Christianity: Too controlling?
 

I find that the Cristian religon is way to controling.Its almost like those "My way or the highway" things. I was born in a genarally Buddhist area so I was raised as a Buddhist. So im not christian. Do I go to hell? I hate it when people go around telling me "ZOMG!!!!! YOUR NOT CHRISTIAN? YOUR GOING TO HELL!!!!111ONEONEONE" My entire family was buddhist so im inclined to it. Christians keep saying that Jesus said he is the only way to God. Where you there? I doubt that. God is suposed to send sinners to hell. Not people of other religion. Shouln'dt I go to heaven for being a good person? And they tell us that human nature is satanic! Lust: God GAVE us lust. In the Garden of Eden, god punished Eve for sinning by making her love Adam greatly. Therefore creating lust. So what the hell? I just had to get this out, and I find that this board is the best one.

Hahaha. Yeah, your right about that.

What the hell? God gave us LOVE. LUST is sinfull, and according to Christian belief never exhisted in eden. There was no real need for it. There was no need to reproduce because there was no death. They were expelled from heaven because God had set aside a fruit that was not to be eaten, and Satan tempted Eve. Get the facts straight.

I'm Catholic and I don't believe I can judge what will happen to ANYONE when they die. Don't lump us into a group of actions because we beleive that Jesus is the Son of God.

Actually, Satan didn't tempt Eve. The snake did. The tale that that serpent was the devil has no bases in the Bible. It's just a tale the Church made a long time ago to relate Satan to our fall, which should actually be our fault if there was such thing as a Fall.

But, anyway, Grimreaper993, if someone ever tells you you're going to hell, tell them what I always say: "Well, at least that's where all the good music is going to go" :D

There are a lot of problems with this. It assumes a lot of the whole that exists most generally in the part, and more often than not a rather small one. Religion has been a dominant force in life for nearly as long as man has had language through which to communicate, arguably even before that.

As far as the comments relating to lust are concerned, the seven deadly sins were created by the Catholic church. They were never mentioned in the bible. They were never spoken of by Jesus. You could perhaps argue that certain texts imply the sins, but the sins themselves, by name, are never mentioned.

There are certain groups who say that because Eve "knew good and evil" there's an implication of sexual conduct. That's something to think about.

Jesus said "No one will come to know the father but through me." Very ambiguous, I think. As the son of God, Jesus was the human embodiment of what it is to love (if he did in fact exist, which has yet to be historically validated). If you consider that quotation from this perspective, then none shall come to know the father but through love. Another ambiguous choice of terms, as love is multi-faceted. To from that what you will.

Christianity is no more or less domineering than any other faith. It is the proponents of this faith that define the action as domineering, as "too controlling," etc. Not the faith itself. It is an important distinction to make.

How much of a problem is it over there? I’ve read a lot on the subject but because I don’t live in the US I could never really know exactly how big of a problem that it might have become.

I know Bush is a nut on the subject, so is Blair only he doesn’t acted on it as much. I think that may be because over here there’s not very many very strong believers any more.

Wow, that actually made sense. No offense but no one has ever made sense to me on this topic before.

One of the things about 'lust' that a lot of people don't realize - it is not a purely physical thing. It is discussed in the Bible as 'of the heart'. It doesn't just mean sex. FYI.

People here are very openminded. But be forewarned : this is not a place where people think you're 'anti-establishment' just because you talk about how stupid Christianity is or how much sense the Bible doesn't make. If you want level discussion or debate, you'll get that. But expect to be corrected for making broad generalizations without being able to back yourself up.

This got me thinking.

It’s ridiculous to hate God because God is some thing that may not be there and if he is then he is some thing completely beyond earthly understanding. You should only from an opinion bassed on the actions on those who believe they act for God.

I do believe he is in Vietnam..

Of course, he lied bout being a Soldier & being Nineteen so I could be wrong..

