Sure.
The message of Jesus was to do away with the dogma of the older, Jewish religion, forget about strict temple rules and societal class, and be good to one another.
Many of those who call themselves 'Christian' are not inherently good to other people regardless of social class, spend little or no time helping the poor, and support the same models of religious hierarchy as what Christ himself opposed.
Many religious Chrisitans revile homosexuals; Christ spent time around them. Same thing with the poor.
Too much time is spent focusing on the PERSON of Christ (this is why the church deified him, after all) and not enough time on the MESSAGE of Christ.
Most importantly, I believe, are the lessons that are supposed to be learned about the acquisition of wealth and earthly things. This lesson is largely ignored by the majority of those who call themselves 'Christians.'
But! When there's a moral issue that comes up, there's always good 'ol Leviticus to fall back upon, in case we need to provide 'evidence' that God was against certain practices. Highly convienent.
Are there good, giving, hard-working Christians out there? Undoubtedly. They are just much, much quieter about it than the majority of those who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.
Cycloptichorn
McGentrix wrote:Really? Can you elaborate on that?
you first....dazzle us with yur Christian Theological expertise since you claim not to be one.....
Bi-Polar Bear wrote:McGentrix wrote:Really? Can you elaborate on that?
you first....dazzle us with yur Christian Theological expertise since you claim not to be one.....
You want me to elaborate on Cyc's belief that very few christians actually walk the walk?
Wouldn't your life be more fulfilling if you ignored me? I know mine would.
Quote:
Are there good, giving, hard-working Christians out there? Undoubtedly. They are just much, much quieter about it than the majority of those who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.
Who said I was Christian? I've been happily Agnostic for a long time.
Cycloptichorn
I do get the point, and am a follower of the middle path myself.
MY point is that the problem isn't that Christians live in a realistic world, and have other things to worry about besides religion all the time; Everyone can't be a nun or priest, after all.
The problem is that many people assume a sense of moral superiority when it comes to making judgements (or running for office). To call oneself 'Christian,' yes, you should at least attempt to act in a Christian fashion.
You could be president, father, son, whatever first, before your religion, but then don't claim special ability to legislate the morality of others!
This is why those WWJD bracelets were so popular a while back; not enough christians ever ask themselves, 'what would Jesus do?' in any given situation, and then try to emulate that. Isn't that what Christianity is supposed to be all about? But that concept, and the reality of how Christians act when it comes to morality and the judgement of other's actions, are so far different as to be a different religion altogether...
Most modern-day Christians have more in common with the old-testament Jews than they do with Christ himself. It's not their fault; it is difficult to break out of the molds of society and think about others before you think about yourself. But it should be recognized when it comes to the legislation of morality that seems to be quite prevalent in our society these days.
Cycloptichorn
Did you erase your post? I could have swore you responded, McG...
Cycloptichorn
That I think of myself as a Buddhist and try to live like it.
There was another post by McG in the middle that I was responding to which seems to have vanished. I know I didn't make it up!
Cycloptichorn
I had made a post and decided it was more than I wanted to share. Cycloptichorn had read it and he was the intended audience.
Aren't Buddhists advocates of peace?
Quote:Aren't Buddhists advocates of peace?
For the most part, though generalizations have been known to get people in trouble.
Politics and personal life choices can be quite different without neccessarily being contradictory.
Cycloptichorn
So...you walk the walk, but don't talk the talk LOL.
Actually, I thought you were a Quaker
C-Bias has apparently "apologized" for breaking into regular programming last night to announce Arafat's death.
Kinda funny ... They must think there's still one or two people still watching them.
Boy, I sure riled up this thread.
I wonder if you're allowed to wear dishtowels on your head in hell?
Quote:C-Bias has apparently "apologized" for breaking into regular programming last night to announce Arafat's death.
Kinda funny ... They must think there's still one or two people still watching them.
Strangely enough, the ratings seem to show that there are still a lot of people who watch them...
If we stopped watching news sources every time one of them got something wrong, we'd soon have nothing left to watch...
Cycloptichorn
Only if they pass the industry standards for being "inflammable" hehe.
I always wondered why they didn't make US flags out of stuff that was inflammable....
Not much of a protest to watch the things char a little and then melt.
Does it have to do with the traditional method of disposing of old flags by burning them? I've only seen that happen once or twice.
Cycloptichorn
Oh, go clean your rifle or something, Cyclo
(How's that going, by the way? Shoot anyone yet?)
Everyone's got to start somewhere. Can't fix the problems of our society overnight.
And; the rifle is for DEFENSE against tyranny, not OFFENSE against tyranny, and while I'm not a fan of the way things have been going, and would like to work to change them, I certainly don't see a ton of tyranny in my life.
Hard to forget the ol' Boy Scout Motto, though.
Cycloptichorn
