Is christianity, or religion in general, a belief of convinience?

By all means do if I ever become something like that, but you'd probably never find out who I was in time because all my close friends have been told(more like made to swear) that they'd kill me if I ever turned completely fanatical Christian with no means of going back on them. However, I can't resist the pull too hard lest I become atheist and out of a job. But I don't think that'll happen.Let's look at what 'that kind of preacher' is and run a checklist to see how close I really am. ... Uh oh, might wanna sharper the pitchforks because I can ALREADY breathe fire! Uwahahahah!! Check, if redneckish accent counts as well. Well, luckily I don't do this. I hate everyone. They don't have to be non-whites.But thanks for asking!

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Wanna feel God? Step onto the wrestling mat and you'd be crazy to deny the uplifting spirit. http://www.BadPreacher.5u.com (incomplete, but look anyway!)

I'm with Schraff on this one. I think your cutey licle bab face tells us that you are a good little boy.Ahahahahahaaaaaaaarghfff. (swallows tongue)

I'm flattered that you think so, thanks a thousand times to you and Mike....However, to Mike especially, this 'you're a cute little baba' thing's gotta stop. Now...

Don't thank Schraff, she's one of "them" unbelievers, one of those doomed ones! can I help it if your cheeks scream "pinch me"?? I mean, you are only 13 afterall.

Sorry to all who have been waiting for my reply. I have been lurking an meaning to respond but I have been soooo busy. We are working on a big project at work and I have been pulling alot of late nights. Today I got home early tho, and rather than let my friend try and push me into another bout of trying to get into that horrible game 'Final Fantasy XI', I think I will engage my mind in the ultimate MMORPG, the EVC forum! heheh...But thats for crash's video game thread So onto your post mike: I understand your point, yet there is a fundamental problem with this way of thinking.You are basicaly saying that you will willfuly not examine the very real possibility that your belifes are a placebo, and decidedly declare it the "truth" with no objective analasyss whatsoever.I have taken the other side, I was a christian at one point but after examining my belifes and considering others, I realized that my faith was not founded in reality whatsoever. I may as well had been beliving in Santa Clause. No, it's like saying Santa Clause is real. He defies all logic, no one has ever seen him, there is not one iota of verifyable evidence for him. Yet I declare that he is real and that I am right!Evolution is real, it can be tested, it can be seen, it can be verified. You may as well be denying gravity, or that the sky is blue. Which Is what I think most fundamentalists spend their time doing anyway.evolution is independantly verfiable, far away from my personal delusions. I can deny the existance of trees all I want, its not going to make them disapere. I dont reject, or accept any religion as having absolute truth. I have a personal dislike of christianity because of the way it has treated me, but I still respect its deeper merits and philosophies. I do the same for other religions as well.Religions to me are beutifull philosophical constructs worth examining and studying. A christian wouldn't even go that far for fear his belifs may be corrupted. Thats a generalization, burt I have met a few who really think that.And yes, there is something to belife. Its called the placebo effect. I am not going to make personal judgments on you mike, but I will speak of christians that I have known thrughout my life.I went to a missionary school at one point, the teachers were mostly evangelicals. They were in my home country to convert people from catholisism to protestant christianity, and they would tell us every day how all these people were doomed and they came bringing hope.So yes, the attitude was of the "poor heathen" variety. Christ sure did accept anyone, but christians sure don't. The world view is bent on judgmentalisim with the venier of humility. Well, I can verfy Apples come frome trees. You can't prove that apple comes from grass gods anymore than you can prove they come from your god. But I can see them growing from the trees, pick them, eat them. It dosn't matter what anyone 'belives' about them.

Sleeping Dragon,I agree, wholeheartedly. Religion can be a good force in peoples lives, I just don't think its good for peoples personal belifes to cloude their judgement and/or close their minds off.Thats what was particularly upseting about the incident. I have known her for years, but she has changed since then. She don't 'challange' herselfe anymore.

