ok so ignoring the GC and response to GC postings and going to the relevant discussion Vicki seems to be giving a reasonable discussion of the better informed Christian perspective. However, I would like to bring up some other issues.
1. the personal agenda we each bring to our religion/non-religion has more to do with how we approach our beliefs and how we read/interpret - or not read - the bible.
2. people who use the Bible to send everyone to hell except themselves have their counterparts in every religion, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism (well there you get to keep trying for several lifetimes until you get it right). They are just finding the parts that suit their in-human tendencies. And they all find each other and form churches and such and go out and loudly send everyone to hell using their bibles as bludgeons. Fortunately they are in the minority. Unfortunately they can make life very distasteful if you have to be around them.
3. there are far more people who use their sacred scriptures as a foundation to build kindness, tolerance, insight, and mutual respect. They just usually go around making the world a better place and not getting into loud arguments!
4. there are also many christians, muslims, jews, hindus, buddhists who see all religions as different means to help our shared humanity achieve mutual benefits - and they find in their respective scriptures and use their respective scriptures to build these bridges - even with atheists
just adding a balancing note that the world really isn't so bad if you look in the right places
1. the personal agenda we each bring to our religion/non-religion has more to do with how we approach our beliefs and how we read/interpret - or not read - the bible.
2. people who use the Bible to send everyone to hell except themselves have their counterparts in every religion, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism (well there you get to keep trying for several lifetimes until you get it right). They are just finding the parts that suit their in-human tendencies. And they all find each other and form churches and such and go out and loudly send everyone to hell using their bibles as bludgeons. Fortunately they are in the minority. Unfortunately they can make life very distasteful if you have to be around them.
3. there are far more people who use their sacred scriptures as a foundation to build kindness, tolerance, insight, and mutual respect. They just usually go around making the world a better place and not getting into loud arguments!
4. there are also many christians, muslims, jews, hindus, buddhists who see all religions as different means to help our shared humanity achieve mutual benefits - and they find in their respective scriptures and use their respective scriptures to build these bridges - even with atheists
just adding a balancing note that the world really isn't so bad if you look in the right places
having passed through many states of believing I was right I have come to the place of finding "rightness" rather irrelevant to the project of becoming human
