Top ten signs you are a Christian

[zmzmzm]

If god chose not to help those who needed it and were suffering immensely, then why worship him?

This all comes down to your beliefs about free will and the slippery slope theory. If God steps in to prevent every potential wrong that we might commit against each other, where does it end? How much suffering, exactly, must be about to happen before God stops it? And why stop there? Why wouldn't he just make all of our choices for us?

To me, the answer is simple. We don't exist as a random collection of just the right amounts of energy and matter; we exist as people. We lived before we came to Earth, we'll live again after we die. Not reincarnation, but a continuation of the life that began long before this life did.

If a parent steps in and prevents a child from ever feeling pain or suffering of any kind, that child will grow up with no understanding of consequences. Without a knowledge of evil, the child will never know good, and will probably amount to absolutely nothing. On the other hand, parents who allow their children to learn through experience will see a child grow into a healthy adult. If it hurts when you fall, you'll learn how to walk. If it hurts when you get pushed, you'll learn not to push others.

Yes, this is idealistic. And yes, when you consider this in the light of a mere seventy five years or so on Earth, it seems pointless and futile. Why bother working toward an ideal that won't happen in our lifetimes and will end when we die? Well, again, the answer is simple. Life is not just life on Earth. Life is bigger, better, and far more grand than that.

For those of you concerned with Hell, let me assuage your fears; while the endless torment of hellfire may be endless, your time there will not be eternal. Like the good parent He is, God has prepared a perfect plan of perfect justice. Those who have been saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ (and this means far more than just baptism or hearing "you're saved" from some church figure), will have their sins covered by Christ. Those who have not accepted Christ or have not had the opportunity to hear about Him at all will have the opportunity to accept Him in the next life. Those who have rejected Christ or who have not fully repented of all their sins will not spend eternity in Hell. They will spend enough time there to account for their sins; according to God's perfect plan of justice, once your individual sins are paid for, you will be released from Hell and will live forever in the lowest of the three kingdoms. Keep in mind, the lowest of these kingdoms is far more beautiful than our present Earth.

So to look at religion and all it aims for in the context of a short, terran existence is, yes, pathetic. But to see it as it really is, as the complete and full truth that it is, is to understand our place. We all have our free agency (some call it moral agency, because of the tendency to associate 'free' with the idea that it will have no consequences), and we always will. Choose wisely.

Chris

 

[jeepracer]

You put that very well. I was trying to explain it like that earlier in the post but I couldn't think of the right wording. Thank You

 

[Slider]

Weird, do you legally get to call yourself father Bob or Pastor Jimmy or whatever when you're ordained?

You can if you want to, I choose not to as I did it as a goof.

 

[Slider]

If a parent steps in and prevents a child from ever feeling pain or suffering of any kind, that child will grow up with no understanding of consequences.

Chris, have you ever seen any news accounts of those wack jobs religious zealots who will not let their kids be treated by doctors because "god will cure them"?

Kids have died because of parents like that.

Religious extremism is a frightening thing, that is the type of people that the original list is talking about.....and it seems like those types of people are growing in numbers in our country. Believe in their god do what they say is right or get out of the way.

 

[MP5Raycer]

Imma step in a little again .. some things have not been mentioned ... and I applaude you all on keeping this a mature conversation .. its good to know we can do it lol ... but i have heard and also learned from watching, hearing and seeing people, and differant types of religious groups this much ... all in all "religion" is nothing more then a belief. and your religion...his/ her religion is specific to your belief .. I feel what realy matters is bottom line ....

your relationship with Christ, Budah, jahovah, Ali, ladies on the Hot girl thread lol .. the real critical/ anal do's and donts of your church and affiliation is really man made ... such as the people that believe all woman should wear no make up, wear only jean skirts and hideous shoes . or even the people who knock on your door at 7 am on a saturday to ask if you found Jesus. that type of stuff is in no way written to be done, acted apon or critiqued in that way ..

now the Jahova Nitwits as my dad called them .. tend to take the bible as litteraly as possible and also at times may even go as far as contorting to there own beliefs as if that was written to follow. so I say all in all .. weather you worship toilet paper or jesus christ himself as long as you are secure in what he means to you and you have a good feeling in your heart that you are doing what you believe to be right .. then thats all that matters ... it is ..what he is to you and your relationship with him that matters nothing more .. ... tell me what you all think ..

