Sunday was named in honor of the sun, by people who worshipped it.
Monday was named for the moon, by demonic moon-worshippers.
Tuesday-Tiw, demon god of war.
Wednesday-the mythical Woden.
Thursday-the pagan Thor
Friday--the demon Frigga, a god in Norse mythology
Saturday-The roman god Saturn.

So you'll also have to stop celebrating days of the week.

Who cares what religion holidays are centered around? They are holidays! ENJOY THEM OR DIE!

quote:

---

Easter is based on mythical fertility rites of goddesses and crap like that, so yeah, the easter bunny goes too.

---

joey, seriously. could you do me one thing and quit putting 'mythical' or 'demonic' after or before every pagan rite? its getting on my nerves, and if you want to convert us and save us all from the infamous hell, this is not the way to do it.

quote:

---

Thanksgiving is pretty much the only Christ-centered holiday in America. The Pilgrims gave Christ thanks, not some Santy Claus or an easter bunny.

---

yep, im being ignored. the cornocopia that i mentioned? it pertains to that holiday too. three words "mythical fertility goddess"

So because of my beliefs, I can't also simply adore the heck out of toaster strudel? You have no idea how much ...mmm.


Anyway, yeah Gemini, the ritual of giving gifts - I don't want my parents and family to completely disassociate themselves from me because of my "far-out" views, but the Santa Claus stuff and the Christmas tree, lights, etc. won't be promoted by me, nope.

Easter is based on mythical fertility rites of goddesses and crap like that, so yeah, the easter bunny goes too.

St. Valentines Day started as a Orgy Day, I kid you not. So of course, that's out.

Not really anything to celebrate about my birthday except for the fact I'll be a year older than I was last time (23).

Thanksgiving is pretty much the only Christ-centered holiday in America. The Pilgrims gave Christ thanks, not some Santy Claus or an easter bunny.

So that holiday is, in my opinion, worthwhile.

Joey's philosophy: GIve your soul to a being that I think exists based on a book made 2000 years ago. If you fail, you burn eternally.

My philosophy: I'm having a toaster strudel for breakfast.

Hey look! There's the cat!

quote:

---

The roots of these holidays are EVIL. They're from DARKNESS.

---

Please, let me apologize for laughing. But I suppose you're now a Jehovah's Witness. Why celebrate anything? After all, you might be supporting the devil! Might as well stop celebrating your birthday, Joey, just to be safe.

Let's go through the holidays you vow to not celebrate anymore: Christmas - that's out, Halloween - pretty obvious that's gone, Thanksgiving - you know some of those new-found Americans worshipped the devil, so that's out; Easter - well, no Easter for you, Valentine's Day - that's gone.. wouldn't want to be worshipping those demonic Catholics, eh? Wow, Joey. Your life is going to suck, you recluse.

Prayer...that's one thing I haven't given up or given up on. Surely if God is out there He'll give me a little help here. I certainly hope so. Glad we got you motivated, Joey, cause nothing's worse than apathy, in my opinion. No matter what you believe in, at least learn all you can about it. Love, Jen.

"But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the Serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough." -- 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

I can't keep making more excuses; I need to note everything I study from now on. Funny, but jen and korith, you both got me motivated again.

And on the church thing, it's a funny thing sorta, because people will ask me what church I attend, and it's a long, drawn-out description of why I think it is that the lukewarmness and hypocrisy drives people like me away.

If we're to really be true God-fearing, death-fearing, hell-fearing, devil-beating Christians, we can't just lackidaisically go through the motions over and over again and not change what we're doing or what we've been taught how to do.

If we are going to win souls, we have to get motivated. We have to arm ourselves with more Scripture and prayer, especially more prayer.

I'm truly motivated to want to do this stuff again ...I wish Starbucks was open this late...

*sigh of relief* thanks jen, now i can go to bed without worrying about it. thanks.

PS i wont be on much tomorrow, must go celebrate my mum's bday... damn scorpios. uh, uh... good nite jen!

