Post by crystal on Dec 16, 2007 13:35:50 GMT -5
Okay this topic may well have the potential of becoming a... heated discussion, but I'm hoping it might remain civil and produce a constructive conversation.
Basically, my thought is this. Why is it that people cannot just get along, and let bygones be bygones, and allow each other to live in peace, believing and thinking whatever they choose, and just get along and leave each other alone?
My own personal answer to this—and this is just my opinion—is that human beings are flawed creatures who need to be redeemed. I mean, well, I think that even though circumstances and environment definitely play a huge factor in why one acts the way they do, I have also noticed that children do need to be taught to be good while they are growing up. They don’t need to be taught to be bad in order to know how to do it.
Although freedom of choice is also a beautiful thing, since it permits everyone to live however they choose, whether they wish to do things that help others, or to harm them. In order to live a better life, we must choose to better ourselves, and we can certainly do a lot on our own. Again, this is just my personal belief, but I also believe we need to rely on God to help us change for the better, and a lot of His laws are for our benefit and protection, and the protection of others. But in other ways, I think that many of His laws are just plain common sense.
But anyway, I am wandering a bit off the current topic I wanted to address here, I think. Again, the big question of, “Why can’t we just get along?”
After all, religious people have their own beliefs, they are fine with them, and they have others to interact with of their faith. Plus they do occasionally get new people who are interested in their faith, and want to know more, and perhaps they even convert themselves over to religion.
Obviously, there are plenty of religious extremists and whackos out there, the ones who want to do big things to try and get their message out, and they always do get a lot of attention. I think that they do want the attention because they feel it promotes their cause, but some religious folks take it way too far and only give themselves and other religious people a bad name.
These sort of people really annoy me. I’ll admit I used to be a bit like this myself, basically because of how I was taught growing up. I used to believe that if you weren’t a Christian—and if you weren’t a certain kind of Christian, and if you didn’t act a certain way—then you were automatically an evil person. But over time I’ve learned that there are many Christians out there who act like idiotic fools, or maybe they aren’t really even Christians. And there are many people of other beliefs, and people who do not have a religion, who I would prefer to hang out with and be around than some of these holier-than-thou Christians. I believe that it is possible to be religious and to pursue your beliefs without being foolish or extreme about it.
And I think, when you get right down to it… maybe it’s not so much about the laws and whatever the Bible says and whatever it doesn’t say. I think it might be more about having an actual relationship with God. In my own personal opinion, I think that reading the Bible and attending church is useless, unless you actually know God personally.
But anyway, I think I’m starting to wander again… although I suppose there is quite a bit of areas to cover here, in such a discussion
Now let’s just look at another area; atheists. Let me make it clear I have nothing against atheists, and they, like everyone else, have as much a right to believe that there is no God as religious folks do in believing there is a God. But there is one thing here I would like to address.
Why do some atheists act like they have to push their opinions/beliefs onto others, and make it sound like religion is bad? Yes some religious people do bad things sometimes in the name of their faith, but let’s also look at it another way. If someone truly believes that there is no God, then why do some atheists act like the entire human race would be better off without belief in God? Not all religious people are out to bomb buildings or shove their beliefs down people’s throats. And besides, if there truly isn’t a God, then why do some people get so upset about Him? It’s like getting upset at the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause, because neither of them exist, and so they are not doing any harm—but if there is any harm caused, it’s the PEOPLE who believe in them who are causing the harm.
Would you deny a young child the right to believe in Santa Clause simply because you might not, and you think the idea of Santa Clause existing is absurd? I am simply giving an example here. I’m certainly not saying that anyone has to believe in Santa Clause, and there will definitely be many children who do not. All that I’m trying to do here is make a point and give a similar example, in the hopes of clarifying my point.
Honestly, sometimes I think it all gets a bit confusing, because on the one hand, freedom of choice, and the freedom to live however you choose and believe whatever you choose, is a wonderful thing. But so long as there is free choice, people can sometimes get in the way of each other’s free choice because they think their beliefs are the best—it doesn’t matter if you’re religious or not, the fact still remains.
