I disagree, faith comes only after you have made a decision to believe. Do you have faith in things that you do not believe in? I believe in God because I made an intelligent decision that this was the best thing for me as a person, faith came only after I made that decision.

Exanimis wrote:

I disagree, faith comes only after you have made a decision to believe. Do you have faith in things that you do not believe in? I believe in God because I made an intelligent decision that this was the best thing for me as a person, faith came only after I made that decision.

i beleve in god because it makes sence to me....so because it makes sence i can have faith that it is real....

I'm a member of a non-denominational Church that is apart of the Restoration Movement; a movement which was started to bring all the various factions of the Church under one theme, and one focus, and one umbrella -- Jesus.   Look at how Paul pleaded with the Corinthians to come together in matters where doctrinal purity was not compromised.  One thing that I appreciate about my Church -- as a Wolf --  is the message to "Speak where the Bible speaks and to remain silent where the Bible is silent." 

To be more acccurate, I'm a Hermetic, Gnostic, Taoist, Buddhist, Shamanistic, Shintoistic, Anamistic, Nativistic, polythestic-ish, esoteric, Alchemist, mystic Christian.  I don't usually even try to bust all that out because:  I've said it before; I usually forget one or two addendums to that list (as I probably have now); and because being a Christian and the relationship that I have with the ALL, the Tao, the Univiersal Principle, the "I AM", the Uncaused Cause, the "That Which Is"   -- or whatever words you use to call God by -- through being a Christ-follower is more important to me than my metaphysics.  But then I'm also not that interesting a subject to talk much about.xP

I didn't take your comment as any sort of attack, Southpaw.  Actually, I'm glad that you're still open-minded.  There are a lot of people who've had unpleasant experiences that aren't.

SouthPaw wrote:

Exanimis wrote:

Christianity has become a stereotype. People lump together beliefs that have very little in common into this stereotype. Many people believe that Jesus is the Christ but if we all believed in the same things, we wouldn't need to say I am a Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, Pentecostal, Mormon or any of the other two thousand religions this world has to offer.

I could tell you for example that I have a dog. You know what a dog is but there are many breeds. Telling you that I have a dog doesn't tell you anything about that dog. I could have a Great Dane or a Chihuahua. I am not comparing Christianity to a dog but I hope that you can see that saying someone is a Christian says very little about that person.

Actually, saying someone is a Christian says a great deal about the person, not enough to define that person well of course, but certainly enough for anyone to take that information and do what comes naturally, profile.  Whether someone applies a positive or negative view about Christianity to that profile is beside the point.

You telling me that you have a dog doesn't give me the breed, but narrows down the species quite a lot compared to knowing nothing about your pet.

I believe you have simply echoed what I have already said. You call it "profile" I call it "stereotype" where is the difference? The word Christian has become a catch all phrase for whatever a person thinks a Christian is.
I know that my beliefs are different from those of many churches and that is why I don't go to any church. My faith is between God and myself and I really don't care what anyone else wants to believe, that is between them and God. Because I do believe that Jesus is exactly who he said he is, I consider myself to be a Christian since the word means a follower of Christ. The word does not mean that I am of any particular religious sect or group. All thee word tells anyone is that I believe in the Christ, it tells you nothing about my beliefs and it says nothing about what church I may or may not attend.

Take a look at this page
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

Look at all the religious beliefs lumped into one group under the name of Christianity. Do you honestly believe that a single word can describe what all those religions believe? One word to describe 33% of the worlds faith?

That word does not discribe my belief system.

One of my favorite sayings is

Two thousand years ago, the scribes asked Jesus, "What is the most important of all the ten commandments?"
Jesus replied "Love your neighbor as you love yourself."
From this simple teaching over two thousand religions have arisen, and they all hate each other.

Then I apologize for my own inability to post clearly. I did aim one comment at you, the one where I was agreeing. The rest of the comment that has apparently been misunderstood was just an add on and not directed at you.

SouthPaw wrote:

Yeah, I'm just not going to even respond to the big edit job you did on post #37 while I was typing my reply to your earlier version and shake hands on the matter at this point. 

Honestly, if you knew me in person, X, you would recognize how laid back I am about all this.

Again I apologize and I will delete the post just for the sake of keeping things at an even keel.

@ Stormwolf

I can understand people being turned off by Christianity. I was not raised with any belief at all.l I read and searched for what made the most sense to me. I do not believe as any other Christian does and that is why I do not go to church, I simply do not believe in any organized religion. I chose my belief because there were a very simple set of rules that by following them, I became a better person. I had a rough time in my life and I have been shot, cut, stabbed, beaten and left for dead. I hung out with a bad crowd and I was not the easy going person I am today.

Exanimis wrote:

@ Stormwolf

I can understand people being turned off by Christianity. I was not raised with any belief at all.l I read and searched for what made the most sense to me. I do not believe as any other Christian does and that is why I do not go to church, I simply do not believe in any organized religion. I chose my belief because there were a very simple set of rules that by following them, I became a better person. I had a rough time in my life and I have been shot, cut, stabbed, beaten and left for dead. I hung out with a bad crowd and I was not the easy going person I am today.

It's safe to say that my beliefs don't run the gambit of "traditional" Christianity as it's mainly understood these days.  Ever heard of many polythestic monotheists?

As best I understand it, the Church was established for two main reasons: spreading the Gospel and serving those in need, both in and outside the Church.  Granted, humanity has done a fine job of mucking up that "serving the world in God's name" part throughout history, but it has also done some good.  I'm not a huge fan of organized religion in general, myself, however, there have been some bright spots. 

When hurricane Katrina hiked her skirt up and river-danced through the South, it wasn't the government who was on the scene quickly and with the most organized, practical relief.  It was the Church.  It wasn't the government who established the first universities in America, Harvard and Yale.  It was the Church.  In my area, most of the oldest hospitals have names like Jewish, Fransican, St. Mary's...they were largely funded by the Churches around here.  One of the largest community outreach programs to feed the poor and shelter the homeless in my community is Wayside Christian.  For all the bad, there are some things that a large group can do when pooling their resources that indivduals just can't.

Actually, I know a pagan who believes that one reason why "therians" exist is to serve as a type of protection between "regular humans" and some of the nasty things out there in the world that most people aren't equipped to deal with.  It does sort of beg the question...if we exist, just what all the hell else is out there from the old stories that really exist?  But even though she's a pagan, her worldview is still that of service and helping those willing to help themselves.  I think it's notable that caring for others is a motif you find in many religions and traditions; when a theme keeps recurring again and again it gives me pause to wonder if maybe there's something to it.  But then I'm also more of a "Right Path" kind of guy...maybe it's the 'ol pack instincts. xD