But I keep seeing the same over and over again, so aparently nothing appeals me anymore in this forum.
I'm awesome because I'm a christian, the rest of you are going to hell. (one side).

All christians are hypocrites and bigots, and the hell with them. (the other side).

Amazingly, in both sides there are some who claim that they have gained enlightment some through the Bible others through some holographic reality, yet that enlightment is not shown because the same childish behavior is still seen in both sides.

Too much crap (I'm the best because I'm christian or no I'm the best because I'm atheist), and little share of knowledge and information.


Very truely yours,

TLW

Enlightened

Now I going to consult my Buddah....

welcome to the world TLW, sorry to see you go, why don't you start discussions as you mention if you feel that way? I'm open to discussing anything you bring up or at least look at it.

I normally just come into this forum and just browse, read and learn. I do not follow any organized religion and have my own beliefs and love to learn so this forum at one time was extremely informative.


However, it has become such a negative place, where everyone wants to outdo the other, every conversation becomes a personal attack, and little alliances form.

Just venting - sorry

I'm not leaving my friend. I'm always around. But honestly some threads start really good, but then the fundamentalists (both christians and non-christians) appear, and they messed up the whole thing.

AMEN TO THAT!!! Very frustrating here sometimes!! Seems that often many want others to only see things THEIR WAY or knock others' belief systems. A personal relationship with God is just that; PERSONAL!! And, if they don't believe in God, so be it. Enjoy your belief system, too! And, in that vein, everyone have a God-Blessed Day!!

I don't read every post in these forums, so if you could send me a private email and point me to a post like that, I would appreciate it.

Come on my brother you know what I mean. I don't read every post as well.
But you know we have them here.
Whenever somebody says something like people with other belief systems are satan's worshipers.

yep its like... god is my friend and he's gonna smite your azz...lol.... chances are they have no idea.

I see them, but I typically ignore them. I guess I should take the time to correct those people.

Funny how it all centers on Christianity isn't it?

It does seem to be the religion that most divides people into these two camps. And it's precisely because of the people you've mentioned first. The people who are claiming that anyone who doesn't worship the bible are rejecting God.

That's the notion right there that causes all the division.

If people would quite pushing the Bible as the only true word of God and claiming that eveyone who rejects the Bible is rejecting God then there wouldn't be an division.

It's always about Christians versus non-Christians!

How many religions do you see in that sentence?

I only see one. Christianity.

Seems to me that reveals quite clearly which religion is causing all the division in the world.

The debates are always centered on whether or not the bible is the true word of God. And the reason they are centered on that issue is because of those who insist on claiming that anyone who rejects the Bible is rejecting God.

That's one hell of a terrible thing to accuse anyone of.

Then set them on a more perfect path TLW, share your knowledge with us, maybe it would help if when a subject goes off course from the orignal post that those views are not responded to and or told to start another post discussing that subject they raise, this is done on other sites i'm on as to my proffession.Just a thought.

If you think about it, we're really lucky that only a few religions evolved from the Mediterranean culture that are like this.

There are only three prominent ones today, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. And look at the terrible conflicts that exist between them! They are all based on the same jealous godhead who demands that thou shaft have no other God's before him. Yet, ironically, even though they all worship the same fundamental God they call claim that their religions (and Gods) are different.

We really lucked out that in the far east non-violent religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and so forth sprang up. Those religions don't have egotistical godheads who demand to be worshiped. It's a good thing too because if they had the same kind of ego-based deities the world would be in a lot worse shape than it already is.

It's really fortunate that there was only one ego-based religion that fell into three parts in the middle east. Although, its sad that even that had to have happened, but at least it's not as bad as it could have been had all world religions been based on jealous egotistical Godheads who demand to be worshiped over all others.

you ain't doing anything to unite either.
you fit very good into the description of a fundamentalist.

