BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Spirituality Hurtful Words

Just thought i would add this:

I will pray for you is like Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah

I dont care if Jase tells me Happy Hanukkah because it all boils down to have a happy merry, blessed, special good Day!! Some one last year said Happy football day for Thanksgiveing and I turned around and said thank you and happy thanksgiveing to you!! He probly had a wonderful football day and i had a great thanksgiving!!!

As long as is doesnot boil down to something hatefull I am greatful!!! lol

Freebubbles.. I don't mind prayers that are said in a general sense, such as prayers for world peace, or prayers for someones safe return.. like from a war. Or even prayers for someone to have a safe journey.. all of those prayers are said in the spirit of love and compassion. I think those kind of prayers are wonderful!!

The type of prayers I object to are those that are said to try and convert someone to another belief system. If someone is happy with the beliefs that they are comfortable with, and those beliefs make their life happy and fulfilled.. why would you want to change that?

To pray for someone to change their beliefs is like saying that the person's beliefs have no validity, and they are unacceptable.

So, if I ask someone to pray for me.. because I am having a difficult time or someone I love needs compassionate thought.. I am all for that. But, if someone says they are praying to "save my soul" I always tell them to please not do that.. and if they have the spiritual respect and honor that they should have..they will respect and honor that request without question.

that is completely understandable Linda.

Ok I see your point, but how many people who actually use the word "xmas" think it is because of Greek wording and it had nothing to do with Greek wording when there was a drive a couple of years ago to have "Christ" taken comletely out of the word "Christmas".

There is also nothing Greek about the Historian powers that be changing the letters B.C. (before Christ) to B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and changing A.D (Anno Domni)which means After Christ to C.E. which means Common Era.

Then Christians make a fuss about this stuff but it shouldn't really matter to us. Even God is probably up there thinking that the whole thing is pretty childish. It doesn't matter what gets changed. Christmas will always be Christmas to me. B.C. and A.D. will always be the same to me. Christ will always be my Savior and God is the One who created Heaven and Earth.

Anything else is just "Greek" to me.

Well, X-mas has been used for a loooong time. I remember seeing it in old Peanuts cartoons from the 60's. I think it was just an abbreviation, probably extending back as far as abbreviations have been popular, not as part of some Christ-purging. though I will agree that there is currently a drive to remove Christian trappings from general society.

And anno domini means "in the year of our lord," not "after Christ"

Mark 16:15-16 - And He said to them, "Go and preach the Gospel to every creature of the world, he who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."

Please don't think that I am picking on you Amadeus, but can't you understand that the above words that are on the bottom of your postings could be very, very hurtful to those who do not believe as you do?

I understand that the scripture is part of your belief system, but it basically condemns half of the world. I don't believe that I am going to be condemned for what I believe, nor do I believe that my friends, relatives and children will be.

So, when you post that I cringe.. not out of fear, but because it seems to be such a cruel and heartless choice of scripture.. Why not post something upbeat and positive that all of us can relate to instead? There are billions of scriptures that are positive and loving.. not condemning.

Love and Light...

I have always used BCE and CE. It is common in the scientific world and also in non-christian religion (well at least in judaism).

From a website I like to read:

Some statements against the use of CE and BCE, and possible rebuttals, are:

Q: We have used BC and AD for over a thousand years. Why change?

A: The world is becoming more integrated financially, politically, socially and religiously. A universal calendar notation is needed. Recall that for every Christian there are about two non-Christians worldwide. References to Christ and to the Judeo-Christian God offend many of the latter. A universal notation needs to be religiously neutral in order to be generally accepted. CE and BCE meet these requirements.

Q: Why cannot non-Christians accept BC and AD?

A: Imagine how you would feel if the notation were BM and AM where "M" stood for Mithra -- a god-man from Persia on whom the religion of Mithraism was created. (Mithraism was the main competitor to Christianity at one time). You would be offended, and distressed at having to acknowledge such a god-man every time that you wrote a date. Well, this is how many non-Christians feel about BC ("Before Christ") and AD ("Anno Domini" or "In the year of the Lord"). Consider Native Americans, many of whom associate Christ and Christianity with the genocide of their ancestors. Consider Jews, many of whom consider the Nazi Holocaust to have been founded on centuries of Christian Anti-semitism.

Arguments for BC/AD

The term "common era" does not appear in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.

Better events to choose to represent a major change in human history would be:
The invention of agriculture, circa 10000 BCE
The invasion of Europe by Persia in 491 BCE
The birth date of Alexander the Great who conquered most of the known world in 356 BCE.
Augustus becoming Emperor in 27 BCE.
Columbus arrival in America in 1492 CE
The end of World War 1 in 1918
The end of World War 2 in 1945.
The date when Yuri Gagarin entered space in 1959 CE.


The labels AD and BC have lost their religious meaning; few even know what the abbreviations stand for.

All of the older history books use AD and BC.

The terms CE and BCE both contain the two letters "CE," making them more difficult to distinguish from each other.

There is currently a split between academics -- who generally use CE/BCE -- and the general public who currently use AD/BC. This split widens "...the rift between learning and the common man."

Hi Baby! Interesting, but I don't think this is anything anyone can control.

mmm I think it is a waste of time to pray for God to convert someone dead set against converting but thats just me. I pray God will let me life my life in a way that makes others want to know more about my beliefs and my God!! I can only change me and allow God to change me I can not change others and I dont think God would force someone to love Him if they do not want to!!!

I dont think it would be and invation though because God would not invade on anyones free will...

I think anytime someone prays for another it is out of love - even when praying for conversion.

I know this doesn't make sense to someone who doesn't agree with Christianity, but it is with the thought of someone's soul, and wanting the best for them that prayer is done.

Praying for me is like talking to a friend. I share wishes and hopes in my prayers just like I do when talking to my husband.

I'm not sure how prayer can be an invasion of spritual privacy, if one doesn't believe in God or the power of prayer. Isn't it just empty words to someone who doesn't believe?