Well there is also a section of questions for Religion and Spirituality. When you have a free minute, go browse through those questions and answers and see what you find. Sometimes, it can be very entertaining, but disturbing. Here are some good examples I have found:
Q: "What opinion do you have of Jehovah's Witnesses?"
A: "Those poor people, they have no hope. Only the best ones will go to heaven, at least real Christians KNOW they will go to heaven!"
Q: "Should a true Christian vote Republican in good conscience?"
A: " A true Christian MUST vote Republican because Republicans are anti-baby killing (anti abortion)."
Q: "Which religion is the main threat to Christianity in spreading their religion?"
A: " This is too easy; Islam."
Q: "Does the Bible teach that the world was created in six days?"
A: " Yes... and on the Eighth day God created..... BEYONCE!!"
OK, I threw that last one in because it's just really funny. But you get the point, don't you?
Last time I was on that Religion & Spirituality site, before I got too tired, I scrolled through 50 pages worth of questions - and that was what had been posted in the last 11 hours. Simply put, there are a lot of questions out there in the world. And there are a lot of crazy answers begin given in response.
There are a lot of misconceptions out there about our faith and what is truth. Recently, I was reading a book about the rise of the religious Right in America and it had a short note about something that happened in Alabama in 1963. That year, at the height of the civil rights movement, the federal government commanded schools to desegregate and instructed business owners they were no longer allowed to refuse service to anyone. There was a famous incident where the Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, opposed this legislation by delivering his "stand in the schoolhouse door" speech where he tried to physically block black children from entering public schools.
That same year, the Christian Crusade, a popular fundamentalist Christian magazine named Wallace their "Christian Patriot of the Year."*
Is that truth? Seekers and searchers are being fed too much false information all the time these days. It used to be that we blamed people's false sense of the mission of Christianity to things like the Crusades, the Salem Witch Trials, slavery, and the Inquisition. All of these things are tragic examples of historical events that occured "in the name of Jesus."
But realistically, it still happens today. I have been given the truth but too often I am afraid to go out and share what it really is. I have the answers that so many are looking for, but I fear so many things: rejection, ridicule, or embarrassment. I can't blame it anymore on the historically awful things people have done under Jesus' name. I can only blame it on myelf.
Look at what Jesus said in His prayer in John 17 the night before he was crucified:
"I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."
The word that Jesus gave us is truth. And He obviously is not talking about the Bible because the disciples did not have copies of the New Testament. Rather, He gave them His example, His mission, His life.
So I hope we can all use the life and example of Jesus to be the truth. Don't let seekers get their truth from crazy answers on a website or from an incompetent magazine.
Let them get their truth from Jesus.
Ryan
*With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America by Dr. William Martin.
8 comments:
OK. I'd like to start by saying that you seem to be a little high on something, and it may not be the great spirit in the sky. How can you possibly know that JW's will not go to your heaven, in fact you said that only TRUE christians will. What defines a TRUE christian, and please, don't say yourself.
I'd also like to know your opinion of the Chosen People. They still seem to be chosen even though they are further away from your christianity than the JW's, but christians persist on giving them a special place, along side the great GOP perhaps.
Thanks for commenting on the post. I posted those answers to the questions verbatum to show how ridiculous they sound. In no way do I believe what any of those say and I apologize for giving off the wrong impression. I just chose a sample of ridiculous answers to prove my point that there are some crazy things being said out there that are not true.
Ryan
Thanks for your clarification. You ended your post stating, "Let Jesus show them the truth" Am I right to assume that by this you mean the truth according to your Bible, since this is the only reference Christians have of what he may have said, and not necesserily the truth of, say Buddhism or Hinduism, both of which are peaceful religions without the blood stained history of Christianity. Our world and the Cosmos are far more complex and greater than even Jesus spoke about, yet people from every corner of the globe, on different spiritual paths are coming to similar conclusions on the meaning of life. I'm not trying to argue with you, but I would be interested to know your opinion on other faiths and their influence on the world.
Glad I could clear all of that up.
Let me address your first point before getting into the second. I read something one time about a group of Christians who went out to a place where they knew a lot of people would be walking by and set up what they called a confession booth. Except, when people walked in or came up to make fun of them or whatever, they said it wasn't for them to confess to the Christians, but rather for the Christians to confess to them, and ask for forgiveness. I always thought that was something I wanted to do, so if you will allow me, I will start with you. I am sorry for all of the horrible things that have been done throughout history in the name of Jesus or Christianity. I am sorry if someone who claimed to believe what I do has ever condemned you or made you feel like less of a person because you don't believe the same way that they did. I believe there is nothing more wrong that we (I) could do.
