BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Spirituality Religious Superiority

You know what I meant, Linda. I meant "know" Him on a personal level. A personal level as your Lord and Savior, not that you don't know who Jesus is as a historical figure.

I don't know how this got personal and so full of anger against me. I only responded to a post about baptism and gave my thoughts on it and what it says about it in the Bible.

I didn't mention anything about you guys becoming Christians and was only defending my beliefs against Percy's attack.

You all really need to lighten up a bit. You are so angry Lindda that you didn't even end your posts with your famous "Love and Light" post.

If you don't want to be a Christian and do not want to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then that is fine. That is up to you. I never said anything to the contrary in this post until Percy attacked me and my God.

As I said, I just put my two cents in about my beliefs in baptism and what the bible says about it and then I get attacked for it.

Talk about unfair. That's okay, though. I am Blessed and Highly Favored by the One true God and that brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart.

I am not angry at all Amadeus.. I am a Unitarian Universalist..lol.. so I question everything.. just part of who I am.. and I don't always end with love and light.. that is a given.

I didn't mean to offend you. But, I can't in all good conscience sit back and allow someone to make a comment like those who aren't baptised are going to hell and not take issue with it.

If you are secure in your faith, and as you say, it is your job to talk about it, then you must also know that there will be those who will question what you are saying.

I have a very strong faith actually... just as strong as yours in fact..and absolutely just as relevant. But, I don't need to tell you that your faith is wrong in order to uphold mine.

All I need for you to say here in order to make things completely right between us is that we are equal in the eyes of a Creator, that we both are loving and compassionate souls having a physical experience, and that whatever our beliefs may be they are personally right for both of us.

If you can say that, you are showing me that you don't feel superior to me, that you honor and respect my beliefs, even though you might not share them, and that you don't have the answers about what happens when this life ends any more than I do.

Is that so hard?

Lots of extra love and light...

Dear Amadeus,
You don't need to defend your beliefs against what Percy said. Percy is a lad who calls a spade a shovel, but he does have good reasons for hating the Christian religion and the teachings of the Bible.

However, I share his views about baptism. I also know and understand the Christian view that they must bring all people to God through Jesus the Christ. The Bible does teach that and understandably Christians believe that it is their duty to at least try.

What is missing from this missionary zeal is the 'live and let live' attitude. It angers people of other faiths and beliefs because it does not grant them the dignity of respect in their own choices. It tells them that they are wrong, and the proof of this is in the often well meant reassurance that Christians will 'pray' for you, and that unbelievers will 'see the light' and come to Jesus. This is saying: "I love you, and I respect your choice, but I'll pray that you change your mind and see things my way"! It is a contradiction.

Baptism is the ultimate tool of persuasion. (using a kind word there. Percy would have used the word 'blackmail'!) And it is only told to non Christians because the Bible says so. Personally, I don't believe Jesus ever said that. I believe it was added much later, to scare people into becoming converts.

To be told that ONLY by baptism by water, the blood, and by fire' (the Holy Spirit) could a person enter the Kingdom of Heaven was pretty powerful stuff, and VERY scary to people of the day, and since. It is campaigning at the top end of the political scale - in this case, to build up the early Christian Church. I've seen this in my own life. "Repent, or you're a goner! Do as the Church tells you, or you'll go to hell. Become heterosexual or you'll be damned".

And perhaps the worst of all:

"If you pray to God for healing, and aren't healed, it's because you either didn't pray hard enough, sincerely enough, or God looked at you and found you unworthy." And yes. That has been said to me by 'good Christians'.

Yet, I know many wonderful Christian people. It's just the teachings of their religion that I don't like.

May you be blessed on your particular path, and everyone else blessed on theirs.

Patience.

The Christians who told you that stuff are wrong. God will heal those who come to Him, it just may not be as quick as someone would like. God does things in His time and not ours. His time is a lot different than ours and that is just one of the many mysteries of Him. Someday, all mysteries will be answered but until then, the mysteries are in place to keep us grounded in our faith. If God revealed everything to us now, we wouldn't be operating on faith and faith is one of the basis for Christianity.

