> I know some Christians who feel the only way to Heaven is through > Christ. That's kind of exclusionary.
Let's see if I can answer this without getting into too much trouble. ;-) The *majority* of Christians say this, if not all. It's part of the basis of Christianity, because this is part of the teachings of Jesus (as we are given them in the Bible). It's really the cornerstone in fact. Accept Jesus, you are accepted into heaven. What's harder for most people is understanding what that truly means (another interesting topic I often get into discussing. ;-) Is that exclusionary? Probably, depending on your meaning. The issue is being tolerant and accepting of other religions, I certainly don't agree with people that for instance hate Jews because they "killed Jesus" and other such nonsense. I recently got into a discussion with a distant cousin of mine and was appalled at some of what she wrote me about Muslims. The misinformation alone was shameful and the prejudice totally unacceptable...and actually not at all what the Bible instructs us how to behave either (any more than the Koran teaches violence). But being tolerant and loving to all doesn't mean that I think all religions are equally the path to salvation. To go that route, I have to throw out the Bible altogether and skip the whole choice of Jesus as Savior. I might as well just believe in pink unicorns then. I expect it is similar with other religions, that to truly commit to that one, one cannot but see others as wrong, (although certainly not always the case). The problem is that too many Christians are self-righteous and pompous about their religion being the "right" one. This again is not the way a true Christian behaves. But if we were all perfect and behaved properly, we wouldn't need to be saved. Does that mean I KNOW that I am right and I know that other religions are wrong? Intellectually, no I cannot say that (regardless of personal belief). I just haven't found a reason to believe in another religion in ways that appeal to my logic and reason in the way that Christianity does. I just would never say that I know with certainty who is being saved and who isn't (particularly since I wouldn't say that even about myself). My own personal belief is that we are basically asked to have a life that is not self-centered...but that is centered on God and others, and that personal knowledge of Jesus may not be absolutely required for that. That rejecting him is basically turning inwards and living a life that is primary for yourself. > Saying "Buddhism" and "Christianity" is rather general, don't ch'all > think? Oh absolutely. As I expect has come out of this discussion, these are very all-encompassing terms for broad religious groups that can vary greatly in the details of their faith. > So it's sorta a pointless one, for most people's purposes. LOL, yeah probably. I guess that was where I was for most of my life. I will say this...it made dating a heck of a lot easier to be all inclusive! I had no problem dealing with the staunch atheist and the somewhat religious. Not so much the really right-wing types...but then being a fairly liberal Democrat, I still don't get along with those people (you should see some of the arguments I start in my family, all a bunch of Fox News junkies!) --- Mary Jo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:306431 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
