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Big Papa Goat · #26

Quote:

Originally Posted by mburbank

Being truly Christian is very, very hard and balancing the potential damnation of others (about which you can know nothing since judgement is the province of God)

According to Christian thinking, isn't damnation the result of a natural sinfulness, not God's judgement of paticular sins or individuals?

Sethomas · #27

Depends on whom you ask. In conventional theology, sinfulness is a deliberate separation from God undertaken by the individual. So, damnation is not God's doing, but a de facto reaction for dying outside of His grace. Id est, you choose not to go to heaven. Hoewver, what is or isn't sin is determined by God alone. So, you detach yourself, but only God knows if you are detached.

Immortal Goat · #28

My understanding on the matter of "sinfulness" is that certain faiths have different beliefs on the subject. Some believe that no matter what you do in life, if you accept Jesus as your lord and savior by the time you die, then you go to Heaven, but if you don't, no matter how good a person you were, you go to hell. Others believe that it is mostly based on good deeds, and that while it is preferable to believe in Jesus, it isn't the only way to get there.

In other words, fundamentalist Christians are the dicks at a ticket counter that stop selling tickets before they are sold out, and the other guys are the scalpers in the parking lot. Neither one of them is someone you really want to deal with, but at least one of them is letting you in, even if it is for a high price.

Preechr · #29

So, if Max's right, then not only were you right to mock the pseudo-evangelistic little monkey, but you would have been doing her a favor by going a few steps further, picking up some rocks and staging a good, ol' fashioned stoning.

I like to think that's what Jesus would have done had he caught her using his name so vainly.

Max's and Perndog's comments pretty much sums up why I did not go into the ministry and eventually talked myself out of being a Christian altogether. The idea that life has to be that complex and agonizing ONLY FOR HUMANS sounds way to human for me to easily accept as what God planned.

kahljorn · #30

I don't see anything wrong with the christian faith. There might be stupid people in it but there's stupid people everywhere. Welcome to a world of substandard education, and a place where your ego only exists as it does because there's half-retarded christians out there.
You should feel proud that people are stupider than you rather than acting outraged, because without their stupidity you'd just be an average joe. Not that alot of people on this board are really any better than christians as far as their belief patterns or actions would have it...

ziggytrix · #31

there is only one possible course of action. make and distribute anti-proselytizing literature at your coffee house/campus!

AngPur · #32

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggytrix

there is only one possible course of action. make and distribute anti-proselytizing literature at your coffee house/campus!

Furnishing opinions with the message of "Think for yourself". Kind of defeats the purpose, huh?

Jeanette X · #33

I did have someone on campus offer me a free copy of the New Testament, but he backed off when I said "No thank you", which is rather refreshing.

I don't mind evangicals if they take no for an answer, but they rarely do.

You should have just chanted, "Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn, Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" while lolling your tongue and shaking ecstatically.

That would've gotten rid of her pretty damn quick.

Sethomas · #34

Am I going to have to make "Lovecraft Sucks" part of my signature or something? :/

Immortal Goat · #35

But Lovecraft DOESN'T suck. It's just the Marine's of the world that give him a bad image.

AngPur · #36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sethomas

Am I going to have to make "Lovecraft Sucks" part of my signature or something? :/

Please do. Trendy old authors for teenage goths are quite butched in culture. Also, Poe and Vonnegut are both very good, but the former has been remembered more for his image than his mastery of English, and the later is a very respectable author who never meant to be read by any and all 13-17 year olds.