 

[MP5Raycer]

Oh .. some more to chew on .. Ok .. it is blatenly clear that almost every majoir war/ conflict is strictly based apon one Countries beliefs over another .... War in Iraq has been goingo n for years and years b4 we even went over there the first time and second ... and I say that . hey Muslim religion and praying to Ali does not mean kill anyone who is not a Muslim ... (infadel) now the sheik radicals and Al-Qidia rebels believe and try to enforce that is the way it should be so any apposition comes there way .. and blamo killem .. ... hey now remember .. to them .. they are killing in the name of "there" god .... so I say to any one ... who are we to say they are wrong and we are right in our beliefes ( I do not in any way feel it is right to take another mans life unless self defense or you are protecting your family* extreme case) but .. you ask any Christian this question .. and you know what they say .. when you ask them who are we to say whos religion is more right then ours .. they ALL say the same two words ... " the BIBLE" ...

which Brings me to another point .. ok each religion (that i know of) has a book /bible etc that they base there beliefes from ... well ok ... as far as the Bible is concerned .. the bible was supposed to have been written over a period of many many years ... but in all honesty .. COULD this be another option .. is it POSSIBLE that way way back when .. COULD there have been some drunk caveman or man/ woman takin some of the Hookah and decide to write a story ... story so wild that only compares to what we know now as the Lord of the Rings (again at that time) and just over time people added to it and kept it going . then one day someone found it .. and says OMG OMG OMG HOLY s*** ... this is the key to life ..ect ect ect .. and then the village hears it and BLAMO .. it starts catching on .. and spreads .. changes and becomes a standard to which people of that time tried to live by since it seemed kinda piecefull ...

ok now look ... i am described that in to words for my first time but what i wrote i would not take literally .. more or less let your mid wonder and improvise and see if you could imagine the possibility of something of the sort happening .. i feel it is just as possible ..

But you ask how .... well shoot there had to be a way to make sure no one could ever find or see this god they talked about other then in your dreams, through your wants and wishes (word prayer is born) and oh yeah only after you pass away .. kinda keeps it going .. so you know from the start this is a person you could never find or could you .. he could be the rock that keeps you from drownding .. (something good always something good) .. could be the seatbelt that worked (kept you in the car) but not the firecracker that blew your hand apart.... not the horse that bucked you off and made you a quad for life .. but even then he is good .. he spared you and you are lucky to be alive .. "it wasnt your time" ... "he knows all things and has a purpose for you " even though you may never know it (untill you die) ... I say all of this for the people who talk about trageties in there life and curse him for it ..... saying 911 or madrid train bommings .. "he knew it and could have stoped it .. and its not fair" .. well i do believe this .. if who ever created us and gave us life if not just our mother but something bigger and higher .... I say it is selfish to act that way .. he gave us life .. who is to say when and how we are to have someone close to us taken or when ours is to be taken.. ... i say if you belive in the almighty.. then dont curse him when he does what he has planned to do just because of our own selfishness ... I held my own dads hand last year when he took his last breath .and died in front of me .. many reading this could not even fathom the finality of it all seeing the man who taught you everything you know and gave you life .. taught you to be a man .. die and leave you alone in this world .. I truley hope some of you NEVER do see that .. But Hey its not my call .. yeah i wanted him here .. still do .. but he is in a better place doing what is needed of him ... I have never cursed god for taking my father .. I never will .. I have cursed him for other things .. but foolishly .. when my dad died .. he was not hooked up to any moniters, Iv's nothing ... but I tell you what .. somethign tells me there is more out there because approximatly 25 mins after he passed I alone was in the room with him and me being the only one in my entire family that belives in god ect I was quietly praying for him and to him when the nurse just steped in the door way . when every alarm in the room went off at the nurses station (EG, heart moniters, Iv's EKG monitors) you name it .. it was going off i remember hearing it thinking the man in the next room passed .. all of the nursed ran in my room where me and the nurse and my now dead father was looking puzzed .... At that point on nurse moved quickly around my fathers bed and asked me to leave or move .. I asked why and she said because we dont normally do this with family preasant .. I was Like WTF ... i moved over a little and she reached over the chair in the side of the room and flung opent he window .. ... I s*** you not .. at that moment .. the alarms all quit at once .. two of the nuses left the room crying and me and the other nurse stood there just in pure awe of it all ... they later told me the tend to do that .. just to let what ever is left in the room out if anything .. and i tell you what .. that pretty much sold me on the man upstairs and i knew my old man was in a better place .. ... sorry for going on and on but i had to share that .. ...

 

[jeepracer]

You are correct in saying that religion is a personal thing. It is you can put as much or as little into it as you like it is your choice. You have the freedom to worship whever, whatever, wherever, and whenever you want.


I know the pain in watching someone die. I watched my grandfather take his last breath at his own home. It was a hard thing to do and in the same instance it was kind of spiritual because I knew he was finally at peace and was going to go onto a better place. You made some logical points and I too am impressed at how mature this whole thing stayed.

