The only way I could worship God

[benmitchell0036]

Is if the majority of the bible is false/doesn't apply. This includes the Old Testament except for the 10 commandments. This includes the New Testament except for some things that Jesus taught.

Recently I've been struggling with my faith. I was raised Christian, was sent to a Christian private school from kindergarten to grade 8, and went to church most weeks. I've always just accepted it as the truth.

However, I've recently started re-examining my viewpoints, and I realized there isn't any evidence, or any real reason I should believe besides the fear of hell. I can easily rationalize my belief, but it's like this fear of going to hell is keeping me bound, almost.

Plus God is represented in the bible as being basically a petty tyrant and a bully, and the fact that he says he loves everyone, yet would send people to hell, doesn't sit right with me. This is the reason why a lot of the bible would have to be false, including hell. Also, if hell is real, and heaven too, and if I go to heaven, I would try to get the people in hell out. Not necessarily into heaven, but into some neutral ground.

I really want to hear from other Christians, or people with religious beliefs, but everyone is welcome to share.

[Phantox]

>person murders a bunch of people
>doesn't ask for forgiveness
>HE SHOULD STILL COME TO HEAVEN!

Christian Socialist logic

[WallofYawn]

You are aware that the majority of Christians these days don't believe in half of the shit the bible talks about, right? I mean, who honestly believes in the story of the burning bush, or the parting of the red seas, etc.? I mean, some of that shit did indeed happen, but a lot of it is myth and legend, and most Christians these days recognize that.

The only people who believe in a literal interpretation of the bible are called evangelical fundamentalists, and they are few in numbers. You hear more about them, though, because they have political power.(a lot of the tea party, George Bush Jr., etc.)

[WallofYawn]

At 1 minute ago, Phantox wrote: >person murders a bunch of people
>doesn't ask for forgiveness
>HE SHOULD STILL COME TO HEAVEN!

Christian Socialist logic

Sounds like Muslim logic to me.(seriously, look it up. Or read the Koran)

Everyone goes to heaven in Islam. It's just a matter of when.

[SpaceWhale]

At 2 minutes ago, WallofYawn wrote: I mean, who honestly believes in the story of the burning bush, or the parting of the red seas, etc.?

Oh, you'd be surprised.

[Nickisabi]

There are many religions out there that are more in-depth about this. Mormonism, for example, has a very deep learning process about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Their missionaries are always at my door loaded with knowledge about their testament. Maybe you could talk to them about worshiping God.

[WallofYawn]

At 30 seconds ago, SpaceWhale wrote:

At 2 minutes ago, WallofYawn wrote: I mean, who honestly believes in the story of the burning bush, or the parting of the red seas, etc.?

Oh, you'd be surprised.

And again, those are fundamentalists, like I said, and are few in numbers, believe it or not. You might meet a lot of ignorant Christians, but demographics show that secular Christians far outnumber the bat-shit crazy far-right jesus freak types.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world, and the majority of people you meet are Christian, right? All your friends, co-workers, etc. I'm willing to bet that half of them don't believe in a literal interpretation of the bible, and at least 1/3 of them don't even read the bible or go to church.

[dlxrevolution]

Sounds to me like this sudden questioning of your faith is a sign for the Devil coming into your heart.

YOU ARE A SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD! QUICK! YOU MUST REBUKE THY DEVIL!

[WallofYawn]

At 4 minutes ago, AndreovichZhivago wrote: There are many religions out there that are more in-depth about this. Mormonism, for example, has a very deep learning process about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Their missionaries are always at my door loaded with knowledge about their testament. Maybe you could talk to them about worshiping God.

They also believe in Aliens if I'm not mistaken, and that Joseph Smith found golden tablets in the woods.

If they weren't so nice, polite, and contributing, I'd write them off as being crazy freakazoids, but they're nice people,
unlike the scientologists.(I'm only comparing because of the belief in extra-terrestrials, which I do believe in, but not that they visited us, I just think it's unlikely that Earth is the only planet with life on it, is all I'm saying)

[NuclearInfected]

Oh brilliant, another religion flame war.

Strap yourselves in gentlemen, it's going to be a rough 5 page ride.

[Swag-in-a-Bag]

I'm a Christian, and the only assured way into eternal damnation is by rejecting the gift of God which was his sacrifice Jesus Christ.