That leads me into talking about your question. You obviously know what I believe and what I call truth. Everyone in the world is looking for what they feel is the truth, and where meaning comes from. But I could never look at someone and tell them they are wrong for what they believe or where they find their meaning. Too often, Christians have been guilty of this, and I don't want to be one of them. But I am always willing to tell people why I believe what I do. I have looked at other religions, read books, I took a world religions class and found one thing to be true. Jesus was the one man who said "I don't care who you are or what you have done. I don't care what your past is like or who you were. I love you anyway. You were made to be more - and I can take all that crap away from you if you want and make you new."
And that is what it is about for me. When I was growing up, it was more about my parents and what I was made to DO. Now, it is more about what I was made to BE. Jesus has said he can make me new, no matter who I was.
You said "Our world and the Cosmos are far more complex and greater than even Jesus spoke about." I could not agree more. It's when I look at our world and our universe and its complexities and intricicies that I see God the most. If I tried to make sense of it all, as a human that fails, I would never be able to do it. That God chose to leave the universe and our world unexplained, to let me look at it with awe and amazement. That's just more proof to me that he knows me and knows what I need. If I could explain it all, it wouldn't be worth knowing anyway.
Sorry for this being so long. Thanks for reading it.
Thanks for your reply, it was candid and honest. I still don't understand your explanation that Jesus can make you new. Isn't it only YOU that can change your life, Jesus isn't going to miraculously change your personality, or as you say make you new, only an individual, through hard work and a desire to better himself can achieve that, and if Jesus can be a role model in achieving this aim then, as I understand it, you would be a Christian. But the choice is still the individuals. That is a line I see blurred by modern day Christianity, too much emphasis is placed on a savior and not enough on an individuals power to change himself and the world. The biggest problem facing man today is a lack of spiritual self esteem.
Again, I must emphasis that it is not the belief in Christ I question, but the persistance of religion to fragment mankind into the saved and the damned.
Thanks for your time, I've enjoyed corresponding with you.
Thanks for your reply, it was candid and honest. I still don't understand your explanation that Jesus can make you new. Isn't it only YOU that can change your life, Jesus isn't going to miraculously change your personality, or as you say make you new, only an individual, through hard work and a desire to better himself can achieve that, and if Jesus can be a role model in achieving this aim then, as I understand it, you would be a Christian. But the choice is still the individuals. That is a line I see blurred by modern day Christianity, too much emphasis is placed on a savior and not enough on an individuals power to change himself and the world. The biggest problem facing man today is a lack of spiritual self esteem.
Again, I must emphasis that it is not the belief in Christ I question, but the persistance of religion to fragment mankind into the saved and the damned.
Thanks for your time, I've enjoyed corresponding with you.
Thanks for your reply, it was candid and honest. I still don't understand your explanation that Jesus can make you new. Isn't it only YOU that can change your life, Jesus isn't going to miraculously change your personality, or as you say make you new, only an individual, through hard work and a desire to better himself can achieve that, and if Jesus can be a role model in achieving this aim then, as I understand it, you would be a Christian. But the choice is still the individuals. That is a line I see blurred by modern day Christianity, too much emphasis is placed on a savior and not enough on an individuals power to change himself and the world. The biggest problem facing man today is a lack of spiritual self esteem.
Again, I must emphasis that it is not the belief in Christ I question, but the persistance of religion to fragment mankind into the saved and the damned.
Thanks for your time, I've enjoyed corresponding with you.
I've enjoyed our conversation as well. I certainly hope it can continue.
You make a very good point about the individual's role in their deciding to change their life or become a "new" person.
When I was a kid, I remember wanting a new bike so badly. All the other kids knew how to ride one and I didn't and I felt like I was missing out. One Christmas, I finally got that new bike and I was thrilled. But, when my parents gave it to me, they told me about how I am not just going to be able to sit on it and ride. They told me it won't be easy to learn and there will be a lot of times when I fail and fall along the way. Even when I get better at riding it, the best riders fall as well. They told me the risks and rewards and said I could start whenever I wanted. Well I worked and I worked and I hated it sometimes, but I kept riding and eventually I got a lot better. I still fell a lot (even breaking two fingers falling off my bike one time), but it became easier. By me never giving up on that bike, I eventually got to be pretty good, not perfect, but pretty good. Until I got a car, at least.
I think Jesus is like that for me. he says, "Here is a gift...you can choose to take it or not take it. I won't lie to you, everything does not become easy once you open and accept this gift. There will be some great moments, but in a lot of ways, it gets harder. You will fall a lot as you go along. People will laugh at you, ignore you, and lump you in with a crazy group of people that are really nothing like Me. That's what you are facing....but this gift is yours if you want it."
So while the offer is on the table, nothing happens until I choose as an invdividual to accept it. And it doesn't get any easier until I choose to go out there and work on it and keep riding.
But one thing I am confident in is, just like my parents would run behind me on that bike and be nearby in case I started to fall, Jesus does the same thing for me. I still fall everyday. But He picks me back up every time.
And about a "religion" who fragments people into saved and damned; I want no part of that religion. No human can decide that, nor should they want that responsibility.
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