Based on an argument going on.. How many here are christians?

[lurker]

Denial of faith is different than the constant proclaiming of it in an open forum. Faith is proclaimed through silent deeds and prayer.
Matthew 6:1-8
1 "Be careful not to do your `acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

[Twin Locusts]

Thank you Lurker; now I have a passage to help explain why I'm repulsed by atheletes, and others, pointing to the heavens every time they know they have an iso cam on them.

[kpolley]

Lurker,

while the passages are true, they are being used out of context. The point is not to hide your faith. I could give you hundreds if not thousands of sciptural examples to the contrary. Most notably, the great comission commanding Christians to go into all nations preaching and teaching the Gospel. The verses you quoted are meant to speak to the heart of the individual. What Christ is saying is not that we should hide our faith, but that acts or words of faith done publicly to show how Godly someone is are worthless. The religious teachers of His day would stand on the street shouting prayers to show everyone how holy they were. This is what Christ is speaking out against. Not an open and honest discussion of one's faith. They are two very different things.

As for "God taking care of those who wrong us"...well...we live in a fallen world and we can't expect justice until the fall has been undone. One day justice will be restored.

[MDKing]

I got 4 word for you to remember...

Know God -- Know Salvation
No God --No Salvation

Allan

[WeAreTheUnion]

I got 4 word for you to remember...

Know God -- Know Salvation
No God --No Salvation

Allan

It's exactly this kind of rude garbage that drives a divide between us atheists and christians.
If you truly believe that I'm subject to YOUR concept of afterlife to punish me for not believing in YOUR concept of deity, that's fine, but why do you have to come out and say it like that?
Oh well. I guess I'm going to hell along with the other 4 billion people currently alive who didn't pick the right religion. Whoops

An open mind and a little tolerance can go a long way, my friend. You believe what you believe, I believe what I believe. Someday we'll all find out who's right - why trash each other on the way there?

[MDKing]

Practice what you preach about having an open mind. I posted what I believe going out to other believers of God, regardless of faith. This thread in particular is a thread about those here that are Christians, not atheists. Take your hollow beliefs and start your thread don't come at me with an attitude. If this was an atheist thread as a Christian I would respect your beliefs, so YOU should do the same on a Christian thread...


Allan

[kpolley]

WeAreTheUnion,

I do understand where you are coming from...that you feel as though Christians are trying to shove their beliefs upon you and, at times, that's probably not far from the truth. One thing that I think is lost sometimes on Non-Christians, however, is the motivation behind the speech. True Christians who are trying to spread the Word as we have been instructed to do are not trying to brow beat you or attack you. Rather, they are trying to share THE most important information they have with you. Penn Gillette, who is a very well known aetheist, has commented on this himself. He has said that he doesn't respect any Christian that doesn't evangelize. He likens it to seeing a man standing in the middle of the street, seeing a car coming at him, and not telling him to move. Christians believe that there is only one way to salvation and that is through Christ. We also believe that we are commanded to spread that message to everyone we can. We believe that without Christ there is no salvation and without salvation there is no reconciliation to God. That is a message that is too important to be hindered by social awkwardness or political correctness.

Whether or not you come to accept the Gospel is up to you, but it is up to us to spread it. I can't make you believe as I do nor would I want to. If you or anyone else wanted to have a rational, level-headed discussion about why I feel that way and why I have come to believe the Bible as truth I'd be more than happy to have that talk. If not, that's fine too.

I can tell by your post that you feel offended by the comments that have been made here and for that I am sorry. I am posting all of this in an attempt to explain our side and hopefully show you that there is no harm intended. In fact, it is just the opposite. Christians don't think they are better than anyone else and we certainly don't think we have all the answers...we just believe we know the One who does.

[WeAreTheUnion]

Practice what you preach about having an open mind. I posted what I believe going out to other believers of God, regardless of faith. This thread in particular is a thread about those here that are Christians, not atheists. Take your hollow beliefs and start your thread don't come at me with an attitude. If this was an atheist thread as a Christian I would respect your beliefs, so YOU should do the same on a Christian thread...


