I think I saw him on the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow once.
Dead is dead is dead is dead. You go ahead and believe what you want. I’ll do the same. I don’t need your belief system to live an honorable and good life. YMMV. Unlike you, I’m not attempting to convert you or to make you change your mind–I’m pointing out that not everybody who claims the title Christian believes as you do, and I’m saying I certainly don’t (although I don’t claim to be Christian at all these days). I have no beef against those Christians (the majority) who go about their business and faith, trying to matter in the world and help one another. Others, such as yourself, bug me. Sit down and shut up, please.
Posting to me in big letters won’t change my mind.
Kanicbird, last time I checked, Jesus wasn’t exactly impressed with people who make a big show of piety.
And maybe it’s me, but doing what’s right out of fear of going to hell-what’s the good in THAT? So someone’s just not a dick because otherwise they’d be punished? Meh, screw it.
(And as for “do you know Jesus” -Minus the large fonts- it’s MY view that if Jesus were to make a comeback, he’d be crucified right all over again. For many people who claim to be Christians, they sure as hell don’t follow his teachings. NOT all of them, or even the majority. But those that make a big stink of how righteous they are-the “I’m going to Heaven and YOU’RE NOT!!!” crowd, well…)
Look at what happens to those who try to help the poor-they’re called “hippies”, “commies”, losers, etc.
I’m with eleanorrigby. That is an *extremely rude and condescending question. How on earth or in heaven can you have the idea that people in North America or Europe, let alone this message board, haven’t heard of this Jesus fellow and His teachings? Are you not aware that some people have been driven away from Him by the actions of arrogant Christians who seem more concerned with ramming their piety and their salvation down their throats than caring for those around them?
Oh, and less you mistake me for one of those ignorant mistaken heathens who infest this board (;0) not only am I acquainted with Jesus and His teachings, I swear that particular Deity has been known to interfere in my love life! :rolleyes:
Seriously, Christian to Christian, you’re really not helping our cause here. I know your intentions are good, but would you please reconsider your tactics? Christians have a bad enough reputation around here as it is.
Actually, even that doesn’t work out; in your view, it’s been 2000-odd years since Jesus was back, but SpazCat I would assume is rather younger than that. So they really haven’t had 2000 years to get to know the guy, just however long they’ve been alive (minus babyhood).
Still true
This is not how it works. The path we are on until we accept Jesus will lead to eternal death already. It is not fear of hell, as that is what we all choose the first time we sinned. Jesus offers another path, on of Love if we choose it. As for punishment that is the way of Satan’s kingdom, and Satan is willing to punish us for breaking the law if he is given the opportunity. OTOH God does not punish, but does discipline His children to conform them to the likeness of His Son.
His 2nd coming is with all power, no one will be able to touch Him.
We are all in various stages of our walk with Jesus, He takes us in our sinful condition and works with that, refines us.
Again we are all at various stages.
This is a deep issue, sometimes attempted ‘help’ is done out of a sense of guilt, sometimes out even of a sense of punishment, motives are not always clear.
[quote=“Siege, post:164, topic:482923”]
I’m with eleanorrigby. That is an *extremely rude and condescending question. How on earth or in heaven can you have the idea that people in North America or Europe, let alone this message board, haven’t heard of this Jesus fellow and His teachings?
[quote]
I asked if he knew Jesus, he eventually admitted no, after much hemming and hawing and trying to redefine what I asked. I did not ask do you know the teachings of Jesus, but do you know Jesus. I don’t see what is rude about that as Jesus wants us to know Him personally. It is the entire point of the faith - to know Him and a totally fair question.
His sheep know His voice
I doubt He really interfered with your Love life, perhaps interfered with your sex life or lust.
Let God be my judge
Sorry,but I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong sinner here. You see, His interference was in a positive way and it was quite definitely love – among other things the gentleman in question was about 3,000 miles away at the time. As it happens, my sexual morals are quite conservative
As for your other comment, I am quite sure God will be my judge as well.
Oh yes, the reason I consider asking if someone knows Jesus in size 7 font as rude is the same reason I consider someone asking if someone knows Jesus by screaming in their ear. While it may be possible that someone is unaware of Christ and His teachings, being yelled at at full volume tends to rather unpleasant and has a way of putting a person off the things she’s being yelled at about.
By the way, kanicbird, I find it curious that when I said I did, indeed, know Jesus in the sense you meant, you appeared to assume that I was considering something you and I would consider immoral. Did I misinterpret your remark about my sex life or lust?
And is he conflating our posts out of stupidity (which is likely) or out of some desire to confuse the issue?
Kanicbird– when people like you knock on my door or accost me at the train station, I either close the door decidedly or keep walking. I’m going to do the message board equivalent now. If you can’t see the ultimate arrogance re your message about Jesus to the Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, Wiccans, and agnostics here–you have blinders on, indeed. I’ll leave you to your wankfest for Jesus. May it bring you comfort in the small hours of the night. It will do little else for you, so I do mean that sincerely.
If you define interference as made it happen I can see it how He could do it then. And the yelling was because he wasn’t hearing me, I repeatedly asked him if he knew Jesus, he repetitively either answered another question or indicated that I asked a question I didn’t. I was yelling so he could hear me, which he did and finally answered then.
