[Faith-talk] Questioning Our Beliefs

Fri May 16 13:53:32 UTC 2014

Debby,

I completely agree. That is one of the reasons I am turned off of Christianity as well. Not the only reason, as I feel it is not for me, but the judgmental attitudes of many does not help. We are all children of God, seeking truth to the best of our ability.

Three years ago, Christine and I got married. It was not within the Catholic Church, since I am not Catholic and wasn’t willing to promise that we’d raise our children Catholic, which is a prerequisite to getting married in the Church as a non-Catholic. Some of her side of the family boycotted our wedding. Her aunt did not come for that reason, and her mother was very close to not coming, only changing her mind at the last minute, but then going to confession afterwards because of it. Mind you it was still in a church, in a Methodist church I attended when I was younger. After that her aunt would say terrible things about me that were very hurtful. She did the same about Christine’s father who got remarried a few years ago.

The point is, people can be very cruel, and I’m sorry but I don’t see Christ in those people. These are people who use religion as a weapon, and then hide behind the Bible or the Church as though they had no responsibility for their words or actions.

Did Jesus ever explicitly tell someone they were going to hell? The closest he came was saying that it would be better if Judas had never been born. Besides that, never to my recollection. Yet we have “Christians” running around and doing this every day.

Thank you for your perspective.

Brandon
On May 16, 2014, at 8:35 AM, debby phillips via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> I do not think that it is wrong to express beliefs, I think that it is also important for us to reach out in friendship to others who do not believe in or acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  I will stand up for what I believe, but I absolutely will not bully people nor condemn people.  It is not my job, or any of ours, to condemn anyone.  We plant seeds, pray, and give people freedom to make their own decisions, and allow God to work in people's hearts.  We need to share this as Good News, not something we beat people over the head with.  I would like to be like Mother Teresa, who showed love to the poorest and sickest people and did not hesitate to do so.  I know that I'm not like her-I cringe at the smell of some people who get on the bus I ride sometimes.  So I know that I have not reached that point.
> 
> One of my young friends told me that one of the reasons she and others her age are turned off by Christianity is that we Christians seem to be all about judging, not loving people.  That doesn't mean that we have to accept everything but if we would and could try and understand and maybe try and walk in other people's skin a little, maybe we could reach the world for Christ.
> 
> Well, I'll get off my soapbox now, and go back to lurking.    God's peace,    Debby
> 
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