jess2416 said:
Which part of the Christian religion?? Just wondering
This part (previously posted):
It's nice to see a thread like this as I've already pointed out in a previous post. I feel like as of late I've been on a spiritual journey... looking for answers. I've talked to many people about Christianity among other religions and I've maintained an almost Agnostic view for a period of time... but I feel like I'm moving on into, yes, you guessed it, Christianity. Clive Staples Lewis has a way with words, I suppose
(Mere Christianity, great book by C.S. Lewis).
But there are a couple of questions I have and I want to see the answers I get from some Christians among the board. And I've asked quite a few actually, I've talked to a lot of people on my journey.
First of all, how can somebody worship a God as immoral and cruel as the one that the Christian religion makes God out to be? According to Christianity - He has:
Turned somebody into a pillar of salt.
Killed 50,000+ people just because a few looked into the Ark of the Covenant.
Ordered the genocide of an entire race including the animals, infants, and women (Amalekites).
And not to mention, torturing people for eternity for a lack of belief in Him and the Christian religion. Christianity makes God out to be worse than any human dictator.
He is unfair; He dishes out infinite punishment for finite sins quite sadistically as well (hell is meant only to inflict pain.. for eternity).
Christians say: God gives us a choice, we don't have to burn in hell, he gives us a way out.
But I say to you, what kind of choice is it? Would you rather get your throat slit or get shot in the head? An abusive father says: constantly praise and adore me or be beaten.
Christians say: God is giving us the way out OF HELL, it's a free gift, please take it!
But I say - are you suggesting that hell exists outside of God's control? Is the devil so POWERFUL as to win souls? In this analogy you portray God as someone who is trying to protect a child of a danger which exists outside of His control. But that's like a parent saying to his son: "Don't go into the street or you'll get run over by a car" and then the son goes out into the street and the parent gets in a bus and runs them over.
Christians say: God doesn't send us to hell, we send ourselves.
But I say - hey, God is the one who CREATED hell, why would He do that? It was created for Satan and his demons but if a parent buys an oven to bake cookies and puts his children in there, it does NOT remove his guilt. It's God's choice to put us there since he created it, he made it for us, in a way, it's sort of his tool. Nice and loving, eh?
Also, another example: I do agree. We punish ourselves. A man indulges in his sexual lust, he gets aids and lives a crappy life. God takes it one step further and then damns the man to hell forEVER.
And I have one more thing to say which bothers me about the Christian religion; or rather, a passage. Apparently, animals have no souls. Which means I will not see Rocky in heaven, if I were to go there. That doesn't make me happy. Not one bit. If my family is not there with me, then I cannot be happy up there. But the bible says the household of a Christian will also be in heaven. But if you consider an animal to be a part of your household then how does that hold water?
God created animals. Scientifically, we ARE animals. But what seperates us from other animals is that we're more intelligent. But then you'd ask, so if there here for no reason at all - then why did God create them? I imagine God would say 'to help humans'... but they do help us, perhaps they love us and I love them, to take them away in the final stage of 'life' (heaven) is just one more cruel and immoral thing God could do.