i believe christ is god.
when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.
through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.
Then I suppose that those that become Christian, but then become not-Christian are just fooling themselves and God never really took them seriously because he saw all outcomes. What a waste of effort. LOL So they weren't REAL Christians.
I think that Christ Alone would conclude that I was never a REAL Christian---regardless of my experience. Just. Say. It.
this is pretty much how i feel.......who disagrees with this?.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yjo4duhmrzk&noredirect=1.
Yes, Sauer, which is why I said that you would not exactly be a problem in this scenario. However I pointed out that many non-atheists take themselves VERY seriously, and to meet that with a group that does not take themselves seriously would be tragic. As long as others with power are serious about this, then we have to be serious too. It's not enough to say what you think would make this a better world. We must accept the world as it is. This IS serious and SHOULD be taken seriously. They do. We must. You have said we take things too seriously, as though it is not a worthy and necessary venture. That's where I came up with the thought that it is dismissive. If we didn't take ourselves seriously, at least as serious as the other camp, then homosexuals would be in prison and women would be barefoot and pregnant. I give you many countries in the Middle East as support for that statement.
i believe christ is god.
when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.
through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.
It is not for ME to judge if you were or not or to what degree you were or not and THAT is my whole point.
I mentioned that because, for some there is no "degree" of CHristianity, either you are or you are not and if you ever were but are not now, then that means you never were, BUT in MY view, I find that to "black and white" and it has been my experience that things are never that "black n white".
So you are saying that those that were and now are not were a lesser degree of Christian than those that remain?
this is pretty much how i feel.......who disagrees with this?.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yjo4duhmrzk&noredirect=1.
Exactly. Maybe there needs to be something like a religious/atheists "Prime Directive" <as in Star Trek> to first of all not try to contaminate other cultures with your bullshit.
Hmmm? Contaminate? Should the west 'contaminate' the middle east with our bullshit---like treating women as equals and such? Not executing homosexuals? Not putting atheists into prison? Just wondering.
this is pretty much how i feel.......who disagrees with this?.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yjo4duhmrzk&noredirect=1.
That's the root of the problem, it's not whether you believe in God or not, it's taking yourself and whatever you believe in too seriously.
Interesting. And yet, if secular people didn't take it seriously, creationism would be taught alongside evolution. That IS serious. The UN is considering an anti-blashphemy law. THAT's serious. Perhaps you as an individual would not be a problem, but there are powerful religious groups that take themselves very seriously---serious enough to shoot a little girl in the face for going to school---serious enough to shoot abortion doctors and blow up clinics---serious enough to keep fighting to keep our children ignornant. If that doesn't deserve serious consideration, then I don't know what does.
Some things matter more to some people than others---I would not dismiss those efforts as taking ourselves too seriously. But you can.
i believe christ is god.
when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.
through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.
The reason why many feel that those that fall away were not true Christians is that the Bible speaks about the "elect"; those that were chosen as Christians from before the foundation of the world.
Ah, so some were predestined. Interesting. Why bother teaching or trying---it was decided before the foundation of the world. Eat. Drink. Be Merry.
PS---are you going to address the 'degrees' questions I keep throwing out there?
You don't agree that I was never a Christian? Now I'm confused. You said that once a Christian, always a Christian and those that 'fall away' were never really Christians. That's ME. LOL. It is. I was once a Christian and no longer a Christian, so when I apply your platitude practically, I was never a Christian. And THAT'S comforting! It's also judging my Christianity, which you say you can't do, but you do.
this is pretty much how i feel.......who disagrees with this?.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yjo4duhmrzk&noredirect=1.
So when fundies are called aggressive, militant, proselytizing and angry, is it the majority simply trying to silence the minority?
Good point---but nobody has EVER shut them up! Yet when I use such terms with them, it is meant to dismiss them, which is what a religious person is doing when an atheist speaks. It is a more effective tactic when those saying it have power or a majority. The angry black man. The slut that argued for birth control. The militant feminist.
Yeah, it's all in the same family. But I have never tried to prevent a person from practicing their religion. If I were militant, that's exactly what I would do. However others have tried to legislate their morality, or deny equal rights, or deprive children of a good science education.
scholars lump these groups togather because they all.
purport to not be interested in religion or spirituality.. but one observed notes; "sociolgist point out that there.
are no truly "secular" societies..."nonreligious" people....are.
Agh! I am hooked back with this one. The really interesting thing about this- and I will try to find a reference for you if you like-is that dogs, wolves, and even one other one are different species but are related enough to interbreed.
Yeah---that's why arbitrary lines are so difficult. It's only a general rule that speciation occurs when interbreeding is no longer possible. And I would like a link, because there are also other factors, and I'd like to see how they may be overcome. Yet that is not the only criteria. It depends on the discipline. Some will break down the species into many more categories than others, because they need more specificity. In reality, humans share a common ancestor with cats, but we usually don't speak in those terms when we talk about common ancestors. We get a bit more focused.
I think of sexual recognition as a barrier that is not genetic. An individual may not recognize another as something to mate with, even though genetically they can reproduce, they don't even try.
That's the danger of stating things in a few paragraphs, and why reading on one's own is so important. There are few black and white answers, and many variables. However, a housecat cannot reproduce with a lion. They have grown that far apart. So what is to say they won't continue to change so much, they are no longer even recognized to be in the same family?
We have evidence that Neanderthal and Sapian interbred, so clearly we are only speaking in generalities.
i believe christ is god.
when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.
through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.
They do however vary in many doctrines and I think only Chtist can decided to what DEGREE they are Christian.
Yes, but according to you, I was never a 'true' Christian. You do think you have that much leeway to decide. Just say it, LOL, I don't care. I only care when a big display is made that you can't judge another's Christianity---but then you judge it.
And I still don't get the 'degrees' criteria. What does that mean? What does that mean? What does that mean?
Will Christ look at some Christians and decide that their 'degree' was too cool, hot, lacking, whatever? And what does that mean for those that are a higher 'degree'? Can some Christianity be unacceptable because of 'degree'? Or are all Christians simply Christian, and degree does not effect outcome? And what degree are you? Because I feel pretty sure that you likely think you are a pretty high degree. And that is comforting. But what is it based on?
i believe christ is god.
when i left the witnesses i believed i had to be agnostic.
through a scheduling conflict, i studied the new testament in college.
So it's kind of like being a Muslim?
You were never a true Muslim.
