Religious Discussion Board?

[HokeyReligions]

Does anyone know of a Christian-based discussion forum (similar to LoveShack) where people can post tough questions or honest feelings and not be kicked off the board?

 

This is for a friend who was raised to be a Christian but, like me, has left organized religion. So a board needs to be non-denominational.

 

Thanks.

[Tony T]

Have her post her question here, at the Water Cooler. I love to get into religious discussions. In my past lives, I was a Pope, a tele-evangelist, a philosopher, a poet, an Angel and a demon. I love those sorts of discussions....bring him/her on!!!

[HokeyReligions]

I gave her the link to LS, but I warn you --- she's a VERY ANGRY person!

 

I debated about religion once and it was so frustrating because I could feel myself getting angry and arguing over the 'net is just plain silly - I mean, do any of us really think we can change another person's heart or mind in a few words posted on an Internet board? !

 

I know from whence my friends questions stem, so in case she's watching (call me , BT ), here are some of her questions. Keep in mind she is not searching for specific answers, but for other opinions and sources of research with which to form her opinions.

 

What do you think happens to a person when they die?

Do you think the same thing happens to animals when they die?

Where exactly in the Bible does it say that animals do NOT have souls?

How can someone be a true Christian/believer, and still be accepting of homosexuals?

Where in the Bible does it say that being gay is wrong?

Should Christians witness to homosexuals and try to help them convert to heterosexuals?

Why is it okay to have sex after marriage, but the day before the wedding it's a sin?

 

There you go Tony! These are some of the topics (the ones I can remember) that BT & I talked about and why I suggested she find an internet board to discuss this on.

 

Any takers?

[Tony T]

THE FOLLOWING ARE MY OWN PERSONAL THOUGHTS AND NOT NECESSARILY THE POSITIONS OF THE OWNER/ADMINISTRATOR OF THIS BOARD OR OF ANY OTHER PERSON WHO POSTS HERE OR WHO MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS BOARD OR THE INTERNET.

 

1. What do you think happens to a person when they die?

 

I assume you mean the "soul" if one exists. We can all observe physical bodies decompose so we know what happens to them. What I think is totally based on my observations and thoughts over time. But I have no reason, scientifically, to believe that anything happens at all when we die. It's pretty much lights out and good-bye.

 

However, many people are not able to face such a horrid thought and for them peace is gained through other beliefs. Again, what I think and what others think are equally valid because there is no way to prove our hypotheses.

 

I would really like it if we all went to heaven and got free high speed Internet, could eat all the ice cream we wanted without getting fat, have unlimited sex, and everybody loved everybody and there were no arguments. Then again, I might get real bored with that. I guess I'm not sure what I would want heaven to be like...but if there is one I guess I would be stuck with it. That is, unless I went to hell...which is the way I feel sometimes.

 

2. "Do you think the same thing happens to animals when they die?"

 

I think animals live on in the love they bring to the earth and in the offspring they create to spread that love further. For individual animals, it's pretty much lights out at the end of the journey...and that's OK.

 

3. "Where exactly in the Bible does it say that animals do NOT have souls?"

 

I am not familiar with the position of the Christian bible where animals' souls are concerned. I wouldn't think that in biblical times, people would have concerned themselves with that issue. However, there is no evidence to prove or disprove the existence of souls in animals.

 

I do believe that animals generate much love, or at least have the capacity for doing so. So if God is love, the God exists within every animal...and every other living thing that brings joy and balance to the planet. The meanness of some animals is instinctual. Most predators would be very nice if they weren't so damned hungry.

 

4. "How can someone be a true Christian/believer, and still be accepting of homosexuals?"

 

One of the major things The Christ taught during his earthly journey was love and forgiveness. Though there are many hypocrites and bigots among his followers, he loves them too. But true believers in the teachings of The Christ love and accept everyone for who they are. They believe in the prayer which The Christ left for his followers, most specifically, the part that says: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those sin against us." What that means is that people are forgiven of their wrongdoings ONLY to the extent that they forgive others for theirs.