TLW, give me your personal definition of a "fundamentlist " please? - thnx.

fundamentalist (for me and just for me, not a dictionary definition): an individual who lacks of balance in his beliefs or points of view.
An extremist who thinks that his truth is the only truth available, and any other person with a different belief, points of views, or set of values is just wrong.
furthermore, an individual who uses his point of view or belief to judge others, discriminating them as inferior.

THNX

How can you unite with people who claim that if you don't believe in their version of god then you are rejecting God, and therefore you are not a spiritual person and clearly they are close to God an you are not.

They are flatly refusing to accept your spirituality and they are accusing you of rejecting God and therefore accusing you of being ungodly.

How can you unite with such people other than humoring their biased notions Miguel?

But the only way to humor them is to confess that they are godly and you are not.

That's absurd.

If they can't respect my relationship with god, then why should I respect theirs?

These religions that cause these kinds of divisive behaviors seem to me to be clearly ungodly in the first place. God should never be used as an excuse to divide people. Yet religions that claim that people who do not worship certain doctrines are rejecting God are doing precisely that.

You claim that I'm a fundamentalist, and then you go on to define 'fundamentalist' as the following,...



Well that definition most certainly doesn't apply to me. I don't care what other people want believe. If someone wants to believe that Jesus Christ died to pay for their sins and he's coming back to rule the world, that's perfectly fine with me. But there's no need to tell other people that they are rejecting God if they don't believe in that scenario.

I don't tell anyone that it's wrong to believe in Jesus. I just tell them that it's wrong to tell me that I'm rejecting God if I don't buy into the story. And then they go on to try to PUSH the story onto me by trying to SELL it to me. So it's a perfectly natural reaction for me to try to explain to them why I think the story if a total myth. I have every right to explain why I believe the story to be a myth. Especially if other people are trying to PUSH it onto me and claiming that I'm REJECTING God if I don't believe it!

As long as they keep doing that I have every right and OBLIGATION to explain why I believe the story can't possible be true. I have every right to explain why I believe that no one should believe it.

However, I don't pass moral judgment on those who do.

Which brings us to the second part of your definition. I have never claimed that it is morally inferior to believe in the biblical picture. I have never judged anyone on moral grounds for believing in the bible. They can believe in the bible until the cows come home for all I care. It doesn't bother me.

However, when they claim that people who don't believe in the bible are rejecting God then they most certainly are passing a moral judgment on me. To tell someone that they are rejecting God is a moral judgment. And it's totally uncalled for. It's totally disrespectful, and does no one any good.

I don't judge Christians. But there are a lot of Christians that are claiming to judge me when they claim that I'm rejecting God. That's a moral judgment. To suggest that someone is rejecting God is a moral judgment. And that's just downright wrong.

So I would say that you are wrong on both counts when you claim that I'm a fundamentalist.

1. I don't tell people what to believe.

I just defend my reasons for why I don't believe that the bible could possible be the word of God. And I do that defensively when other people claim that I'm rejecting God if I don't believe in the biblical picture. They are the ones who are accusing me of rejecting God. I'm not accusing them of anything.

2. I don't judge other people morally they judge me.

When they claim that I'm rejecting God because I reject the biblical stories as having anything to do with God, that's a moral judgment on their part.

As soon as they quit claiming that non-Christians are rejecting God, then everything will be cool. Until then, they are the ones who are passing moral judgments on everyone who doesn't believe like they do. They are the ones who are claiming to have the only truth that everyone must believe.

No me. I'm not doing that at all. I'm defending against their accusations against me. I'm not accusing them of anything. Other than morally judging me for not believing like they do!

It's their fundamentalism and predjudice that you see reflected in my defense to the judgments they are passing on me.

I pass no judgments on them. They can believe whatever they want. They just have no right to tell me that I'm rejecting God.

wow, this last statement is what got my attention.

You stated "people" can believe what they want, so if they "want" to believe that "you" are rejecting God why let it bother you? It's their belief, their opinion, their problem

Just sharing my view