ramblings of someone who is clearly emotionally comprimised.Do I have to relieve you of your duty, Captain?
oh im fine but in all seriousness, such things really do put things in perspective, you know, life, meaning, god, afterlife, its all been on my mind in a new way- its fascinating to be honest.It really is, I get it. I'm 37 years old now and I remember distinctly thinking, at the age of 18, that I'd be surprised if I made it past my 36th birthday. Not that I was an out of control teen or anything, I just had a lot of ambitions that included dangerous activities, like skydiving, cliff diving, etc. I've always wanted to experience those things and challenge my fears, even from a young age.
Also, I'm sherlock damn it! get that mr.watson!Indubitably!
Just wait, 2k...the love you feel for this new person in your life is an amazing thing, but it will be dwarfed by the love you feel for your children should you be so lucky.
Something else that has been on my mind, i wont go in to specifics but lets say, i was recently faced with someone incredibly dear to someone i know and care for passing away and i was confronted with true loss. Now i have faced it myself but never before have i felt so helpless and without answer to soothe this person i cared for...i was stuck in my own mind between the rational side of me saying...well death is it, it finishes after it but thats abrupt and harsh and while i dont believe in an after life i have given it a lot of thought, its hard to listen to those you care for cry and you cant help but feel helpless.Its a conundrum, 2k, no doubt. I've had similar experiences when I've lost family members. I've never been able to say, "Well, they've gone to a better place..." line because I just don't believe it. Like you, I try to focus on their lives and remembering them for who they are.
one that really makes me think is your premise that you can follow the teachings of an organised religion or at least its key icons if you will, yet not associate yourself with any particular sect, what gives you that liberty? does that make you christian? how would god see such a stance?Its like any other sect of that religion, 2k. The reason there are hundreds of Christian sects is because none of them can agree on what the true focus should be within the doctrine. They all have their own idiosyncrosies. I think its pretty plain in the scriptures that accepting Jesus as the saviour is what is required. Adhering to any specific sect of Christianity is not really an issue, although the adherents of those sects might tell you otherwise.
Agreed. It's a topic that I'm very passionate about and you can read what I had to say in my post to RavensR#1 as it's directed to you as well. This is what I was referring to in the post that you quoted as it echoes my own sentiments from the bottom paragraph: "The Bible is a collection of stories and teachings that can serve as a template, particularly within the New Testament, on how to live a fulfilling life and treat one another but it should not be regarded as a verbatim account of fact and reality. Those who choose to interpret the Bible in it's most literal form are often the most dangerous and counterproductive of all Christians and other people of faith because they will invariably engage in the myopic behaviors and thought processes which stagnate humanity's progress towards understanding the very things that you all are discussing in this thread."
This, among other things, is precisely what I was referring to on the previous page about the hypocrisies of organized religion -- specifically, Christianity. It is for these reasons that I am a man of faith and a spiritual person, but not a religious one. I was re-baptized in 2010 only to abandon that same church within the year for engaging in everything that made me depart from organized religion in the first place. It was interfering with my ability to practice my faith in a way that made sense so I made the decision to explore a relationship with God and Christ that was completely independent of the church. I'm not alone in this as there are groups out there who do the same: who believe in God, who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, and who continue to read and study the Bible (as well as the Torah) for the purpose of extrapolating meaning from scripture rather than viewing it as a literal account of past events.I never like to quote an entire post but this is exactly the type of answer I've always wanted from the believers that I've discussed religion with. Many people feel that you can't believe and question at the same time. Personally, my faith was shaken a decade ago and I haven't had anything able to restore it since, but I've never called out anyone for their beliefs or even tried to change their beliefs. It just has always boggled my mind that people don't see the contradictions.
Everything that you stated there are things that I've debated and even argued about with a side of my family that has been deeply entrenched in the ministries and theology for generations. What makes interacting with extremely devout and hardcore religious fanatics so intolerable in addition to their hypocrisies and contradictions is just how stubbornly closed-minded they are to the logical and philosophical questions that need to be answered in order for organized religion to reedeem a shred of credibility coupled with how utterly ignorant they are to the preponderance of factual scientific data which disproves many of their silly creationist theories.
One thing that ties directly into what you're saying is in challenging the very basic conventions of Christianity with the affirmation that all Jews and other people of faith who believe in [a] God or who live an upright and righteous life are condemned to an eternity in hell, regardless of their actions on earth, because they don't believe that Jesus Christ was their messiah and/or Savior. I take serious issue with the notion that someone who lives a life of crime (including something as hideous as being a lifelong pedophile) can accept Christ as their Savior on their death bed and be ushered straight through the pearly gates while someone who may have patterned their life after Ghandi but "failed" to accept Christ get's a one-way ticket into an eternal inferno. What about everyone who died before the time of Christ? Everyone from Abraham to Moses to Job and all the kings of Jerusalem allegedly went to heaven yet none of them are Christians who accepted Christ as their savior so did they get evicted from Paradise and tossed into the fire upon his death?
There are a plethora of extremely valid questions that depreciate the viability of religious doctrine as the creeds of virtue and altruism that it purports to be. God's ways are higher than ours so it is the height of human ignorance and arrogance to attempt to define them. Likewise, until religion can be used in conjunction with science instead of attempting to discredit it with Biblical interpretations then it is doing itself, as well as mankind, a disservice.
Not that it matters, but ..There are those who disagree ... and can historically support their findings.Oh goodness...I really didn't want to get into this, but since 2k dragged me into it, here goes. For the record, AGAIN, I believe that a man named Jesus actually existed, however, you asked for it.
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