 

Taking that a step further, The Christ said "Judge not, lest ye be judged." So, I think a good argument could be made that if one wants to call themselves a good Christian, they ought not to be judging homosexuals, murderers, rapists, robbers, or anybody else. The Christian Bible says vengeance belongs to God. People should mind their own business.

 

I personally see no reason not to accept homosexuals. They are human beings, probably put here to test others. I will say that I am rather prejudiced against heterosexuals who are mass murderers. Why would I single out homosexuals when there is such a variety of evil in the world to choose from, not meaning in any way to imply that being gay is evil. I don't think it is. There are just many things that ARE evil.

 

5. "Where in the Bible does it say that being gay is wrong?"

 

I have no idea. If it does, it's probably a misprint or a misinterpretation. Being gay is not right or wrong...it just is. Just like me being Italian isn't right or wrong, I just am. I think rational thinking dictates that rather than judge, it is easier for us to accept and embrace reality with love. It's much easier on our constitution.

 

6. "Should Christians witness to homosexuals and try to help them convert to heterosexuals?"

 

No, no more than the French should witness to me and try to convert me from Italian to French. Every man is in charge of his own destiny and his own soul.

 

7. "Why is it okay to have sex after marriage, but the day before the wedding it's a sin?"

 

Who said it was a sin? That's not in the Ten Commandments. If somewhere in the Bible it makes reference to sinfulness, perhaps that was the thought of that time...two to four thousand years ago.

 

Various religions and schools of thought have sought to define good and bad, sin, etc. over time. Only thirty years or so ago, it was a sin for Catholics to eat meat on Fridays...the best that would happen was they would fry in Purgatory for a while. Now, they can eat meat all they want on Fridays. There was a time when if a Catholic married a non-Catholic, they were excommunicated from the Church. That doesn't happen today. Times change, people change, etc. A lot of the way people felt way back was due to archaic thinking.

 

Sin is as much a matter of conscience than anything. If you think that having sex prior to marriage is a sin, then it's a sin...for you.

 

AGAIN, THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE POSITION OF THE OWNER/ADMINISTRATOR OF THIS FORUM OR OF ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET EXCEPT FOR THE POSTER, WHO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO BE WRONG!!!

 

Dominus Vobiscum

[quankanne]

as Tony points out in his disclaimer, this is solely my opinion reflected in this post, not that of anyone else on this board. Right, wrong or somewhere in-between ... it's just my opinion.

 

1. What do you think happens to a person when they die?

They're dead, and only God (and the person who dies) knows how it ends. As a Catholic, I believe that the choices are limited to Heaven, Hell or purgatory, but I really don't believe in "calling" someone's final destination, because it's all so subjective and God doesn't necessarily judge as I do.

 

2. Do you think the same thing happens to animals when they die? Don't know what happens when they die, but I think that if God is an entity of Love, then he's taking care of all those critters who spread happiness and joy in the lives of humans. Besides, there's a passage in the Bible that the author talks about God's love for us, about the God who sees the sparrow that falls as well as he sees man in his need … therefore, I'm pretty sure he's doing right by all his creatures.

 

3. Where exactly in the Bible does it say that animals do NOT have souls? Uh ... I'm not that well versed in the Bible, like I said, I'm Catholic! Anyone? Anyone?

 

4. How can someone be a true Christian/believer, and still be accepting of homosexuals? how can someone follow Christ's teachings (which are based in love) and STILL want to exclude someone from the Kingdom of God? Who decides who is beyond the pale? Only God is allowed to do that. Even Jesus consorted with tax collectors and prostitutes and lepers! What's the saying? "Love the sinner, hate the sin." You've got to distinguish between the person and his actions. (just think of how parents deal with their children -- no matter how bad they goof up, underneat it all, a parent loves that child, even if they are not happy or are hurt by what the child does. And I think that's God's grace at work, allowing us to have the quality he practices on a full-scale basis).

