Why are you a Christian? (page 3)

soft+gentle

to designs - you have not experienced the yawning void?

if you haven't then I would describe it as

empty space

alienation

a black hole

talesin

I think our natural state is to be at variance with ourselves and with the world around us.

This reasoning, to me, is backward. I think our natural state is to be in tune with the world around us. I do not feel I am 'at variance with myself' whatsoever. Religion began as a worship of the sun and moon, and the gifts of nature. It has become twisted, over the centuries, into a tool of powerful, manipulative people.

I feel much more harmonious inside, now that I no longer look to an omnipotent being for answers. For me, there are no questions regarding this matter. I'm here, and know who I am - an animal on the planet earth, and really quite insignificant in the big scheme. Just like the big cats, and the birds who grace the trees in my backyard, my purpose in life is to survive, work with others (and I include all species in the word 'others'), and thrive in the best way I know how.

To be awed by the Northern Lights, or the love of a father for his little one, or the green of the leaves outside my window, is enough.

tal

mP

Perhaps the question should also ask - what is a xian ? Are we talking about kill everyone, steal their property and goods, christian of olde Europe or are we talking about history denying pretend xian stands for goodness xian ? The original xians, the jews of the book, never do anything kind to anybody including themselves. They go out of their way to enslave, rape, kill , condemn for profit... So where is the example of the proto kind xian in the Bible >?

Ucantnome

because of my parents

soft+gentle

oops sorry ST - I was actually referring to post 5686

sizemik - I understand why you don't agree with the idea that belief and unbelief are concurrent. It was quite an epiphany for me when I finally understood what it means to be in a state of being at variance with oneself and with the world around us (and yes I agree, talesin, that this is quite contradictory, backward oxymoronic language & reasoning).

But to take one example, to survive or survival indicates that there is a stance of of being at variance with oneself, and with the world, going on. I get what you mean about being in harmony with nature and I like to be so myself - but this takes conscious committment imo and is therefore not a natural state.

talesin

s+g - I hear you, but for me it was always that way, since I was a child. I never believed - the only times I felt safe and happy as a child, was in the country! Or when home in the city, I would go to the park almost every day after school. Just to lie on the grass, or hug a tree, gives me a sense of oneness with the earth. For me, it is part of who I am. The indoctrination I received from age 0-16 did not change my essential way of being, and as soon as I left the Lie, the next step was investigating the concept of a divine being, which I easily rejected.

vive le difference!

We are all different. :))

soft+gentle

to me the idea of being at variance with oneself and the world around is a power. It enables one to see that there is potential for manipulation not just in religion, but also in politics in society, in relationships and indeed in nature too.

For a believer in Jehovahs witnesses (I hope this is still on topic) it is this power to be at variance with oneself and the world around us (in the sense of having the capacity to differ to have reasonable doubts, but also includes being at war if one goes the whole gamut), that enables people to break free from manipulations.

talesin, nature has always been my solace, my rescuer too but she is not a oneness to me or a oneness with me - for example she lets one disagree with her so that one can shape her if one wants (pls excuse the personifications and contradictory language). vive le difference

soft+gentle

hey geneM

excuse me taking over your thread. i am bowing out now

extractor

Never been a JW. Being a Christian (the 'born again' definition) is different than other faiths that involve simply choosing to believe and then doing a list of things and following a list of rules. My parents never took me to church, my family never talked about God, I never chose to be a Christian, but I am one. If I wanted to be an atheist I couldn't do it; too many things would have to be explained away or dismissed.

QueenWitch

Why was I Christian? because my mother was. She was Baptist before JW. I'm a born-in. Once I started seeing the world outside of JWism, I explored other Christian sects. None made sense. I am agnostic Deist and no longer Christian - I believe in God/dess but I admit that I cannot prove to an atheist that She exists.

I agree with a PP that said many of us were/are Christian because of where we were born. If I was of Asian descent, I would most likely be Buddhist from birth.

Why are you a Christian?

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