I'm gonna get into trouble...

Tolerance: The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and
respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

Acceptance: Belief in something; agreement

There is a huge difference between those two words, but they seem to be
used interchangably in this forum. I am tolerant of non-Christian
beliefs, but I cannot accept them. Tolerance means that I don't make
fun of Hindus for the spot on their forehead or the altars they set up
in their cubicles. When they celebrate Diwali, I join them in eatting
and celebrating, because they are my friends. I recognize that they
have every right to their own religious beliefs. But I don't believe
that their beliefs are correct. I don't doubt that my beliefs are
correct, so why should I act like I do? That's lying in my book. And
I'm sure that if I asked them, they would state that their beliefs are
100% correct. What I see in this forum is that a lot of people don't
belong to organized relgions and they all seem to share a belief that
all religions are correct. But just about any organized religion would
reject that statement. And while many Christians don't belong to an
organized relgion (such as me), that doesn't change that Jesus taught he
was the only way to God.

I love sex. I used to have lots of sex, often with no commitment.
Since I have become a Christian, I don't have sex outside of wedlock
anymore. It didn't stop right away, my ex-girlfriend and I continued
having sex for awhile, but less and less as time went on. Now I have
reached a point in my life where I don't think I will ever marry again
and I don't plan to have sex outside of marriage, so I don't think I
will ever have sex again. Why would I give up something I love, if I
didn't believe that my religious beliefs are correct?

Boredchick wrote:
“abra do you not understand if you perish. That means HELL for eternity?

Do you not see that? You think being in agony with the enemy for
eternally is a picnic?

Goodbye everyone I'm done. LOL we can go on for years”

And THAT’s exactly Invisible’s point.

Go on for years doing what? Trying to convince others to accept your
beliefs?

You see, that’s not the point of these forums at all.

You tell me how you believe, and I tell you how I believe, and we accept
the exchange of views.

We’re done.

No need to go on for YEARS trying to convert someone else to your way of
thinking.

It’s THAT kind of mentality that is so disgusting.

The purpose of the forums is not to try to PUSH your religion onto
others and telling them that they’ll go to HELL if they disagree with
your views.

That’s basic mentality is the cause of ALL THE STATIC on these forums.

There are many people of many differnet beliefs on these forums. We
never see any of them causing static between each other. All the static
ALWAYS reduces to CHRISTIANS trying to FORCE their view as being the
ONLY correct interpretations of God.

It’s ALWAYS this same thing!!!

Accept Jesus or go to HELL!

It’s gets really sick after a while.

I mean, I agree with AB too. For those who are leaving peace be with
you! I have no desire to change your views.

But for those who stay how about trying to appreciate and respect other
people’s religious views?

That makes me wonder what you are doing on a dating site?
Shouldn't you be on a religious one?

invisible,

I'm looking for friends, just like my profile says. Just because I
don't want to marry, that doesn't mean I don't get lonely.

spider I do not want you to accept my beliefs.

I do want you to accept my right to believe them.

As I accept your right to beleive as you wish.

Your beliefs save you.

Mine lift me up.

Each has a cup of measure different from the other.

Thank you AB

In the end people believe what they want to believe. I don't understand
why there can't be ONE DISCUSSION where there is no animosity and
tension.

Things are typed and misunderstood in a repeated cycle. People get
offended and the eyes are blinded.

What's the point in posting the question then disregarding it simply
because you don't like what you see? With that kind of attitude we
might as well not respond.

It's funny because you can't sense all emotions through text but yet
people are so quick to jump to assumptions.

I'm done. I'll go to a thread that makes sense

AdventureBegins,

I already do, so we are in complete agreement. What's all the hub-bub
about then?

Search me.

Why can't we all just Peace along?

The emptions come from the words of Christ. That's why he
said,"remember, they hated me before they hated you"

Who hates you?

Why such an assuming statement? No one has spewed forth hell and
damnation upon you.

Who in this thread has sown hate?

Peace is as we make it.

Allways offered in faith.

Understand hate adventure. It can be a very subtle thing. In the old
testament I believe it was Jacob who was cheated by his father-in-law,
by fooling him with a wife that wasn't meant to be but he accepted her
because he made vows and did have her, then he worked another seven
years for the woman he really wanted. eventually the scriptures said of
Jacob that he "hated" his first wife. This means that just the thought
of not wanting something is an attitude of hate towards it. It never
said that he was cruel to her.

I have quite an understanding of hate. It has no room within my world.

You see I believe in the message of Christ it fills me with love and
therefore hate can not abide. I follow the path God has shown me by my
choice. My faith encompasses the message Christ brought to the world.
The faith professed by most Christians however does not make room in
their world to allow me to follow that path.

So be it. God makes room for me I need nothing else.

Good thread Invisible, exactly the questions that have been roaming
around in my head for some time now.AB, as always you astound me with
your knowledge.Everyone made valid points but as always those who don't
tread the same path as you are wrong in your eyes, you cannot decide for
every individual what is wrong for them, it is up to the individual ...

rproman wrote:
“This means that just the thought of not wanting something is an
attitude of hate towards it”

For me, that would be a pretty wild stretch of semantics.

There are a lot of people that I would rather not associate with or be
around, yet I wouldn’t say that I ‘hate’ them.

What a very interesting read, good thread Invisible.


May I ask, please,

If a person who is not 'saved', but walks a similar path, to the one
that your jesus asks you to, as in loving their fellow man, and treading
gently on your God's earth, doing good deeds within their community, in
a manner of humility, would you scorn them?

Or accept them? Allow them their path.

Or do you have to 'witness' for your faith?

I understand when one is filled with joy, and are full of 'lightness',
they want to share it, however, is it offered, or pushed, upon another?

Spider, you gave a good answer, you explained that you have compassion,
and tolerace, acceptance for your friends' beliefs, because you have
tolerance and acceptance, compassion for your friends.

You have trust in your faith, and allow them to have theirs, without
prejudice.

I wonder how many other's that are 'saved', do?

And to all, how many genuinely tolerate, a different faith, without a
desire to shred that person, and their faith?

Jess642,

All Christians are called to spread the gospel. Given the opportunity,
I would definiately talk about the gospel to any of my friends. But I
wouldn't try to talk to anyone if they weren't interested.

This is why I have no problem in making any post that I feel like making
about my faith, because anyone can read or ignore what I post. In
person, I only talk about my faith, if the person(s) I'm talking to is
open to the subject.

Thankyou, Spider.

I feel the same way, but by no right is anyone going to tell me thatI
can not post with the exception of the people running this jsh

To me the whole thing makes no sense at all, and I’ll be glad to explain
why.

You see, I love and accept Jesus as the man he was. I do not believe
that he was born of a virgin or rose from the dead. To me he is not
God, but I love and respect him anyway for what he stood for, much in
the same way that I love and respect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for what
he stood for as well as many other humanitarians.

So what’s missing from this picture?

The only thing that’s missing is that I’m not the slightest bit
concerned about ‘saving’ my own butt.

All Christian’s are asking me to do is to worry about my own butt.

That’s a bit of an egocentric religion don’t you think?

In other words, my only motivation for wanting to be 'saved' is to save
my own butt from eternal damnation?

No thanks.

No way do I want any parts of any religion that is based on nothing more
than my own egocentric need to save my own butt. That’s utterly
ridiculous if you stop and think about it for even a moment.

Do you really want to go to a heaven that is full of people whose only
concern was to save their own butts?