Popular religious belief vs. genuine doctrine...

1) Are people saved by coming to Christ of their own free will, are some or all Christians ‘chosen’ by God himself, or is it both or none of the above?

If Christians are supposed to ‘come to god’ and ‘choose’ Christ, in order to be recreated spiritually (born again, and be saved from damnation through Christ), or even be called to God- how exactly does one account for the normal practice of highly religious people choosing their children’s religion for them from birth? (note: this is true of most religions amongst some people) Meaning- the early years of a child’s development (along with some experiences in older childhood insofar as indoctrination) hard-code certain beliefs into young children that often last until death. In highly religious families such as these, children can in no way be said to ‘choose’ their faith. And even in the teen years, a time when many Christians claim to have really, truly ‘accepted Christ’- they still are very influenced by not only the indoctrination of early childhood, but to the influence of family, friends and their religious community as a whole (including pressure and even ostracism. So- it is entirely likely that there are literally millions of people in the US alone- who never ‘came to’ Christ and chose to be reborn as an individual.

2) Everything happens for a reason...

The extremely erroneous notion (of some Christians) that everything that happens in life is the will of God, and therefore anything that happens- good or bad- is all part of “God’s plan”. WTF up with this one- the inherently flawed logic of this one has irked me about some people I’ve known for most of my life.

There are a bunch more too, but share some of yours. Keep in mind, this thread isn’t aimed at trashing Christianity.

George Carlin has covered this pretty well.

Reasonable, rational humans have covered this pretty well for millenia.

i.e.

cool another reilgion thread awesome how thought-provoking

Here we go again...

I'll just say this: taking one's method of thought and one's sense of morality from a time when religion, science and politics were all the same thing... That's just plain crazy to me. Call me a heathen if you wish, but I'd like to think that humanity has learned at least a few things in the last few millennia or so.

it's all doo doo.

Hail Eris.

I'm rating this thread "E" for "Edgy".

HeartlessNinny said:

I'll just say this: taking one's method of thought and one's sense of morality from a time when religion, science and politics were all the same thing... That's just plain crazy to me. Call me a heathen if you wish, but I'd like to think that humanity has learned at least a few things in the last few millennia or so.

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listen up and listen close, motherfucker

steal another rarely used word from me and

and, well,

we'll see

but it won't be pretty

This thread reminds me, I want my name changed to Judah Ben-Hur.

Who needs logic and reason when you have faith?

LoneSage said:

listen up and listen close, motherfucker

steal another rarely used word from me and

and, well,

we'll see

but it won't be pretty

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Rarely used word? Which one?

Was it heathen..?

the way I see it, if you're going to follow a religion, why not just follow it back to it's roots....

"Zoroastrianism" - it's what christianity, judaism, etc ripped off of and twisted into their own religions.

What's the deal with airline peanuts?

I'd really like more coverage regarding this topic.

If I got the Christian religions right, God loves all of us. You, me, them, everybody, everybody.

Is it me, or is it funny that this thread is all trolly -- but if it was in the War Room, it would get more serious responses.

And that is fucking funny.

Tell you jagoffs what- I'll change the name of the topic.

Also- try and contribute something instead of voicing your lame dismissives.

(Oh- and moving this to the warroom is probably a good idea. I probably should have put it there in the first place.)

Quit trying to make sense of the irrational

Takumaji said:

If I got the Christian religions right, God loves all of us. You, me, them, everybody, everybody.

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Right.

But what of the abominations?!? And 'justifiable' Holy Wars bc God simply doesnt have infinite patience for people worshipping other deities.

On topic: Wes made the best religious post that has ever been made on this forum. He said he takes his kid to church, not because he personally believes in everything that the church people do, but because it is a kind hearted place where people are nice and his kid has fun singing songs and doing church things in a caring constructive environment.

That, right there, it a mature thing to do. Its the exact same reason I went to Jewish sunday school growing up.

And thats all religions should really be, imo. Happy kind hearted charitable places of friendliness, not political pulpits justifying holy wars, or praying for the damned souls of "the other people".

Did ya'll know that upside down crosses aren't satanic. If anything an upside cross means being even more submissive to Christ. So the next time you see some little wanna be satanic reble turn a cross up side down it should make you chuckle a bit.

My favorite dinosaur was the pterodactyl until I learned about the velociraptor.

That's like saying a swastika is a good luck Hindu symbol.

Popcorn Sutton said:

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This is absolutely fantastic.

Well done.

Agent Sands said:

My favorite dinosaur was the pterodactyl until I learned about the velociraptor.

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