Yes. I Am A Christian

[Alucard Collins]

I'm also a Christian and very proud of that fact.

That being said, I find many things to be wrong with organized Christianity because I feel that so much of it has taught us to be closed minded rather than to seek out truths. None of us have all the answers and that's okay. I personally do believe that Christ died on the cross in order to forgive my sins. I am a flawed person... as we all are. For those who believe something else, I have no problem with that. In fact, I sincerely enjoy hearing what others believe and why they choose to believe what they do. It is my personal feeling that just because someone is not a Christian they are not sentenced to hell.

The biggest problem I have with organized Christianity (and organized religion in general) is that it's run like a business. This is very troubling to me... though it's nothing new at all (it's been that way for well over a thousand years after all). In my personal opinion, Jesus would certainly not call many of the churches today his house.

I should note that there are some churches who are not after money and who have people who truly do seek knowledge and spiritual truths.

[Sfinelli3]

I am a Wiccan and a Vampire.  The only problem I have with general Christianity is their closed minded nature.  You may kill someone and be forgiven by God, but you don't believe in him 100% and you burn in Hell for all eternity?  Ehk!  And the creation of Satan!  Is Satan not the embodiment of the God of most Pagan religions.  The Sun God.  God of the Hunt.  With horns and the body of a goat.  Suddenly the God of Pagans is the Devil of Christianity.  Also, the fact that in the old versions of the Bible there were many more female aspects, but that was considered too Pagan-like because we worship the Goddess, Mother of Earth, so it was taken out.  What they do not seem to realize is we were here first.  We founded our religion on the energies we recieved from the Earth.  What the Earth told us, and the magic that once existed that is now gone due to the ignorance of humans.  Now I am not saying all Christians are this way, and I'm not saying I hate all Christians, but some of the things they do and say bug me.  Especially the "higher people" in the Christian community.  And just to say, there were no wars over religion until Christianity.

[SilverRose]

yes i believe that the bible is full of contradictions I mean how can you say that a newborn baby is condemed to hell A HELPLESS BABY that has no control what so ever of its actions. and that gay people are also Condemed to hell when there BORN GAY.

[Sunshine1626]

I am a Wiccan and a Vampire.  The only problem I have with general Christianity is their closed minded nature.  You may kill someone and be forgiven by God, but you don't believe in him 100% and you burn in Hell for all eternity?  Ehk!  And the creation of Satan!  Is Satan not the embodiment of the God of most Pagan religions.  The Sun God.  God of the Hunt.  With horns and the body of a goat.  Suddenly the God of Pagans is the Devil of Christianity.  Also, the fact that in the old versions of the Bible there were many more female aspects, but that was considered too Pagan-like because we worship the Goddess, Mother of Earth, so it was taken out.  What they do not seem to realize is we were here first.  We founded our religion on the energies we recieved from the Earth.  What the Earth told us, and the magic that once existed that is now gone due to the ignorance of humans.  Now I am not saying all Christians are this way, and I'm not saying I hate all Christians, but some of the things they do and say bug me.  Especially the "higher people" in the Christian community.  And just to say, there were no wars over religion until Christianity.

Generalizations never solve anything.
One of the most important parts of Christianity is a question of where your heart is at. Killing someone with full knowledge that what you're doing is wrong will not be all fine and dandy by simply saying 'sorry'.
Correct me if I'm wrong (and please sight your source), but the depiction of Satan as a hoofed, goat-bodied, red horned creature is not biblical. The closest description to this comes from Revelation 12:3 (of the King James' Version) in which they describe a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns; as those who have read Revelations know, there's many alliterations and literary devices thrown in to describe the horror, not actually the scene. Since during the time of King James various other stories existed of knights in shining armor who were defeating horrifying dragons, they used the immage of a dragon to describe Satan and immplied that Jesus, the knight in shining armor, would save the Kingdom.
There's going to be continuous argument over what religion was first - probably because it's a direct way to prove that you're the smartest because you're following the 'true' religion if you were first. So, congrats if you wish to be called first. I acknowledge that there was no such thing as Christian until a Roman emperor was appalled at those "Christ-ians" who were following Jesus. [Just a little FYI, there's empirical evidence to prove that Hindus, not "Pagans", have the oldest monuments, statues, and text describing their Gods and Goddesses.]
At least the "Higher People" in the Christian Community study theology before bad-mouthing it.

yes i believe that the bible is full of contradictions I mean how can you say that a newborn baby is condemed to hell A HELPLESS BABY that has no control what so ever of its actions.

Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I have never found any text stating that newborn babies are condemned to hell. The practice of baptising children is never mentioned in the bible, nor is the result of unbaptized children mentioned to be eternal damnation.


It is possible for an idea to be considered 'Christian' but not be biblical or in accordance with God's will.

[Maloryn]

Like all religions, Christianity is pretty rife with contradictions...

Generations of edits tend to do that to about anything.
It's a fairly recent trend to believe that the Bible is completely infallible and incapable of metaphor or rhetoric.

