Radiantshadow
Urban shaman
- MBTI
- Human
- Enneagram
- Human
I have never understood why so much energy is expended on belief. There are more pressing and conclusive problems in this turbulent world of ours.
I too was drawn to witchcraft when I was younger. My mother is Wiccan and I was also used in Satanic Rituals when i was a baby. I am appalled by your experience with Christians and apologize on their behalf. If other Christians were to read the Bible and what it actually says they would behave a lot differently. I have had many spiritual experiences in my life and seen some very dark things. God does not endorse evil. He gave all people free will and He will not impose Himself on us. He does not go against His own Word. The thing is people are flawed and prone to sin. Yet if we follow Christ and have a real relationship with Him. We begin to change and be transformed into creations of Love. I had never experienced as much depths of Love and Joy in my life until I chose to follow Christ at the age of 19. This experience changed me and I have developed into a much more compassionate, forgiving, caring, and non-judgemental person since. It is my sincere prayer that Jesus will speak to you on a personal level and show you just how much He Loves and cares for you! I apologize if this message offends you, I am just expressing what I hold near and dear to my heart.
I'm not offended on any level. =)
I'm transsexual and Pansexual. how could I fit in to a Christian church, the way I am?
I did not ask to be born in the wrong body or ask for my sexuality, as many of others have been. I just have a problem seeing genuine Christians. I know man/woman is fallible,but there is a difference between fallible and outright hatred and hypocrisy.
I'm more at peace being Wiccan ( Also if your mother is claiming to be wiccan and involved you in Satanic rituals, then she isn't Wiccan, as we don't believe in Lucifer/Satan/The Enemy or whatever name he uses and we are told to harm no one) and worshipping a Goddess who doesn't demand anything from me unlike the God of the Abrahamic religions gives me peace and lead a stress free life.
I see more miracles everyday in nature and life, I respect the Earth as it is a living thing and try my best to always follow my path. I'm not perfect and do screw up now and again,but, I'd have to have some kind of " Road to Damascus" event before I would ever believe in the Abrahamic God.
Blessed Be xx
I'm an Atheist but I shall share with you a Bible passage I find quite beautiful.
Basically when we die we gain a higher understanding, and if we have love it is likely we shall be loved. So if any hateful Christian tells you that you'll burn in hell for not being Christian, feel safe in the knowledge that if, against all odds they were right in their faith, that if you have love then they're in more trouble than you are. For if we are Atheist or of any other faith, it is not because we reject God, we just haven't come to know God yet.
I know that a lot of you are thinking there is no way you're wrong. But then I realized that no matter what the odds were. If it were all true, then burning in hell for eternity would be no fun for anybody. Nobody could tolerate it. It would be the suffering of suffering. Just think about that setting for one minute. You cannot say it wouldn't phase you. It does concern me. My question to Christians is this. About 5 years ago, I attended church. I was open minded, I went with my born again christian friend. And I asked Jesus to forgive me. But I only half believed it. I mean I wasn't even questioning whether I believed it or not. At the time I just said whatever I believe anyone for the sake of it. So if it were all true and we do go to hell, would I be forgiven since I already asked for forgiveness? Or do you have to believe it 100 percent?
My other question to Christians is this. If you are already forgiven for all of your sins and you pleaded to Jesus, why must you go church still and pray? Why do you need to pray if you are already forgiven? Is it to socialize and eat with friends? Or be a part of something? Because I mean wouldn't you just be able to forgo it and watch football if you wanted to? All sins are forgiven once you asked right? Why does Jesus want you to constantly pray? Does he really need that?
Religious guilt, yo.
Scare tactics.
Grew up believing this stuff because I really had no choice -- and all I can say to you is believing purely because you are scared it "might" be true and you "could possibly" end up in hell for all eternity is the wrong way to go. That's not real belief in anything other than wanting to save your own ass.
(That probably means cease to exist. I prefer the doctrine of Conditional Immortality, where man is naturally mortal and cannot continue to exist once separated from God. This is often grouped in with Annihilationism, but that technically requires God active destroy souls that might otherwise have been immortal rather than passively stop sustaining them. Either of those fits the bible much better than the doctrine of Eternal Damnation does. Even some forms of Universal Reconciliation, in which long periods of torment are a means of purifying the wicked and preparing them for salvation, have more scriptural support than Eternal Damnation in the original languages.
The church at Ephesus, where the Apostle John and Mary the Theotokos were believed to have lived and taught long after the other apostles had all died, held to Conditional Immortality. The Berber Father's of North Africa, such as the fanatical Tertullian, held to Eternal Damnation. The other centers of the early church had no dogma on the subject, but Universalism was commonly accepted. For more than a century, the only Christians who claimed that the soul was naturally immortal were advocates of Universal Reconciliation. Eternal Damnation only became popular in the church at large due to the influence of the North African Augustine of Hippo. He quickly came to be considered the greatest of church father and doctor of the church, which is a bit odd when you consider the fact that he admitted horribly failing the few introductory Greek lessons he took and never even trying to learn any other biblical language. He was eloquent in Latin, but that doesn't mean he should be considered a religious authority.)
I know that a lot of you are thinking there is no way you're wrong. But then I realized that no matter what the odds were. If it were all true, then burning in hell for eternity would be no fun for anybody. Nobody could tolerate it. It would be the suffering of suffering. Just think about that setting for one minute. You cannot say it wouldn't phase you. It does concern me. My question to Christians is this. About 5 years ago, I attended church. I was open minded, I went with my born again christian friend. And I asked Jesus to forgive me. But I only half believed it. I mean I wasn't even questioning whether I believed it or not. At the time I just said whatever I believe anyone for the sake of it. So if it were all true and we do go to hell, would I be forgiven since I already asked for forgiveness? Or do you have to believe it 100 percent?
My other question to Christians is this. If you are already forgiven for all of your sins and you pleaded to Jesus, why must you go church still and pray? Why do you need to pray if you are already forgiven? Is it to socialize and eat with friends? Or be a part of something? Because I mean wouldn't you just be able to forgo it and watch football if you wanted to? All sins are forgiven once you asked right? Why does Jesus want you to constantly pray? Does he really need that?