Hah! I knew you enjoyed lurking. But this is what comes in writin in the NT, hat you must believe and if it is according to God's will, it shall be added unto you. So, rather than making an experiment, to believe. Thomas only believed when he seen the evidence, but Christ says; "Blessed is he that hath not seen, yet believeth,". So the key IS belief. This is not easily digested by Schraff though. That may be so in your case. However, I would say that your belief was very real, and therein is the secret, how do you prove a passion?It's a shame you come to believe that this is likened unto Santa Claus, but I fail to see the connection. I can test gravity and I can see the blue sky. The fundamental flaw in getting people evolutionist, is that it is past tense. Whereas gravity is there to be tested, and is weighed by it's claims, and the blue sky is sufficient in it's claims. Saying we came from common ancestors is a bit heavy when it's history. So evolution requires some belief. But it's not like I am delusional. The spirit is there to be felt - it is real, it can dwell with men/women. Those who worship God must do so - in spirit and in truth. I tell you no lie, God is real. However, I will not force you to believe this, and if you think it delusional, then you become very worldly in my site. However, I don't think this can shrink tongues.You see, this post hoc reasoning/confirmation bias - is not really sufficient compared to the meat of the reality. But to me, these people have miserably failed you, and I have big doubts about their own selves. You see, these are simply religious people to me. You see, those that have preached this wrongful message, have become like the hypocrits of Jesus's day. Nor has catholicism/protestantism got anything to do with what Jesus said. You see, Christ accepts anyone, and anyone who accepts anyone, is christian - according to Christ. The world/Christ are opposite things. Christ's kingdom is not of this world. My God is also your God, and he accepted you unlike these other people have ( so called christians).It excites me that I cannot prove God. The more he becomes unprovable and unlikely to the world's eyes - the more my faith increases.

Hey, if you're going to make fun of my age get your facts straight! I'm 16 and very soon to be 17! Geez, how many 13 year olds in highschool do you know of, anyway?

What of those who feel this way about thir religion? The hinus who claim to hav eseen Ganesh, or the Budhists who have achived enlightenment etc.They claim this same level of reality.could these not be manifestations of the same spirit?Im sure if god is real, he can express himself in many ways. I can agree with this. By this logic, would you say that those who do not belive in christ can go to heaven?That is somene who is accepting of others despite her/his personal spiritual belifes?

I don't know. All I know is that it is by Christ we are saved. It is not for me to know. I truly have no judgement of such things. It's the same as ufo abductions, I know people claim they happen but I don't think of it much, nor does it bother me. All I know is that Christ is true.So it's time to get back to the truth Yaro.

16 eh! That's why I said 13, so you would give me your real age in protest. But it seems you are still very much a baba. Ahahaha!A good one though.

Implying to someone that they are 13 or lower is one of the worst insults you can throw over the net, you know. And I'm not sure that God would want to aid Buddhists directly on the basis of actual belief, since the teachings more or less actively work against such ideas.On a basis of personal development or social stability, maybe, but Buddhism is rather different than most religions. I guess you'd see more variation amongst the 'main' religions if that was something desired.

Yes, but which truth?Whats the standard for truth then? If the standard for truth is just any ol thing you belive then, your thoughts are as good as mine.So, I don't need christ, because thats my personal belife and since it can neither be proven or disproven I hold it as an absolute truth.hehehe

You aren't going to find an objective standard for the Truth. That's sort of the problem with spirituality in general.Some things are so fundamental to you as a person that you don't question them. For some people, Christ is the Truth because they can't imagine a world where that isn't the case. For others, it can be the exact oposite.I would say, even though it might sound a bit dis-respectful, that part of being a human is that you don't WANT this thing we call 'reality' to be a formula for how to think. Some things can remain paradoxal.

According to the Bible there are many spirits and not all are from God. According to the Bible only a spirit that acknowledges "Christ is Lord" is from God. As for enlightenment... Much peace and happiness can be obtained simply through self-discipline following basic morals and isolation from the rest of the tumultous world. This kind of happiness is not a monopoly of Christianity. I think the Bible is pretty clear that those who have heard and understood the gosple and rejected it are condemned. We can only be condemned on the basis of our rejection of Christ. So as for those who have not heard... there are a couple of ways to look at it... If they did not have the opportunity or ability to choose, they cannot be condemned. If they did decide they wanted to know God, God can provide a way to know him (I'm not saying through other religions). Often people say... "well you're trying to say what God can and cannot do..." The only things God cannot do are deny his character. He cannot lie. He cannot be unfair. And He cannot accept those who do not possess his righteousness. Through Christ all have the ability to possess his righteousness.