Allan

First of all, I did not intend to demonstrate a closed minded mentality or disrespect your beliefs, so I apologize if you interpreted my post that way. From my perspective, you came in here and said something to the effect of "if you're christian, you're good to go. If you're not, you're gonna burn in hell, sucker!"
All I was asking was if that's what you believe, please keep it to yourself because it comes off as closed-minded, it's disrespectful, offensive and it serves no purpose except to belittle those who don't share your faith. Admittedly, I said it a little abrasively, but I was upset.

Second, this is not a christianity appreciation thread. This is a thread discussing whether or not the members of this forum are christian. My comments on this subject should be every bit as welcome as yours, as they are equally valid. I either am or am not christian. Either way it's relevant to the discussion.

Third, both of our beliefs are based very strongly on blind faith, so for you to call mine hollow is downright silly - not to mention incredibly hypocritical coming from someone accusing me of being closed-minded.

[MDKing]

You say that we both base out beliefs on blind faith but I disagree. Everyone is blind until they open their eyes. My faith is cemented everyday. Once you learn to see that God is in control and responsible for all things good, your faith will grow.

I've known a few atheists in my lifetime. From how I see it an atheist is one disaster, one large stroke of bad luck or turn of events away from turning to God for help. I've seen it. Problem is, too many think of God as a lawyer only turning to him when they need help or are in trouble...

Kip has offered to have a discussion on his beliefs why not take him up on his offer...

Allan

[graystone]

Its simple

god is great! I have never understood why a person would think we were pulled from a monkeys butt! Lets go on that belief for a moment did the atheist out there ever stop and think how monkeys evolved? pssssssssst here is a suggestion GOD! I could never go through life knowing when I die that't it if I were to think that I would have to blow my brains out as what's the point in going through life as hard as it is with no hopes of a better place. Shane and its god loves and forgives all! Shane this time.

P.S. This is just my thoughts being brought to this thread if your beilefs are different then thats you as I still long for the streets if gold!

[badass]

i heard a voice

and i heard a voice call down from heaven above..

it said

go out now and strike fear in the hearts of children..
use images of all that is evil...
it shall be called entertainment....
and for this you will be rewarded...
and known for eternity as the holy haunter hypocrisy.....

heretics usually do not perceive their own beliefs as heretical ......

[Jolly Pumpkin]

I think this is just a stupid conversation to begin with. How can one person say their religion is more important than someone else's? People are just arrogant. I believe there is a God, but I could be wrong. I believe there is a Heaven and a Hell, but how do I know either exist or not. I'm one of those people that realize that not everything in the bible is fact and that many stories are made up to teach a lesson.

I try to live my life the best I can and most people don't follow the teachings of the Bible 100% including myself. As a matter of a fact, it's impossible. For the most part I'm a good person, but I'm not ever going to say one religion is better than another or someone is wrong about what they believe. If they are a genuinely good person I don't really care what their religion is. I don't even care to ask what their religion is. I don't care if they're an Atheist, Catholic, Christian, Jewish or whatever. If they're a good person, they're a good person.

[Darkangel]

Aren't Christians and Catholics pretty much the same thing?

I don't consider a haunter a heretic it's all make believe.

Also all people who follow a faith always believe theirs is the best. But it is well ducumented that Jesus performed miracles as told by even non-Christians. Until other prophets from other faiths perform miracles Christians have a right to believe their religion is very significant.

DA

[Jolly Pumpkin]

I was raised a Catholic. Christians and Catholics are similar. I went to a Catholic gradeschool and a Christian High school. The church services are much different as are many of the beliefs. But when it comes down to it they are similar, but different. Click on the link below to read what the differences are.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_t...nd_Catholicism

[tchaunt]

Guys, yet again, is this debate really worth it? Many of you have plenty of work to do to get your haunt or the haunt you work for ready for this season. It doesn't matter whether you're green or yellow, theist or atheist, haunt owner or enthusiast, there's a reason we all signed up for this forum and in its most basic form, it's the same reason: our love for haunts. Some arguments are worth having (for instance, arguing over the best approach for billboard advertisements [gore vs. grunge]), but how is this going to help anyone in the industry?