Re: Re: c4...
Yahweh said:
Billiefan, let me explain something to you, and I hope you will understand what I'm trying to say (I'd say this on the Rapture boards, but someone told the forum administrators that new user Vendyokus is bad apples...):
Yes, Billiefan, Christianity is a majority in America. But you kids at RaptureReady are different. You Rapture Kids are the minority, you constantly feel like you are claim to be persecuted for your beliefs (actually, you are being persecuted for your character... it sounds crazy, but people like me dont take kindly to people like you who try to justify prejudice in the name of religion), you kids are no different than any other appocalyptic cult you could find in the world. I'll tell you what Christianity is:
Christianity is a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
(source: Dictionary.com)
That is Christianity, and Christianity is a majority in the United States. There are nearly 1 billion Christians in the world, Christianity is among one of the top 5 Religions in the world.
You dont have any concept of what a real Christian is...
Hate to do this, but I feel a need to jump in here before I scream my lungs out.
At 43 years of age, I am looking back on my 20+ years in Christianity, and wondering if that time was wasted. Granted, I met my beautiful and gracious wife, Peggy, through the Church, and we raised our kids in the Church, but at the same time, I look back at our beliefs, and what they led us to, and I have got to wonder if I did the right thing.
Not take the kids out trick or treating on Halloween? Maybe not such a hot idea in a day and age when pedophiles are treated as "sick," rather than criminal, but in some of the communities where we've lived, maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing. What does it hurt to go around and collect candy, (or pass it out), and then scarf it down until you're comatose? A childhood activity we've all grown up with is an evil? Why?
No Santa Claus? No Tooth Fairy, or Easter Bunny? When we're dealing with little kids, why wouldn't you teach them that there are generous people out there, and they should be one, too. Once they're old enough, why not reveal to the kids that it's a good thing to give?
No booze? No beer? No wine? Why? To excess is frowned upon by everyone, regardless of religious belief? Why is it so evil to have a beer when you're a believer? Maybe I'd have been a gentler man, and a kinder one, if I'd taken the time to have a beer with a friend, instead of telling him what Jesus did for me, and why I can't go around polluting my body.
Why does everything need to have a religious background to it? What's the point? What's truly been gained by my "belief?" Have I won anyone over to a better life? Or have I simply led others into a self-induced delusion, that by playing these games, I can somehow influence God into allowing me into His presence, and maybe permitting me to exist in an eternity which isn't so hostile. (If you ask me, that sounds a lot like witchcraft.)
What have I given my kids? Do they really know how much I love them? Or are they simply accepting me because by accident of birth, I'm their Dad?
Let's face it: Billiefan will not see this. There's no reason to. Right now, things are stylin', and he's got his place reserved on the corner of Hallelujah Square.
Let's see how things look in a few years, when things really matter.
.