 

5. Where in the Bible does it say that being gay is wrong? Old Testament. That's where all the fundamentalists find things to separate people so that they can "create" the cliques of perfect believers who are the sole claimants of the Kingdom of Heaven ... and look how many people there are convinced that "their" way is right! They forget that it's all got to do with love -- if you are a follower of Jesus, he's only got two basic rules to follow: Love God, and love one another. L-O-V-E. That's it.

 

6. Should Christians witness to homosexuals and try to help them convert to heterosexuals? As Christians we should try to witness LOVE to others, to help them make decisions that are in harmony with what God wants of us. That means being the kind of person who helps a practicing homosexual (or dog-kicker or axe-murder) say to himself "I want to change, to be a better person, to walk away from this bad way of doing things (i.e., a life of sin)," Inspiring others to be in communion with God. Like the stuff Mother Teresa has done in her lifetime -- she didn't have to start up an order of sisters who ministered to the people in the gutters of India, but she did, and in doing so, she has inspired so many others to want to do something as simple, yet as effective as that.

 

7. Why is it okay to have sex after marriage, but the day before the wedding it's a sin? If you don't live by a code of ethics, sex before marriage isn't a sin. From the Catholic standpoint, sex is a gift to be shared by a heterosexual couple within a marriage, because sex is viewed in light of procreation. Any "fun" that comes with attempts of procreation are icing on the cake!

[clia]

5. "Where in the Bible does it say that being gay is wrong?"

 

I think there are various places in the Old Testament where it is condemned, but in particular the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Hence where sodomy gets its name.) The story doesn't explicitly mention the term homosexuality, but some people think that is the underlying context. Basically (from what I remember) in the story, some of God's messenger angels go to Lot's house to warn him that God is going to destroy Sodom, and some of the men in Sodom basically storm the house and want Lot to hand over the "strangers" (angels) so they can "know" them. (Hence, interpreted as homosexual rape.)

 

However...some commentators think David (of David and Goliath fame) was bisexual, given some of the text in the Samuel book, but most traditionalists totally ignore this subtext. There are (IMO) lots of different interpretations for much of what goes on in the Bible.

 

It's also interesting that the Israelites were very anti-homosexuals, but other neighboring cultures were very open to it.

[Patty]

What do you think happens to a person when they die?

 

Well,when I was a baby my father had a near death experience and he was rushed to the hospital after a car accident.He said he saw beutiful stars and they were near my sister there telling him he would be ok.Then he came back to life.And he still remembers that day.My mother told me about this.He said heaven was real beutiful.But when he came back to life he said that he saw himself coming back to life too.

 

Has anyone ever watched this show called "Crossing Over" with John Edward?John Edward which does the show tells these people that he knew what happened to their loved one and what they did in life,in fact he even knew how the person died.Isnt that amazing? And he said something like this, "he/she is right here right now in this room." And he even knew what the dead person was already thinking and he told these people that their loved one wanted them to be happy.He even knew the names of these people that died.I wonder how he does this.

 

But I do think its great they have people like that cause it kind of makes the other person feel better that lost their loved one, especially knowing that theres someone there to give them comfort of their loved one they lost.

 

Patty

[HokeyReligions]

Great responses! I hope BT is reading this.

 

I do think it is interesting - not wrong or right or anything with negative or positive connotations - that so many of us feel we must put a disclaimer on our opinions.

 

Isn't that what life is? Our opinion? Or interpretation of events, laws, morals, ethics, etc.? I know, there are some hard and fast rules - but why do we feel we need to explain that our opinions are just that? I do it too - as evidenced by my statement above.

 

I just thought that was interesting.

 

Personally, I was raised to be a Christian and told that the Baptists were the "right way to believe and worship" but I got away from that because I had so many questions and the ministers and Baptists that I questioned gave me answers that did not make me feel very good and/or inspired even more questions!

