To Stop Us From Hijacking The Other Thread...

[TheBellhop]

The only reason I am going to church is because I'm being forced to. Church is a nice idea. The singing is great, and the sermons are typically intriguing and thought-provoking. The mass that we go to is at 12:15 until about 1:10ish.

 

[Mara]

Ritual? You want to talk about empty rituals? Look no further than the modern-day Christian church. You think half of those people want to be there? People are sitting, praying in church and they don't even know why. They think that because they sit in the pews that immediately they are going to have their place in heaven. They think that if they say the Hail Mary and the Our Father repeatedly, that they will be washed clean of sin and ready for heaven. THIS is fake, empty, shallow. If they eat of the body of Christ, man, save a spot for them up there!

The problem I have with mass ritual and faith is that people don't understand WHY they are doing it. Many people's faiths are so shallow and empty because of this. You need to dig into your faith, question what you are told, and try to find God by yourself. Only then, by finding Him yourself, only then can you feel whole. This is why I will not call myself a Christian, I do not follow any typical religion. Christianity to me, it's got excellent ideals. The 10 Commandments, the Beatitudes, etc.; those are solid values. But do people care about these at all anymore? "Love your neighbor as yourself"? What happened to this?

No, I am not saying that every person who attends church is a hypocrite. Not at all, because I know many fantastic people who attend our church. But most people never FOLLOW the message! Do most people who exit those big doors of church remember the sermon halfway through the week? Do they even care anymore? This is the biggest problem with organized religion with me. Some can say they follow a certain religion, others can label themselves to their religion, but it's all so hypocritical! You must find in yourself what brings you closer to that higher power, and THEN can you participate in religion. For then, the rituals aren't empty anymore.

For you to judge people based on their religion, what they were brought up on, is hypocritical. For you to say that they are fake, and that Satan is present in them is just plain wrong. That would be like somebody from a different religion, let's say Islam, preaching to you that they find your rituals satanistic and untrue. It's not anyone's right to judge.

Yes indeed, you make good points. I'm sorry about my poor wording... I'm always terrible about that.
Though how I said it, it does look like I'm... eh, how to say it? Standing on one big side throwing potshots at the others. But I don't just mean I'm objecting to empty rituals in, say, 'non-Christian religions'. Rather, as you put it, I object to empty rituals in general. That's why I didn't name anything in particular - because it's everywhere. Yes, even the church I attend has some of it's own rituals / symbolic things it does, that I do not like / that I object to.
On the flip side, nearly every religion and every denomination DOES at least have an element or elements of truth.

 

[AngienLuLu]

interesting thread...

 

[Captain Brain]

interesting thread...

Very interesting.

 

[Babyjustrun]

You notice how all of our threads lately spand over many, many pages?

 

[AngienLuLu]

Very interesting.

did you read my pm? i am gonna talk to him, i really am.

 

[Captain Brain]

did you read my pm? i am gonna talk to him, i really am.

I read it, and I hope that he understands. Now just to get him to wake up.

 

[Captain Brain]

You notice how all of our threads lately spand over many, many pages?

With topics like religion and Harry Potter, they will be long threads.

 

[Babyjustrun]

With topics like religion and Harry Potter, they will be long threads.

That's true.
But it's good.
I like topics that last.

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

They're all topics we can openly discuss.

And a lot of people add to what a poster has to say.

 

[polysisterchick]

i don't know if anyone has answered this post yet so yea. i'll attempt.

Sorry but I think it's pretty bad to punish all of humanity for eating the "off-limit/all-powerful" apple. And why would God/Yahweh/Jehovah punish Eve and Adam and the Serpent if the Serpent had tempted her into it? I mean, I'm pretty sure they didn't know better to be tempted.

That would be the major test that God was planning for Adam and Eve. If Adam had rejected the forbidden fruit (we don't know which fruit it was), humanity would have received instant glorification. We'd be higher than the angels. Yes, they did know not to be tempted. God specifically told them, Don't eat the fruit. They ate it, by their free will.

Earlier, Shelby was asking what's the deal with free will?

Well, God wanted us to choose whether we wanted a relationship with Him.
If you created something, would you rather it have a free will or a programmed spirit? He wants to converse with someone who wasn't programmed to say/do what is proper. How boring would it be to hear the repetetive, Holy are you O God, if there is no free will/choice involved.

yes, He knows everything that will happen.
it's His plan.

i honestly

Why would Satan/Lucifer turn against God?

jealousy.

