[Wondergirl]

Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. The words we have of Christ are not really right, but by George the text sure is reliable! Surely you can see the silliness of that position.

Text = content. E.g., Jesus died on a cross so our sins will be forgiven. Let's expand text to mean teachings, the heart or moral of each story.

[Athos]

Back to the original question ------

If your Christian religion is based on belief and you find yourself acting in an un-Christ-like fashion by dispararging the religion of others and acting in a mean and insulting manner, then your professed religion is not the one for you.

It is a simple and effective test.

[jlisenbe]

And that is a belief of yours.

[jlisenbe]

WG, are you saying now that you accept the teachings of Jesus?

[Wondergirl]

WG, are you saying now that you accept the teachings of Jesus?

"Now"????

[jlisenbe]

Yeah. You remember what I asked about 5 million posts ago? "Do you believe what He said?" You have steadfastly refused to answer, and have come up with statements such as, "We don't have His exact words, just transcriptions and translations over the centuries." Or there was this scarcely faith-filled comment. "Who recorded them, wrote them down, when He said them?" But NOW you are saying you accept His teachings. Yet I bet you really don't. His teachings don't agree with your liberal ideas, so you cannot accept them.

[Wondergirl]

Yup, reading comprehension. Literalist to the core!

[Athos]

And that is a belief of yours.

It certainly is.

If I didn't believe it was true, I would not have posted it.

[jlisenbe]

If I didn't believe it was true, I would not have posted it

I wasn't being necessarily critical of your comment. I was trying to draw attention to your first statement. "It's never what one BELIEVES, but how one ACTS. THAT is the right religion for anyone." That was also a belief statement. At the end of the day, I think that's what we need to be most careful of. Our actions are generally birthed by our beliefs.

Yup, reading comprehension. Literalist to the core!

Just the comment of a person with no arguments. It's like saying, "I made statements I cannot defend, so I'll just call the other guy a literalist (which is really pitiful) and try to squeeze out of it." It's why I so dislike trying to discuss anything with you. When you get stuck, you always want to blame it on someone else. In your view, your liberal beliefs just couldn't be at fault.

[Athos]

I was trying to draw attention to your first statement. "It's never what one BELIEVES, but how one ACTS. THAT is the right religion for anyone." That was also a belief statement.

You're still missing the point. See my post #8 in this thread which I assume you didn't read. That post explains what you missed.

My quote above that you cited refers to RELIGIOUS belief - not to belief in general. You have equated the two usages of "belief". They are not the same.

Sorry to say it's that reading comprehension problem you have. You don't always understand the meaning of words when they are used within different contexts. Children learn how to distinguish the different nuances of same words as they begin to learn language as babies.

[Wondergirl]

Our actions are generally birthed by our beliefs.d

Not at all. Our actions too often are the opposite of our beliefs.

[jlisenbe]

Not at all. Our actions too often are the opposite of our beliefs.

Maybe. It's an interesting thought, but only if you intend for us to take that statement literally. Is that the case? Perhaps you really meant, in a figurative way, that you completely agree with my ideas. I hope so!

I'm not sure I agree with that, but it is worth considering. I think it's more likely that our many beliefs contend for mastery with each other. So if "Joe" believes abortion is wrong, but refuses to take a public stand against it, then perhaps his belief that personal convenience and public approval are both really important simply overrides his weaker belief about abortion. Perhaps his belief that abortion is wrong is a relatively weak belief. I think that our stronger "faith" always wins. The outcome depends upon what our faith was looking at. But I still like your point. It's caused me to think, and I wouldn't be prepared to say your statement is wrong. Fears, prejudices, and desires enter into the picture as well.

And yes, I mean that literally.

[jlisenbe]

You will not see me make a silly plea to someone else's reading comprehension in order to defend the weakness or lack of clarity of my statements.

[Wondergirl]

Or "Sally," a Christian and the mother of five children, is 39 and four months pregnant. Two forms of birth control failed. She has been told by her husband, an agnostic, never to get pregnant again, that they can't afford another child, and he will divorce her if she goes through with this pregnancy. What now?

[jlisenbe]

They can always kill an unborn human being. Would that solve the problem?

They could kill one of their already born children. How would that be different?

This Christian woman does not know how to pray and appeal to her Heavenly Father for help? Why did that option not occur to you? So sad that a professing Christian never even thought of prayer. Well, I know what my wife would have told me. "Get out of this house, you piece of garbage. You'll not have my baby killed."

"When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst. I clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth its covering.”

Baby at about four months. How sad that you seem to be so eager to present a case for death.

[Wondergirl]

How would prayer help?

[jlisenbe]

Are you serious??? You are actually asking how prayer could help? Don't really know what to say to that. The truth is revealed, I guess.

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

What would Jesus say to you for asking such a question?

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

At some point a person has to take a stand. It is better to suffer for doing what is right than to engage in what amounts to murder and live a soft life.

[Wondergirl]

Truly, how would prayer help? God isn't going to whisper in her ear. Sally could pray and decide God wants her to abort the baby so as not to lose the husband she loves dearly and who is the devoted father of their children.

I can think of a more productive/utilitarian way to work this out and not only save the pregnancy but also save the marriage. AND it would be God-pleasing.

[Athos]

If your Christian religion is based on belief and you find yourself acting in an un-Christ-like fashion by dispararging the religion of others and acting in a mean and insulting manner, then your professed religion is not the one for you.

It is a simple and effective test.

Back to the original question.

[Wondergirl]

Don't most (all?) of the major religions profess the Golden Rule?

If I'm near or with a person whom I know to be a Christian disparaging another's religion or even someone's Christian denomination, what should I say, if anything?