christianity, discuss, share your opinions, and be polite. Options

[*suddenly she*]

I don't know where this goes, since there's not a specific debate topic.
Be considerate of others; not everyone believes what you do!

I'm starting the thread off with nondenominational Christianity, because that's my reply when I'm asked what my religion is. Of course, feel free to branch out. I'd be glad to have a reply from anyone just to see what your views are, including people who aren't Christian.

In my opinion, I think Christianity shouldn't be too difficult of a concept and that a lot of churches make things too complicated. These days I think people make it into too much of a "religion" or at least my negative idea of religion. I think it's more of a relationship based on trust and faith... for works, you do what the Bible says out of love and respect, not because you're horribly bound to laws.

I think splitting the church up into so many sections is rather silly and that anyone who loves and worships God and keeps striving to build the relationship is worth being called the same name as another Christian from any other denomination.

Opinions?

[misoshiru]

Wouldn't this go under debate?

Personally, I'm agnostic. All of my elementary and middle school was spent in a small Christian school, and when I went to my high school, it was when I realized how constricted my views had been. Granted, I understand that many Christians aren't like this, but for me, it's very difficult now to talk to the people I went to Christian school with. For them, God is basically their life, and they keep praising what God does to them and to the world.

But of course, we can bring up arguments such as evolution. The bible does not talk about evolution, but scientific evidence points straight towards it. I feel that the hard evidence we have is too much to be ignored.

Not to mention, as I've grown up, I have different morals. And as I'm at an all-women's college, where a large amount of the student population are homosexual, I find the Christian disdain of homosexuality rather offensive and in a way, pointless. And this is only one of many of my beliefs/values that go against Christian beliefs.

But to go back to your point on splitting up the Christian church. It may be pointless, but because of the different interpretations of the Bible, it seems that it is necessary. Of course, sections of the church take different perspectives of the bible to different extremes. So, I think that if you tried to unite all sections under a nondenominational Christian church, there would be too much 'inner-power struggles' to push for the "right" interpretation.

[*suddenly she*]

Hi Sally! I actually think the purpose of church is mostly to fellowship and meet more people, which does lead to spiritual growth. You never know what someone else could teach you. Also, meeting more people = good for your social life.

There's no real debating point as far as I can tell; I just wanted a sort of a discussion.

There are some kids at my church who were literally extracted from the rest of the kids by their parents to be homeschooled and taught about Christianity for more than five years... I thought that was kind of freaky. They're back now, but everything they say, they relate back to God and it's difficult to relate to them because... well, sometimes they don't explain themselves very well or when we talk about problems they just seem to use the phrase, "Trust God on it; I'm praying for you" and... it's frustrating. I'm not too great at talking with them either.

Would you mind sharing more of your beliefs that don't agree with Christianity? I can't say much about evolution since I haven't researched/studied it all that much... I'll read up on it some more this weekend though and maybe we'll be able to have an educated conversation then.

I'm also annoyed by the way some Christians (especially my parents) view homosexuality... A lot of the time my parents will just randomly go off about how gay marriage is blahblahblah and how homosexual people are going to hell, but I think that's dumb and hypocritical. At the same time, my parents are all about "loving thy neighbor as thyself" but incessant criticism isn't my particular version of love.

I'm not suggesting that we try and unite everyone under one giant blanket of nondenominational Christians; you're right about that - it would never work, and even if it did temporarily, there would be corruption just because we are human and that's what humans do.

But what bugs me is the people that repetitively try and force a certain interpretation onto other people, or forcing anything at all. The way I see it, if someone's really so passionate about God and his or her own interpretation... he or she needs to put God first instead of his or her opinion. To explain, share your opinion if you must - but leave the rest up to God. I figure He'd have it all more under control than anyone else does.



GEEZ LONG POST
sorry guys, hopefully I haven't put anyone to sleep.

[misoshiru]

Would you mind sharing more of your beliefs that don't agree with Christianity? I can't say much about evolution since I haven't researched/studied it all that much... I'll read up on it some more this weekend though and maybe we'll be able to have an educated conversation then.

Well, in my Christian school that I went to, I was taught that evolution was false and basically, the scientific evidence meant nothing. Even though they taught Biology in 9th grade after I left, I highly doubt that evolution was part of the curriculum.