Respect, respect....R E S P E C T!!!!! Amadeus, you don't have to like others' beliefs, you don't have to agree with others' beliefs, but you have to respect others beliefs. As long as you continue a crusade (and I chose that word very carefully and with purpose) against every belief different than your own, people are going to be put off by you. NOT by your religion, but by your attitude about other 'religions'. Good grief, man, learn to respect others. Then we can all play nice together.

Ok How did I go from answering a post about baptism to disrespecting others beliefs?

A few posts back Percy attacked me and God because I answered a question about baptism that is in the Bible and then Linda gets mad...takes issue with what I said about it, like it was my own statement. It wasn't my statement, it is something I found in the Bible.

I am just getting tired of innocently answering posts and then being attacked for it like it was me who wrote the Bible or something. Talk about me respecting beliefs, why don't you all follow your own advice?

I have been personally attacked in these forums because of my beliefs. I have been called names, my grammar and spelling has been made fun of and you tell me I have to respect others. Not once did I call anyone a name or make fun of anything they wrote here.

All I did was follow my religion and try to talk to people about God.When people got mad and started to threaten me with banning, I stopped. I have only answered posts after that.

I respect everyone and respect the fact that they have different beliefs. But that's okay, you can keep on attacking me and telling me what I am doing wrong because I do have broad shoulders and I am blessed and highly favored by the One true God
and no weapon formed against me shall prosper.

If I was angry Amadeus, you would be sitting on a lily pad sucking in frogs for the rest of your life..lol.. just kidding.
As long as you don't insist on praying for my soul or helping me to "see the light" we can be good friends.

I already told you.. I do know Jesus. I respect and honor him.. as the Gnostic teacher that he was. His beliefs, according to the Gnostic Gospels are very similar to mine. He believed in the Goddess, he did not believe in the Hebrew God, and he believed in an unknown creator.

According to the Gospel of Judas, Jesus came from Barbelo, the name that the Gnostics gave the celestial Mother, who creates everything that is with the help of a God who the Gnostics refer to as the Self-Generated One.

Yaldabaoth is the Hebrew God of the OT, who Jesus sees as a rebellious, out of control creator and the source of mankind's suffering. Jesus is actually, according to the Gospel an avator of Adam's son Seth. The mission that Jesus chose was to show mankind a way back to the blessed realm of Barbelo through teaching humankind the "Sethian" lessons.

Now, that version of Jesus I can totally relate to..and, the source of the story is more believable simply because the Gnostic Gospels have not been rewritten and reinterpreted throughout hundreds of years.

I would say the same thing I said to you before Amadeus.. I do know Jesus.. just not the way that YOU WANT ME TO.

Love and Light..

Amadeus,

Below is Percy's post in its entirety. Please read it again.

Where in it does he attack YOU personally?

He attacks the Christian Religion, and the Bible reference, and he makes a less than friendly comment about God, but nowhere does he say anything personal about you.

You should not take criticism of your religion as criticism of you personally. I'm sure no one intended this, and I know Percy certainly didn't. It wasn't about you, it was about Christianity and its teachings. His reference to human sacrifice is valid, and his reference to blackmail is also valid in the eyes of those who have experienced it. But none of this has been a criticism of you. Not by Percy anyway. And not by me.

Others have seen some of your remarks as condescending and superior in nature, but I don't think anyone is criticizing you as a person. Only the manner of your presentation of your beliefs.

Personally, I believe that you are sincere, compassionate and kind, and I would surely like you if we ever met.

Please know that you ARE special to us, and we do care. We just don't like some of the things that your religion teaches, and we don't believe, as you do, that the Bible is infallible or that it is the 'word of God'. That doesn't mean that we don't respect and appreciate you as a person.

If someone told me they didn't like my house, I wouldn't interpret that as meaning that they didn't like the people who live in it.

With love and respect,

Patience.

I don't consider God as humble and defenseless guy so think we must let God protect by itself.

Could you love people without any mediator? I think you can!

Good point Babak. If there is a God and he wants to speak to me.. I would rather hear it first person than through another human. And, so far, he hasn't called, emailed or sent a letter.. so I can safely assume that he has no reason to communicate with me.

If, however, he ever does, you all will be the first to know.

Love and Light.. Linda