Curious to know why.....

[a4a]

No religion has people dying at the mouths of lions for their faith. Certainly not pagan culture. In the end, the Pagan culture is what supported Nero, Pharoah, and totalitarian systems. Christianity - was always against slavery, and in fact, was instrumental in dismantling slavery of Black people when people realised, masters and slaves alike would be judged under the same God. All Christian societies are democratic and progressive.

 

I will not bother to post the numerous injustices that came about from the Christian followers over the centuries.... they are well documented. I am not saying all christians are bad .... not at all......just christianity does not have a sin free history as you seem to be stating.

 

 

God respects free-will.

 

Perhaps you should take note of this, and quit trying to force your will and belief on others?

 

The fact this is bothering you so much shows that you know this is true, and it is much more than just harassment. You are trying to run away from God, doing things in your own way, but the void, restlessness and emptiness is still there. The Lord is knocking on your door even today, if you will let Him in.

 

You could not be more wrong, each day I wake I do not need a crutch to verify my choice, my fate, my life. Restlessness is not part of my life....nor do I run from your god..... it would be like running from the Easter Bunny in my view.

 

 

 

I know you dont like this, but think about it. There is a better way.

 

Yes you are right about this.... freedom from having religion dictate or attempt to dictate my own life....that would be a better way!

 

You will thank us all later.

 

Like Art said ..... and thank you for what? Slamming YOUR unwanted ideals down our thoarts...... no thank you.....

 

I would like to see when the planet continues to evolve and this new myth is put into the same category as the others.

 

As I said before I do not care if you worship a happy meal toy... just don't let it effect my life....and do not push your belief into my life.......it is not welcome and serves no purpose to me but to hinder my happiness and freedom.

 

a4a

[witabix]

Right, and you are imaginary too right? Saying a person doesn't exist because you have not seen them or have a relationship with them does not give you the right to jump to such conclusions, as I can make the same arguement about you. I cant see you. Suppose you are a computer generated personality?

 

Just because you dont see something does not mean it is imaginary.

 

Am I assuming out of sight out of mind?

 

Your god my friend is precisley that your god.

 

I see no evidence of a divine presence anywhere in existence.

 

I reject all forms of religion and religious belief, monotheistic, pantheistic, all forms.

 

My beliefs are also precisely that, my beliefs. I do not care what anyone else believes in.

 

I defend the right of all people to believe and worship in whatever fashion they desire, as long as it is within the bounds of human decency. Child sacrifice being an example of something I do not perceive as acceptable.

 

You will never convince me to believe in any god. Regardless of your arguments.

 

I have no fear of your hell, or of your god.

 

If you wish to live in fear that is your choice.

[Xillr8ng]

As a christian I can answer your post.As a follower of Christ we listen to his commands."Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded YOU. And, look! I am with YOU all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” Notice it says "until the conclusion of the system of things",which has not yet occured.In any case I believe as you do that no one should cram anything upon anyone.Phillipians2:14 says " Keep doing all things free from murmurings and arguments''.

[ButtonPusher]

To those that love to quote passages from the bible, keep in mind that the modern day version is only a fragment of the many christian texts that were around in the first few centuries AD. Furthermore, the translation of the greek in the modern bible has been "adjusted" to fit in with the roman churches view of christianity in certain passages in the gospels.

[Admiral Thrawn]

To those that love to quote passages from the bible, keep in mind that the modern day version is only a fragment of the many christian texts that were around in the first few centuries AD. Furthermore, the translation of the greek in the modern bible has been "adjusted" to fit in with the roman churches view of christianity in certain passages in the gospels.

 

The King James Version is the most authentic one.

[Xillr8ng]

The historical accuracy of the Bible was once widely doubted. Critics, for example, questioned the existence of such Bible characters as King Sargon of Assyria, Belshazzar of Babylon, and the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. But recent discoveries have verified one Bible account after another. Thus historian Moshe Pearlman wrote: "Suddenly, sceptics who had doubted the authenticity even of the historical parts of the Old Testament began to revise their views." The Dead Sea Scrolls include portions of the Bible text copied over 2,000 years ago. The spelling in these scrolls often differs considerably from later Masoretic texts. In some scrolls, certain letters were freely added to indicate vowel sounds, since vowel points had not yet been invented. In other scrolls, fewer letters were used. A comparison between all extant Biblical manuscripts shows that the meaning of the Bible text remains intact. Yet, it also clearly indicates that the spelling and number of letters vary from text to text.

The absence of parables in the epistles and in the book of Acts is a strong argument that those in the Gospels were not inserted by early Christians but were spoken by Jesus himself. Additionally, a careful comparison of the Gospels with the epistles reveals that neither Paul's words nor those of other writers of the Greek Scriptures were artfully reworded and ascribed to Jesus. If the early Christian community had done such a thing, we should expect to find at least some of the material from the epistles in the Gospel accounts. Since we do not, we can surely conclude that the Gospel material is original and authentic

[Outcast]

The King James Version is the most authentic one

 

No. You should be reading the original Greek and Hebrew texts after first having taken a lengthy course in the culture and society that existed at that time.

[Xillr8ng]

ditto ...outcast

[Outcast]

X if you're going to quote someone, you must provide the source.

[Art_Critic]

Glad someone pointed that out..

 

http://www.watchtower.org/library/t13/why_trust.htm

[Xillr8ng]

The Watchtower and Bible Track Society.But I must say that I searched for theses things to see if they were true..Public library.Enncylcapedias and many other sources...back when I questioned the bible's authenticity..I am a man of high conviction and desire a lot of facts before accepting a conclusion.

[Apex]

Can your god not see that a person is good and would deserve to be in heaven if they have spent their entire life doing good deeds.......or is this god only willing to take in those that have been sprinkled or dunked in water and attended church and proclaimed such an entity as their savior?

