BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Spirituality Religious Superiority

This thread came about because of another thread actually. In one of our threads we were discussing whether we would have different feelings about someone after they died than we did when they were alive. Well, the thread turned to religious differences, and so as to not get CDM into a bad mood..lol.. I brought the topic here.

As a Pagan, I am often assaulted by Christians.. They show up in my workplace, at my home, in my email, etc. And, the whole theme is always the same. They insist that I am going to Hell, and that my lifelong belief system is corrupted and wrong. They belittle my beliefs, and they present themselves in such a superior, uncompromising way that I want to knock their lights out.

I don't object to Christianity until it comes around to them praying from my soul, or always bringing the conversation around to Jesus.

That is why I was never a Christian and never will be.

How do the non Christians and the Christians out there feel about this one?

Love and Light...

Every person of every belief feels that their belief is superior to the rest of them.

In Christianity, we are just excited about going to Heaven when we leave here and we fully believe that because Jesus told us this in the Bible.

The Word of God also tells us that we are to be ministers of His word and we are to tell people of the Good News.

Christians are supposed to be disciples of Christ and His word.
I looked up the word disciple and a definition given is: One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another.

That is what we as Christians are called to do. When Jesus called Peter from the fishing boat, Peter told Him that he was just a fisherman and Jesus told him to follow Him and that he would become "a fisher of men".

That is what we as Christians and followers of Christ are supposed to do. We are to become "fishers of men" and that is why I am in these forums to try and reach people who are not Christians. If I can talk to people about Jesus and what He has done for us, then that is all I have to do. I just have to open the door to oyur hearts and then the Holy Spirit is supposed to do the rest.

As I have said many, many times before, God could have created human beings to be followers of Him and could have created us without sin, but that's what His angels are for.

He wanted to create people that would choose to follow Him and those who do not choose to follow Him, He will not know and will not allow into Heaven.

God wants people to believe on faith in His existence and that faith will end in the ultimate reward.

According to our beliefs, every other religion or belief that does not have to do with Jesus or God as the Creator, is a false religion created by Satan to detract people from following God.

Christianity is all about praying for souls and talking about Jesus and people think if they become Christians, it is alot of work to not do things they used to but it's not that way at all.

When you are a Christian and the Holy Spirit is in you, it is not a chore to stay away from things in your past, you actually want to stay away from those things. You want to spend time with God and in His word.

If you don't want to be a Christian, then that is your choice but according to my beliefs, if you don't become a follower then you will go to a place like Summerland in as much as it is going to be very hot there.

I know you don't want to hear about Hell, but according to my beliefs, it is a very real place and Jesus talked about it quite a bit in the Bible especially in the Book of Revelations.

God is a loving God, to those who follow Him. He is a jealous God when you start worshipping faeries and trees and whomever else. He is a vengeful God when Judgement Day comes and casts you into the "lake of fire created for Satan and his angels."

That is just what my beliefs state. I am not saying you are going to Hell because I do not have that power. I am just saying the Bible and Jesus say you are going there and when I say you, I mean all non believers.

That is how I feel about the question you asked. From aChristian perspective of course. Non Christians may have a different view of your question.

I'm not bothered quite as much by Christians wanting to save my soul, because I can tune those people out. What bothers me more is fundamentalists who try to legislate their beliefs.

On the whole, I think most Christians are nice people who just happen to have a belief system that is rather exclusionary. In almost any group that separates the members from the non-members, you're going to have a few loud, obnoxious ones who take the rules too seriously.

The same thing applies to Islam, except that you have to add a volatile political situation and staggering economic inequalities to the mix, too. Hence, the loud, obnoxious ones also tend to be violent. It can happen with any exclusionary worldview, whether it be religious or nationalistic. The only belief systems that don't end up like this are those that are tolerant and all-encompassing, like humanism.

"According to our beliefs" ... this is a key phrase.

My problem w/the bible is that it has been vastly edited throughout history by PEOPLE for their own often non-religious purposes. That is why I don't take it too seriously. And all you Christians out there please don't start quoting scripture to me. I'm not a bible expert and don't want to be. We all know there are different versions of the bible and that's my main point.

"What bothers me more is fundamentalists who try to legislate their beliefs." ... Yes! Me too - and that applies to any fundamentalists. Do what you wish w/your lives and leave the rest of us alone, thank you.

About amadeus1220 and his spreading the word. Over zealous christians (or anything) annoy me too, but if I were to be honest I think many of us may be perceived as over zealous about some of our beliefs.

