Religions - Your Opinion

[Sasquatch]

The whole story of the Bible is fine, just not what it teachs. In the event your next post says "have you read the bible" The answer is no. And to play ahead of time. I dont plan on ever reading it. I dont need god in my life.

So you don't need it, don't want it, don't have any idea what it's about, but still don't like it. Kind of aggorant and ignorant, don't you think?

But I can say that I have read the Bible in the past ( I wouldn't say the whole thing..) ...

So you've read it, but you haven't read it?

I hate when Bible thumpers come knocking on my door trying to convert me

Damn those people! They believe that their beliefs will save them from an eternity in Hell, and they have the audacity to come try to save me from it too? What jerks!

Whats the point?? think about It if someone came up to you and tried to tell you that your religion is false would you listen?? of course not!! so why would someone else?

Because some people aren't like you, and some people DO listen. They do things like, say, ask "why". They usually come back around to the beliefs they held before, but still. It's very ignorant to stereotype Christians with the assumption that they never question or re-evaluate their own beliefs.

Besides, I'm all for love and peace, doesn't that make me a good christian even though I say I'm not one?

What makes you a good person does not necessarily make you a good Christian. Christianity is a religion of FAITH, not works. According to Christianity, it's not what you do, it's what you believe that's important.

If you're trying to say that following the Bible is the only way to happiness, and that being friendly in general, without following all those (here it comes) rules is a waste of time, you're no better than muslim fundamentalists who think everyone that doesn't live by the Koran is the devil.

Except for the whole not-wishing-death-on-nonbelievers thing, you might be a little closer.

Rules. Yes, he wants you to follow the rules he gave us. Such as no sex before marriage, not using his name in vain, cursing, and other sorts of Sins.

If you have any knowledge or understanding of the Bible, I'd like you to point out passages prohibiting sex before marriage and cursing. Cursing is considered generally improper and dictated by society, not religion.

Here you are claiming that only people who believe in God get to 'go to heaven', while acting like the most righteous person on earth.

It's not God, it's Jesus, according to Christianity. And whether you think he's self-righteous or not, according to the Bible, it's the belief in salvation by God through Jesus that gets people out of Hell -- not what they do or how "righteous" they are.

Isn't it un-christian to say only people like you deserve eternal happiness? (Cause I assume that's what you mean by 'heaven'.)

No, it's very Christian to say that only people who believe in Christianity get into Heaven. There's nothing to "deserve" or "earn" -- NOBODY deserves to get into Heaven. Under Christian belief, faith doesn't "get you into Heaven", it gets you out of Hell. Nobody is "good" enough to pay for all the bad things they've done, so it's only through acceptance of Jesus's sacrifice (the only one who did nothing bad) that we can get out of Hell, the place where we would pay for our sins.

This is basically saying everyone else who is not [Christian] will go to Hell, which I don't think is true. ... are you telling me that because I am not Christian I too will go to hell eventhough I DO believe in God?? (pshhh!)

That's what the Bible says.

Have you heard of the concept of the Abrahamic faiths? Both Christianity and Islam are descendants of Judaism. Jesus is a prophet in the Islamic tradition.

Islam branched off Judaism, not Christianity, but they both branched from Judaism, if that's what you're referring to. Islam was founded well after Christianity, but Islam understands Jesus the same way Judaism does -- not the Messiah.

Islam was founded as a way to "go back" to the original Judaism, because Mohammad believed that the original teachings and beliefs had been corrupted by those who controlled it.

So while Christianity could be considered the child of Judaism, Islam would be the attempted clone that turned out all screwed up.

Yahweh, Allah, and the Christian God (the Father), are the same being.

In theory, yes. According to how Islam interprets their god and how Judaism and Christianity view their god (God), hell no. The God of the Torah and the Bible asks much, much different of his followers than the god of the Qur'an.

Mohammad did not teach the Arabs to believe in an entirely new deity, so he was clearly building on the Judeo-Christian tradition.

First -- it wasn't a Judeo-Christian tradition at all. It didn't branch off Christianity, it branched off Judaism. And second, Mohammad incorporated some old beliefs and traditions with his new stuff, and also included some pagan rituals, to "stay with the times", if you will. The sacred rocks and crap like that.

Personally, I'm a liberal Catholic. I believe in Heaven, but I'm not so sure about Hell, and I believe that anyone can go to Heaven.

So you claim to be Catholic, but you don't follow the Bible ... do you follow the Catholic Church, or just do your own thing?

Jesus said that to love our neighbours and to love God are the most important lessons. That summarises Jesus' message. But if Jesus thinks that just because someone didn't get all these special oils rubbed on their forehead that they can't be saved, then that's not really loving one's neighbour, is it?

Being saved is just that -- SAVED. It's not "getting to go to a good place", it's "not having to go to Hell". The only thing somebody has to do is believe, and that's not easy enough?

Sending Muslims to Hell for not believing in the Christian concept of (what is really the same) religion is not loving them.

It's not the same religion, not at all. Nobody would be "sent", they just wouldn't be saved from it -- we're all headed that way anyway, and the only way out of it is to accept Jesus. If it was a situation of "not loving them", there would be no way for them to get out of Hell.

Provided people don't kill and rape and do stuff that most countries criminalise, then you'll be all good.

According to the Bible, it's not what you do, it's what your believe. Faith, not works. Murderers and rapists can repent and accept Jesus, and they'll end up in Heaven.

Something I've heard before that makes perfect sense, is that there will be a lot of surprised people in Hell, and a lot of surprised people in Heaven. (Some will think, "I was a good person," while they're in Hell, and others, "I was a Christian, but not a good one" while they're in Heaven.

Remember that Christianity doesn't have a high horse. In the Crusades we killed tens of thousands of Jews in the Pogroms, and tens of thousands of Muslims in the Holy Land.

That was the Catholic Church. And let's not forget that the Holy Land was taken over through force by Muslims, and the Crusades were about taking them back.

When a religion is founded and its FIRST movement is a military invasion, it kind of tells you something.

The Bible does have lessons, Rags. Just like how one can learn from a textbook. The lessons however are largely narratives, and need to be placed in context and read critically, not literally.

That is all fine and dandy for people who don't claim to be Christian.

I don't believe in conversion. I think forcing one's beliefs onto another is wrong. Especially because religion and culture are linked. To convert someone would be to dislocate them from their ancestry and culture. Choosing to convert is a lot different though.

At some points in history, forceful conversion happened (for prettymuch all religions), which of course was wrong. At this point, however, at least Christianity does missions and outreach programs that help spread Christianity through education.