Not all Christians believe all of the same thing... I'd compare them to vamps, but that's been over done and being a vamp has nothing to do with religion (unless you ask one of the TOV or similar idiots* ). For everything that many religious leaders say is wrong and try to quote verses against them, there are almost always counter-examples in their own texts.

I'd start with examples, but am pressed for time right now, so maybe Sunday

---Mal

*as always, personal not House, opinion.  ToV, the Earth is Flat, There Was No Moon Landing, Elvis is Alive, and any other simian similar crowd may be accepted by others in the House.

[Sfinelli3]

I am a Wiccan and a Vampire.  The only problem I have with general Christianity is their closed minded nature.  You may kill someone and be forgiven by God, but you don't believe in him 100% and you burn in Hell for all eternity?  Ehk!  And the creation of Satan!  Is Satan not the embodiment of the God of most Pagan religions.  The Sun God.  God of the Hunt.  With horns and the body of a goat.  Suddenly the God of Pagans is the Devil of Christianity.  Also, the fact that in the old versions of the Bible there were many more female aspects, but that was considered too Pagan-like because we worship the Goddess, Mother of Earth, so it was taken out.  What they do not seem to realize is we were here first.  We founded our religion on the energies we recieved from the Earth.  What the Earth told us, and the magic that once existed that is now gone due to the ignorance of humans.  Now I am not saying all Christians are this way, and I'm not saying I hate all Christians, but some of the things they do and say bug me.  Especially the "higher people" in the Christian community.  And just to say, there were no wars over religion until Christianity.

Generalizations never solve anything.
One of the most important parts of Christianity is a question of where your heart is at. Killing someone with full knowledge that what you're doing is wrong will not be all fine and dandy by simply saying 'sorry'.
Correct me if I'm wrong (and please sight your source), but the depiction of Satan as a hoofed, goat-bodied, red horned creature is not biblical. The closest description to this comes from Revelation 12:3 (of the King James' Version) in which they describe a red dragon with seven heads and ten horns; as those who have read Revelations know, there's many alliterations and literary devices thrown in to describe the horror, not actually the scene. Since during the time of King James various other stories existed of knights in shining armor who were defeating horrifying dragons, they used the immage of a dragon to describe Satan and immplied that Jesus, the knight in shining armor, would save the Kingdom.
There's going to be continuous argument over what religion was first - probably because it's a direct way to prove that you're the smartest because you're following the 'true' religion if you were first. So, congrats if you wish to be called first. I acknowledge that there was no such thing as Christian until a Roman emperor was appalled at those "Christ-ians" who were following Jesus. [Just a little FYI, there's empirical evidence to prove that Hindus, not "Pagans", have the oldest monuments, statues, and text describing their Gods and Goddesses.]
At least the "Higher People" in the Christian Community study theology before bad-mouthing it.

yes i believe that the bible is full of contradictions I mean how can you say that a newborn baby is condemed to hell A HELPLESS BABY that has no control what so ever of its actions.

Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I have never found any text stating that newborn babies are condemned to hell. The practice of baptising children is never mentioned in the bible, nor is the result of unbaptized children mentioned to be eternal damnation.


It is possible for an idea to be considered 'Christian' but not be biblical or in accordance with God's will.

Oooooooooooooooooooooookay.  Exactly, it was the Christian people who created satan to make us look bad.  The term Pagan refers to those religions that worshiped many gods BEFORE Christianity.  I'm not saying we're the oldest, but we are most certainly older than Christianity.  And I do study theology thank you very much.  I have studied almost all of the branches of Christianity, Hinduism, Bhuddism, and even Islam.  I do not post things I dont know anything about.  I do study what I say.

[captian]

                    I never liked that being christened as baby was something that was done to me when i was so young i had no choice.My mum loves to bring this dissatisfaction of mine up up whenever she can.So many people don't seem to understand that when you christen your child you are saying that they are impure,that they have original sin when they are born.When christened or baptized they become cleansed and able to enter the 'house of god',the impurity's gone.  I always saw it as a strange precaution that my mum took,but i had no choice in .
                After being christened into the church of england i went to sunday school and was promptly asked to leave.I have always questioned religion,hey why cant i do what Jesus did, isn't that what he taught us, and i strongly believe this. But ask me go to church and accept their word ,no.
               I was born into the christian faith,but i am not a christian,i believe in alot of the basic teachings but i feel the church has blown the fear of faith way out of realstic proportion (hell, really).
                 I will always question religion and i hope others keep an open mind,have faith but always go with what feels right.

[Maloryn]

The term Pagan refers to those religions that worshiped many gods BEFORE Christianity. 

Um, no.
Pagan is actually basically a Latin equivelent of "redneck".

or if you want a better citation, follow the linky:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan

It basically arose as a term to refer to the country folk who hadn't converted when the Romans started converting to Christianity.  The combining of various "bad archetypes" / "evil deities" was done over time and you can still find references to them all over the place even in the current rendition of the bible.
To be fair, they ripped off most of their Saints from the other religions too... not just the "evil" archetypes.
To be even more fair, its not like every other religion in the world hasn't done something similar.

