(December 13, 2011 at 12:10 pm)Voltair Wrote:
I think I should clarify a little since you seems to have a wrong idea of my beliefs. While I don't believe in eternal torment, I do believe Hell is real and a place of destruction not torture. I'm also not a universalist (and a little pragmatic) and therefore don't believe that everyone will get reconciled.
To answer your questions from my perspective:
-any punishment for ignoring God? yes
-not giving him worship ?not giving anything including God worship.. by that definition no. Worshiping something over God yes.
-If there is no punishment for it why exactly should we concern ourselves with what God wants for our lives? Fear of punishment should be a motivator so factoring that out completely; we should, IMO, concern ourselves with what God wants for our lives because it enriches or betters our lives or is more useful than relying on a temporal self ability/ perspective.
-Why not just live in a peaceful manner and enjoy the life we have here? I do that as well, I'm sure many other people here do that as well. It will serve you fine while you're here.
(December 13, 2011 at 1:46 pm)Chuck Wrote:
Your syntax is usually a little clearer than this chuck, but I don't want to digress into that. If I misunderstand your point please forgive me as it took a little extra to decipher this time. I don't believe I'm an ascriber to escapism. If you're advocating philanthropy and generosity as a self-regulated guide is more effective than Jesus for self improvement I would beg to differ. What process is not better improved from setting an objective standard?
Secondly, I'm not aware that Christianity advocates suicide as a way to get closer to God. I have done a little study on eschatology and I'm not aware of a standard/dogma that is an allowance of an escape (as most believe in the inevitable judgement), encourage suicide (see Muslims for that) or teach not delaing with reality.
(December 13, 2011 at 2:12 pm)Minimalist Wrote:That's one of the major problems I have with my perception of muslims, it inordinantly lacks a sense of personal responsibility for my tastes.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
