I undserstand that. I am talking about the majority of christian voters in the last pres election etc. That was pretty loud.
I have to agree with you. Reminds me of the young prince who walks up to Jesus and asks him,"what can I do to enter the Kingdom of God?"Jesus responds,"Give all your riches to the poor and join me." The prince just walks away. Or the time that jesus had a rare Ryan leaf meltdown at the temple,because some Business people were trying to sell animals way above retail value during services.(animals were used as an offering ) Point being,It wouldn't bother me if Joel Osteen profited from owning a cheesecake factory or a couple of taquerias;but when his paperback "scriptures and meditations for your best life" sells for 14.99,that's when I have a problem.(now, his wife I don't have a problem with dismiss the lawsuit!)
Hmmmm Interesting. I can take you to a church that will tell you that they do not know all the answers to every question about life, death, and the universe and they would trade everything they do know for everything they do not know. And because of this, I feel they probably do know more than most other churches/religions. But they don't know everything. Nobody walking this planet knows that much about the spiritual realm. We are all severely limited. But the blessing is in the searching. Because if a person is really searching for the truth about life/God, etc., and has an open heart, God will lead them to it, but it is a little bit at a time. Here a little, there a little. And most gold nuggets of truth are wrapped up in a ton of false doctrinal dirt. So, you have to be able to separate the good from the evil. And the only way you will learn that skill is by doing/studying and investigating religion. But remember, you will mostly find junk, just man made ideas, etc., that don't have anything to do with the truth about life and death.
It's pretty presumptuous of you to know my "problem". I have yet to speak to a person of any faith that wasn't of the opinion that the only way to go to Heaven was to practice their particular faith. The non-religious are more concerned with the religious using government to push their faiths than they're concerned with what it is they believe. That's a significant difference.
You need to talk to some religious people who don't believe in the Judeo-Christian-Muslim concept of heaven.
you mean like the Buddhist monk I visited who told me i was foolish to think we needed a savior, despite the fact i never uttered one word about my faith? cause he didn't exactly seem open to new ideas, either. again...good people in all faith traditions. bad people in all faith traditions.
i didn't get my feelings hurt. that's not the point. the point is if you assume that any one group is gonna not have something they believe in to the exclusion of other things, you're deluding yourself. there are points where all faith traditions part ways...there are various points at which they intersect. ask a buddhist monk what the secret to all of it is...you will get an answer. they have their own doctrine, just as every other religion does.
Maybe, but they are not as nearly as pushy. My point was actually about getting caught of in the notion of heaven and an eternal afterlife when there are other, better options.
I try to get as many sides as possible. Someone recently recommended a book by Deepak Chopra called Life After Death. I believe it's Hindu in nature but it sounds interesting.
this is classic. 1. to me it's not about "a better option." talk about consumerism of religion. God is God...no matter whether I like it or not. I can disagree with the notion that God is real. I can assert it's a figment of our imaginations. But the idea of choosing "better options" sounds more like buying a car than searching for truth. 2. not nearly as pushy. hmmm..well, it depends on where you are in the world. and my bet is you know far more Christians who aren't pushy than you know Buddhists who aren't pushy...because i'm guessing you know far more Christians than Buddhists. you're exposed to a far broader range of Christians than Buddhists of all sorts. you know more Christians who have red hair i bet, too.
Seems like we are expecting people of faith, any faith, not to have a belief system... I'm very uncomfortable with evangelism. I prefer to think of different faiths as differing languages all saying the same thing but not understanding each other. I know that's a bit simplistic but I'm all for whatever someone is convinced makes them a better human being, but it does need to be reasonable... I've been watching the PBS series "The Mormons." They have a faith belief that they can baptize the dead and they have volunteers who are baptizing the dead in the name of Mormonism-- Jews at Auschwitz et al. IIRC, the have baptized 2 Million of the estimated 7 Million names they have. Those names are hidden away buried underneath a mountain in Utah. It's been a very interesting series. My ancestors on my dad's side were Mormons who came to this land in the 19th century so that faith has always held my interest. I really like some of the things they stand for and do and others just perplex me. Oh well, some things about my own faith perplex me as well...
1. I just mean that there are other ideas. Most people in our culture have been so indoctrinated with the idea of eternal soul and heaven/hell that they don't know any other way of looking at things. It's sad really. 2. What other major religion is out to convert the world? (well maybe Islam)
