Christianity has been around for over 2000 years. One would think that would be ample time to explore our faith and deepen a relationship with God. Instead, the religious followers of Jesus Christ seem to be moving in the wrong direction.
Christianity started with men and women gathering together--united to remember the teachings of Jesus and to bring those teachings where they could. It has turned into a family, broken apart into a countless number of sects--each proclaiming to hold the truth of God. Each believing their own truth with no room for discussion. Each thinking that, because they hold the only truth, it's ok to tell anyone else that their beliefs and lifestyles are wrong.
Somehow the purpose changed from sharing the message of Christ to dangling it in front of people's faces as an alternative to damnation and calling it "evangelism."
And you wonder why people think we're intolerant.
It's because we Christians, as a whole, are intolerant. We're so focused on being right that we automatically view any viewpoint but our own as wrong, when we should be looking at other viewpoints as a way to deepen our knowledge and understanding, and thus our relationship, with God.
You have to be open to other ideas, other beliefs, and ready to challenge your own perceptions of faith. If you honestly cannot look beyond your own narrow perception of God, of what He wants from you, of what He is--if you refuse to accept that someone else's views may not be wrong simply because they clash with yours--then you're not worshipping God.
You're worshipping an idol you've built from your own ideas.
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Christianity was made for control by helping ppl cope with death in trade
Yeah right on with the post, doubt any christians will even jump in the pool of sharks here where they know they'll get "scienced"
My forcast, calm waters, so i swam in their pool a minute ago..
Everything, you have done, and will do, is chemically predisposed by matter, even the fact you are reading this message. You make no choices, only perceive a given reality.
I'm atheist (kinda, see my blog for my stance), and I agree with you. The only Christian message I seem to be getting is intolerance- if you're gay, you're gonna burn, if you have sex, you're gonna burn, if you're catholic, you're gonna burn, etc. Any religious belief should be a product of the individual's soul searching, not a result of believing everything he or she hears.
hah. I'm Catholic, and I am going to burn. :-D
also, thank you for your reply. :-)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/sawaboof
"...There is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt."
-30 Rock-
I wrote a post on religion and I really like your post on it. In it is my belief that people are fighting for stupidity because they put themselves in catergories like you stated christian,buddist, and others but don't realise that long ago there was one religion. Someone decided well I don't like that rule so I will change it and call it christian. I believe in god but don't classify myself into a religion because who really knows what's the "right" religion. Every religion thinks they have the answers so they all fight. Like you said we are there to worship god or who ever people worship and fighting is taking away from doing so.
Something people should know about:
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
you know what, I think I may have replied to you at some point referring you to this post. After you posted this comment.
I'm sorry. I'm an attention whore, I'm not gonna lie.
But I'm glad you enjoyed my post. Thank you. :-)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/sawaboof
"...There is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt."
-30 Rock-
I agree with some parts of your post and disagree with a few as well.
On one note, you're right that Christians tend to be irrational and intolerant. Many Christians are quite set on the "do wrong and burn" parts which dont' necessarily need to be stressed as much as they do. However, when it comes to religion, there are only a few necessary parts and the rest are mostly opinions and stances that individuals and groups have on life. For instance, within different denominations, views on music, dress, size of a church, food to eat, and so on and so forth differ very much. However, any of these opinions don't truly matter when you get to the "nitty gritty" so to speak of Christianity. Christianity boils down to belief that God's Son, Jesus Christ, came down to the earth in the form of a baby and was born to a virgin. He lived on this earth and lived a perfect life, never committing a single sin. He hung on the cross, innocent of any crime, and bore all of humanity's sins on that cross. He was buried and rose again 3 days later. Jesus will return again to rull over the world and eventually take all the believers to Heaven to reign with Him eternally. That and that only is the basis of Christianity, no more, no less. Sure, there's a lot more to be added, but that's the basics. Any "religious" views aren't that important really. Sorry this is a bit long, I got a bit carried away...
Jesus was killed for bringing about a huge change that the higher ups didn't like. He was the leader of a huge religious movement within Judaism. Some believed he was the Messiah, others believed he didn't fulfill enough prophecies to be so. Those that did believe taught and lived by his teachings, and founded Christianity. That is the basis of Christianity, yes. The actual act of being Christian, I've been raised to believe, involves having a relationship with Jesus Christ and following his teachings. I just can't imagine being able to do that when I'm too busy telling other people they're doing it wrong.
I wrote this blog to get the point across that the purpose of Christianity is not about judgement and who is right and wrong; I didn't write it to say what the purpose is. It was aimed against those who feel that memorizing Bible verses and being saved or whatever makes them better than others and gives them the right to judge people based on their actions. They seem to be the ones that many get their impressions of Christianity, in general, from. I was offering a more... open-minded perspective for others to see.
"Preach the gospel always. If necessary use words."
-St. Francis of Assissi
I always thought maybe the above quote was the purpose of Christianity.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/sawaboof
"...There is a crushing guilt that comes with being a Catholic. Whether things are good or bad or you're simply... eating tacos in the park, there is always the crushing guilt."
-30 Rock-
I think you've got the basic belief of Christianity down. In essence, Christ was killed because He was pre-destined to do it ever since the book of Genesis in the Bible. In chapter 2 I think, I'm not completely sure right now, but I can look it up if you want. I agree that many Christians today tend to be more judgmental than is necessary. Being a Christian does not make one better than another, it just determines where you will be going after death. We can judge you as little as possible down here, but the truth is, everyone will be judged for what they've done eventually by a Higher Power. A more open-minded perspective can be good in some ways. It seems to happen quite often that if you actively seek out the Truth, you will eventually find it. I do like that quote you gave by St. Francis. I believe he was trying to get across that you should live what you believe more so than you just say it. "Practice what you preach more than you actually preach" is a good explanation of this.