Some of my other views include Pro-Choice and Stem Cell Research. I'm not saying that all Christians are against these two views, but many Christians I've met oppose both of these views. There are many people Christians or not who see "babies" as being "babies" at the moment of conception, but I don't. Like House said in the episode 2 weeks ago, it's like a parasite up till it's fully developed. Abortion may not be the right choice for everyone, but I don't see why it shouldn't be legalized. For me, if you don't want to get an abortion or you think that it's morally wrong, then don't. But, I feel that women should have the right to choose whether or not they want an abortion or not and not have the government say that because it is "immoral", it is illegal. This is the same with Stem Cell Research, but on a different level. Some may see it as killing for research, but I see it as just a way of saving even more peoples' lives.

I don't think that religion should be able to wield the power to stop individuals from doing what they want. Sure, they set down guidelines as seen in the Ten Commandments, but who are you to determine whether an embryo is a living human being or just another cell? This, I think is up to the individual, and if you don't agree with it, then don't participate in it, but who are you to forbid someone else for getting involved in something they believe in?

[*suddenly she*]

Well, in my Christian school that I went to, I was taught that evolution was false and basically, the scientific evidence meant nothing. Even though they taught Biology in 9th grade after I left, I highly doubt that evolution was part of the curriculum.

Some of my other views include Pro-Choice and Stem Cell Research. I'm not saying that all Christians are against these two views, but many Christians I've met oppose both of these views. There are many people Christians or not who see "babies" as being "babies" at the moment of conception, but I don't. Like House said in the episode 2 weeks ago, it's like a parasite up till it's fully developed. Abortion may not be the right choice for everyone, but I don't see why it shouldn't be legalized. For me, if you don't want to get an abortion or you think that it's morally wrong, then don't. But, I feel that women should have the right to choose whether or not they want an abortion or not and not have the government say that because it is "immoral", it is illegal. This is the same with Stem Cell Research, but on a different level. Some may see it as killing for research, but I see it as just a way of saving even more peoples' lives.

I don't think that religion should be able to wield the power to stop individuals from doing what they want. Sure, they set down guidelines as seen in the Ten Commandments, but who are you to determine whether an embryo is a living human being or just another cell? This, I think is up to the individual, and if you don't agree with it, then don't participate in it, but who are you to forbid someone else for getting involved in something they believe in?

In middle school, at a youth meeting, we had a speaker called Pat Zukerman talk with us about evolution... Before nearly all the elders at the church just told us evolution was wrong and blasphemous But Pat ended up talking to us about reasons why microevolution was definitely true, reasonable, and able to be proved in history. However, I still don't know squat about evolution in general so maybe I'll reply later.

I don't get what a lot of Christians are saying about abortion. I think it's actually inconsiderate for some people to tote around Pro-life signs and preach about how "abortion stops a beating heart" if they don't know what life is like in the shoes of the other person. I definitely don't know, and I hope the government never imposes a pro-life law for the same reason you do. Anyway, for the Bible-toting, verse-quoting Christians, if they really think abortion is murder, then bless the little babies because they get to go straight to heaven. That's not supposed to sound offensive.

I also agree with you on stem cell research... so maybe I'd be a heretic to the Christians you know.

Religion shouldn't be wielding power to stop people from doing what they want, but a person's relationship with God or his/her preferred supernatural being should definitely influence what a person does and acts like. God gave Adam and Eve free choice.

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kimmytree - I'm willing to bet that God is loving and just, otherwise this world would probably be in worse shambles than it is now. What I mean by that is that I don't think God would let people go to hell just because a) Christianity didn't exist in their time, b) they didn't have the opportunity, and c) ... everything else that would even seem mildly unfair.

I personally think that some things the Bible states need to be adapted reasonably to modern life - and I know saying "adapted reasonably" just causes a billion more interpretations of what's reasonable and whatnot.

For me it all leads back to just building up the relationship through prayer, meditation, and reading. It's deciding what's appropriate for this day and age, and of course, what Jesus would do. Even Jesus found an adulteress and let her live, didn't he? It's not all about deeds.

The business you said about rape and mass murders I'll have to look up, since I'm not familiar with it.

For head coverings, I don't believe most Christians know about it... but I don't think God places that much value on hair. If uncovering your head and showing your hair is causing guys sexual thoughts, then I guess it would be better to cover your head. LOL

And sexism?
Woman supports man, man supports woman.
Emotionally, financially, physically, etc. You have to adapt - sometimes guys aren't all capable of financially supporting a woman and possibly a family alone, right?

Thanks for replying.