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EarnestBorg9

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On Fire said:
Then who or what is "organized Christianity"?

I guess that was vague, my apologies.
The extremists that comprise only a small percentage of believers that think if you do not believe the way "they" believe, that you are a baby killer, child raper, commie, rat bastard, crackhead, etc, etc......
Intolerance is the sign of a belief system that hinges it's faith and hate, preaching exclusiveness and narrowmindedness.
Was that too far left?
 

Aimiel

Well-known member
EarnestBorg9 said:
How can we seek Him if He calls us in the first place?
He seeks us, all day long, calling, "Adam, where are you?" The way to seek Him is whole-heartedly. I don't regret any of the time that I wasted searching false religions for Him. I found Him in none of them, but saw Him being pointed to in Christianity.
EarnestBorg9 said:
If the faith to believe is based on a gift, and without the gift of faith we cannot believe, how can anyone be accountable for not believing?
Because the measure of faith is given to everyone. You're accountable for every idle word you ever speak, as well as the results of your faith.
EarnestBorg9 said:
Imagine if you broke you leg and you were rendered unconscious and brought before the doctor by another person. Your faith or lack thereof is irrelevant in the doctors abilities to heal you, rather it is the doctors skill in healing that will detemine if you recover quickly if at all. Seeking God always seemed a bit like cleaning up to take a bath; if He calls you, then it is already done.
We can't possibly 'clean' away a single sin, much less every single one of them, our history of them and our propensity towards committing more of them. God doesn't want us to try. He wants us to accept the fact that we're forgiven, by faith in Jesus. Seeking Him with all your heart is the only way you'll ever find Him. If you aren't looking, there's no chance you'll ever see.
 

EarnestBorg9

New member
Knight said:
Isn't truth rather exclusive? :think:
Depends; within the context of the empirical, truth is exclusive, but then within science there really isn’t any truth, so much as there is just a butt load of evidence to support a theory.
{Dons flame repellant suit} Like the Theory of Evolution; no one worth his or her salt will claim that the ToE is true, but that the evidence in support of it is overwhelming.

Regarding truth as it pertains to philosophy and religion, I am of the opinion that ‘truth is relative’. I could be one sick and misled little puppy, but I don’t think so.
Back to my point, any belief system that excludes anyone else based on arbitrary standards is bankrupt. In the example of some fundies, where do they draw the line?
No gays, no unbelievers, no left wing liberal tree huggers; where does the intolerance stop? Let’s imagine that the above groups were removed and put on their own island, segregated from the rest of the True Believers. If the past is indicative of the future, wouldn’t the True Believers fight among themselves, and seek to remove those that perhaps didn’t look like them, talk like them (maybe some will have accents), smell like, had the same hair color, etc?

Diversity is not the dirty comprising word that certain have made it out to be. Tolerance is crucial and without it, we are no better than the hypothetical group of fundies I mentioned earlier.
 

On Fire

New member
EarnestBorg9 said:
I guess that was vague, my apologies.
The extremists that comprise only a small percentage of believers that think if you do not believe the way "they" believe, that you are a baby killer, child raper, commie, rat bastard, crackhead, etc, etc......
Intolerance is the sign of a belief system that hinges it's faith and hate, preaching exclusiveness and narrowmindedness.
Was that too far left?
I have a problem with pedophiles but I don't focus my attention on that small percentage of the population and assume they are representative of the rest.
 

EarnestBorg9

New member
Aimiel -
The problem could very well be on my end, but I have sought, I have looked with as open a heart as anyone else I imagine and for a time (10 years) I did believe.
I had the experience (which I believe was self induced), lived the Christian belief; my brief conversion was not based on a whim or something I pretended to be on Sundays. It was quite real to me and beneficial at the time. I don't think that Jesus real, but in believing in him when I did, it kept me out of a lot of trouble. I do not regret my Christian experience, it was a stepping stone for me.
 

EarnestBorg9

New member
On Fire said:
I have a problem with pedophiles but I don't focus my attention on that small percentage of the population and assume they are representative of the rest.

Good point. But neither do Pedo's have the ear of the people or try to speak on your behalf; the ones that are clearly missing a chromosone ARE speaking for believers. Pat Robertson, Rod Parsley, etc, and if they are in the minority are they allowed to speak for the majority, if the majority disagree with them?

Added by edit: Got to go home for the day, not posting and running, will check the board later!
 
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Nathon Detroit

LIFETIME MEMBER
LIFETIME MEMBER
EarnestBorg9 said:
Me or my beliefs/ideas?
Both.

If the premise of your worldview is that truth is in the eye of the beholder, you have no grounds to debate anyone on anything.

Isn't that true? :)
 
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Lovejoy

Active member
EarnestBorg9 said:
I guess that was vague, my apologies.
The extremists that comprise only a small percentage of believers that think if you do not believe the way "they" believe, that you are a baby killer, child raper, commie, rat bastard, crackhead, etc, etc......
Intolerance is the sign of a belief system that hinges it's faith and hate, preaching exclusiveness and narrowmindedness.
Was that too far left?
Somewhere in there you are going to have to establish that intolerance is a bad thing. As the idea of a "relative" or "equal" approach to truth and belief systems is inconsistent with an exclusive system (such as mine), anyone holding that belief must feel that I am wrong (and how, exactly, is that different from my believing that they are wrong?) Is that intolerance? Is characterizing exclusivists as hateful and narrowminded an intolerance?

I tend to be "tolerant" of other belief systems, particulary on issues that are not essential. That does not stop me from believing that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Light, and for that matter, the only Way, Truth, and Light. He is exclusive, and therefore, so am I. That is not intolerance, it is simple moral courage.
 

Aimiel

Well-known member
EarnestBorg9 said:
The problem could very well be on my end, but I have sought, I have looked with as open a heart as anyone else I imagine and for a time (10 years) I did believe. I had the experience (which I believe was self induced), lived the Christian belief; my brief conversion was not based on a whim or something I pretended to be on Sundays. It was quite real to me and beneficial at the time. I don't think that Jesus real, but in believing in him when I did, it kept me out of a lot of trouble. I do not regret my Christian experience, it was a stepping stone for me.
As The Lord says, you have to believe that He exists and is A Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. You apparently didn't, or didn't look for Him with your whole heart. Had you done so, you'd have found Him. He hasn't broken any of His Promises, and never will. Either God is wrong or you are. I choose you.
 

Lovejoy

Active member
Wow! This is quite an introduction thread!! For all the heat he is taking though, his rep has already hit triple digits!
 

Granite

New member
Hall of Fame
EarnestBorg9 said:
Aimiel -
The problem could very well be on my end, but I have sought, I have looked with as open a heart as anyone else I imagine and for a time (10 years) I did believe.
I had the experience (which I believe was self induced), lived the Christian belief; my brief conversion was not based on a whim or something I pretended to be on Sundays. It was quite real to me and beneficial at the time. I don't think that Jesus real, but in believing in him when I did, it kept me out of a lot of trouble. I do not regret my Christian experience, it was a stepping stone for me.

I appreciate this, went through something very similar myself!
 
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