For example, I recycle my [censored] off, and according to the "by good deeds" concept that should be enough, but I frequently try to convert non-recylers when I encounter one. I'm certainly not over the top or obnoxious about it, but I do try to "spread the word". I completely understand and agree w/the feelings about over zealous Christians, but I don't think it's fair to say they shouldn't say anything about it ever. I just tune it out and try to accept that it's meant w/good intentions EXCEPT when it's obnoxious or extreme or unrelenting - that's different.

True, and to that extent, we could be accused of legislating "beliefs" when we call for changes in government fuel-efficiency standards and the like. The difference between legislating fuel-efficiency or industrial pollution standards and legislating religious beliefs, however, is that we have scientific proof that pollution is harmful to our health and to our environment; they do not.

Well Amadeus..

You don't seem to have any trouble believing in a God that lives in the sky in a disneyland called heaven, or a demon that lives under the ground in a place called hell where souls without bodies burn in a fiery lake and souls without teeth are gnashing them.

You also don't seem to have a problem with a God that kills for no particular reason, or one that demands allegiance with threats to your soul.

And, you don't have a problem with invisible beings with wings called angels that work for this God. And yet, you don't believe in fairies or Summerland.

I guess you just like to hand pick your illusions and fantasies.. just like the rest of us do.

To each his own fantasy and to each his own illusion. My illusion is called the Goddess... and my fantasy is nature beings called Devas. I don't have a demon illusion however.

There is absolutely no difference in what illusions or fantasies or non-beliefs or beliefs we may create for ourselves. The simple fact of the entire matter is that not one of us knows what is going to happen to us when we leave this world behind.

So, dwell in your fantasies and illusions if it makes you happy Amadeus.. and I will happily dwell in mine.

I don't feel that my belief is superior to anyone's Amadeus. It is what I choose to believe and I don't expect anyone else to beleive what I beleive. I believe that all beliefs are equal. I am a Unitarian Universalist Pagan, so I can see the underlying wisdom in all religions.. even Christianity.

I can also find peace in a Buddhist chant, mysticism in a Jewish Seder, Rite and ritual in a Catholic mass, golden silence in a Quaker meeting, healing in a Christian Science reading room, wonder in a Spritualist church, and respect and honor in a Wiccan Circle.

I am no stranger to religion and faith. In fact, it is my life quest to explore as many of them as I can. Hence, the reason I write the spirituality site for Bella.

To say that any one is better than any other would be to disrespect the thousands of people who adhere to certain beliefs and religious systems.

I can honestly say the only church or group I was not welcomed into was the Fundamentalist Christian churches. They were fine at first until they found out that I had my own beliefs which I held very strongly. Once they discovered I would not become a "believer" I was politely or not so politely asked to leave the premises.

The other churches or groups I visited didn't ask or simply didn't care what my faith was. They just welcomed me in and let me listen and learn.

So, I would have to say that in terms of my own experience, I have found that Fundamentalist Christians really do feel spiritually superior to those of all other faiths.

No belief is superior to the other.
As we progress in our life, we come across new thoughts and change beliefs.
This is all about exploration.
Even if one imposes a belief, one will face revolt.

That is fine, Linda. You go right ahead on believing and worshipping as you do and I will do the same. I don't have a problem with that. God may be the one who has a problem with that but I will let the two of you work that out.

Again, I never said I felt my beliefs in Christianity were superior to other religions. Everyone else has said that about me. I just know where my destiny lies because Jesus said so.

Everyone says the Bible has been changed so much over the years and yet no one can step up to the plate to prove it. No one over the years has ever been able to prove the Bible wrong or prove it has been changed. It is so easy to say that the Bible has been changed to suit people yet those people cannot prove it.

I believe it was Plato who said that the Bible is a myth and he will outlive it. Well, Plato was wrong and his home was used for the first printings of the Bible.

Darwin was a Christian until his daughter died after suffering for a long time with sickness.
When she died, that's when he started to disbelieve in God and began to think about other ways that we were created so he came up with the theory of evolution.

Yes I believe in Heaven and you believe in Summerland and the twain shall never meet.

I also said that I wouldn't get preachy until someone called me and my beliefs to the carpet and you all do the same thing when your beliefs are called to the mat as well.

As far as CDM goes and the other thread, I wasn't trying to turn it into a religious discussion, I was just answering his question about our feelings when a friend dies and I was answering about my feelings as a Christian. It was all of you who attacked me and turned it into a religious debate. Mainly. it was iwonder, another self professed Christian, who attacked me about it.

It is impossible to answer a question like that without saying how I'd feel about it as a Christian.