And this, Algher, is why religion should be shed altogether.
No matter how liberal and tolerant some christians become towards others, all it really takes is one bastard to point to the bible and claim there is only one way, and you won’t have a leg to stand on.
All the effort of keeping the christian myth alive by watering it down, picking and choosing etc. etc. will be for nought.
The danger of Christianity reverting back to an intollerant, homicidal movement will always be present. It is baked in.
Nonsense.
In a lot of western countries religion no longer features at all.
There may always be some new type of woo in fashion, before the debunking sips through, but people can live without religion quite well.
They can, but the point I was trying to make is that religion in one form or another has always existed with mankind and the idea of it simply disappearing because we become ‘enlightened’ doesn’t seem realistic.
I agree, a certain vigilance against the forces of darkness should be maintained, but the point I am making is that for large parts of the modern world, religion did simply disappear.
I don’t let bastards define my faith, or my beliefs, or how I chose to follow them.
I also don’t really care if others want to claim that my interpretation is wrong, or watered down, or cafeteria Christianity, or whatever other insult someone wants to toss my way. If Rabbis and Imans think that I am following the words of a false Messiah who was really just a prophet in their eyes - that makes for an interesting discussion, but it does not drive my faith. If Catholics want to tell me that my lack of interest in the Pope means I am a lesser Christian - oh well. If atheists want to snark, sneer, claim that they “understand” the Bible better than I do - whatever.
Not that I won’t sometimes jump into a pig fight, but I usually leave those to when I confront intolerant Christians who let the Bible be their justification for their bigotry.
In the meantime, I enjoy learning about other faiths, and seeking ways that we are the same instead of seeking ways that we are different. Sometimes this results in a person of another faith joining mine, other times it just becomes a good excuse to share a bottle of wine (or juice for them if they do not drink).
My amateur study of Islam, Judaism, the history of some of the Christian churches, Native American spirituality, and a smattering of Buddism tells me that we have a lot to learn from each other.
If there is single law that I follow in all this, it is one that I learned (and teach) in the Boy Scouts:
That is a tough one to follow with your faith seems to tell you to NOT respect by the beliefs of others - but I do my best to follow it.
I’m sorry, but I believe you are the one that questioned my supposed interpretation of John 14:1-6. Are you saying that it was your intent to insult me? I do believe I gave you ample time to give an alternate interpretation, and I even found a website for you that listed most of them. But instead of showing me where I was wrong, you came back with whatever your last post was.
I already gave you my interpretation. You then attacked my interpretation. I gave more detail, You chose not to read it - instead tossing out a weblink with different translations.
Perhaps I misunderstood your tone - I assumed you were attacking, not asking.
I was asking you how you reconcile your interpretation of John 14:2 with pretty much every version of John 14:6 that exists. It doesn’t matter whether it’s called a house, home, room, mansion or rent-controlled apartment, when Thomas asks Jesus what the right path is every single version I can find says pretty much the same thing: “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.”
Agreed…but if you say out loud “I respect that you are following a different path”, but silently think to yourself “…but I believe that you have no chance of getting into Heaven, because my way is the only way”, then you make a mockery of tolerance.
I didn’t write a treatise. I personally take the many rooms in Father’s house to be an open enough statement for room for others. I also am quite familiar with Christ’s statements of paths, punishments, damned branches and trees, etc. Christ liked to speak in a lot of allegories and parables.
I am comfortable stating that I know ONE way to heaven - through Christ. I am not arrogant enough to assume that I know all, however.
I have no problem seeking ways to work with those of other faiths. I will know sooner or later what the final judgement will be.
Ignoring religion, or trying to pretend it will go away, has cost us a lot in our foreign policy and our understanding of the world.
If you wish to hang your feelings on that passage, go for it. I have made my beliefs quite clear. Do I have questions? Yes. Do I let one single passage define my entire faith? No.
If I thought you were actually interested in learning about my faith, I would continue this. But I just don’t seem to be getting that feeling from your questioning. Why are you so interested in this?
I am interested in those who cherry-pick verses out of context to suit beliefs already held. In your particular case, I am interested in how you justify your interpretation of John 14:2 in light of what the context clearly points out. So far it seems as if you don’t justify it-you just ignore the context entirely.