 

I think I know the kind of website BT should look at, and that is one where people who know their Bibles (whatever version or name) can tell her what passages to look at and then discuss their interpretations of those passages, and what (if any) education or special knowledge they have of those passages. (A minister may feel that s/he is more qualified to interpret than someone like, say me, who either was not schooled, or not schooled enough in the Bible)

 

I've talked briefly with some people who have told me that animals do not have souls and they were put on earth to serve mankind. They could even cite passages (I don't remember what they are now) that "prooved" them right. My response was always "if there are not dogs in Heaven, I don't want to go"

 

Personally, I don't know the answers. I would like to believe that there is some truth in all organized religions and that truth being that there is some form of life after the body dies. One where there is no pain or sorrow, etc. I would like to think that billions of people over many thousands of years can't be totally wrong. I would really like to believe that. But I don't. I don't disbelieve it either. My mom says it breaks her heart to know that I don't believe, because she believes so strongly.

 

I would like to believe that my children still exist somewhere and feel nothing but love and happiness. It still hurts if I think about them just not existing at all anymore.

 

Sometimes I think that the soul is really energy and that it lingers after the body dies, and that sometimes that energy is so strong, or so intuned with other's that the lingering energy is sometimes mistaken as a ghost, or can even be absorbed into a new person. (picking up some attributes of the "soul" of a person, or animal, that has died) In that respect, I have two dogs who came to us after my oldest two dogs passed away, and each of these two dogs have some very unique aspects of their personality that are the same as the two that passed. But that could be just because they are being raised in the same house and by the same people and shown the same love so they respond similarly to the others. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but I can't explain it. I think I'm just missing my others so much that I don't want to let go and perhaps I'm looking for some comfort after their loss. Transference - ya know?

 

I'm still hoping that someone may be able to provide a link to a Christian website with a forum similar to this, and people who know the passages of their Bibles and have experience and a wide range of their own opinions to express their interpretations and who are not preachy and trying to convince or convert others to their way of thinking.

[Gray]

I believe one of the lines the anti-homosexual Christians use from the bible is a line that goes "Man shall not lay with man." Or something along those lines.

 

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing just stating.

 

On another note I just had a good coversation with my gf about souls. I'd never really vocalized it before, but I've always thought when we died we return to energy with our bodies decomposing, and the self not existing anymore (nothingness). My girlfriend felt there was a soul, and that soul returned to some universal pool. Its interesting how similar both of those are to each other, while maintaining a very distinct difference. At the same time, does that difference affect how I'll live my life? Not really...

[Patty]

For anyone thats into spiritual stuff,I recommend watching the "Crossing Over" show with John Edward. Its a real good show.I got hooked just with one show. Just in case some people might not be familiar with him I provided a link to it.

 

http://www.theblot.com/vol_1/06/edward.htm

 

Patty

[Paul]

Originally posted by HokeyReligions

Does anyone know of a Christian-based discussion forum (similar to LoveShack) where people can post tough questions or honest feelings and not be kicked off the board?

 

This is for a friend who was raised to be a Christian but, like me, has left organized religion. So a board needs to be non-denominational.

 

Thanks.

 

Not quite what you were asking for, but for some time now we've been hashing over "missing" general topic areas on the forum. One of the forums we created about a month ago is specificially structured for religion and spirituality issues. The new forums will be made public shortly.

 

I can't speak for other web sites, but you certainly won't be banned from this forum for expressing "tough questions" or "honest feelings" no matter what the subject... well... unless you're selling penis pills in the process.

 

Best wishes,

Paul

[HokeyReligions]

Pills in the shape of a penis? What would the pills be for?

 

Pill to grow a penis? Is this for women so they can grow one, or for men who would like to have two?

 

[don_guyus]

2. "Do you think the same thing happens to animals when they die?"

 

 

 

I believe some animals make it to heaven, unless only vegetarians make it to heaven.

