Hatch,Match,& Dispatch Church goer
ROFL
Mouthy, I love you so much. That is precious, never heard it before!
BFD
Does Someone Have to be Religious to Be a Good Person?
by flipper 61 Replies latest jw friends
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BFD
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Rapunzel
I heard the joke - "Some people only go to church three times in their lives: when they're hatched, matched, and dispatched" - back when I was in high school. And from the mouth of a priest, no less!!
I also heard another expression - "Mr. Thomas went to church, never missed a Sunday. But Mr. Thomas went to Hell, for what he did on Monday."
Then, there's the old blues song by Led Zepplin, entitled "Hey, Hey, What Can I Do?" The guy singing the song is talking about how he and his pretty girlfriend go to church, "and all the menfolk are standing in line. They say they come to talk with the Lord, but you know, my little girl, she looks so fine."
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mouthy
Mouthy, I love you so much.
BFD
Oh you made my day ((((((HUG))))
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MsMcDucket
I keep thinking of the story about the flood. The people weren't really doing anything bad; they just wasn't worshipping Jehovah; so he killed them. Or did he just flood the earth to get rid of the Nephilim? Seems like he could of just got rid of the Nephilims!
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reneeisorym
>>>Look at what you have accomplished ! Give yourself credit for those accomplishments !
Matthew 19:17 "There is only One who is good"
I can't claim to be good because only God is good.
2 Cor 3:18 "And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more. "
It is God who can take credit for my accomplishments, not me.
I'm just a believer through and through I guess .. :) But I'm quite happy about it. I don't have low self esteem/self confidence. I am just aware of my need for a Savior and thankful I have one.
My point was that a non-Christian will claim to be "good" while the Christian should be aware of their sins, very convicted of them, and begging for repentance. -
Babylon the Great Employee
I don't think people are generally "good" or "bad," they're just people. Some are better than others. Some are downright lousy. And some are incredible. But all of us are flawed. Not all of us recognize it.
My idea of "good" is to live a life of love, respect, kindness and charity. I don't always succeed, but those are my goals. Being a Christian helps me clarify those goals, but it does not make me "good." I look to Jesus as an example, but there are many examples of great people. I know many "good" people who are atheists, agnostics, pagans, Muslims, Jews, Christians of various sects, even JWs. And I know rotten people of all of those groups too!
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flipper
SEARCHER- I agree with you. Being good because you want to be good is preferable to doing it because God religion, or somebody tells you to. Precisely my point.
WT WIZARD- Yes indeed. Religion has caused it's share of disasters and wars over the centuries. And skewed people's views of sex. I agree we definitely can have morals without religion.
PARAKEET - You are right. I made a mistake in that statement. It was a typo error ! I was so tired that night- I didn't fully type my thoughts out correctly. Left two ewords out. I meant to say, " a good majority of Jehovah's Witnesses (FEEL THEY )are good , because they will be rewarded with everlasting life. " I agree with you, JW's are NOT decent people - or at least not as decent as many people they consider to be " worldly " ! Thanks for pointing that out.
CAEDES- Very true what you say. Religion can help some people refrain from being bad , or axe murderers ; but others use religion as a crutch to be violent.
REEFTON JACK- I agree religion and ethics are two different things. Some people don't have ethics in religion, others do outside of religion. I agree, we don't need 12 " old farts " from Brooklyn to tell us what to do.
SLIMBOYFAT- Good question- Can someone be religious and still be a good person ?
WORF- I hear you. I too was born in the borg as you were - and I have met more decent people outside the witnesses, and organized religion as well.
RAPUNZEL- I agree with you that sometimes " selfish motives " motivate people in religions to be good. And fear of punishment by God. Good points. I see you are a big Led Zeppelin fan ! Me too ! Right on !
MOUTHY- You are a great, decent lady ! I enjoy your comments on the board. We all can always improve our lives - but you are walking the walk Grace. Keep it up ! You are sweet.
BFD- Isn't Mouthy cute ?
MS MCDUCKET- I agree. God could have just got rid of the Nephelim. Didn't they escape anyway by dematerializing , and going back up to heaven ? Or was that their demon parents who did that ? I get confused- it's been 5 years since I've been out. I forget this stuff.
RENEEISORYM- Well Renee, if you won't accept me complementing you by calling you good - then you have to admit you are decent , and at least you are trying. Nothing wrong with taking credit for that ! You stated that, " the Christian should be aware of their sins , very convicted of them, and begging for repentance."
Do you feel you are THAT BAD- that God wants you to BEG for repentance ? The thing is it reminds me of a conversation I had with my witness daughter 21, over coffee a few months ago. She told me, " You know Dad, we all deserve to die ! We don't deserve to live ! " And she said the whole Adam and Eve thing, how it's a free gift that we even live at all, due to Jesus and God,etc, etc,etc. I told her , " Honey, we DO deserve to live. God wants us to be happy living our lives. He doesn't want us to waste our lives feeling bad about ourselves ! " So, that is my take. Why waste our time feeling bad about ourselves? This world knocks us down enough without us having to knock ourselves down constantly !
BABYLON THE GREAT EMPLOYEE- I agree there are good and bad people in all religions, and in atheism, and good and bad agnostics ! We all have some flaws - true, but I just tend to dwell on the positive, not the negative ! Religions want you to dwell on the negative so you will depend on them; not our own clear thinking ability ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper -
Bring_the_Light
The real question is can someone who is religious be a good person? I don't know any religious people who don't do more harm than good. Bring_the_Light
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flipper
BRING the LIGHT- A very valid question you ask. SLIMBOYFAT asked that too. I believe some religious people CAN be good, just as some non-religious people CAN be good. But I think the motivations as to what makes each want to be good are somewhat different for religious people as opposed to those who are non-religious
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jaguarbass
When I was in my young and ignorant days, I thought religious was good.
Today if I hear someone is religious, i run for the hills from the debil!
Religion can make a good person do bad things.