I have trouble with organized religion. I like to think of myself as an open minded person, but organized religion seems to want me to close my mind so much. For every answer I have another question, and for every question I have someone else grows bored of hearing me ask.
How can it be faith if doubt is removed? When the lines of truth have gotten so blurred with hundreds of years and who knows how many hidden agendas, how can a truth told be simply taken in faith?
Jesus came here to set people free, but the Christian Church seems more divided and wrapped up in rules than EVER before, and of course Christianity is just one of the many ‘truths’ available to you out there in the supermarket of spiritual fulfilment.
I wonder if God is a religious man? I hope not!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 9, 2005 at 6:16 pm
i relate to the “for every answer i have another question” comment. seems like i’ll never be satisfied enough.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 10, 2005 at 5:43 am
i think some of the best christian theologians were constantly asking questions (thomas merton & henri nouwen among them). it’s just a shame that more people know about jerry falwell and other extreme right wing conservatives. i believe that we are all searching for the truth, and for me, church is a place where i can do that with others. jesus came to break up the jewish laws and put love in their place– the new testament isn’t about rules, it’s about grace. anyway, i just wanted you to know that there are different takes on christianity out there then the ones you’ve unfortunately experienced. for example, check out my church: http://www.mosaicaustin.org.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 10, 2005 at 8:29 am
I know that there are many good Christians around, a lot of my closest friends are Christians who really make me realise the faith and not the religion. However the cornerstone of it all is this book that was written by men, then compiled by some other men, and translated by a few other men. My problem is that in the 2000 and odd years since JC was around, a lot of men with a lot of political agendas have been involved in the Bible.
It’s a tricky subject, and to be honest I thought that this post was private, obviously it wasn’t so oops :-) Nonetheless, I do have some opinions and frustrations that I want to express about religion. I’ll probably post about that another day.
But to wrap up where I was kinda coming from when i wrote that last night, I’d just been chatting with a friend about the ‘afterlife.’ He asked me if my Granddad ‘knew the Lord’ and I said I didn’t know but there was no sign of that in his life, so therefore by my friends understanding my Granddad was now buring in eternal pain. We talked around that subject for a while then Josh made the point of why Christians are different to other religions. He said Christians are born into it, they actively choose to follow ‘the Lord’. I found that statement a little strange so I asked him what he meant. He rattled on about Islam being more of a traditional way of life than a choice to follow a loving God. Though, like most Christians he has never read the Koran.
I then posed the question to him, that iff he had been born in Iran for example, would he have still chosen to follow the Christian faith. He said he would have. I then asked why, and he said “Because it’s the truth.” To which I responded “So all Muslims choose to believe a lie?” “No.” he excaimed, “They just don’t know it’s a lie. They’ve not heard the truth.” “Because of where they live?” I asked. To which he said “Mainly.”
I then kind of stumped him with the obvious question. “Why are you a Christian?” He rattled off the usual “it’s the truth, God loves me, bla bla bla.” then I restated the actual question. Why are you a CHRISTIAN, as opposed to a Muslim, Hindu etc? He paused and said it was because of his upbringing and because he had heard the gospel at a young age and decided it was true and he would follow that faith.”So you were born into it then?” I asked, to which he was silent for a few moments. “No one ever preached Islam to you at an early age, or Hinduism, right?” I continued. “No.” he replied. “So how then can you say you made a choice in the truest sence of the word? You merely chose to follow the only option that was presented to you. If that option had been something else the chances of you following that other option would have been exactly the same.” He agreed then followed it up with a yadda yadda about Gods mercy etc etc.
It was a pointless discussion really. There is no answer to those kind of questions, that is where faith comes in. But in accepting any one of the mainstream religions, it seems one has to be willing to close ones mind and become inflexably rigid in some ways.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 10, 2005 at 4:58 am
You know…I too have began to wonder why there are so many different religions. I think we all believe (for those who believe) in the same God, whether it be Jehovah,Allah,Cristian God,Baptist God or Catholic God. HE is the same…right? So what the heck? Why the bigs differences? Why the tension between us all ? I don’t know. maybe if that question was able to be answered, things in the world would be better.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 10, 2005 at 12:37 pm
*rolls eyes* I’ll just give you my thoughts on stuff, because that’s all i can do.As for god, i don’t believe in one god as such. No grand almighty, no one sat ‘upstairs’ watching everything i do, and judging me for it. If there was a god who was all-powerful, there would be no pain and famine, hurt, hatred or war. I believe that if there was a god, there would be more information, they’d make themselves known to everyone, and teach them as best they could. Plus, we all know the bible is a moral and ethical storybook, written to scare the commoners into following a code of conduct. setting out rules and boundaries. Men have had the upper hand for so long, it’s been a male-dominated religion. My feminism notwithstanding, it’s engineered perfectly to keep quiet, and to pacify women to the greatest degree. Which is, of course just wrong.Apart from the many logistical flaws of having a god, as it’s believed to be by christians, i just don’t believe it’s possible. I do however, believe that there is a spirit in everything. More and more over the years, with my dabbling into different religions and beliefs, i have found myself believing in a unified spirit. Very much like the Native American’s views on life, that there is a spirit in everything. From a blade of grass, to a bird, a tree, a stone etc. It makes such sense, after all, with the cyclical nature of the earth and it’s perfectly harmonious cycles, lunar, seasonal (and dare i say it menstrual!), why would life not be the same? The Native Americans view the soul as on a journey, and when you die, it’s simply your time to move onto something else. I can’t help but believe in that. I also believe that you can contact deceased people, and that they are always within reach. I believe very much in fate, if something’s meant to happen, it will.Most of all, i believe that you have to find something that you’re comfortable with. But under no circumstances must you push that on anyone. The Hindu religion actually forbids anyone trying to convert. Which is just the best thing in the whole world. Why on earth couldn’t everyone be like that?I think that ceremony is also part of spirituality. Alone time, meditation, walking in the countryside, prayer etc are all a very necessary part of spirituality for all faiths.At the moment i mix a pagan background with hindu beliefs and Native American beliefs.I hope that helps
Wrote the following comment on Feb 17, 2005 at 10:39 am
I despise religion, as well. You know, I do not think that God is religious. Jesus, according to the New Testament Bible, was a radical at His time. He offended most of the religious leaders, to the point of even the Saducees and Pharisees (who were opposed to each other) often working together in hopes of tripping Him up. His own disciples abandoned Him at death for fear of their own lives. I guess this is one reason I am a Christian… why would the disciples, who abandoned Him, suddenly become so bold and be willing to accept persecution by pronouncing His claims and preaching the Gospel which He taught? Just some food for thought *smilie goes here?*
Wrote the following comment on Feb 17, 2005 at 10:49 am
Oops… P.S. A person is not born into being a Christian. There are many in America that call themselves christians when in reality they are not. Notice the little c as apposed to the capital one. Tradition doesn’t make a person who they are.