Or did Lucifer ever exist?

in human form? not that i know of
angelic form? yes

Did God create the Devil to test the lives of "his people"? Their integrity and faith?

yes.

Or, if Lucifer did turn against God, did he know about this?

come again?
who is (the bolded) he?

Does God know what will truly happen? Because if he did, I see no point in testing the faith of his people. You simply gaze into the future and you know what to expect.

yes, God does. Testing faith will either crumble it/make it stronger in Him... so He knows what will happen, the christian doesn't. That's why he (the christian) has to trust God in what will happen in his life.



i've been trying to answer this all day.
Gah.
Been taken away from the computer each time i tried to post.
Yea. Some are my opinions (ex. the last one) others are not.

 

[Dragonlord11_7]

i don't know if anyone has answered this post yet so yea. i'll attempt.



That would be the major test that God was planning for Adam and Eve. If Adam had rejected the forbidden fruit (we don't know which fruit it was), humanity would have received instant glorification. We'd be higher than the angels. Yes, they did know not to be tempted. God specifically told them, Don't eat the fruit. They ate it, by their free will.

Earlier, Shelby was asking what's the deal with free will?

Well, God wanted us to choose whether we wanted a relationship with Him.
If you created something, would you rather it have a free will or a programmed spirit? He wants to converse with someone who wasn't programmed to say/do what is proper. How boring would it be to hear the repetetive, Holy are you O God, if there is no free will/choice involved.

yes, He knows everything that will happen.
it's His plan.

i honestly


jealousy.



in human form? not that i know of
angelic form? yes



yes.



come again?
who is (the bolded) he?



yes, God does. Testing faith will either crumble it/make it stronger in Him... so He knows what will happen, the christian doesn't. That's why he (the christian) has to trust God in what will happen in his life.



i've been trying to answer this all day.
Gah.
Been taken away from the computer each time i tried to post.
Yea. Some are my opinions (ex. the last one) others are not.

Heh... Notice that all of those quotes are from me. And the "he" I was referring to was God. And from the looks of it, the question has been answered. I think I intended most of the questions to be rhetorical.

 

[Captain Brain]

Thanks Rachel, you took my job as DIS teen preacher.

 

[polysisterchick]

Heh... Notice that all of those quotes are from me. And the "he" I was referring to was God. And from the looks of it, the question has been answere I think I intended most of the questions to be rhetorical.

sorry.
i felt like i could answer those questions.
I didn't take those as rhetorical.
sorry.
S

Thanks Rachel, you took my job as DIS teen preacher.

i've got an amazing bible teacher that has gone over this stuff in major depth at school

 

[Sparkle_Cherry]

If you want me to be honest then I'll be honest. I don't believe in God, or in any God or Goddess for that matter.

I know that I might get eaten alive by some people on these boards for saying that, but I'm not saying there is anything bad about belonging to a faith. I respect peoples' beliefs and I mostly try and steer clear from religious conversation, because I don't want to stir up problems. But I also think that I have a right to express my opinion and I shouldn't keep quiet just to make other people happy.

I don't want somebody to preach to me either, there is absolutely nothing that anybody can say that will change my mind or conform me. I believe what I believe, and other people have their own ideas too. I am more interested in nature and science, believing in God just never seemed right to me.

I was born into a family that does more or less believe in God; my father doesn't but he never spoke about religion much. I used to go to Church on Sundays and I went to Sunday School with my brother and two sisters afterwards. But still, none of it ever seemed right to me. It's just who I am, religion was just not meant for me I guess.

~C.B.

 

[PlainJane]

What do you believe? I'm a Christian

Why? To tell the truth I don't know. I didn't start going to church until I was 5 maybe, and that was after begging my parents to take me. I have no idea why I wanted to go to church so bad. There has just always been something in me saying there is a God, and when I learned about Jesus and everything it just made sense. I've just always believed.

Have you ever thought about changing your faith? No

Have you ever changed your faith? No

What is your opinion on other religions? I believe they're false. I however have no problem with people following them because it's their choice. I have friends who believe in a different religion than I do.

Would you marry someone of a different religion? No, the Bible even speaks on not marrying outside your faith. Even if the Bible didn't say anything about it I wouldn't do it. With kids and everything it just seems that things would get a tad bit confusing.