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Our role(s) as Christians on Atheist Forums
#27
RE: Our role(s) as Christians on Atheist Forums
Alpha - I'm sorry to see you go. If you want to keep in touch shoot me a PM and we can exchange facebook/email/skype... whatever you would feel most comfortable with. If not, that's fine too. I understand.

GC - Though I often fail at this myself, I love the verse about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek. It's my favorite of the bible. I think what you're saying is that we should be fine with taking whatever hostility comes our way and just be here as a good example of Christianity and dispel any misunderstandings about the faith, in hopes that this will plant seeds. While I much prefer this approach to the "preaching" approach, I still find that it's a bit of a long shot. However, I can see how you can justify staying here on the premise that you really don't know for sure that seeds aren't being planted. I can't really argue with that, and if that's why you're here, I can certainly respect your approach and optimism.

Steve - Glad you could join. I like your posts very much as well as your cool and collected demeanor on the site. I wish you'd post more! You bring up an interesting point, and it's this: "One legitimate role is to correct and educate those that lack knowledge so that 1) they don't propagate their ignorance and 2) that some who read the post might be prompted to engage in a civil discussion of which the goal is to understand the other side." I hadn't thought about that as a Christian role here, but I like it. Whether or not it is doing any good is a different story, as you said, but it's something I can certainly see myself striving for here. As I've stated, my reasons for being here have been entirely personal, but I suppose I just hadn't thought about your points #1 and #2 as a way that some good, outside of myself, can come from being here. I like it and will definitely think about this more.  

A Theist - I'd like to address your question here as I address you. My answer is much more simplistic than I'm sure everyone else's here will give. Maybe too simplistic, which makes me feel inferior to all the rest of ya'lls giving deep, lavish answers lol. But I take those words from Jesus as ideals to strive for. We should always strive to love everyone, always turn the other cheek, always forgive, always be merciful, always be giving, etc. We should always strive for perfection in that way. But the fact of the matter is that we are, by nature of being human, not perfect. I don't think God expects us to be perfect, because He knows we can't be. But He does expect us to strive for that ideal, and feel remorse for the times we fail. And that is how I take Jesus saying to us "Be perfect."

Neo - I can see better now what you mean about simple, mundane things "glorifying God." I guess I was putting a little more weight on the glorifying bit than I should have. In that sense, I would say me being a part of the AF community glorifies God in the sense that it benefits me in a positive way. By being here I am better able to handle the difficult thing I'm going through because I have this as an escape and a distraction that I enjoy. It is therapeutic in that way. By being here I am glorifying God by getting to know more people and making connections, and hopefully having something positive to offer to them as a friend. By being here I am glorifying God by learning to see things through other people's perspectives so that I can better understand differences and in doing so, becoming a more empathetic, more tolerant person. By being here I am glorifying God by learning more about my faith and growing stronger in it through being challenged and being forced to really dig deep and think things through and seek answers.

Drich - I like your answer and it was much more eloquent and in depth than my own. I must admit, being Catholic means I am not very well versed on the parts of the bible that don't involve the life and teachings of Jesus. Us Catholics can tend to get lazy when it comes to the bible because the Church already kind of interprets everything for us and organizes all the tenets of our faith in the Catechism. I am well versed in that! Lol. Anyway, my point is that I can certainly learn from your knowledge of the bible as you portray it on the forums. Thank you for that.

Edit to add. Since we are all sharing favorite church song's here's mine. It's called Gather Us In and is super popular in Catholic churches. I grew up with this song in church and it is one of my favorites. Hope you guys enjoy it too: 



"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly." 

-walsh
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RE: Our role(s) as Christians on Atheist Forums - by Catholic_Lady - May 8, 2018 at 3:37 pm



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