NationStates Jolt Archive

To be honest i dont really have a religous preference. maybe its because i was never raised to or preached about a religion as a young child. but mainly i like to think its becuase anytime someone religous trys to explain their faith to me they get all biblical like "god will judge you for your sins" and "the truth can only be obtained by solitude and prayer with the one". honestly i like to believe that we are not judged for sins that there are no real sins (except pointless hate) and that we are not controlled by some unseen force, but we are controlled by ourselves and our own choices if any knows a faith that can follows those ideals pls respond to this :)

To be honest i dont really have a religous preference. maybe its because i was never raised to or preached about a religion as a young child. but mainly i like to think its becuase anytime someone religous trys to explain their faith to me they get all biblical like "god will judge you for your sins" and "the truth can only be obtained by solitude and prayer with the one". honestly i like to believe that we are not judged for sins that there are no real sins (except pointless hate) and that we are not controlled by some unseen force, but we are controlled by ourselves and our own choices if any knows a faith that can follows those ideals pls respond to this :)

You seem to be walking just fine. Why are you shopping for a crutch? :)

To be honest i dont really have a religous preference. maybe its because i was never raised to or preached about a religion as a young child. but mainly i like to think its becuase anytime someone religous trys to explain their faith to me they get all biblical like "god will judge you for your sins" and "the truth can only be obtained by solitude and prayer with the one". honestly i like to believe that we are not judged for sins that there are no real sins (except pointless hate) and that we are not controlled by some unseen force, but we are controlled by ourselves and our own choices if any knows a faith that can follows those ideals pls respond to this :)

To be honest i dont really have a religous preference. maybe its because i was never raised to or preached about a religion as a young child. but mainly i like to think its becuase anytime someone religous trys to explain their faith to me they get all biblical like "god will judge you for your sins" and "the truth can only be obtained by solitude and prayer with the one". honestly i like to believe that we are not judged for sins that there are no real sins (except pointless hate) and that we are not controlled by some unseen force, but we are controlled by ourselves and our own choices if any knows a faith that can follows those ideals pls respond to this

Is there any particular reason that you posted this under two different names, in both this thread and page 6 of "Why does religion preach mindlessness?" Just curious.

JackDwhiskey:

In Christianity, you aren't judged for your sins. God is loving, holy and just. We were created good, but became sinful. We deserve death (physical and spiritual). We are spiritually helpless.....BUT..... Jesus Christ is God, who also became man. Christ died on the cross as our substitute. Christ offers His forgiveness as a gift. You and I must respond. We must ask Christ to be our Leader and Forgiver. The result is a spiritual transformation by the Holy Spirit. We are saved by God's grace alone!

Think of it this way:

The difference between religion and Christianity is this:

Religion is spelled "D-O." It consists of trying to do enough good things to somehow please God, earn His forgiveness, and gain entrance into heaven. This self-effort plan can take on many forms, from trying to be a good, moral person, to becoming an active participant in an organized religion -Christian or otherwise.

The problem is, we can never know when we have done enough. Even worse, the Bible makes it clear that we can never do enough in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Simply put, the "D-O" plan cannot bring us peace with God, or even peace with ourselves.

Christianity, however, is spelled "D-O-N-E." In other words, that which we could never do for ourselves, Christ has already done for us. He lived the perfect life we could never live, and He died on the cross for all of our wrongdoings. And now He freely offers us His gifts of forgiveness and leadership for our lives.

But, it's not enough just to know this, we have to humbly receive what He has done for us. And we do that by asking for His forgiveness and leadership in our lives.

Most common religions today - especially christianity - were started as reactionary movements among men to create a male-dominant society in place of the religions of the time which had mostly female deities and thus created societies in which females were the dominant sex.

But why do christians use the cross as their symbol? It was the equivalent of the noose or the electric chair or the gas chamber, and was even used by the Romans for intimidation of christians. It would be like Buddhists meditating at shrines made of poisonous soup (the way Siddhartha Gotama died).

"JackDwhiskey:

In Christianity, you aren't judged for your sins. God is loving, holy and just. We were created good, but became sinful. We deserve death (physical and spiritual). We are spiritually helpless.....BUT..... Jesus Christ is God, who also became man. Christ died on the cross as our substitute. Christ offers His forgiveness as a gift. You and I must respond. We must ask Christ to be our Leader and Forgiver. The result is a spiritual transformation by the Holy Spirit. We are saved by God's grace alone!

Think of it this way:

The difference between religion and Christianity is this:

Religion is spelled "D-O." It consists of trying to do enough good things to somehow please God, earn His forgiveness, and gain entrance into heaven. This self-effort plan can take on many forms, from trying to be a good, moral person, to becoming an active participant in an organized religion -Christian or otherwise.

