^^^ lol at loast post...
Anyways, I'm about to get long winded, but I hope it is a good read. I like these posts because it allows me to try to shed light onw hat I believe a TRUE 'Christian' should be like.
Either way it is SOLELY my opinion and the ways I believe and live my life. These ways have only benefitted my life in EVERY aspect I can think of.
Heaven and Hell What is heaven and hell? Is heaven really pearly gates and rubies and diamonds and gold streets? Is hell a lake of fire? These 2 examples could very well easily be acceptable. We can all imagine these 2 images easily. Maybe this was an interpretation(sp?) by the one writing the passages. I personally believe it could be these 2, but I also believe that it could be simpler than that. Thorough, complete ignorance of malice, hate, evil, or what could be (absence of curiousity I suppose) could = Heaven. Hell could be the thorough, complete knowledge of EVERYTHING like God, but the lack of power to do anything about it. (One could argue that the knowledge to do something about it is part of knowledge, and it is very valid. A point only God himself could explain)
Organized Religion Organized religion...ahhh, how I love and hate that word. I love it because when I am hanging out with my buddies while they are smoking, drinking or just chilling and having a debate and they say this word, it allows me to shed light on my feelings of religion, without directly 'pushing' it on one single person. I hate it because I agree that organized religion NOW is bad. The point of Church is to congregate with fellow people of your religion to share support, and share your common interest, religion. All of this in a safe place away from people who only wish to cause you malice for your beliefs. It is true today as it was back then. I believe in smaller groups, not these huge Televised churches etc. One person leading thousands of people is as smart as it is bad. If he begins to twist words, group think rarely allows for a reality check, and then twisted churches, beliefs, and practices begin, and ruin the image of the real baseline religion. (Read: Catholic Church) It never says you are required to go to a church to believe your faith. In fact, that would be bad for earlier on, when Christians were constantly persecuted for their beliefs.
Pushing Religion I thoroughly hate seeing people use this as a reason they hate religion. And it isn't their fault. It is the 'pushers' fault. This practice has been used time and time again by various religions and it is ashame to see that people and churches in my religion advocate these types of things, in the past and present (read: Crusades, Pilgrimage, Fire and Brimstone preaching, etc..) For those wondering why we 'push' our religion; It says specifically in the Bible to be 'The salt and the Light to the world' Basically, to be an example. Pushing people into believeing something they are not ready to accept is NOT being a good example. This tends to give off a pushiness, and I hate seeing that compared to religion. I tend to be stubborn is people tell me something I can't do, should do, etc... and I am not ready to believe them. It is natural to resist these kinds of things. These 'pushers' of religion are not following their own religion correctly by trying to force themselves and their religions on someone. I use friendly debates as my 'soapbox' and I never once become agitated, and I let it known I am not pushing anyone to believe anything. It works much better, and several friends have respect for my beliefs and what they stand for, regardless of their opinion.
Catholic Church First off, before I start in on these guys, I would like to let it known that I do not believe that all of these branches of religion should exist, but I see how they formed. Some people like change, most people don't. Anyhow, Catholic church has been a large negative for the religion as a whole. From countless scams, to child molestation, to just blatant ridiculous situations and rules they have, I cannot condone them at all. I'll sub group this
1. Child molestation Basically was a practice gotten from the Roman empire armies during wars. They would use young boys who had not developed masculine traits as their *** toys basically. This was because of long times without their wives or women in general, and was thoroughly accepted in those times. I could only Fathom that Catholics, being buddy buddy with that empire at that time, adapted this.
Scams Best example is my own Girlfriend. Her parents wanted a set of Godparents for her. The church suggested a set that my GF's parents did not want, and they wanted to chrage 2k for the 'official' paperwork. I know nothing of this practice, but it gets much better. Naturally, my GF's parents refused, and they chose another set that they wanted. The catholic church immediately said no, but backed down and made this offer: 5k to use the ones you want. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif Wow.
This is just 2 examples of how the Catholic church should not even exist, and how it causes just TONS of media attention and public distatste for religions as a whole. It is soo large it only does damage to the good cause of Religion.
Cost of Religious schools My family is poor. We gre up ina trailor, and just recently got an actual house after my father basically has run himself into the ground. My family paid for me to go to a private school, which was about 75% more than public school. (We lived 1.7 miles from the public school). My parents wanted me to grow up with religion on my mind. I thank them every time I think about it. The reason why it costs so much is that their funding is all from families and privat sectors, NO financial breaks from the Government (or very little nowadays). Therefore, tuition needs to pay for everything, whereas education grants are given to public schools. In twisted school as someon here posted, is just ashame. I'm sorry to hear about it, that was ridiculous.
Malice towards other Religions is blatantly disobeying your religion, or atleast the Christian one. Jesus himself went to lepers, and healed them, after everyone stated their distastes and hatred for them. or how about the woman at the well? Jesus asked that '*****' to draw him some water, even thoug other's believed she was filthy and anything from her would be vile. Or even the children around the time he healed the Roman Seargenats'(not sure rank) son, Jairus (now my little Brother's name) from a blood borne illness (I believe). The disciples told them to stay away from Jesus, and that he needed to be alone, but he had them all come over. Jesus was ALWAYS accepting of everyone, regardless of their past, and present beliefs and practices. Sure, our religion has it's limits as to what you need not do when you are a follower, but it has not limits on your past misdemeanors. (for those about murder, I once argued this with a fellow Christian worker. I argued you could never be forgiven for murder, and we left it at that. But that man was a genius. He basically said this: As long as you NEVER knew that murder was wrong until you committed it, you cannot be counted guilty of your 'sin' it is really hard to explain.) Christianity never asked us to be malice towards other religions, but to accept their followers if they ask to be accepted, or just to be friendly with them. Only time that Jesus showed malice was at the mockery of how Christians were trying to make money on religious property for personal gains. This was not towards any religion, but the individuals marring the religions intent. The point here is that we as christians, are not supposed to shun ANYONE regardless of their past, and are to accept and RESPECT everyone's opinions and beliefs, as if they were a member of your own family. Although it is hard to imagine doing that all the time, it is the basis.
What is right from the Bible nowadays? This is a touchy subject for many, hence so many branches of the religion. It is really down to personal interpretation to an extent, which causes the conflicts. There are certain things you have to really push out of context to make wrong. All in all, I do not follow one 'branch' of a religion, but I take their whole goal as my own message. By not concentrating on what is really a personal interest rather than the religions intent, I can easily make the judgement as to what is right an wrong, and what can be easily adapted without breaking any rules from the Bible. It is really hard to concieve that people have a hard time adapting the Bible to today's life without breaking the Bible's word. There are some touchy subjects that I cannot have confidence to answer correctly, but as a whole it is easy to do.
A few sidenotes:
1. My grammar and spelling may be horrid. I do not use homekeys and as I wrote alot, I had to get it all out at once, rather than nitpick.
2. If you would like something clarified (without malice please) I would be glad to try to help. I enjoy civil intelligent conversations/debates of this type. Actually, i love it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
3. There are many things I did not touch up on. I cannot type as fast as my mind thinks, so there is a limit to the light I wanted to shed on various subjects, unfortunately.
4. I am in NO WAY a saint, nor do I pretend to follow all of these rules all of the time. I wish i had a stronger will to not care sometimes, but I fail in this are often.
5. Hehehe, 3,100 words approximately. I'm sorry for those who hate reading //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
~Levi
