Re: I just HAVE to say more
Submitted by hopesalive on May 24 2002 15:59:07
In reply to I just HAVE to say more submitted by A.I. Watcher on May 24 2002 14:41:21
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You crack me up. I might as well reply, though I expect you to twist my words or simply get mad and ignore them. I don't think that the Bible speaks of a God who never takes violent action or condemns. I have read the Bible. The whole thing. It talks about a God who is love. If you love your kids, you have to know when to punish them. At times this is not pretty. The Old Testament is especially harsh. The enemies of the chosen people were sometimes slaughtered. Animals were sacrificed, too. Of course, Jesus brought the gift of forgiveness that allowed us to escape condemnation for sins. This is for everybody, and the Bible makes this clear. It is for rich and poor, Jew and gentile. Yes, we are still asked to change. We are just not expected to be perfect. This is not the rosiest picture. There are hardships and that sort of thing, some of which are completely politically incorrect. I never said that there weren't. It is kinda silly to say that the Bible is somehow representative of the dominant beliefs in America. Have you lived in America long? The dominant belief is very loose and kinda goes like, "if I just try to do good, I will be rewarded in the next life." The Bible says something quite different. It says that nobody is perfect, but only perfect people go to heaven (in refercence to righteousness). That is why the forgiveness is neccessary. Around the world, it is even worse. Many, many Christians are being killed every day because of their beliefs. Don't fool yourself. Open your eyes. Most people just don't care enough to devote to certain beliefs. Of course, in times of desperation many people will pray. That hardly constitutes a devotion to a religious belief, though. It is more a matter of hedging their bets. Okay, maybe it wasn't intentional. I just guessed from your previous statements that you had read the entire Bible. Sorry. Read the whole thing, and then you will better understand what those verses mean. One obvious one... we are supposed to love our family and ourselves in a very strong way. In fact, only God should come before them. This is throughout the Bible, and is pretty clear when you read it in context. The Bible should NOT be viewed in a legalistic way. The very foundations of science imply that we are the result of an external source. Because of the nature of reality, there is no way to prove (via scientific means) that this external source is the God of the Bible or something/someone else. It is a matter of faith. Why hate people for choosing the Bible? Violence has been caused by many "religions." It is not so much the religion, but people who manipulate the followers of it. Some of the worst has been atheism. I don't think that makes atheists evil or more lowly than Christians. That is what I meant when I said that you may want to try to be less biased. I don't mean that you should just blindly follow any religion. |
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