If you don't accept that he died for our sins, then you will have to suffer the wrath of your own sins on Judgement Day because you denied the blood of Jesus and since God is a just God; he must punish sin, and the wages of sin is death

[kmau]

All religion threads on newgrounds perfectly showcase why the only way to truly be at peace with your own beliefs is to not associate yourself with any religion.

[CheapTrick]

At 8 minutes ago, kmau wrote:

All religion threads on newgrounds perfectly showcase why the only way to truly be at peace with your own beliefs is to not : associate yourself with any religion.

Unfortunately some people have to think that when you die, you go to somewhere.

[blazer133]

I worship the flying spaghetti monster. When i died, I'll be added in as another noodle to its godly pasta being.

[Gario]

At 1 hour ago, benmitchell0036 wrote: I really want to hear from other Christians...

... then why are you posting in Newgrounds? Seriously, that's like walking into a Confederate camp and asking where the nearest Union recruitment tent would be.

While I'm sure there are some Christians around, you're more than likely just going to get assaulted for bothering to post about religion, if you post here. If you want a Christian response, go to a Christian forum and you'd be better off.

[Zineth78]

About 60% of Christians believe that the devil is just a personification of evil. And a loving god would give people a second chance. According to the bible, non Christians go to hell. And god knows everything that will happen and can change it. So kids from Iran who have never even herd of Christianity will go to hell because they didn't worship god and he never gave them the opportunity. Either he doesn't exist, or he's a prick

[SnoopyChicken]

I would describe myself as apatheist, but I used to be Christian.
The fact that theirs no evidence whatsoever for God is where faith comes in, lack of evidence still leaves room for belief.
As for the Bible, just think of it as metaphors that can be interpreted as you see fit, not something to be dogmatically stuck too.
At the end of the day if we take God to exist He is an all powerful superbeing, He'd have to be pretty petty to condemn a good person to hell simply because they didn't flatter His ego.

[FairSquare]

I was raised as a christian. Always just accepted it too, that there was a god and a heaven and a hell.
It was a really sheltered world i grew up in. All of my friends were christians. My school was christian. The church i went to was chr.. oh, that's logical.
Then i moved to another city at the age of 15 or 16. I went to a public school there and nobody believed in god as far as i knew.
I didn't talk about my beliefs at school. I knew i would get ridiculed for it. Then i got ridiculed anyway, but that's not the point.
What is my point? Oh, well, i'll just continue typing and maybe my point will come forward at some point. No pun intended.
Anyway, i didn't really think of reconsidered my beliefs. I just flowed along with the stream of life.
Until one day.
I had a discussion with a friend. He questioned my beliefs and i began to think about it.
I came to the same conclusion as you. Why did i actually believe in god? I realized that i believed in god, because every one had told me that he existed. I was raised with the idea of a god. It had become a part of my existence.
Slowly i moved away from the idea that god's existence was a certain thing. Because i realized that nobody can actually know what happens when we die.
I thought of more and more reasons why it isn't likely that there is a god. And i embraced the idea that this life doesn't actually have a meaning.. life is just life and when we die, it ends. Or so i believe.
At this point, i am an agnostic leaning towards atheism.

There are so many views, so many theories.. why would we trust any of them when they don't have any kind of evidence or logical explanation? And if you do believe in one view/theory, why would you believe that that point of view is the right point of view? Religious people think that their point of view is the right one. If they don't they are not religious, but agnostic.

I still didn't really make a point, did i? But hey, at least i tried.

Look at me, making a post about religion on the internet. A new low. I just keep surprising myself.

[walkinator]

I recently was in the same situation as you. Your parents brainwashed your, their parents brainwashed them and so on back to the crusades, when non-Christians were killed. I also agree with every point you made. God is depicted as some big douche and an idiot. look at the tower of babel or even the garden of Eden. Its obvious that god was an idiot for babel. and why would god put the tree and the snake there in Eden in the first place, to mess around as if the universe was his big old sandbox game? and you don't ever see giant miracles happening anymore.

[Sanch]

if god exists, then he is either totally incompetent or a complete asshole. not worth my worship in either case.

that is of course assuming he exists (he doesn't)

[zelda1626]

christianity just doesnt make any sense to me for some reason

[Ragnarokia]

At 2 hours ago, benmitchell0036 wrote: Is if the majority of the bible is false/doesn't apply. This includes the Old Testament except for the 10 commandments. This includes the New Testament except for some things that Jesus taught.

