Believing

I'm not even sure as I start this babbling if I'll go through with posting it, but since some of the most interesting religious discussions have taken place in the bar ....

I am a Christian. Certainly not the most perfect one -- I swear at times, I get angry, I procrastinate, I drink way too much coffee -- but I do try to live by the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."

My agnostic brother-in-law asked me one time why am I so sure there is a God. I had to give this a lot of thought before answering. The best way I can explain it, even though it's woefully inadequate, is I have felt a presence at times in the core of my being. It's not a constant thing, but when things are at their absolute worst I know -- just know -- that I'm being helped through it. Like being given the emotional strength to carry on after a miscarriage. God never promises us a perfect life, or an easy life, but He promises to be beside us to help us along the way.

Christianity is not "the right wing, conservative Bible thumpers." It is a group of women making quilts to send to those who have nothing. It is the young, married couple with little babies at home, with not much of their own, who bring over a couple bags of groceries to a struggling college student attending their church who has no money to buy any (and even though I have no idea how they found that out, I still am grateful to them to this day!) It's the little boy who, instead of accepting gifts at his birthday party, asks for donations to give to a young Hispanic girl who lost her arm in a horrific car accident in which she was dragged for a long distance because the driver refused to stop. It's the group of volunteers who traveled south to help those devastated by Hurricane Katrina rebuild their lives. The church group which sponsors a pancake breakfast to raise money for a family stricken by illness or disaster. To me, this is "faith in action." And it certainly isn't just "Christians" who do these things.

It is God's place to judge people, not mine. Glass houses, stones and all that. All I can do is share my experiences if asked and live my life the best I can. And regardless of faith, regardless of belief, no one is really going to know The Answer until that Judgement Day comes.

 

What he said.

I do, however, believe in God.

 

I had a youth director in high school who really opened my eyes to some things. Because we all know the Bible was written by man, then translated, retranslated, edited, shortened, etc., he chooses to take it with a grain of salt. When he says the Lord's Prayer, he stays silent during parts. He made his beliefs in God, his own and not what everyone was telling him to believe. He gave a lot of us courage to do the same at a time when my church had a minister who was more in the telling mode and not so much in the teaching mode, as I believe priests, reverends, ministers, etc. should be.

 

I am a Christian. I believe in God. I think it's hard to look at the world and nature and not believe in God.

I have some issues with the Bible. Some parts clearly aren't meant to be literal. I see no reason that evolution and the Bible can't co-exist.

I also believe that Jesus gave the blueprint for how to be saved but I am willing to believe that God has other ways of reaching out to people that he thinks will work best for them so if your religion works for you, fine.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around sin, to be honest.

I also wonder why there has to be a prize at the end (salvation) to basically believe and be a good person. They are rewards in themselves.

 

I, for one, am glad you went through with posting that Rosie. Thank you for sharing. After an unsteady start, I am really amazed at the way this thread has gone. Hopefully, we can keep it civil and informative.

Rosie, the second part of your post, to me, is simple human kindness and concern for others. I wouldn't label it as Christianity, but I get your point. I know many other faiths teach similar concepts and behavior. In Judiasm, it is called tzedakah (bet transliteration I can come up with for the Hebrew).

The first part of your post is what I was talking about in terms of faith and it is a very precious thing. That is what religious faith should be, something to help us through our lives. It is something my best friend has, and it helped him through his fight with cancer. It is something my sister-in-law has, and it helped her through the death of her first husband.

It is something my wife and I both hope to help our daughter find in her life, though to be honest, neither of us truly has a particularly strong faith. Those moments where you feel a presence, I have often found myself feeling an absence, so I can't say I totally understand. But for those people who do find a faith that can help them through life, I am truly happy. For those that would rather beat everybody else over the head with their religion, they are just sad.

How's that for rambling?

 

Thanks, outofplace. You ramble well.

I'm going to clarify a bit. So many times on here Christianity is lumped together as the "right wing, conservative Bible thumpers" as if that flavor of Christianity is the only flavor. To me and my way of thinking, those who practice simple, human kindness are the ones who are practicing what Christianity should be about. It shouldn't be about the size of someone's bank account, or the size of his/her home, the type of vehicle driven or what is worn to church on Sunday.

The Golden Rule is called golden for a reason.

 

Bravo, Rosie.

To echo Al Sharpton's best line, if only the Christian Right could meet the Right Christians.

 

Why?

I will also state that the while AdO is honest with his selection, there is no way that any study of any different religion was performed honestly.

 

I've spent a lot of time pondering that one, and the best answer I've been able to come up with is that there are parts of the Bible that we can not humanly understand until the truth is revealed to us when we reach Heaven. I do believe in a literal translation (and I'm probably lumped into the Christian Right by many), but with the feeling that what we, as imperfect creatures, aren't wired to fully understand everything -- and how we understand certain parts might be incorrect.

 

Jesus taught in parables and metaphors. He often wasn't literal when he was speaking and teaching. Yet some insist the stories in Genesis are literally true.

 

I'm no religious scholar, but I am fairly certain the stories in Genesis predate Jesus Christ.

 

Yes. And God is omnipotent and omniscient.

So God has his word recorded literally for thousands of years, then says.

"Jesus, this ain't working! What was I thinking?

"Instead of telling people flat out to be good and stuff, tell stories about the prodigal son and spreading seeds on the ground. You'll knock 'em dead."