Anyway… I hope this post doesn’t offend anyone or spark any trouble. It’s just… something that has been on my mind for a long time now.
Basically, my thought is this. Why is it that people cannot just get along, and let bygones be bygones, and allow each other to live in peace, believing and thinking whatever they choose, and just get along and leave each other alone?
My own personal answer to this—and this is just my opinion—is that human beings are flawed creatures who need to be redeemed. I mean, well, I think that even though circumstances and environment definitely play a huge factor in why one acts the way they do, I have also noticed that children do need to be taught to be good while they are growing up. They don’t need to be taught to be bad in order to know how to do it.
Although freedom of choice is also a beautiful thing, since it permits everyone to live however they choose, whether they wish to do things that help others, or to harm them. In order to live a better life, we must choose to better ourselves, and we can certainly do a lot on our own. Again, this is just my personal belief, but I also believe we need to rely on God to help us change for the better, and a lot of His laws are for our benefit and protection, and the protection of others. But in other ways, I think that many of His laws are just plain common sense.
But anyway, I am wandering a bit off the current topic I wanted to address here, I think. Again, the big question of, “Why can’t we just get along?”
After all, religious people have their own beliefs, they are fine with them, and they have others to interact with of their faith. Plus they do occasionally get new people who are interested in their faith, and want to know more, and perhaps they even convert themselves over to religion.
Obviously, there are plenty of religious extremists and whackos out there, the ones who want to do big things to try and get their message out, and they always do get a lot of attention. I think that they do want the attention because they feel it promotes their cause, but some religious folks take it way too far and only give themselves and other religious people a bad name.
These sort of people really annoy me. I’ll admit I used to be a bit like this myself, basically because of how I was taught growing up. I used to believe that if you weren’t a Christian—and if you weren’t a certain kind of Christian, and if you didn’t act a certain way—then you were automatically an evil person. But over time I’ve learned that there are many Christians out there who act like idiotic fools, or maybe they aren’t really even Christians. And there are many people of other beliefs, and people who do not have a religion, who I would prefer to hang out with and be around than some of these holier-than-thou Christians. I believe that it is possible to be religious and to pursue your beliefs without being foolish or extreme about it.
And I think, when you get right down to it… maybe it’s not so much about the laws and whatever the Bible says and whatever it doesn’t say. I think it might be more about having an actual relationship with God. In my own personal opinion, I think that reading the Bible and attending church is useless, unless you actually know God personally.
But anyway, I think I’m starting to wander again… although I suppose there is quite a bit of areas to cover here, in such a discussion
Now let’s just look at another area; atheists. Let me make it clear I have nothing against atheists, and they, like everyone else, have as much a right to believe that there is no God as religious folks do in believing there is a God. But there is one thing here I would like to address.
Why do some atheists act like they have to push their opinions/beliefs onto others, and make it sound like religion is bad? Yes some religious people do bad things sometimes in the name of their faith, but let’s also look at it another way. If someone truly believes that there is no God, then why do some atheists act like the entire human race would be better off without belief in God? Not all religious people are out to bomb buildings or shove their beliefs down people’s throats. And besides, if there truly isn’t a God, then why do some people get so upset about Him? It’s like getting upset at the Tooth Fairy or Santa Clause, because neither of them exist, and so they are not doing any harm—but if there is any harm caused, it’s the PEOPLE who believe in them who are causing the harm.
Would you deny a young child the right to believe in Santa Clause simply because you might not, and you think the idea of Santa Clause existing is absurd? I am simply giving an example here. I’m certainly not saying that anyone has to believe in Santa Clause, and there will definitely be many children who do not. All that I’m trying to do here is make a point and give a similar example, in the hopes of clarifying my point.
Honestly, sometimes I think it all gets a bit confusing, because on the one hand, freedom of choice, and the freedom to live however you choose and believe whatever you choose, is a wonderful thing. But so long as there is free choice, people can sometimes get in the way of each other’s free choice because they think their beliefs are the best—it doesn’t matter if you’re religious or not, the fact still remains.
Anyway… I hope this post doesn’t offend anyone or spark any trouble. It’s just… something that has been on my mind for a long time now.