual nature has nothing to do with religions, bibles, churches, and/or other people. It is a relationship between you and the Creator. Master teachers such as Jesus can point you in the right direction, but you have to do the work alone. It is something you have within you.
Love
Leroy
Except that God and I are no longer on speaking terms…