DWM, don't worry, after all the doubts I've been having lately, it's going to be a loooong time before I claim to have cornered the religion market, even if I do become a Christian again. Love, Jen.

im going to interrupt this conversation, cause ive wanted to for a bit now. jen, if you become christian, fyi thats fine with me, just be an accepting one. i know several christians, and there are two basic types: ones who think if you dont believe what they do youre going to hell and the other that doesnt think that, and accepts other religions as just that, another religion and not satanic or stuff. i know only one in the latter group. if you be a christian again, be in the latter group. please. thats all im asking.

okay, resume your normal conversation. im done.

You know, Joey, you're actually sweet. And I do appreciate you taking the time to talk this through with me...people in my church just shut me out when I mention anything resembling doubt. It's very frustrating. I'm going to go read that testimony now. Love, Jen.

Jen, if I hadn't known, what you just posted sounded a lot like me in many ways; I wasn't brought up in church, but my parents "believed in God." I found Christianity (true Christianity) just last July, which was the basis of my testimony, and if there was one motive, one ...underlying moral to the story so to speak, it would be not to give up. Because - and granted, coming from me, now, after a year of this on this forum, it's hard to believe me - but because of God's plan for each and every one of us, we're going to find it difficult, we're going to want to just throw up our hands.

We can't.

We cannot give up. You are struggling, just as I am all the time, but just don't, don't, don't give up. When you think about it, cry about it, talk about it, life really is nothing more than a glimpse. It's what's at the end of it that's the point.

You know, I thought I had this all figured out. I thought I had answered all those "FAQ" questions, come to terms with them. But now, it just doesn't feel right anymore. I can give myself explanations and tell myself to have faith, but I just don't have that confidence that I used to. I wasn't raised in the church, you know, I came to Christianity seperate of my family, so it wasn't like I was just raised to assume it was true. I really believed it. And I have no idea why I don't anymore. I was understanding more and more, accepting more and more, and then it stopped. And I feel a little betrayed and a lot lost, and I'm not sure if I finally snapped out of a delusion, or if I've lost the one thing that was true. And now I feel like I'm about to cry, and I look like a sappy idiot. *sighs* Love, Jen.

quote:

---

Then there are the simple points that tick me off. Wives submitting to their husbands. A man rapes and murders a family member, and you turn the other cheek. Homosexuality is a sin, even though they all claim they can't change it. Ah, I'm sorry, I'm babbling on here. I just seems like you're one of the relatively few Christians who have actually dug deeper into their faith, and it brings all my questions to the surface. Love, Jen.

---

You can ask me anything.

I've never been afraid to answer someone’s questions because I know I can, if what I believe is true.

The examples you gave seem to be the FAQ [if you will] to Christianity, I'll tell you what I've learned, but I'll have to tomorrow, its 1:00A.M here. I used to have a thread going call "Korith's corner, Questions about Christianity" if you want to look for it, I answered allot of questions like them there.


And if you didn't know, I am planing on being a Minister [Youth Minister] but not exactly in college yet.

quote:

---

for those who were raised from birth to believe in a certain religion like Judaism or Hinduism or whatever, who have it so deeply ingrained in them that any other religion seems ludicrous.

---

The way I believe, which I haven't checked up to make sure it's Biblically correct but should, is that each and every person on the planet will get at least one chance to know the Truth. You can be 10, 38, or 76 when you finally get that Message. But if you don't bite into it, then...

quote:

---

God forgives all our mistakes and sins if we believe in Him, but if we make a mistake in the one decision that seems to me the hardest, we go to hell. It's difficult to swallow, you know?

---

You can ask me about this one, personally, because believe me, it was every little word I said, action I made, that made me fear God so much, basically asking, "Gosh, will I wake up in hell tomorrow"? I read more and prayed more, and it said when you first know God - like truly get woken up by the Spirit of the Lord, being led by him, being taught, etc., that you will understand. If you ask for the Spirit to lead you, it will. If you ask the Spirit for wisdom, you will know. You will begin to understand all the things needed.

