Thoughts and Prayers: The Religion Thread

I think we all live on this planet. And I choose to live my life not believing 74 percent of my fellow people are going to Hell because they didn't happen to have Christian parents.

 

Heaven/hell is ultimately God’s call.

I just know, based on my faith - and frankly either one of the other two - there is a hell.

 

You believe there is a Hell. You do not know there is a Hell. Beliefs are not facts. 2+2=4 whether you believe it or not.

 

The rat in your face cage begs to differ.

 

I'd rather be burned at the stake.

 

There’s an internal logic to hell existing in Christianity. If Jesus is who he is and did what the Gospels said he did, the existence of hell follows pretty naturally. I’m not too caught up in debating it.

If you don’t believe in a hell or feel like believing in it renders you a rude, uncool person, that’s fine. The only time in a shepherding conversation I’ve ever referenced it was with an verbally abusive, cheating husband.

 

How exactly does the existence of hell follow naturally? This should be fun.

 

Enlighten me.

 

I guess you don't.

The problem is not with Jews, or even Muslims.

The problem is with Islam, an inherently violent religion. I won't soften or change that by arguing for a non-judgmental view of it based solely on the fact that all three religions worship the same God.

As I posted earlier, the basic definition and descriptions of God in each religion are very similar and probably intended to be the same and equate to each other. Given the idea that God is omniscient, I can buy that, on the most basic, organic level, the followers of each religion worship the same God.

But to simply say that, without taking into account the stark differences in interpretations and beliefs between those religions, and even purposely overlooking them, just amounts to political correctness for the sake of not making waves.

I financially support a missionary who has worked for years, and is still working, in predominantly Islam-influenced countries (yes, I actually put my money where my mouth is). With that comes regular email reports and Skype group gatherings that keep me updated on his and the missionary organization's progress, and also educate me and others who join in on the goings-on in these parts of the world. I've had a few in-person, one-on-one discussions with him, too, as we've occasionally been to each other's houses when he comes home to the U.S.

I also am acquainted with another missionary family -- the parents of whom are active in my church -- that lives in Pakistan. The mother in that family -- the daughter of my church members -- was specifically targeted a couple of years ago by Islamic terrorists and shot in the face (fortunately she survived) as she exited the building in which she works, and I've had conversations regarding some of the issues that concern me with her Pakistani Christian husband.

I don't know everything, but between whatever personal exposure to Islam I've had, and my own efforts to educate myself about it, I'm probably not as ignorant as some here might think. There are problems with it, and glaring, not-for-the-better differences between Islam and Christianity that shouldn't be washed away simply by saying that followers of the religions worship the same God.

 

Read the thread. I explained it. Others explained it. Just as you did when you supported parents who refused to stop their son from molesting his younger sisters, you just refuse to listen because you don't like sharing a G-d with the Jews and Muslims.

 

Your arguments are so week that you can't even keep them straight. Now you have a post acknowledging that all three worship the same G-d?

Your evidence about Islam comes from Christian missionaries trying to push their faith on Muslims? You don't see the problem with that?

 

Christians are inherently violent too