bad joke time…
What is the difference between Jesus Christ and The Beatles?
The Beatles were 4 young lads with a smart jewish marketing agent (Brian Epstien).
Jesus was a young Jewish lad with four smart marketing agents (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John)
Regards
FML
Can you elaborate, please? How many Christians have this tendency to burn books? Is it a significant portion of Christianity or a minority thereof?
I can give a Christian answer, though this may not be RCC dogma. Sex is for procreation AND enjoyment, it is designed by God to happen in marriage and encouraged. Pre/extra-marital sex is not how God designed it.
I have been told, but have not looked up that Homosexual ‘sex’ is not sex in a biblical standpoint, but sodomy. (sex being impossible for 2 or more people of the same gender) Since it doesn’t apply to me I haven’t really had a need to look it up.
The problem of evil.
It’s what converted me from an incredibly passive theist to atheist.
The whole Jesus story is just frosting on the problem of evil cake.
I am perplexed by the credit given God for cures, rescues, sports victories, and the survival of accident or injury.
A 5 year old girl lost her grandfather to drowning, then spent two days wandering in the forest. On June 15th, searchers found her. A close friend of the child’s family was quoted as saying “Obviously, we’re giving all the glory to God on this one”. I am ever grateful the little girl was found, but I would have preferred that God *not * allow her grandfather to drown and cause the child to wander cold, hungry, and terrified for two days. Why thank Him for an awful tragedy?
In Texas, a woman hanged her children and herself after a bout with depression and spousal abuse. A 10 month old baby survived the hanging, and the survival was credited as “a miracle” by hospital workers. Wouldn’t a miracle have been divine intervention before the hangings? Why was the infant’s survival a miracle? Were the other family members’ lives worthless?
God was given credit for the lives spared during the Virginia Tech shootings. What was wrong with those people who lost lives? Why were the murdered expendable?
Clearly, God loves a winning team, and the losing team is apparently full either of sinners or non-Christians. Any player ever thank God for coming in last?
And children’s hospitals are reportedly full of miracles. Wouldn’t the true miracle be if the children’s hospitals were empty?
Why isn’t God blamed for illness, tragedies, sports losses, calamities, or modern natural disasters? It seems that God is only credited when the news is good.
(I have asked this before, and here are the previous (non)answers: “He works in mysterious ways.” or “It is not for us to know.” Apparently, God’s plan is for us to know when the cotton is high and the livin’ is easy.)
I watched Blood Diamond last night. Through all the horror going on there, a teacher says he used to think people were inherently good until experience taught him otherwise. He asks DeCaprio “Do you think people are inherently evil?” DeCaprio says, “No they’re just people” Teachers responds “Exactly! No man knows another’s path to God”
I thought it was an interesting perspective.
My biggest beef right now is the same with Christianity as with most large organized religions. Tradition tends to take priority over the sincere inner journey and usually somewhat supersedes the real value of it’s founders teachings.
So the form is worshiped at least as much as the substance if not more.
People are drawn to the light but make the mistake of worshiping the lamp. Thus, what might be a tool for bringing people together in spirit becomes a device for separation by dogma.
Well I think It’s because humans don’t have the answers to these questions. Who goes where is Gods business . Not mans.
My main beef: that many people who call themselves followers of Jesus do nothing that he ever asked us to do. As I recall, he asked people to help others in need, whether with food, comfort, clothing, visits, or whatever else they lack; to treat others as we would like to be treated; to be more selfless; to be generous; to forgive.
I don’t recall him telling people to argue with scientists over the age of the earth, to hold up nasty picket signs at gay people’s funerals, to tell people they’re going to hell for this or that reason, etc.
A related beef: that many people seem to be Biblians rather than Christians....and I don't even want to get started on all the mistranslations, errors in interpretation, scribal mistakes, and everything else that these folks ignore while insisting on the "inerrancy" of the text.My biggest blocks to Christianity are simply the lack of evidence or necessity for God combined with the contrary evidence to its key historical claims.
I also think the notion that humans need “salvation” is ridiculous and logically incompatible with an omnibenevolent God. I think the idea that specific belief (without evidence) would be the central criterion for salvation is especially ridiculous and the idea that God became a human and then killed himself in order to stop himself from punishing his own creation is preposterous beyond words, especially if the criterion for salvation is that we believe this story without evdence.
