by Mazza 17 Replies latest jw friends
Why is practising "love" so difficult for christians? Given the theme of the Bible is about love and given that christians are constantly expounding the virtues of believing, why is there such a problem following this most basic of christian teachings? It's a huge problem, apart from isolated instances of exceptional goodness which are found radomly occuring throughout all humanity - christians do not have a good track record with this most simple concept of their belief system.
Marilyn
What's the matter Mazza,
Christians been loading your letterbox? Mormons been trick or treat'n ya again? or did the Greek Orthodox bless yer fleet and scare away all yer fish?
I have met a lot of christians and they do a lot of good in the communitee. They help poor people and others dealt a cruel hand by fate or thier genes or what have you. A friend of mine, is a qualified pastry cook who spends most of his spare time helping wheel chair bound kids play sport and gain computer skills and such. I take my hat off to selfless genuine people like Ian, he looks like a tough bikie in his leathers and harley but he's got a heart of gold and i know there are many more just like him working thier christian miracles in the lives of the desparate and helpless.
I'm as truly headshakingly mind boggled by the ignorance of Christians about the origins of thier own belief system but can't deny that generaly christianity, especially protestantism hasn't been an altogether bad influence on the society in which i live.
best wishes, unc.
Yes Bruce, but you are talking about exceptional individuals - which I freely admit exist. In and outside of Christianity. Christians have done a lot of good, but generally individuals find it difficult to display the fruitages of the spirit as a routine matter. I think we may have to beg to differ on this one. I look around the world and whether ever there is trouble there is also religious differences. Go figure!
Marilyn
You can beg to differ me all you like mazza but i'm on my way 'round all the same! That's what ya get for turning me on with your zena wonderwoman, whip crack'n anti-christian stance. ;)
OK seriously let's look around the world. Which countries are the best? Which people enjoy the best standards of living? I'd submit the ones with Christian protestant origins as the most harmonious peaceful, clean places. (maybe I've been watching too many spagettii westerns but Catholic, Moslem and even Buddhist run country's look like dirt filled holes to me ;)
Sure Ian is just another wonderful selfless human but we ought to ask where that not so uncommon self sacraficial attitude comes from.
cheers unc.
PS: Sorry if i stuffed up your thread mazza, i just wanted to say hi really. (I'm aruing anti-christ with rex in metatrons hyperbowl thread and pro-christian here and its driving me scitzoid!)
Given the theme of the Bible is about love
now why ya wanna start off your post with sumthin' so wrong?
Feel free the enlighten me.....
Hello Marilyn and Unclebiker for Christ,
Iam feeling particularly full of wordy bullshit tonight, so I will jump in where angels love to wallow.
I guess if you had to pick a 'god' with some teeth and a heart, you would have to settle on the ole YHWH who belched fire and stone tablets at Moses.
For one thing in comparison to Baal and few other neighbor 'gods' he at least didn't require constant child sacrifices, although his abuse of the cloven hoofed bovine type was dispicable to say the least. And his ten commandments (if obeyed) could make at least your lifes work (possessions) and your wife (keep her panties up), so they(ten commands) offered a little sunshine, compared to the assinine years Moses served as a slave to even get to bed a wife, all those commands must have seemed like childs play.
Anyway my point is, Jehovah seemed pretty cool (when he wasn't angry) in Moses day......then Jesus came along and explained his real nature all boiled down to 'love' and 'doing unto othere blah blah...
How could you not like this new personality of god? Hell the Christian lifestyle is based on the most common denominater know to man..L O V E. All I need is love...dum de dum All I need is love...dum de
So this has been my attempt at answering both of your questions as to why Christians are who they are...now let me try and explain why Taliban's are who they are....Allah = YHWH before Jesus???!!!!! :))
Danny
Always a pleasure catching up with ya DB! The thing is that I have no quarrel with the love concept of Christianity - BC as it were - rather it's that humans seem to have a lot of trouble following it. Geez the Germans have even made a word for man's lack of charity towards their fellow man. The ability to get joy out of the misery of others. Shardonfraude (spelling spurious!!!!). The JW congregation is all I know and fromI could see there was a lot of talk, but action was much more difficult. We had to constantly work at it. Why is that? Why doesn't it come naturally? I think it's becasue we evolved and it's programmed into our DNA to look after number one. We see each others as competitors and though we've learnt to be accomodating, I think our basic instincts are still very selfish.
Look I'm in a weird mood today too. I never pst a topic and when I do, it's one that's half cocked and ill thought out. HOw me!!!! I spend a lot of time thinking about stuff but usually lack the iniative to post. Ya can see why eh???
Loved your post on JWs not trusting in Jehovah. I know I have a perfect example of what you are alluding to, but do you think I can think of it today??? NOPE!!!
later
Marilyn
Hi Marilyn,
I believe the answer is simple, and that is belief has nothing to do with it. It's just an intellectual concept. Even if you believe it is possible for you to perform like an olympic athlete, that doesn't mean you can do it. Now of course it IS possible, but you have to go through a lot of training. So I think you had the answer already, it's a matter of practice. I think there's a certain relaxing rather than tense effort when it comes to this type of practice though, I mean you can't force someone to be loving. If you do you'd probably end up with someone like Ned Flanders from the Simpsons.. (recall the episodes when he snapped..)
Mazza Marilyn,
I guess that is why I no longer can really refer to myself as a 'christian'. I still believe in God, but I don't believe he wrote much of anything we find in the Bible.
I think many of the men who penned the Bible were seeking God, were trying to explain him, understand him...but to ascribe their chosen words as emanating from the 'creator'....is a leap of FAITH. For me to accept that the God who masterminded the atom and all that stems from it, could not have turned a more perverse, confusing, trick on unsuspecting mankind than what came from the compilation of 66 essay's with no better titles than the writer's own names. Mathew, Mark,Luke, John, Ezra, Nehimiah,Ruth, Joshua etc.
You would at least think that he would have laid out his message, with a Table of Contents. How about a index so as to check back. Instead we have to have self proclaimed editors like Jehovah's Witnesses and Catholics, and myriads of other pompus gasbags telling us what is what. What is that anyway....?
I will go to bed soon, no worries.
Always glad to get a shout from you sis!
Danny
edited left out a word ;)
