You Need To Find A Group To Feel Hostile Towards

Here is an email I received in response to one of my essays.

You Need To Find A Group To Feel Hostile Towards

I was doing some research for a Bible study I’m leading when I stumbled across your website. I’m a Christian university student living in Portsmouth, England.

You have some incredibly strong opinions and, ironically, you’re kind of judgemental. Their are so many variations among christians as to what they believe. For example, a great many Roman Catholics believe that tradition is more important than the Bible, while another group, the Charismatics, place more importance on the gifts of t he spirit (speaking in tongues etc). I think you really need to find a particular group to feel hostile towards.

I coined the term Kristians to describe the brand of Christians I object to. It may sound strange but some of the kindest people I know are JWs (Jehovah’s Witnesses). We debate these issues vigorously, but lovingly and respectfully. The sort of Christian that I find objectionable:

• Considers himself superior to everyone else, just because he is nominally a Christian/Catholic/Lutheran/etc. Everyone else is damned, not matter how kindly they are.
• He flatly ignores the scientific evidence that counters how he wishes the world were.
• He is totally convinced his religion/sect superior to all others and that all others are tommyrot, but refuses to learn anything about the others to see if this is indeed so.
• He equates belief in his particular sect with belief in God and cannot see how it would be possible for someone to reject the beliefs of his sect without necessary rejecting a belief in God. He also equates rejecting the notion of God with embracing Satan. He cannot conceive of virtue for its own sake, rather than as a way of avoiding punishment in the hereafter.
• He uses the Bible to justify persecuting Jews, blacks, gays or whatever other minority group he does not like.
• He tries to use the law to force his religious beliefs on others.

I can only speak for myself and the evangelical church that I attend when I say that we focus on the Bible itself and believe that through reading and learning to understand it we can achieve a closer relationship with God.

We do not hate or discriminate against any group.

Basically, we believe that, as human beings, we are all sinful. Lying is a sin. Pride is a sin. Envy is a sin. Coveting is a sin. Sex of any kind outside of marriage is a sin. And sin is inherent within us. It is through a relationship with God that we are changed and given strength to rise above our sinful natures. This does not mean that we never get things wrong. It only means that, when we do, we have the strength to pick ourselves up and do better the next day. I don’t have all the answers. All I know is that since I became a Christian in November (at the age of 22) my life has been transformed for the better.

Go out and meet some real Christians. Give them a proper chance. Find out what they really believe and why.

There are some really really horrible people on your website masquerading as Christians. They clearly don’t understand the Bible if it leads they to make disgusting judging comments about homosexuality. I hope they are ashamed. They give the rest of us a bad name.

Julie.

P.S. It is only through further (open minded) study that your doubts and reservations about the Bible can be resolved.

In all the years I have being bringing up implausibilities and inconsistencies in the Bible, only one gentleman tried to defend the Bible on a point by point basis. Everyone else just side-stepped this issue.

Christians claim that the Bible is either the word of God or was inspired by God. They all claim it is in some way special, not just a text on morality. Yet never do they offer even the tiniest shred of evidence why they think that is so. They just know it in their bones. What they really mean is their Mom drilled it in from the time they could speak so it seems like absolute truth. Alternatively they had a highly emotional conversion experience. They equated feeling extremely good with being visited by god. This issue is utterly crucial. If the Bible is not the word of God, then Christianity is just a philosophy of life, akin to Living Love. It has no special exalted status above other religions or life philosophies.

Muslims offer the evidence that the Qur’an is the word of God by pointing out the Arabic poetry is better than any man could compose. I don’t speak Arabic so I can’t verify this claim. The English translation is in parts impressive, but not superhuman. Most of it is rambling and repetitive. Christians offer not even that sort of weak evidence.

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