There were actually 16 commandments I believe, and in the new testament there were over 400.

[benmitchell0036]

At 27 minutes ago, walkinator wrote: I recently was in the same situation as you. Your parents brainwashed your, their parents brainwashed them and so on back to the crusades, when non-Christians were killed. I also agree with every point you made. God is depicted as some big douche and an idiot. look at the tower of babel or even the garden of Eden. Its obvious that god was an idiot for babel. and why would god put the tree and the snake there in Eden in the first place, to mess around as if the universe was his big old sandbox game? and you don't ever see giant miracles happening anymore.

I do agree to some extent that I was Brainwashed, but my parents didn't even come from religious homes. It makes me think that their faith is genuine, while mine is/was just a sham.

[JaY11]

At 20 minutes ago, Sanch wrote: if god exists, then he is either totally incompetent or a complete asshole. not worth my worship in either case.

that is of course assuming he exists (he doesn't)

this

If god is omniscient why didn't he stop Lucifer before he completely fucked things up? Better yet why did he create him in the first place if he knew what would happen?

Why believe in something with zero evidence to back it up? Why come to conclusions before searching for evidence?

[BumFodder]

At 3 hours ago, benmitchell0036 wrote: However, I've recently started re-examining my viewpoints, and I realized there isn't any evidence, or any real reason I should believe besides the fear of hell. I can easily rationalize my belief, but it's like this fear of going to hell is keeping me bound, almost.

Ive always wondered what its like to believe in a religion properly. Ive never really believed in it much, I kind of grew out of religion when I was young like I grew out of santa claus and those kind of things. I remember I went to a religious school when I was young, because that was the only school left with places nearby. I remember we had to go to church every thursday, and the reason I believed in religion at first was because I was afraid. I remember that I was in the church one thursday when I was like 7 years old and really bored as usual when I had some kind of epiphany about how absurd god and religion is and talking about things you cant possibly know like they were real. Kinda made me realise that I shouldnt be scared of things like ghosts because theyre obviously not real.

[Chocomilk]

At 4 hours ago, WallofYawn wrote: You are aware that the majority of Christians these days don't believe in half of the shit the bible talks about, right? I mean, who honestly believes in the story of the burning bush, or the parting of the red seas, etc.? I mean, some of that shit did indeed happen, but a lot of it is myth and legend, and most Christians these days recognize that.

This. The majority of the bible is made up of metaphors. Just to what extent can be argued. Did they truly believe in heaven and hell, or were those metaphors as well, that were just misinterpreted? I guess what you believe in and and what you don't is determines your faith.

[Rapacity]

At 2 hours ago, Ilssm wrote:

Unfortunately some people have to think that when you die, you go to somewhere.

>Implying you know for a fact and have evidence to prove a person doesn't go somewhere else when you die, weather it be related to any kind or religion or not, or is even an after life.

If Heaven is a real place, how comes we've been able to see to the boundaries of the universe without seeing Heaven?

Anyway, going to a fucking theme park in the sky isn't as appealing as death to me. I don't want to live forever.

[MrPercie]

Isnt the bible filled with contradictions?

so one part would say "thou shall not kill" while another may say "slay the man if he takes up arms against the lord"

so yeah god switches from being all loving to all out asshole.

[Gobblemeister]

"I only want to believe in Christianity if the parts I like are real"

[Swag-in-a-Bag]

At 3 hours ago, JaY11 wrote:

If god is omniscient why didn't he stop Lucifer before he completely fucked things up? Better yet why did he create him in the first place if he knew what would happen?

Why believe in something with zero evidence to back it up? Why come to conclusions before searching for evidence?

I have read a couple of times from Holy interpretation books how Lucifer resisted God on HIS own free will , just how every human has his/her own free will and can accept or neglect God. God's intentions where not bad for any being

Lucifer also claimed that he is greater than God, and can gather more followers than the Lord himself by ANY MEANS NECESSARY through his ways. God basically accepted Satan's challenge; so God gave Satan a limited amount of time to gather as many followers as possible, and if God where to simply just DESTROY Satan ahead of time, then that would prove Satan to be superior to God since he didn't give him a fair chance.

God's main point I assume is to show that none in the universe is greater than him, but he accepts all challenges who think otherwise. Also satan will be the ultimate example of what happens when you go against God so this will never happen again