I know that a lot of Christians have a more nuanced understanding of salvation than that but I still can’t get behind the idea that the death of Jesus was a salvic event (nor that any salvation is necessary at all).
I guess if I boil it all down to one central “beef,” my problem with religion (all religion, not just Christianity) is that it looks to me to be such a clearly, embarrassingly, human creation.
And there is that smug arrogance–right there. How does anyone KNOW the cure for spiritual woe? Why assume that somebody holds “mistaken” beliefs? How are they mistaken? Because you have a faith that tells you so? What of their faith?
You (general you) only know the cure for your own spiritual woe (and most people don’t even know that). Not picking on you, Thunder–this is just a perfect example (and** FriarTed’s**) of the arrogance I posted about.
It’s not like anyone can live here and not know there’s a church on the corner. If they want to come in, they will. Otherwise, leave 'em alone.
Those churches would not be on the corner if it were not for past proselytizing.
Thanks for sharing that Gem ! 
That so made my day.
Omegaman, I am wondering why many Christians dare credit God with good fortune, miracles, or other happy events? If we don’t understand His mysterious ways when bad things happen, then why dare assume that He is sending messages of comfort or good tidings when good things happen?
If someone shares tales of good fortune; they are glorifying God’s plan. If someone shares tales of woe- they are told that they cannot understand what God’s plan is.
Isn’t intrepreting His acts presumptive either way?
True enough. Strangely, though-I’ve never had the church on the corner prosletize–it tends to be newer, start up churches…
Hello there , Dio So nice to see you again . Some of the wiser folks around here have been helping me , and some in real life, with their council, as well as me drawing closer to the Man himself. I hope I won’t make an ass out of myself again and I won’t say too much , but I *am * glad to see you again. I just get the feeling that you and I have much to speak of, perhaps not here , perhaps not now , but it doesn’t change that feeling I have.
You would have to ask them. What has happened to me has taken me 42 years to even emerge from. Ask me in 10 years and I will tell you. Untill now I have been like some in the world. Taking what I am given and giving nothing back. Things have changed. You have heard the saying it was like a covering was removed from my eyes ? There you have it. It’s not easy to adjust but I can and will do right in this world . I don’t understand but I know that I must do His will.
Thank you for your honesty and sincerity.
Maybe. I seem to have this effect on some Christians. Maybe they see me as a challenge. I actually enjoy talking to the ones who are really devoted (which is not the same as the ones who are just very “religious,” if you know what I mean). I gotta warn you, though, as much as I enjoy talking about religion in general and the Bible in particular, I’m not a candidate for conversion. I think I was born without the “God gene.” For what it’s worth, I don’t try to deconvert anybody either.
Actually, I sort of get this one. I mean, i’m with you on people who would attempt to forcibly convert someone, or with people who believe non-believers should be forced to live as though they believed (short of the abortion issue, but that gets complicated). And missionary work too worries me somewhat. But I get proseylatization. People genuinely believe they know something great - something fantastic. And hey, if it were true, I for one would want in on that; or at least to know about it. It’s sort of like someone finding out how to make a million dollars fall out of the air; wouldn’t you share that secret with people? Plus of course it’s actually commanded in many cases. I’m not happy with all forms of it, but proseylatizing seems reasonable to me.
My biggest beefs, with the disclaimer that of course these don’t apply to all Christians;
The tendency to to resort to “God works in mysterious ways”. In any other situation, “I don’t know” is usually a reason to look into it and examine it more. I can’t see how people who don’t know how something works are content to let it be.
The inability to accept they could be wrong, though this is of course present in all beliefs to an extent. Specifically, the “actually, all you non-Christians are secretly believers in God who just pretend not to to spite him”. Thanks, we’re all liars and morons.
The priesthood. This is an important subject; if you’re that interested, don’t listen to someone else, go research and learn for yourself.
That, while it is behind many good works and charitable endeavours, that it is also behind many horrors and unpleasantness - though for some of these it is of course my own point of view.
Oh, and that it’s wrong, of course. 