On Sun, Oct 25, 2009 at 9:05 PM, Mary Jo Sminkey wrote: > > > 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. ;-) >
Thanks for being up for the discussion. Cool how everyone's been decent and whatnot. Think there's hope for politics? ;-) > 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. ;-) > I enjoy hearing people's interpretations of dogma. It helps my interpretations, sorta. > But if we were all perfect and behaved properly, we wouldn't need to be > saved. > It's the getting saved bit that gets me. Like, what if my idea of Heaven was being happy together with someone who would have to occupy Hell? I don't want to be saved unless all my peeps can come wit me! =) > 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. > I kind of dug Ayn Rand's spin on selfishness. Interpreted like that, it's not so bad. IMO. But even in my religion, dissing universal love (so to speak) is frowned upon. :) > > 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. > You know, I mentioned big and little endians before because I'd forgotten the origin. Using that story in a context helps me remember it. I wonder if we're all trying to remember something, sorta. O.k., I'm drifting. :-) > > 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!) > /me thinks of a cartoon of god adding jerks to his mix Keeps things interesting. Plus, without people to save, there'd be way too much free time. =-) -- Nothing proves that we are more than nothing. Emile M. Cioran ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| 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:306543 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
