ArchivedThe Truth and truthsThat’s unfortunate. If it makes any difference, I’d love to apologize for the poor behavior of those so-called Christians. As you and others have noted, sometimes we and those who claim our name are our worst advertisers. Have you ever tried judging a religion on its holy book? Humans, we are the first to admit, are quite fallible. But we believe the Bible is infallible. So to get a better picture of Christianity, it would be best to go to the source. Well, see, we have a different perspective. We don’t necessarily view it as our “right”, per se, to “blah blah blah” you on a daily basis. We view it as the kindest thing we can do for you. Before you tear that sentence apart, consider: From our viewpoint, you are on your way to an eternity in hell if you don’t’ trust Christ as your Savior. We don’t really want that to happen to you, so instead we tell you about the only way that you can avoid that destiny. Sometimes our tactics might not be the best, but if you consider the point we are trying to make, it’s not such a bad message. On the other hand, if we do have the truth, but refused to share it with you, and just sat back and watched you go to hell, I think that would be more of a “jerk” thing to do than anything. Bygones. Being intolerant of actions was the point I was trying to make. I am quite sure that you feel in your heart that I am entitled to believe whatever I want. But if my belief causes me to take actions that impose on your life, then you are intolerant of that. Evangelism (preaching to non-Christians) is commanded by my religion. You are intolerant of evangelism. Does it not follow, then, that deep down you really are not tolerant of my religion because of what it tells me I need to do? --------- Again, I would say that you need to consider my viewpoint as well. From your viewpoint, I am a jerk if I tell you that you’re wrong and you need to turn to Jesus. But from my viewpoint, I am a jerk if I do not tell you that you’re wrong and you need to turn to Jesus, because I would be a jerk if I had the truth (from my point of view) and didn’t share it with you. Christians are not out there trying to be jerks. We just want to share what we believe is the truth with as many people as possible in the hopes of seeing some people avoid ending up in hell. Again, perspective. Christians view the Bible as infallible, as the ultimate source of truth. Telling a Christian that they can’t use a Bible as the source of truth is like telling you that you can’t appeal to whatever you view as the real truth, whether it’s science, or philosophy, or whatever. Ultimately, then, it boils down to: why don’t you believe that Bible can be used as a basis for fact? Actually, I do agree. I never claimed the Christianity is more tolerant than any other belief, or even tolerant at all, for that matter. What I did say is that other beliefs are not as tolerant as they think they are. You call me a jerk because I practice something that is taught by my beliefs, evangelism. So, in my mind, that makes you intolerant of my religion, since you call me a jerk for practicing it. Honestly, I don’t know why you all are surprised that Christians are intolerant. We claim to have the only way. Wouldn’t you expect that any other way taught by anyone else would be unacceptable to us? --------- I don’t agree with this statement. Which religion is right may be an opinion, but I don’t think that religion itself is an opinion. Somebody’s religion has got to be right, whether it’s mine, or yours, or an atheists. They can’t all be wrong. There’s not such thing as “No truth”. But if I heard you right before, any time someone comes up with some evidence for you that the Bible is trustworthy, you convince yourself that the logic is just an appeal to semantics or some other loophole. Do you really talk a hard look at the evidence that is presented to you? And again, it’s not that we’re trying to force an opinion on you. It’s that we are trying to tell you what we believe is the one and only truth. If you don’t want to accept what I believe as the truth, that’s your prerogative. But I don’t think it’s your place to call me a jerk simply because I told it to you. Well, you’re wrong!!! What is your religion, by the way. I don’t think I’ve seen where you’ve said what it is. How far does your religion go on this stance? Does it teach tolerance of religious ideas, or just tolerance of people? Is it just a religious free-for-all, a cafeteria-type religion? Again, I submit to you that as tolerant as you might be, you are not tolerant of my religious ideas and practices. Neither does mine. My religion teaches me to be intolerant of that which is not truth. Well, nobody has the right to force anything on anybody, but try telling that to smokers who force their second-hand smoke on me every day. I agree that nobody has the right to force you to believe something, but that does not preclude them from sharing their opinions with you. I know Jesus hears my prayers because He told me in His Book that He does. Not because I get some nebulous feeling. Christianity’s not based on feelings and experience like so many today think. It’s based on the Bible. Hopefully this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, but the answer to that question is “No.” Fitting a mold is not what gets you into heaven. Accepting Christ is. Fitting a mold is a byproduct, an evidence that you have already accepted Christ and that He is working in your life to conform you to Him, an act that will not fully be accomplished until we die (which is why we keep sinning even when we don’t want to). Well, putting this in Christian terms (which you probably will disregard since it’s based in the Bible), the repercussion that is to come your way as a result of sin is death and hell. If we were to put this in religious terms, would this mean that your outlook is basically “if God wants me to have a relationship with Him, it will be on my terms, and if He doesn’t accept me for who I am, then it’s His own fault because He should have known that’s how I act”? Bingo! Now, if only Christians would understand this.... It was not my intent to sound presumptuous. I was merely trying to get at whether or not your relationships ended on good terms or on bad. So you loved them as long as you were compatible with them and as long as they made you happy? Once you were no longer compatible or not as happy as you could be, you parted ways? Those sound like conditions on your love. That’s the point I was getting at. Well, not really. You may have inferred that I called you angry, but I simply asked if your relationships ended in anger or not. The most “not-angry” person in the world can still have a relationship end on bad terms. The selfish part, I suppose I did imply that. But I hope you will not begrudge me that, since, as you point out, everyone is selfish to some extent. I believe you. But that’s not to say that you don’t have the ability to have those emotions or act in those ways under certain circumstances. What are your objections to the Bible? Why don’t you believe it’s true? If you are unwilling to accept the Bible, then we really can’t go anywhere in our discussions until we clear up why. Indeed. Your intelligence tells you that there are problems in the Bible, right? Well, name a few of them, and we’ll see if we can talk intelligently through them. Yes, it does, just not explicitly. Your religion, presumably tells you that there are a number of ways to get to heaven. Presumably, all of those ways have to do with performing good works. Christianity is loaded with commandments to do good works. Ergo, Christianity should be a valid way to get to heaven by your religions standards, right? Except for one thing. Christianity also claims to be the only way, which is a contradiction to your religion. Since our religions contradict each other, they can’t possibly both be right. If your way is right, then Christianity can’t be right because Christianity claims exclusivity. If my way is right, then your religion can’t be right because Christianity claims exclusivity. Maybe that’s because your religion isn’t even sure it’s the right one. Maybe it doesn’t want to be responsible for the damnation of its followers if it’s wrong. To what end? Well, thank you for swallowing my load of crap............ Never thought I’d see myself saying that! |
🌈Pride🌈 goeth before Destruction
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