Brad:
But isn't Christianity based on that "story"?
Naww. Christianity is based on Jesus, with a splash of Judaic myth thrown in, to support the perceived need. If you forget all else that this thread has brought up, try to remember this: Christianity is simply about Jesus - the person - first and last. Anything above and beyond that is just layers of explanation because we don't like blank spaces.
I'm honestly still trying to find "God" or utopia myself......although I am certain that I am closer to it than I was when I was a JW......
If you are seeking "it" then you are probably doing more than you ever did as a JW.
The "path" is one of lifelong learning. Unfortunately most can't accept how simple it is.
...but it is hard for me to accept Christianity as being infallible.
Who, the heck, ever told you it was that???
It's various forms are gawdammed awful, but the core of it is simply Jesus.
And I know, LT, that you are likely wanting to say that finding God is not so easliy defined or classified as just being Christian, so I admit that I use that term loosely.
Fine
However the Christian model is actually rather simple, when you strip away the b*llsh*t.
I feel free to choose god as I see him to be.
My perception of him works for me.
Does it really work for you?
Then what (who) are you still trying to find (if genuine question)?
If my opinion works for anybody else, then great, but I refuse to have any followers.
I wouldn't feel right about people following me...... bad things happen when people follow.
Me too.
However, bad things happen when people don't follow, too. That, too, is a "human" thing, and everything is vanity... Whatever we do in life there's a statistical chance that it's gonna end out bad
Isn't life generally about reducing those odds, by informed choices and judgement calls?
Brad wrote to Gumby: I'm not blowing smoke up your a**.
Wouldn't that tickle
Gumby:
Finding God shouldn't have to be a hide and seek game with a loving father with lost kids. Most dads go looking for their kid when they are lost, yet the bible god wants you to seek him. Cool dad eh?
In the context of the theology presented in this thread, it would actually be more akin to God visiting a Romanian Orphanage and choosing a few kids who had nothing, to come live in the USA at some undetermined future time. Every now any then food parcels are sent in, but the kids still have to live and play with all the others.
Sometimes, when a person of any belief doesn't know the exact answer to something, it's easier to dodge the question, or deflect the conversation away from your main point.....it's human nature, although a bad trait.
And sometimes they are doing nothing of the sort. Sometimes the question is missed. Sometimes they are thinking about it, and meanwhile forget to acknowledge it (leading to frustration). Sometimes the question has already been answered in the thread, or in another recent one.
However, there are no stupid questions, just the occasional stupid answerer
Many times their interpretations ARE their answers.
That, too, is true.