Some thoughts on Easter Sunday

[cewfa]

I've been thinking over the last couple of weeks about how I would define my religious stances, using the word religion for a lack of a better term. I've been reading this forum for a while now and I would like to thank whoever it was that said that Paul was one of the most egotistical people in the Bible, that helped me define my...ah religion even more. There was always something about Paul that didn't set well with me, and whoever said that helped me realize what it was.

I, personally, believe in Jesus Christ and that he died for my sins and will save me if I believe. In that respect I am a Christian (again, lack of a better word) but I would not call myself a Christian in the normal sense of the word. I think the Christian church uses Jesus to justify hate and I want no part of it, and I haven't been to church in months and have no intention of going back. I still fear God, and love Jesus, but will not have anything to do with an organized church.

At the same time, I feel like something is missing in my life. I'm not much of a partier and I don't really have much of a social life, which was something that church was giving me. I don't feel right about just going to church to maintain a social life and not wanting to contribute to them. I damn sure don't want to participate in the religious discussion, nor do I want to give them any of my hard earned money, and my experience has been that the only kind of social interaction you can get is if you are of a like mind and spew forth whatever that particular church's dogma is. I'm a pot stirrer. I want to have an intelligent discussion, not one where everyone is a robot to the group or section leader.

I think that is one of the problems with the Christian church is that they have a general lack of intelligence and an aversion to reality. Just because someone stands on the corner and preaches the word, doesn't mean that everyone is going to believe and "act right". They treat Jesus, not as if he is a savior, but as a magic solution to their perceived social ills, be it abortion, homosexuality, what have you, what have you. Give you an example of what I am talking about. While I don't believe in abortion and think that it is wrong, sometimes God allows a woman to have a miscarriage and a lot of times when a woman has her period she has fertilized eggs that didn't make it or develop right. Should we then bomb churches, because they represent God, who allowed a miscarriage? I think not. Should we then execute women who have a period? I think not. I don't mind people being against something, but be against something intelligently.

These are just some of my thoughts on this Easter Sunday, so take them for whatever they're worth. I hope everyone has a great day.

[Hobbs]

Just how do you define "church". There are many different denominations, the more sane of which do not preach hatred.

[HYHYBT]

Many of them, though, practice a form of love that is based in such a fundamental misunderstanding that it's harder to bear than outright hatred. Depending on where you live, it can be hard to find a church that's a good fit.

I believe it to be well worth the effort, though... but perhaps not now or for some years to come.

[Hobbs]

I'm not sure what you mean about love and a fundamental misunderstanding...

[HYHYBT]

It may not be relevant in this case, but it comes up in the homosexuality threads... borrowing an analogy I've seen them use before, many Christians, while they don't *hate* gay people, they insist on "curing" us or at least getting us to stop "sinning." The analogy I've heard is that if your neighbor's house is on fire, waking him up and getting him to leave is the loving thing to do. The problem, of course, is that when your house is *not* on fire, it's aggravating for people to continually yell at you that it is and you need to get out.

[Hobbs]

That's a dumb analogy. My priest woulda laughed at it.

[Wingates_Hellsing]

That's a dumb analogy. My priest woulda laughed at it.

All the funnier because it's freakin' true. Never underestimate the power of stupid/misguided people in large numbers...

[Fryk]

Absolutely Sit Integra. The problem with all large groups is that they all inevitably fall victim to...

The Fryk Theory of Collective Intelligence

The collective intellect of any given group of humans is inversely proprtionate to the size of the group.

[cewfa]

I define church as the collective group of people who claim to be Christians. Yes, I suppose this includes myself.

I love the "love the sinner, hate the sin" mentality, considering that most of the things that are claimed to be sin are either not sin or none of their business.

[Hobbs]

Well, your definition is pretty close to the Church's definition of the term. Even Protestants are considered "Separated Brethren" from the Church, in this instance. But it seems you lump them all together as sharing the same beliefs, which just isn't so. For instance, the Church teaches tolerance towards other faiths and also in scientific research/discoveries (for instance, the Chruch has no problem with the theory of evolution). I truly don't see what's wrong with "Love the sinner; hate the sin."

[cewfa]

Nothing is wrong with the "love the sinner/hate the sin" mentality as long as they don't pry into things that are none of their business. Most people in my experience use that phrase to butt into someone else's business.

[Hobbs]

No offense, but you know sucky people.

[crashhelmet]

I'm agreeing with Hobbs through all of this. "Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin" doesn't mean pester and ridicule them to the point of anguish and sorrow. It means love them, support them, be the shoulder or ear that they need when times are tough for them.

The Bible teaches that sinning is falling from Grace to some varying degree. As "good Christians," we are not supposed to kick them when they're down. We are supposed to help pick them up and get them back on the right path again. This is where many of these "bad Christians" go wrong. They think that their anger and belittlement is "helpful" to the sinners by scaring them straight or forcing them into "proper" behavior. Even worse are the ones that spew hatred and condemnation.

The issue of sin is between the sinner and God. No one else. Our only involvement is to provide the support needed for the sinner to get through the ordeals causing and/or caused by their sins.

CH

[cewfa]

Yeah, I do know sucky people, but the church is made up of people, some sucky, some not.

Meh, I was just putting some thoughts to paper. Thanks for the feedback.

[Hobbs]

As a bit of an off-topic point; the only people unable to be forgiven for sin are the Fallen Angels. Unlike man, they were not given free will, and knew the truth of Grace, yet still defied God. That's why they can never be forgiven, yet man can.