And you will have safety when going to bed at night knowing that God will never, ever, ever, ever let you burn in hell.

My eyes watered typing that even. It's pretty strong stuff, and jen, past comments aside, I think you're real close - I just have this feeling - to seeing what I mean.

That story...it's sad. Why do churchgoers (notice I don't say Christians) have this obsession with status and money? It truly gets on my nerves...And rejecting people because they don't fit their perfect little mold for a good Christian...it's all so self-righteous and pointless. When I was (or thought I was?) a Christian, I was always trying to fix that...it's something that's become far too accepted as "the way things are" and I HATE it. I was always in agony over my dad not being saved, and why wasn't he? Because of all the hypocrisy in the church and the people who raised him in it, among other things.

quote:

---

That song...it really speaks to me, as it should to a lot of people. When I was a Christian, I always hated the fact that the church was so self-involved and often hypocritical.

---

I hate that fact myself.

I saw a Drama once that put it asplain as possible.

A man [Preacher we supposed] was showing some new comers to his church. He bragged about his rich congragation, and how many famous people attend, and how they had so much money they were going to make a solid gold pulpit.

After he sits the couple down another man walks in with no shirt, shoes, tatooed and long hair.

The Preacher stops him and asks him where he thinks he's going. He replied "I've come to worship" The preacher tells him he looks like a gang member and asks him where his shirt when, the says "I gave it to a man who didn't have one"
The preacher gets nervouse thinking the new people are going to have second thoughts if they see this man and makes him leave.

The man sits outside crying when Jesus comes allong and picks him up, they walk a few steps and the man says "Lord, I wanted to worship you, by they wouldn't let me in"

Jesus just smiles and says, "Don't worry about that, they won't let me in either."

quote:

---

When they hear his word, then they are. And If they have not gone in search for the truth, then they are.

---

Okay, I understand that from a Christian perspective. But from their view, it makes no difference that they've heard his word because they think it's wrong. If you, for instance, heard the words of a certain religion, and rejected them because of your Christianity, then later found out that that religion was actually true and you were going to hell because you didn't believe in it, wouldn't you feel upset? Wouldn't you feel betrayed? Would you still see that other god as loving and fair? To me, that's exactly what happens to a lot of people (if you believe in Christianity), except, of course, the roles between Christianity and the other religion are reversed.

And trust me, I've looked at every religion in the book, I've read and questioned and cross-examined and debated until I'm blue in the face. I have moral issues (such as hell, ect) and logical issues (which I won't go into now) with Christianity, and no matter how much I try, how much I seek, how much I read and question, they don't go away. Then there are the simple points that tick me off. Wives submitting to their husbands. A man rapes and murders a family member, and you turn the other cheek. Homosexuality is a sin, even though they all claim they can't change it. Ah, I'm sorry, I'm babbling on here. I just seems like you're one of the relatively few Christians who have actually dug deeper into their faith, and it brings all my questions to the surface. Love, Jen.

quote:

---

The wife knew that what she did was wrong and did it anyway. What about people who honestly believe that their religion is right? They're not deliberately slapping God in the face.

---

When they hear his word, then they are. And If they have not gone in search for the truth, then they are.

God said anyone who seeks the truth is seeking him, and if you don't believe he is the true God, then you are decieving yourself.

I volenteered to go to chruch, no one can to me. I wanted to know the truth for myself, I looked for it. I looked at Islam, Judism, Paganism, Buddhism. If you seek the truth then you can find it, like I did. I was skeptic, i gave allot of people hard times about there Bibles, Korans, and what have you. This is why I can defend and explain the way I can, because I questioned EVERYTHING, word for word page for page.

quote:

---

Then why is it that the more I look for truth the farther I get from God?

---

I think it is because you are having such a hard time understanding things, like the "Why does god send people to hell"

I would just advice to keep looking, you'll find the anwser.