dumb thoughts-i guess that's what you could call em!
just been thinking lately again. alllll about religion!
woot!
isn't that crazy?
yeah. i know....
so! i've been thinkin!
why is religion soooo important to people? why do they think that if they are some CERTAIN type of religion it's like a gate way to heaven? isn't the interpreting God's judgment? everyone in each religion whether they realize it or not thinks that they are in the RIGHT place! and they are going to heaven because...well...God knows that we are really holy and we believe all the RIGHT things about Him. and we do alllll the right little traditions because that's what God cares about...i'm shurr....
look at allllll the religions for ONE second...k?
MOST of them have the same general ideas.
so why is being in the "correct" religion so important to people? when most of us believe the same general stuff? it's sorta stupid of us. we set up allllll these different religions which are all based off of the same general beliefs...we must look pretty damn stupid to God.
If God is soooo forgiving...then why does it matter which one were in? i really don't think He cares.
all He wants is to be trusted in and given a little THANKS for alllllll the life blessings He's given us. church is so that we can have a relationship with Him, so we CAN give Him some thankin n' such.
i dunno.
i think it's stupid that there are like 5,000,000,000 different religions in this world. and none of them are really the "perfect" one, because there is no such thing as perfection in this world. God is perfection, and we can't be God.
just a thought.
-kenzy
p.s. If atheists don't believe in God then they obviously think He exists because if He didn't they wouldn't have anything NOT to believe in.....duhhhh.
posted by Kenzy @ 10:31:00 PM
4 Comments:
Despite sounding like a teenage girl you're actually talking about some super deep things. The question you have to ask yourself is, do you believe there is such thing as The Truth. Meaning, indisputable, unarguably, true, forever, in all places, and in all times. If you don't believe this exists then this conversation is over and you are quite literally free to do whatever it is you want. Really. Anything. But if you believe there is such a thing then your journey has begun and it's time to start studying. Go back as far in history as you can and begin reading what mankind has thought about truth. Religion is far from the first entity to comment about truth. Christianity? no way. Start at the beginning and work from there.
I love you.
Jesse
Actually in the beginning there was only one "religion": Adam and Eve in perfect union with God. Satan introduced "other religions" by distorting the "true truth". That is why every religion has similarities to all others because ultimately they all come from one place, they all just have a different piece of the real deal right or wrong. God is indeed soooo forgiving, but how do we know that? Because God became a human being and told us so. Otherwise, if we don't believe that, we are just speculating out of our own heads... and how much can you trust your own head (or someone else's)? THAT is the question. People believe in a religion because it makes sense to them in some way. But just because it makes sense to someone else doesn't make it true... some people believe aliens are coming to take them away in a mother ship (how come there's never a "father ship....) anyway, people will believe ANYTHING. What it comes down to is, as CS Lewis said, either Jesus was who He said he was or He was a sociopathic liar or totally crazy. But you are totally correct, all God wants is a little love and gratitude from us. Someone is the "right Church" with a crap attitude is still a crappy person. A person who is loving and kind but in the "wrong Church" is still closer to God than the other one. The real question is, "If we love God, do we want to know and do everything we can to love Him more and please Him as our beloved?" That is why we seek the "True Church", because that is where all that is revealed to us fully instead of in bits and pieces of partial truths. So its not that "we're right" and "they are wrong"... its more like "this is where God is fully revealed and fully known" and "there is where He is partly revealed". And in the end, God judges the hearts of all. Romans 2 says the person who is faithful to a little knowledge is better off than the person who has a lot of knowledge but doesn't do anything with it. Maybe its not as much that God cares, but that WE should care. If you love someone you care what they like, don't like, and want to do things that please them, etc. Correct "dogma" is not just about words and concepts and intellectual thoughts, it is about how we see the world, God, ourselves and our neighbors. Our "dogma" shapes our world view and ultimately how we act in the world, and then ultimately how much we are like God in our actions and attitudes. This is a tough question for sure. A lot of people will tell you "You are either IN OR OUT"... Orthodoxy doesn't do that, we recognize that other religions have some truth and we don't say ANYONE is going to hell. All we can say is this is what has been given to US by Christ and the Apostles, and this is the fullness of what everyone else is looking for and has a part of. That's not arrogant, its just what is. Like Jesse said, either there is "Truth" or there is not, and if there is, then it has to be somewhere. If it cannot be found then God is pretty mean to create us, tell us there is Truth then hide it from us so we can't know anything for sure. Looking for Truth should be the ONLY thing in our life, our total focus. Unfortunately people are lazy and don't want to work that hard so they just say, wellll...you can't really know the truth so we'll just say its all good... and then they do whatever they want, which means they do what pleases themselves. Then their passions become god and God takes a back seat. If there is Truth it is worth our life to find it. If there's not, then your life is your own and do whatever you want with it because it won't matter in the end. But if that's what you end up believing, then you can't bitch about what ANYONE else ever does or says to you or anyone else because they are just doing what THEY want because it doesn't matter. So either it DOES matter or it doesn't. If it does, why? Because there is Truth that says it does. No Truth, no matter. Bottom line. I guess that was too long, huh?
haha. not long at all. better answer then most would give me. somethin new.
A lot of people will tell you "You are either IN OR OUT"... Orthodoxy doesn't do that, we recognize that other religions have some truth and we don't say ANYONE is going to hell.
orthodoxy may teach this...but most peoples in the church don't believer this about other religions or express it that way.
Okay, and while I'm here... Religion helps me learn how not to hurt the people around me. Or at least hurt them less. Or apologize after I've hurt them. Or recognize that I've hurt them. Or keep me from blaming them for getting in my way and making me hurt them. We begin where we are - hurtful, sinful creatures - and try to be like God (in your words, perfection). Try not to look over and see how the person next to you is doing. Try harder not to notice that the person next to you is looking at the person next to him. Keep your eyes on yourself. How are you doing?
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