The problem is, we can never know when we have done enough. Even worse, the Bible makes it clear that we can never do enough in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Simply put, the "D-O" plan cannot bring us peace with God, or even peace with ourselves.

Christianity, however, is spelled "D-O-N-E." In other words, that which we could never do for ourselves, Christ has already done for us. He lived the perfect life we could never live, and He died on the cross for all of our wrongdoings. And now He freely offers us His gifts of forgiveness and leadership for our lives.

But, it's not enough just to know this, we have to humbly receive what He has done for us. And we do that by asking for His forgiveness and leadership in our lives."
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that is called faith. blind faith can be very bad...like the cult that drank poisoned koolaid. like the people at Waco. like the germans during the holocaust. if god would but send me a messenger(like he did SO many times in
the bible,supposedly) i would get down on my knees and beg forgiveness,and pledge my life to god. evidently however,im not worthy. hmmmm. no miracles for me i guess. i guess god plays favorites,huh?

anthropology proves that the bible is a combination of history,fictional stories
and moral lessons steeped in ignorance and superstition. does that mean god doesnt exist? of course not,but it means that man will write anything if he thinks it will give him power over his fellow man...

Most common religions today - especially christianity - were started as reactionary movements among men to create a male-dominant society in place of the religions of the time which had mostly female deities and thus created societies in which females were the dominant sex.

Christianity was born out of Judaism, and I can't really find many female deities in the old testament. It moved on to replace the various forms of paganesim practiced in the roman empire, who were mostly based on the graeco-roman pantheon (they were different, but by this time they had been syncretized quite a lot): here there were quite some female deities, but also lots of male ones, and surely females weren't the dominant sex (in classical greece "good" women spent their whole life first in their father's house, then in their husband's one, always in women's quarters, except for a few religious festivities - and then they were heavily veiled; in rome they had way more de-facto freedom, but formally they still had to depend from a man for public activities)

Now, there are theories, some well founded, that there may have been a mediterranean religion based on the cult of the Great Mother in pre- and proto-historical times (well, this is almost certain) and that in those societies women had a better role than in the following indoeuropean societies. The amount of difference, however, is still debated: there might have been a real matriarchate, or just a society with female priestess and male "civil" rulers, or lots of other possibilities.

Even if there had been a real matriarchate, the change occurred with the coming (violent or pacific) of another population, not as a reactionary movement inside society, and it happened just a millenium or two before the advent of Cristianity, during the previous religious change.

But why do christians use the cross as their symbol? It was the equivalent of the noose or the electric chair or the gas chamber, and was even used by the Romans for intimidation of christians. It would be like Buddhists meditating at shrines made of poisonous soup (the way Siddhartha Gotama died).

I don't know Buddhism well enought to know why they don't, but in Christianism that death is considered a religious sacrifice for our salvation, and thus one of the most important act of Christ: it does make sense to remember it in a symbol.

If you think religion has to begin at childhood then you are utterly utterly wrong. Anyway. Religion is indeed a crutch, as Gartef said, since walking without religion is like flying a plane without a navigator.

But why do christians use the cross as their symbol? It was the equivalent of the noose or the electric chair or the gas chamber, and was even used by the Romans for intimidation of christians. It would be like Buddhists meditating at shrines made of poisonous soup (the way Siddhartha Gotama died).
Actually, 2 christians the cross is a sign of hope as they believe that it was on the cross that Jesus diead and in doing so, allowed them 2 be saved. It has nothing to do with intimdation, that wld appaer to be your bias there instead of fact.

To be honest i dont really have a religous preference. maybe its because i was never raised to or preached about a religion as a young child. but mainly i like to think its becuase anytime someone religous trys to explain their faith to me they get all biblical like "god will judge you for your sins" and "the truth can only be obtained by solitude and prayer with the one". honestly i like to believe that we are not judged for sins that there are no real sins (except pointless hate) and that we are not controlled by some unseen force, but we are controlled by ourselves and our own choices if any knows a faith that can follows those ideals pls respond to this :)

There is sin, definately. But there is also remorse and forgiveness. The gist of the message is follows:
1)Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.
2)Love you neighbor as yourself.

You do the following, we'll all be playin' NS in the afterlife together ;)

Though, at least try to do number two. It'll get you there ;)

You do the following, we'll all be playin' NS in the afterlife together ;)
There's NS in the afterlife? Hey, I have to turn religious if I want to play for the eternity.

Every year, birds migrate over the Himalaya. Every 1000 years, a bird touches the moutains with its wing. So by the time the Himalaya doesn't exist anymore, it will only be the begging of eternity. Very Long.