The god who wasn't there

yes, because with all that's going on in the world today, what we really need is more movies from Hollywod declaring the evilness of Christianity.

 

I don't think Brightside said that it was evil. Calm down.

I think you would find it very interesting to read (or watch, if that's your cup of tea) about the origins/development of the christian religion.

Brightside is obviously not a christian - but if you ignore the inflammatory remarks he is simply pointing you to some facts/research that may "broaden" your views...

 

my statement was about the movie itself, nothing directed at Brightside. I dont know where you got that from.

I am a history buff with an emphasis on dawn of civilization. I dont claim to be a professor (I hope one day to), but I wouldn't say I'm unaware of my religion's past.

I find it interesting how it's always the supposed "open-minded" folks who never think that maybe "close-minded" believers have done the research and believe the things they do for a reason. It's always assumed that believers are ignorant kids who have absolutely no idea about whats happening in the real world.

 

Well, let me rephrase this then:

Don't be so defensive. I was not accusing you of ignorance.

Now that's open-minded.

I think King Kong is the worst movie ever. I have not seen it, but I've always been a Godzilla fan, and I just bet Kong is trying to make out that Godzilla is evil.

 

you tell me to broaden my view and do some fact and research. what other way do I take that sort of comment?

Then I guess every person who didn't go see Aeon Flux/It's Pat/Alone in the Dark is close minded for thinking that it was the worst movie ever without ever having seen it.

 

You said it was evil. I said you may find it interesting. I forgot that as a religious person you take even the suggestion of an alternative viewpoint as the offensive work of the great satan.*

Objectivity.

Whatever - you turned what I said into some sort of anti-christian mission statement. I now remember why I don't talk about anything with my religious family members, and why I don't watch O'Reilly. Good day.



*Intentional goad.

 

I guess you don't recognize hyperbole. I forget that as an "open-minded" person, you take even the suggestion of an alternative viewpoint as the offensive work of Fox News Channel

Where did I say it was anti-Christian? and all this time I thought we were talking about the film. Didn't know you was talking about yourself. my bad

 

Amazing. I said:

That is all. And for the record (again) the "satan" comment was a goad - I even pointed it out! Argh!

Seriously. Stop being so ridculously defensive. I could care less what you think or what you believe.

For goodness sake, all I said was that you should not dismiss the movie simply because you are christian. You should not villify it merely because it is disagreeable to you.

Maddeningly, I would state that you turned this villification on me, as soon as I made the observation that seeing the movie may be a good thing, even if one is a christian. It's incredibly irritating. For example:

Please explain how anything I wrote in my first post illicited this retort, or the implied accusations...

 

have you lost all concept of witty banter exchange? I thought us religious types were the ones who were supposed to overreact to everything

What does me saying "Where did I say it was anti-Christian? and all this time I thought we were talking about the film. Didn't know you was talking about yourself. my bad " translate into me being defensive?

it is called HYPERBOLE

you tell me I need to broaden my views, and do some research because I don't have the facts. you'll have to pardon me for taking that as an accussation of ignorance.

 

Kudos to you on your quest to be a professor--I have a B.A. in history but work in the corporate world.....YIPEE...

I unerstand your contempt for people assuming that you don't know the academic, historical record of your faith. However, your faith is what makes Christianity pertinent and fufilling to you and millions of Christians. It's faith that is the test of your heart and soul and what is asked by God besides Jesus' two most important commandments: Love your neighbor as yourself and follow me.

What I'm getting at is that a dedicated Christian shouldn't care about a challenge to the record of the Bible or the Church as a whole.

 

That's the thing, I don't care about challenges. That's why I read books that challenge the Christianity faith. My problem with rhad wasnt that he was challenging Christianity (that happens all the time), it's that he was implying I was afraid of being challenged in my faith.

you're right though, i shouldn't have taken it so personally. After all it's not his fault he assumes we're all ignorant drones, it's probably what he's been led to believe.

 

You are certainly proving it. See below.

When expanding one's knowledge, it is generally termed "broadening". I never said anything about you "not having" the facts and went so far as to apologize if you felt that it was an "accusation of ignorance".

It's called OVERREACTING. r****d.

 

This was a great post until this comment. I don't get it. I did not say anything to challenge you and apologized when you got pissed off.

As a retort you twist my words into an accusation of ignorance. It really was not intended as anything other than a suggestion to not judge something so goddam quickly.

Now I'm irritated (see the above r****d comment - sorry). You took a simple suggestion/question and turned it into some ****ing inquisition; a challenge to your intellect and faith.

The weird thing about having a (for lack of a better word) liberal mentality is that I am perfectly fine with people not accepting the liberal mentality. But it's bloody frustrating to have every statement turned into a holy war. I personally don't care if you practice religion - that's great for you. Stop forcing everything I say into a "me vs them" categorization. Just because I question religion does not make me a "christian hating liberal atheist" even though certain members of the church leadership find it more conveniant to force it into such a black and white perspective.

 

I'm sorry you are taking this so personally. I take full responsibility for letting this dialogue go down this route, as it was obviously my fault.

 

as I said, I'm sorry you're taking it this way. I once again apologize.

 

hotballa,

Maybe seeing Jesus as from a different perspective will bring you closer to "Him"? Surely you know that what ever Christian domination you belong to that there are more Christians who don't see things exactly the same way. Not to mention Jews and Muslims who also have writings pertaining to Jesus as a Historical figure. I have not seen it but it sounds like the producers are putting forth a view of Jesus which causes some to cringe, but since so many people around the world have a different view "Him" how could it not? The "job" of the viewer when it comes to art is to see how it speaks to him or her.

 

losttexan,

From my prior posts, I have already detailed that I study these things already. All these accussations are somethign I've heard before and read about somewhere. my argument with rhad before was that I perceived his posts to imply that I was ignorant about all this.

 

Brightside --

interesting stuff...does it take into account documents created in the first century which speak of a living, breathing, walking Jesus?...many of which were written by Jesus contemporaries? many of whom went on to die for the proposition that not only was he alive...but that he was killed...and that he was resurrected?

there are very few historians today who will tell you that there was not a man named Jesus who developed a following and who was crucified. the resurrection point is the point of faith.

 

"Christianity has a built-in defense system: anything that questions a belief, no matter how logical the argument is, is the work of Satan by the very fact that it makes you question a belief. It's a very interesting defense mechanism and the only way to get by it -- and believe me, I was raised Southern Baptist -- is to take massive amounts of mushrooms, sit in a field, and just go, 'Show me.'"

-Bill Hicks