But that would explain why the region he lives in is primarily Buddhist..

Do people really come telling you that if you're not christian then you're going to hell? I'm trying to believe that, but I can't or the Christians where you live are really conservative. Honestly, I don't think that the real God is only the one in the eyes of Christians, I belive God is a combination of all the religions and beliefs in the world. God is the father of Jesus, God sent the Prophet, God is Love, God is unfair (sometimes?!) My point is, you can't simply form an opinion of such a huge topic because of a few persons. If you really want to know about Christians and prove whether the're controlling or not, you should do as Xnguela told you, read the Bible. It will be helpful.

I can't speak for other denominations, but Baptists do believe that all non-Christians are going to Hell. Baptists believe that you must accept Jesus Christ as your savior; that's the only way to save your soul from Hell.

I've had it happen to me that people would tell me that if I wasn't a Christian I was destined for hell. In fact, one of these people would discuss spirituality with me on a number of fronts, spouting out random "facts" that I never bothered to question. She informed me that as I (at the time I had spiritual values and beliefs) prayed to a God who was non-Christian, it was actually the devil attempting to trick me. Something to that effect.

By no means do I or will I ever believe that these are values exhibited by all or even most Christians, but they are beliefs shared by some who tend to be more fantatical in their views.

My interpretation of the New Testament is fairly cynical, particularly regarding how long after the supposed death of Christ it was written, the basis of inspiration for each of the four gospels, as well as the fact that Jesus never particularly outlined that his disciples were to organize his teachings into an organized system of religion. I don't like the conditions under which Christianity was spread, the extremes to which people went in pursuit of their own aims. It was used as a tool. The wrong things were emphasized, or at least that's the trend of today. Conversion through force. More people are Christians today than members of any other faith, though the spread of this faith is derived from violence, and war, etc.

This isn't to say I have anything against Christ, so much as interpretations of the Christian message have been used inappropriately for nearly as long as the faith itself has existed. You didn't see Christ snapping necks and taking names, and even if he did, he would have brought those people back from the dead so they could worship him as the lord of whoop-ass. He never forced people to believe in him, and the one thing we as humans were meant to do was to learn by his example and follow as best as we could.

What I'm saying in this is that I don't believe in the bible. I don't believe that even if Jesus were a historically documented figure, who could be verified as having existed beyond a doubt, that the bible would be an appropriate likeness of who he truly was. Perhaps a vague rendition, but nothing entirely accurate. Supposing that I'm wrong and he was, however, the people who preach such things as being hell-bound for holding different beliefs are not preaching the right message. That is a message of disdain to some extent, and even perhaps one of intolerance. Jesus was nothing if not tolerant and understanding.

That's my rant.

I spoke to the priest at my old school, thusly a Catholic, and he said that he believed that believing in Christ was just one of the ways to get into heaven, and that he even knew of Buddhists who were better Christians than most Christians themselves.

Just an interesting thought to consider.

WOW.I'm really shocked, If I tell a Muslim here that he's going to hell because he's not Christian I'm pretty sure I'd be torn in pieces and dead in a few seconds!

Or be swiss-chessed with an AK-47

I didn't know the Swiss were fond of Chess...

*crickets*

I'm always tempted by The Snake!

:D

But Wolfmoon, we weren't talking about the trouser snake! ;)

That's sort of the way I beleive... I agree that the parts of the bible that are emphasised are the wrong parts. One of the things I like about the teachings of the Catholic church (even if very few people tend to listen to this message, or have in the past) is that you're judged on death over how you treat EVERYONE, not just other Christians. To me this also means that I not only SHOULD not but MUST not push my religious beleifs onto others. According to Thomas Aquinas you're supposed to help the downtrodden and weak, the people who live on the brinks of society.... and it makes me sad when this is lost for one reason or another. It also makes me sad wen people kind of try to help you with a hook and reel, and if you don't take the bait into church, then then suddely they don't care anymore.