Yeah, that's not really in the spirit of "coexisting."

what a ****

what made him decide to write that? it sounds very judgy, and not very christian... good to know who to stay away from

From the tone of this , maybe I didn't understand what the group was about either .

It's about coexisting, not messaging someone to attack them and shove your religion down their throat uninvited!

Wow, he must know the Bible School Teacher who told me (when I was 8) that if you didn't attend church EVERY sunday for the rest of your life you would go to HELL.

Some people just flat out suck. Booo!!!!!

Some people feel the need to "save" others. Not sure where it comes from.

The Quran has a nice reminder that it's up to God, not up to us. "Live, and Leave it to God".

Only God Guides
[28:56] You cannot guide the ones you love. GOD is the only One who guides in accordance with His will, and in accordance with His knowledge of those who deserve the guidance.

I partially agree with you. JmeHarris. I think that co-exist means that the Christian has as much right to share his/her opinion as the Pagan, Wiccan, Freemason, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu etc.

The tough part is that part of the Christian faith is that salvation only comes through the grace of Christ and this is only available to those who have faith in Christ. So how much of this (which is a central part of Christianity) should be allowed to be shared in a forum dedicated to co-existing?

When you get right down to it most faiths believe (to differing degrees) that they have exclusive claim on truth, some by making truth statements which are mutually exclusive with truth statements of other faiths and some by making statements regarding salvation, rewards in the afterlife etc which include belief in and/or living in accordance with a certain set of moral laws. Many of these moral laws are universal to all religions (and to agnostic and atheist beliefs) such as honesty & forgiveness etc. In some instances there are particular elements of a particular faith's moral law that are unique to that faith (alcohol & coffee to LDS, pork to Judaism and Islam, vegetarianism to many other traditions).

So, how much is allowed in a co-exist forum dedicated to tolerance and and mutal understanding?

Yes, the Christian, the Muslim, the Mormon, the Freemason, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Athiest and the Agnostic (and all those I didn't mention) have equal right to share their views in this forum. But even though a Christian might feel a moral obligation to bring all our souls to Christ I don't think he/she has any more right to do so than a Wiccan or a Freemason.

So what elements of Christianity should be allowed (and encouraged) in a forum like this? I would say those that are common to the universal moral code. -Now I've made a statement with an a priori assumption regarding the existence of a universal moral code... Hmm.. Maybe I should start a new thread exploring others' beliefs regarding that assumption.-

Okay, back on topic. This is a forum for understanding different faiths (as well as skeptical viewpoints) not for proselyting. As an active Christian , I understand the motivation behind this guy's desire to bring others to Christ. At the same time, the more I've studied the more I've found that there are many teachings which I thought were unique to Christianity but are more generally shared. If we enter a forum like this with an open mind there are many ways which we can learn from each other. If we look at the message of Christ without being distracted by some of the Pharisees who claim to be His disciples I think there are elements which we can all appreciate. I've been taking a podcast delivered course on Buddhist meditation (guided meditation combined with spiritual insights) and I've been impressed at how often they quote the Gospel of John.

TO THE OP,
whenever a religious person offers to "pray for me"
i offer to "think" for them.


Most religious ppl have NO IDEA what IS actually IN that holy book they profess to love

---

>
http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/atrocities.html

Most of them have NOT read it, and have only heard the good snippets, or gloss over the real implications of most bible stories or quran stories or torah stories, etc etc.

Most religious ppl are unaware of the negative impact that fantastical thinking can have on our govt, our self esteem, on family cohesiveness.

Yes, when Jesus said he came not in peace, but would tear families apart, that is one thing he got right.

btw, the bible recommends only praying in private. Might be worth mentioning to your pal.


and i think it is important for a rational atheist to have a place to discuss coping with always being put down by their religious families, coworkers and friends.

Sent to me today from WillNorton:

"you have you lost your ever lovin mind...I am praying for you right this very minute ..
my religion is strong as it has ever been...not sure where you get your info but we will be the only people left when Jesus Christ comes back to take us to Heaven..

Does WillNorton realize that is only about 1/4th of the world's population?
Does WillNorton realize, that he inherited his gods from his parents,
and that if he had been born in another country, he would just as fervently insisting that HIS god was THE 'right' god?

ONCE he explains how it is possible for him to dismiss alllllllllllllllllll the other possible gods to choose from,
i can explain how i can dismiss HIS gods.