Born Again Christians

THis of course is a very small sampling, but it does reinforce current observations that on average, the present generation holds very different beliefs than does the 'older' generation. I am going to guess that if any of the Christians or other faiths chime in here, most will say they are believers but they are mostly doing their own thing rather than emulating the example of their parents.

Still, the most recent national polls suggest at least 90% of Americans believe in God.

Personally I think as a society we are going through one of those major transition things that move us from one 'age' into the next. It will be interesting to see what's on the other side.

Fox, I believe that the number of different religions in any country has to do with immigration trends. Those with very few or no immigration will maintain their majority religion for many years to come. On the other hand, those countries with a relatively high degree of immigration will find more religions. I don't have any proof of this; just a personal assumption from observations from my travels.

I'm sure that is a factor in the mix C.I. But my personal opinion is that it mostly evolves from the anti-establishment social revolution of the 60's. Some good things came out of that. And I think some things from that time have served us poorly. (And no, I don't want to discuss those here. It would make a good separate thread though.)

Maybe it's important to define what "re-born or born again" is and what it means?

Well, from personal experience with the sort of people in wuestion, the people who claim to be "bornded agayin!" often appear to have undergone a sort of self-induced lobotomy. In addition, they are extrememly boring!

<Insert Joke Here>

What do you get when you cross an insomniac with an agnostic and a dyslexic?

ANSWER- Someone who lies awake all night wondering if there REALLY is a Dog.

um

husker writes:


Well I know very well that you could write a very clear and coherent summary of your definition and what it means to you Husker. As could I.

And I bet our definitions would differ somewhat as we have each taken a different spiritual journey and we are no doubt at different places on our journey. And each definition would be right for each of us at this time in our life. And there is simply no coherent way to explain that to a nonbeliever who hasn't yet experienced it.

dys...I hope you didn't take my joke personally.

My family was all Catholics. My parents stopped attending church regularly when I was young so I was baptized in the Catholic church, but never confirmed. I now prefer Protestant churches, in particular I prefer the faith of many Congregationalists.

If I found a certain group of people boring - you wouldn't find me purposefully engaging them.
But hey, that's just me.

I used to LOVE that show!!!




Especially the little short, bald, old guy and all the birds in garters!

oh... waitaminnut....


Never mind.

If I may enter the hatchlings o.5 ct here,

I believe that first we must understand why Christians particularly 'push' their religion. To me it would be like if you found the cure for Cancer and all you needed to do was tell everyone. What if you told a friend and they did not believe you? You would watch them go through HARD physical times, which hopefully would make you want to tell them even more maybe even to the point that you would get frustrated with them. Well, to a Christian, they have an answer to death.... HELL, if you believe in that. Them sharing what they know with you may 'save' you from that death, and 'Cure' you, or lead you to Heaven. When looking at it from their perspective their sharing Christ with you is an act of Love, the more persistent the more love...maybe.

Now why are there less Christians confronting people now days?
My thought is a combination of things, 1) Personal assaults 2) less zeal from times past, due to spiritual 'watering down' of the religion and 3) thought that they will live their lives and let their actions speak for them, then be willing to share only when asked.

Just my thoughts though.

I guess I am one of those "boring" people who come from a "born-again" background of Christianity. I would echo somewhat JPyles answer about why we believe it is important to evangelize. One of Christ's final commands was to go to all the world, spreading the gospel and baptizing people into this new life thru Christ.

That said, I can also understand anyone who gets tired of any person who is trying to push their faith upon them. I am a Southern Baptist because the basic doctrine of that denomination most closely mirrors my belief. While I am sure some people take their zeal for Christ to extremes to where every conversation somehow becomes a session for converting non-believers, I am certainly unaware of that happening as often as people tend to claim. I am open about my faith to where people know where I stand, but I nor anyone I know of push our faith down the throats of those who are not Christians.

It is why I seldom reply to topics here which ask Christians to explain scriptures or explain apparent contradictions and what not. Most of the time the questions are coming from someone who only wishes to attack my answers as opposed to truly wanting to know how or why I believe in the Biblical record. I will never convince someone by arguing a point. So I leave it alone. I think a lot of evangelical Christains beleive along these same lines.

Throughout the ages, the way believers have tried to spread God's message has evolved, normally guided (or misguided as the case may be) by leaders who are subject to human faults and prejudices. The crusaders believed they were doing God's will when invading and converting Muslims at one time. I doubt too many alive today would agree with that method. In the 1700's it was preaching hell-fire and brimstone and scaring people into heaven that was in vogue. I could go on and on. But I think the vast majority of true Christians (as opposed to the majority of the population that will claim to be Christian where what they mean is they try to follow Christian moral beliefs, but that is another topic) understand that nothing we say to anyone will change a heart, only God can do that. Most of us understand that a heavy-handed approach will turn more people away than lead them into a personal relationship with Christ.

I got a little long winded here. Now I have to give my fingers a rest.

I think Jpyles and CR are both spot on right here. I think Christians have become more politically active because of conflicts within the separation of Church and State debate and the social pressures of today's society. At the same time you rarely get confronted by that guy with the "Are you saved, Brother?" sandwich board because it is so politically incorrect.

I expect the bitterly confrontational stage we're going through to wear itself out eventually.

Meanwhile, before the very welcome law restricting telemarketers from interrupting dinner time at my house, my favorite way to get rid of one was to gush, "Oh, I am so glad you called! My husband sells insurance and I just found the Lord. Do you have a minute?" They hung up quickly every time.