[moimeme]

1. What do you think happens to a person when they die?

 

Let's back up to physics. Your body, the tree in your yard, your thoughts, the water you drink, and the electricity powering your computer are all, at base, made up of exactly the same stuff. Same particles acting differently and in different combinations but everything is made up of it. When you die, whether you are burned, buried, or blown up, you eventually break down into those particles. They cannot be created, nor can they be destroyed. Our world at present contains particles of every human that ever lived. It is entirely possible that you, right now, have inside you a Hitler molecule - or a Saint Francis molecule (I'm using 'particle' and 'molecule' because they are more familiar than the latest crop of particle names). So you don't go away, you just get reconstituted.

 

As for the 'soul', I like Deepak's theory (or at least it was him I heard mention it) that we are basically 'meat antennas' which act as receivers for what I suppose would be called our souls. Once the meat antenna expires, the soul still exists just like a radio wave does.

 

2. Do you think the same thing happens to animals when they die?

 

And trees and flowers and bugs and fish and everything.

 

 

3. Where exactly in the Bible does it say that animals do NOT have souls?

 

It's been a long time since I went through it, but I don't recall it mentioned. I think the prevailing view of animals comes from Genesis; God gave animals to man to use. But that brings me to the Bible. A set of writings by an awful lot of people in different languages living in different lands over the course of thousands of years. Can any thinking human actually believe that some things havent' gotten lost and that others haven't been badly twisted over the years? Has anybody gotten a wrong telephone message? If our compatriot in the next room can get one message wrong between a telephone and us, how on earth can anybody believe that the Bible has come perfectly translated from God to us?

 

4. How can someone be a true Christian/believer, and still be accepting of homosexuals?

 

Christ never said a word about homosexuals. There are two, or at most three mentions of homosexuals in the entire Bible and they are all in the Old Testament. One is in the same chapter where believers are told to take their disobedient children to the city square and stone them to death, that adulterers should be stoned to death, and that menstruating women should be shunned for days and anybody touching them or even the chair they sat on had to wash and was 'impure' until they did. However, religious bigots conveniently ignore all the other passages and concentrate on the passage about homosexuals - which does NOT say anything about killing them, by the way. In fact, some scholars say that the real sin of the folks in Sodom and Gomorrah was that they treated their guests inhospitably. If you actually read your Bible, you will find an awful lot of cases where people who treated guests badly were punished rather heavily by God. You will see MANY more mentions of worshipping false idols and of being inhospitable than you will of homosexuality.

 

 

quote: They forget that it's all got to do with love -- if you are a follower of Jesus, he's only got two basic rules to follow: Love God, and love one another. L-O-V-E. That's it.

 

As a matter of fact, if you bother to actually study ALL the world's religions, you'll find that every one has two rules in common; 1 - pay honour to a Higher Power 2 - be good to your fellow humans. If that doesn't prove that those two rules are paramount, I don't know what could. Note that was LOVE not HATE your neighbour. Certainly Jesus never said 'take My name and use it to condemn others'.

 

6. Should Christians witness to homosexuals and try to help them convert to heterosexuals?

NO. You might as well try to convert blind people to sight. It is equally as obnoxious and wrong.

 

7. Why is it okay to have sex after marriage, but the day before the wedding it's a sin?

 

I wouldn't worry so much about sex, if I were you. Jesus said not a word about sex before or after marriage; what he did say was that marriage was a bad idea:

 

Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage."

 

I have a HUGE problem with people who claim to 'live by every word of the Bible' because they clearly do not. It's good, too. Jesus said the old ways were to be replaced by the new law so people should not be stoning their kids - but what about these words of Jesus - how many 'Christians' do you know who insist they follow the Bible (every word) do this?:

 

"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna."

 

It is all hypocrisy, you see. These so-called 'Christians' don't use the literal word of the Bible except as a weapon to beat and bully others. They take only some bits from the whole and only apply them to all other humans because they have somehow come to the conclusion that they themselves are righteous and somehow escape the fate they would visit upon those they despise.

[dzynr]

Belief.Net is great, though not all Christian, which is good, because it promotes cross religious understanding, although there are sections for each religion. Check out the Belief O Matic!