25,000 Evangelical Christian Youth rally against promiscuity and corporate culture

[Sister Fracas 5]

Ladies...I feel a verse of Kumbaya coming on...

Frances, I wasn't aiming my comment at you in particular. I was just aiming it more at the ones that seemed to get really heated about someone voicing their view kind of in general and having an attitude well i don't want to hear it so shut up kind of thing. I respect your oppinion and appreciate what you've had to say and those in general that have made this discussion respectful towards all those though we all may have different views.

I absolutely know that you don't hate Christians, and I think I have come to understand how you feel about it in past threads. I am sure many others also know you don't hate Christians. If they DO think that, then they don't know you one bit!

Edited June 8, 2006 by Frances

[CanGal 1]

I wasn't speaking on behalf of a doctrine, i was just stating how I feel about the issue. Just because I attended a pentecostal church doesn't mean i'm pentecostal... if that makes sense....i hate stating i'm a pentecostal..or a baptist.. or whatever because thats not what I am. That is only the kind of church I attend.

[Chuckles 0]

I think one of the 'problems' with Christianity is that the way the laws of the Bible are laid out, you have to be saved through Christ in order to go to heaven, and if not you go to hell. That in itself is a belief and it doesn't affect me if anyone else believes it, so I can carry on with my life without feeling insulted.

However, the more fanatical people and denominations see themselves as saved, and since everyone else is going to hell, they are damned if they do not get them to convert. In their self-rightous zeal they think since eternity will be spent in one of the 2 here afters, this one is so temporary and does not count for much that you will be thanking them vehemently in the afterlife for saving you. That it is ok preach to you whenever they feel like, show themselves as morally superior, and to invade your privacy. It is a 'built-in' mechanism that causes its followers to be like little salespeople spreading the religion.

Edited June 8, 2006 by Chuckles

[chri'stina 190]

Ladies...I feel a verse of Kumbaya coming on...

good evening...(for real this time... I think... )

[Ban Hammer 13,278]

ok, i give up. i'm joining the church of beer, where the most lively discussions are about if it's less filling or tastes great

[CanGal 1]

I personally as a christian get nothing out of the fact of leading someone to Christ... can I save someone, no, thats not my job. Can I share with someone, yes. I don't do it so that in the after life I can be like hey I saved you! :-p it's not like that by any means. I don't want a medal, I don't want a plaque. I don't care if I even get recognition, because no christian really should. The only one who should get any kind of attention out all of it is God himself ... it's not about me converting someone so I can gloat, or I can earn something out of it.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Out of curiosity why do people constantly refer to God as a 'he'? Wouldn't it be more accurate to describe an omnipotent invisible force an 'it'?

Making God a man is simply a reflection of traditional male-dominance social attitudes.

[Chuckles 0]

I personally as a christian get nothing out of the fact of leading someone to Christ... can I save someone, no, thats not my job. Can I share with someone, yes. I don't do it so that in the after life I can be like hey I saved you! :-p it's not like that by any means. I don't want a medal, I don't want a plaque. I don't care if I even get recognition, because no christian really should. The only one who should get any kind of attention out all of it is God himself ... it's not about me converting someone so I can gloat, or I can earn something out of it.

Many Christians do not feel as you do. I recall when I was very young I went to the county fair. I was told I would win a prize, all I had to do was listen to a story. I was about 11 years old... so I didn't think twice and went in and listened. Well the 'story' soon turned religous of course. After a few minutes I wanted to leave, but there was a prize if I stayed !!!! I kept nodding yes, saying uh huh, and letting them go on. Of course in the end they asked me to take Jesus into my heart right there and then. Thankfully I did not, even though I wanted that prize real bad !!! And no, I didn't get the prize because I didn't convert.

What kind of tactics is this? With a child no less. So those people are out there, make no doubt of that. I wonder why you are suprised when you are grouped with them. You are both Christians and believe in the exact same things. I need to find that Ghandi quote again because I love it so much !!

"Missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Ghandi and asked him, "Mr. Ghandi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?"

Ghandi replied, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."

[Ban Hammer 13,278]

Out of curiosity why do people constantly refer to God as a 'he'? Wouldn't it be more accurate to describe an omnipotent invisible force an 'it'?

Making God a man is simply a reflection of traditional male-dominance social attitudes.

cause if god was a she, we'd all be subject to pms rage (shudders at that thought)

[Scott & Lai 12]

Out of curiosity why do people constantly refer to God as a 'he'? Wouldn't it be more accurate to describe an omnipotent invisible force an 'it'?

Making God a man is simply a reflection of traditional male-dominance social attitudes.

Because we believe that God is capable of and has in fact revealed Himself in words, i.e., the Bible. There, male pronouns are applied to God. Also, though the Father is not a man, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God (2nd person of the Trinity) in the flesh. He came not as a generic or even androgynous human, but as a man. If God wanted us to think of Him as an "it", or as female, He is certainly capable of doing so.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Out of curiosity why do people constantly refer to God as a 'he'? Wouldn't it be more accurate to describe an omnipotent invisible force an 'it'?

Making God a man is simply a reflection of traditional male-dominance social attitudes.

Because we believe that God is capable of and has in fact revealed Himself in words, i.e., the Bible. There, male pronouns are applied to God. Also, though the Father is not a man, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God (2nd person of the Trinity) in the flesh. He came not as a generic or even androgynous human, but as a man. If God wanted us to think of Him as an "it", or as female, He is certainly capable of doing so.

Perhaps. Personally I think its because people can't comprehend something completely alien to human understanding.

For the same reason, aliens in science fiction are almost always depicted as being of humanoid form.

[Scott & Lai 12]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, any god who is incapable of communicating to those he created, or who is unwilling to do so, is not worthy of my worship anyway.

[iceyspots 0]

funny that you mention that...... there are many people who think jesus spoke english

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, any god who is incapable of communicating to those he created, or who is unwilling to do so, is not worthy of my worship anyway.

That's not really what I'm saying - there are really only two concepts of God, outside of the various depictions in the major religions.

Either God exists outside of the universe, or the myriad universes that make up reality, or he exists within it and is bound by its rules (in which case he would not omnipotent, and therefore NOT God). So really there is only one conception of God.

You only have to look at the theoretical sciences - Quantum physics, string theory to see that God is much bigger than popular depictions would show him to be. That's not to say people don't need to see God in their own image in order to relate to it. Certainly its no coincidence that if you give a child some crayons and ask him/her to draw God, they will invariably draw something resembling a bearded old man on a cloud.

A teacher of mine in the first year of high school gave the class that exact task once. Said something I'll never forget - the best representation of God would be to leave the page entirely blank. An unseen force that can only be seen by what it does...

Edited June 9, 2006 by Fishdude

[Scott & Lai 12]

Well, as far as I'm concerned, any god who is incapable of communicating to those he created, or who is unwilling to do so, is not worthy of my worship anyway.

That's not really what I'm saying - there are really only two concepts of God, outside of the various depictions in the major religions.

Either God exists outside of the universe, or the myriad universes that make up reality, or he exists within it and is bound by its rules (in which case he would not omnipotent, and therefore NOT God). So really there is only one conception of God.

You only have to look at the theoretical sciences - Quantum physics, string theory to see that God is much bigger than popular depictions would show him to be. That's not to say people don't need to see God in their own image in order to relate to it. Certainly its no coincidence that if you give a child some crayons and ask him/her to draw God, they will invariably draw something resembling a bearded old man on a cloud.

A teacher of mine in the first year of high school gave the class that exact task once. Said something I'll never forget - the best representation of God would be to leave the page entirely blank. An unseen force that can only be seen by what it does...

Which, again, assumes God cannot communicate Himself to us truly (not comprehensively, of course). Such a God is practically no different than no God at all, and is at best irrelevant to us.