When you said interfere I assumed stopped it or hindered it. I don’t consider assistance as interference. It was your choice of the word interference.
I have never did either, nor has the Lord prompted me to do so.
May the Lord Jesus bless you
I can’t help but let that out a little. There’s a difference between refusing to eat pork and refusing to believe in sky pixies without any evidence of same. Many (not most, IME) religious people are otherwise sane and rational, but I would be doing the rest a disservice by feigning respect for their fairy tales.
That doesn’t mean that I think most/all religious people are evil or anything. I have plenty of religious friends who I love very much. I don’t hold a holier-than-thou attitude with them because, well, it just doesn’t come up. A righteous Christian or Jew (not so sure about the other faiths, since I have less experience with them) will tend not to make a big deal out of being Christian or Jewish in mixed groups, just like I don’t make a big deal out of being, say, a drug reform advocate around people who might be made uncomfortable by that. (For the record, I find that observant Jews are more likely to be able to play it cool, IME. But Jewish culture has a long religious and cultural tradition of discouraging bragging about one’s righteousness, so it’s probably not every individual Christian’s fault entirely.)
I’m also not one to judge these types of religious people on a personal level. There have been times when I’ve gotten through my days with stupider crutches than religion, to be sure. I’m a live-and-let-live kind of guy.
But to go back to the respect thing, I look at it this way: if a hypothetical super-religious person feigned respect for my atheism, only to later try to suck me in to their godfest, I would much rather they had just been honest in the first place. I feel that I owe the same courtesy to the religious. I’m not going to pretend I respect their godfest just to be one of those “good” or “righteous” atheists so that they can gain some trust for me and I’ll be more likely to convert them. I don’t play that game.
So you’d volunteer for a brutal crucifixion, as long as you get to come back and be persecuted by your original executioners? You’re right, that does sound like fun.
This guy has got to be kidding.
Then shut the fuck up and quit acting like such a holier than thou dildo.
That wasn’t what I meant by “comeback”, and you bloody well know it. Isn’t there an old Jewish proverb that goes, “If God lived here on earth, everyone would break his windows?” It’s like the so-called “Christian Coalition”. The whole “Religious Right”, are anything but. (They CLAIM to be good Christians, yet they’ve supported regimes that pass around leaflets saying, “Be a patriot! Kill a priest!” The very regime responsible for the murder of Archbishop Romero. Oh wait-he was a commie. :rolleyes:)
Way to weasel out of answering.
As for “knowing Jesus”, I thought the whole point wasn’t that you know a being called “Jesus”, but that you look for him in everyone, and treat them accordingly. By say, not scaring little kids with stories of demons and lakes of fire, but teaching them that maybe there is a God that loves everyone? That’s “knowing Jesus”, that’s being a dick.
Don’t even bother, Seige, eleanorigby. He only wants to hear what he wants to hear.
ETA: Sorry, Hostile Dialect, you weren’t there when I originally pressed “submit”. Actually, I think a “Magical Sky Pixie” would make a really, REALLY kickass diety.
That’s cool. It just irks my nerves a bit when people refer to religious beliefs as “fairy tales.” A few of my friends have some pretty out there pagan beliefs and I myself follow an amalgamation of paganism and Buddhism with a sprinkling of Taoism, so I’m pretty accepting of wild beliefs about how the world works. Whatever works and makes you try to be a better person, I say. As long as you follow the #1 rule: Don’t be a jerk.
Praise the gods and pass the bacon.
Why must you malign the noble dildo?
…and then send you to hell, in His mercy.
I haven’t read every response on this thread so excuse me if someone has already mentioned this but I feel that ultra religious people deep down are very insecure with there silly beliefs that they overcompensate to prove to themselves and others that they’ve picked the rational, intelligent side.
Or they’re just insecure in themselves period and need reassurance that they’re special and can bring something to the world, be it salvation or general irritation to the masses.
And stop maligning people who have faith in something. It’s getting annoying. Atheist fundies are just as douchy as Christian fundies.
OK, it’s a bit odd that you call your own belief system “wild” and imply that most people wouldn’t/shouldn’t/don’t accept it, but whatever. My point is that the things religious people (yes, all of you) believe are absurdly silly. If your belief system such a huge part of your life, I sincerely hope you can take me saying that. I promise you that I can take criticism of my logic system. In fact, I like to have my logic questioned, because it helps me sharpen it.
“Having faith in something” is paraded around as if it’s a good thing, but having faith in something with no evidence that it is true, and in fact with a pretty decent positive case against it, is the same impulse which leads people to give their abusive partners another chance, and another, and another, and then marry them, and then have kids with them, etc. I’m fine with being an atheist “fundie”–that means that I believe in the fundamentals of empiricism, logic and science, which have tended to cure diseases rather than being the world’s #1 cause of murder. And you can compare my fundamentalism to that of the Christians, but since I’m not actively involved in denying other people civil rights based on something I read in a fairy tale once, I’m pretty confident in the results of the comparison.
Hostile Dialect,
Hostile Dialect, Narcissist