 

[MP5Raycer]

I know the pain in watching someone die. I watched my grandfather take his last breath at his own home. It was a hard thing to do and in the same instance it was kind of spiritual because I knew he was finally at peace and was going to go onto a better place. You made some logical points and I too am impressed at how mature this whole thing stayed.

you are soo right man .. it is really a wierd feeling .. but and it for me was almost like what you see in a movie when the hand just goes limp and you just know . that last breath was literally the last one. I still feel if I had to lose my ole man again .. and have a choice to see it or not be there .. Id do it all over again .. just to know i got that one last good bye

 

[rktktpaul]

ok each religion (that i know of) has a book /bible etc that they base there beliefes from ...

Don't forget that the three major religions (Christianity, Judaism and Muslim) all share the Old Testament. The three start to diverge from the time of Christ.

 

[eting_pro5]

While I can understand the original post being moved to the Dumpster, this entire thread is remarkably civil.

It seems bizarre that the thread in the Dumpster is far more tolerant than those in Off Topic


Carry on.

 

[Slider]

While I can understand the original post being moved to the Dumpster, this entire thread is remarkably civil.

It seems bizarre that the thread in the Dumpster is far more tolerant than those in Off Topic


Carry on.

To tell you the truth, I think moving this thread to the Dumpster was a wussy move, I think everyone has been damn civil.

 

[YellowMP5]

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

[SNIP]

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

Very nice. I just added to your reputation.

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

awesome..I didn't even read anybody elses comments. Very funny and very true.

 

[Replica]

I just read the original list. I'm Christain and do not exhibit any of the behaviors that the author stereotyped onto me....nice try...maybe next time...

That'd be like "Top ten reasons you're Black'
1. Eat fried chicken
2. Steal TV's

.....

 

[xelderx]

I just read the original list. I'm Christain and do not exhibit any of the behaviors that the author stereotyped onto me....nice try...maybe next time...

That'd be like "Top ten reasons you're Black'
1. Eat fried chicken
2. Steal TV's

.....

There are some major generalizations and I'm sure the wording was put together to get under people's skin. I think it is very important even though I'm not religious in any way to challenge your faith from time to time. If you aren't put in a position that makes you question what you are doing then how do you really know that you believe. I work with some very religious people and we have very heated discussions at work about politics and religion (It's tough to stay awake for 12 hours on 3rd shift). They like to argue that it is written in the bible that you have to accept Jesus Christ as your savior in order to be allowed in Heaven. You have to ask forgiveness for all your sins. So I make the argument that a life long criminal can wise up just before he dies and technically get into Heaven while a person like me who, while not religious, strives to live an unselfish life, trying to make the world a better place for the people that come after me, won't be allowed into Heaven because I haven't said the magic words. I just tell my coworkers that if that is the rulebook for the journey to Heaven then I don't want to be a part of it. If there is a God and he refuses to recognize my efforts in this world while he accepts people who, thoughout there life, had no intention of doing the right things but asked for forgiviness eventually....I believe in myself too much to be a slave in that system. I guess my deadly sin is pride.

 

[anarchistchiken]

Excellent list, and it is stereotypical, but for the vast, vast vast majority of christians, it is dead on. I live in Alabama and I experience people who live their lives by nothing more or less than what is on that list, just about every single day.

I know not all (or even most) christians are catholics, so dont take this that way, but did you know that when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered a few years back, the pope actually opposed their translation to modern english? He never really said why he opposed it, but the only reason I can think of is that they would actually contradict the distorted words and stories of the modern bible. And you can't really say that you believe that even the new testament has survived intact for nearly 2000 years and through numerous languages. It just doesn't make sense.

 

[Antoine]

I'm emptying the Dumpster again...but I don't mind interesting threads that don't turn into flamewars and DON'T cause any drama...if I even smell smoke this turkey is going in the TRASH!

Ps...deleting BS posts is a good way to keep fire away...

 

[Slider]

Very nice. I just added to your reputation.

Thanks!

(as if it means anything)

 

[Roywhitep5]

Religion was created to supress the unknown in the "Dark ages". But its benefits are will know today. It teaches ethic, hard work and believe. It also builds common intresting along a group of people. I mean come on why we gotta push our own religion on to other people who already has a religion. Or even kill others who are different in belive the ourself.

Religion today as a major factor in world politics just severs as a barrier from uniting all people, just like race, gender and car ownership. Can't we all just get along?

For the time being I'm still agnostics.

yeah **** those evo guys!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[txrxs]

Check this God Flash out

This is pretty damn cool and is close to what some of you guys are saying.

Creation Flash