Believe me II: Faith (417 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: -0.4 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Vanilla (View user info) at 2004-07-22 21:24:09 EDT
I've just re-read my first post, and decided to add and emphasise one point. The belief in God.
Like I already mentioned, I believe in Him. I believe in him enough to respect all those devoted Christians and Catholics etc. But I don't believe in him enough to let the bible rule and define my life, or my thoughts.
I hate those people who impose religion on people. In doing so, they are being hypocrites. Yes, the bible does talk a lot about tolerance and acceptance, but the bible also talks about choice. It talks about choice a hell of a lot.
Basically, it says that people have to be given the choice to believe if they are really going to take the faith to heart. If it's imposed on you and shoved down your throat, you begin to resent it. And faith is about love as much as it is about... well... faith.
A friend of mine said something once that really got me thinking. He told me that if God is as all mighty and powerful as all Christians (and the bible) claim that he is, then He doesn't give a shit if we used his name in vain or do something "wrong" after all, wrong is defined completely differently in our society today than it was in the time of Jesus... God has more important things to do, and oversee rather than care if we donated to the church lately.
Then there is the actual faith... When I first read the bible, to me it was just a story. Then as I got older and it was emphasised and explained to me more, I began to fear it. I was actually scared of doing something that was "wrong". So every time my mother would take me to church (I'm orthodox Christian, by the way) I would be too scared to talk to the priest (who actually taught me...) because I didn't want to confess and have him tell me that I would burn in hell. C'mon people, you don't tell a 9 year old that saying "oh my god" is a sin that you're going to burn in hell for.
As I got older, my perspective changed. Now, I'm not sure what really affected this, but all of a sudden, I didn't think that God really cared if I swore, or had bad thoughts about my parents, or naughty thoughts about what I'd like to do with my boyfriend. I mean, I didn't see swarms of locusts attacking my house, or the sky raining down with fireballs... Then I read the bible again. Again, it was just a story. It was someone's experience of religion, there personal encounters with God.
Faith is too individual to say that everyone should believe the same way. I think that you have to accept different people will worship God differently, and to different extents. After all, I distinctly remember one story in the bible about a rich man giving lots of money to a church, and a poor woman giving far less and her gift being the better one. Why? Because it was all she could give. Therefore... wouldn't God appreciate our faith more, if we believed in him the way we wanted to?
Maybe I'm wrong, but religion isn't something that someone will ever give a right answer for. The bottom line is, it's faith. It's your choice.
That's basically been my faith for the last... 6 years. I don't go to church anymore. I don't see the need for it. If God is real, then I believe he's proud of me for doing what I'm supposed to do with my life... live it.
User Reviews
Submitted by MisterMixMaster (user info) at 2004-07-23 09:44:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Thou shalt write decent posts.
Submitted by Vanilla (user info) at 2004-07-23 07:40:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
you know what... fuck this, and fuck you mick. You call this a cop out? I call this an explination. Am I forcing something on you? no... Am I begging you to read this? no... am I doing something wrong? FUCK YOU. You said you had to make yourself believe in god, don't bother. Do you believe in anything? I'm not gonna sit her and lie and say god is bla bla bla I just told you how I saw it. That little bit of faith has kept me open minded... which is more than I can say for you. So fuck this... I won't bother anymore.
Submitted by MickGinny (user info) at 2004-07-23 07:19:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
what a copout.
you would make a great catholic.
Submitted by Socialist_Joe (user info) at 2004-07-22 22:35:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
god is fluorescent
Submitted by Falco (user info) at 2004-07-22 22:24:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2004-07-22 21:27:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Normally I would auto -2 this, but you were sincere, so here's my sincere 0.
Don't choke or die on it.