Reject God and he will reject you. Isn’t that fair?

[Apex]

Proselytizing is the work of darkness. It denigrates the pluralistic love epitomized by Jesus during his ministry because it remains exclusive. It says "believe this or you're going to hell without an electric fan."

 

Love is inclusive, not exclusive. Forces of darkness - and make no mistake, they're absolutely real - guise themselves in "feelings" of religious fervour and sway otherwise-rational believers into working for dark aims instead of reaching out in humility and love.

 

Proselytizing is, in a very real sense, the work of the devil.

All sides proselytize!!!

Proselytization is one mechanism for spreading the faith whether it Christianity, Atheism, etc.

 

If you don’t believe in hell, why would you be bothered if someone said you were going there?

[Apex]

I asked you to leave the thread I hosted because of this behavior.

I am really disgusted by this. You have no business saying who can and cannot post on this forum.

Until then, we will treat you like we do all trying to peddle religion at our door. We will resist evil.

There isn’t much love coming from you.

Yes, you did judge Admiral_Thrawn as ‘evil’.

[Art_Critic]

I am really disgusted by this. You have no business saying who can and cannot post on this forum.

There isn’t much love coming from you.

Yes, you did judge Admiral_Thrawn as ‘evil’.

 

Your disgusted ... you ought to be on this side

[a4a]

The original topic of this post was not to debate a christian god but to ask why so many christians find the need to slam their belief down the throats of those that do not believe the same or would prefer to simply be left alone by the christian converters.

 

I am not a christian so I would have to wonder what happens when a converter runs across a jew, buddist, ect? Does the christian attempt to convert or consider this a lost cause?

 

Apex....... I cannot be rejected by something that does not exist. But, I can protest the constant badgering by those that seem to find the need to force their ideals on my life.

 

a4a

[Admiral Thrawn]

Apex....... I cannot be rejected by something that does not exist.

 

By just saying something does not exist when it does is rejection.

 

Would you feel rejected if you tried to express interest in someone, and they treated you like you weren't there. Same idea.

[slubberdegullion]

Admiral;

 

You have broken the ninth commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness.

 

You attributed a quote to a4a, when actually it came from me:

 

Originally Posted by a4a

Proselytizing is the work of darkness. It denigrates the pluralistic love epitomized by Jesus during his ministry because it remains exclusive. It says "believe this or you're going to hell without an electric fan."

 

Love is inclusive, not exclusive. Forces of darkness - and make no mistake, they're absolutely real - guise themselves in "feelings" of religious fervour and sway otherwise-rational believers into working for dark aims instead of reaching out in humility and love.

 

Proselytizing is, in a very real sense, the work of the devil.

 

I forgive you. I can't, and won't, speak for a4a.

[Admiral Thrawn]

Admiral;

 

You have broken the ninth commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness.

 

You attributed a quote to a4a, when actually it came from me:

 

 

 

I forgive you. I can't, and won't, speak for a4a.

 

There is only one sin that can not be forgiven - that is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, I would caution to watch where you are treading if I were you. Now, you are probably going to be ok, if it was not under the annointing. But, if God speaks to you to repent and to serve Him, and you scoff it off, then you are in danger.

 

To reject the Son of God is the worst sin and can not be fortiven.

[Apex]

Admiral;

 

You have broken the ninth commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness.

 

You attributed a quote to a4a, when actually it came from me:

Is this some kind of joke?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see I used the same editor for three successive posts.

[slubberdegullion]

Take all the shots at me you want; my sense of self isn't even remotely reliant on what you think of me.

 

Point is, we're all sinners; Christians included.

[Apex]

The original topic of this post was not to debate a christian god but to ask why so many christians find the need to slam their belief down the throats of those that do not believe the same or would prefer to simply be left alone by the christian converters.

Maybe these strange people called Christians actually care about, and believe they are helping you.

I am not a christian so I would have to wonder what happens when a converter runs across a jew, buddist, ect? Does the christian attempt to convert or consider this a lost cause?

”converter”? Just call them missionaries.

Apex....... I cannot be rejected by something that does not exist. But, I can protest the constant badgering by those that seem to find the need to force their ideals on my life.

You have so much certainty when there is no certainty.

When a person has arrogance, ignorance isn’t far behind.

[Admiral Thrawn]

Take all the shots at me you want; my sense of self isn't even remotely reliant on what you think of me.

 

Point is, we're all sinners; Christians included.

 

Whatever. If that is the Gospel you want to hear or believe, then I really do not care. You can believe whatever you want to believe - there you got my permission, are you happy now? God always gives people what they want. That's even in the Bible:

 

II Thessalonionas 2:11-12

 

"And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness".

[HokeyReligions]

When I moved from the mid-west to the Bible Belt it seemed that everyone I met assumed I was a Christian and they would invite me to their church or bible study. It was a nice gesture but I told them that I'm not practicing any religion at the moment and it seemed equally divided that some would shun me and others try to convert me! Those that didn't simply siad "well, how about coming over for coffee then?"

 

There is a subtle undercurrent of fundamentalism that I've noticed in the Bible Belt and for most of the folks it works just fine.

 

On my last project I shared an office with a very nice woman -- we became friends. It wasn't until the Christmas holiday stuff began that I found out she was a Jehova's Witness. I asked if she would accept the fudge if I took the ribbon of the container and just consider it a gift from a friend and not symbolic of anything and she did. The only thing she said about it was that I should have brought some milk too!

[SmoochieFace]

The mentioning of The Watchtower just brought back some awful memories... thanks.

 

As an XJW, I avoid the Witnesses like the plague now that I know how they really operate. They are simply nothing but a cult.