---Mal
aka the Chosen of Bacchus*
Which pretty much defines "pagan" in almost every classic term

*because Dionysus is too damn hard to pronounce when you're falling-down drunk in the honor of your god

[Sunshine1626]

Oooooooooooooooooooooookay.  Exactly, it was the Christian people who created satan to make us look bad.  The term Pagan refers to those religions that worshiped many gods BEFORE Christianity.  I'm not saying we're the oldest, but we are most certainly older than Christianity.  And I do study theology thank you very much.  I have studied almost all of the branches of Christianity, Hinduism, Bhuddism, and even Islam.  I do not post things I dont know anything about.  I do study what I say.

I never said that Satan was created to make 'you' look bad. I was simply explaining the actual biblical descriptions of Satan. There has also been references to malevolent beings before Jesus and the Christians - many not coming from Abrahamic origins.
There's far too many branches of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam combined for a young person to have studied almost all of them with more than a glance... (at least that's my thoughts. I could be wrong, and I offer my deepest apologies ahead of time if I am, in fact, wrong.)

                    I never liked that being christened as baby was something that was done to me when i was so young i had no choice.My mum loves to bring this dissatisfaction of mine up up whenever she can.So many people don't seem to understand that when you christen your child you are saying that they are impure,that they have original sin when they are born.When christened or baptized they become cleansed and able to enter the 'house of god',the impurity's gone.  I always saw it as a strange precaution that my mum took,but i had no choice in .
                After being christened into the church of england i went to sunday school and was promptly asked to leave.I have always questioned religion,hey why cant i do what Jesus did, isn't that what he taught us, and i strongly believe this. But ask me go to church and accept their word ,no.
               I was born into the christian faith,but i am not a christian,i believe in alot of the basic teachings but i feel the church has blown the fear of faith way out of realstic proportion (hell, really).
                 I will always question religion and i hope others keep an open mind,have faith but always go with what feels right.

If it makes any difference you could tell your mother that the bible does not anywhere state that children should be baptized, and the only references to people being baptized were adults after they decided to be followers of Jesus. There's also many who will argue that christenings are not the same as, nor a substitution for, being baptized. I am sorry to hear that you have been christened against your will.

[captian]

       Most people i know have been christened and have never questioned it.It was a practice that was extremely common it was done because that was what you did.Your parents had you christened then you do the same to your child most people never question tradition. My mum did because of the tradition and ceremony not the meaning behind it,not any biblical reference if any.
       I think we had one dusty bible in our house that held all the family records and secrets.I own a bible now,not out of faith but of curiosity it sits with the other major and minor religious texts that crowd my room.
          One rainy day will come,i will cross the veil and i will find out what bits were true and what bits they added to tell a good yarn.Maybe that splash of holy water has done wonders for my afterlife.








 

[Sfinelli3]

The term Pagan refers to those religions that worshiped many gods BEFORE Christianity. 

Um, no.
Pagan is actually basically a Latin equivelent of "redneck".

or if you want a better citation, follow the linky:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan

It basically arose as a term to refer to the country folk who hadn't converted when the Romans started converting to Christianity.  The combining of various "bad archetypes" / "evil deities" was done over time and you can still find references to them all over the place even in the current rendition of the bible.
To be fair, they ripped off most of their Saints from the other religions too... not just the "evil" archetypes.
To be even more fair, its not like every other religion in the world hasn't done something similar.

---Mal
aka the Chosen of Bacchus*
Which pretty much defines "pagan" in almost every classic term

*because Dionysus is too damn hard to pronounce when you're falling-down drunk in the honor of your god

Yes, and you got this from wikipedia, where anyone can post anything even if it's wrong.

[Maloryn]

Yes, and you got this from wikipedia, where anyone can post anything even if it's wrong.

Well, that and a few years of Latin...
... and maybe being a practicing pagan a bit longer than you've been alive...

You seem to have a bad habit of over-simplifying and over-generalizing based on your limited knowledge and experience.
I've been trying to be nice, but the implication that I'm just looking in Wikipedia for all the answers to life the universe and everything would be insulting if it weren't so damn funny. ( I found your comment about no religious wars before christianity especially funny).
I posted the reference because it's always nice to have a way to double check what someone is saying. If you don't like Wikipedia there are thousands of other pagan and Latin sites on the internet you can use to verify what I posted (technically google is telling me that there are 6,020,000 sites that match "meaning of word pagan", but I think at least 6,000,000 are probably a bit off .
If you believe this is incorrect, feel free to post some counter-examples based on something other than your own personal opinion.

---Mal
who is feeling like he should now be investing in a smurf-tastic rocking chair

[Sfinelli3]

Maybe that is the Latin translation, but the word Pagan was created after Christianity began to seperate the people who had not yet converted.  It was not a word meaning "evil" or anything like that.  We even called ourselves Pagan and were proud.  You may have been practicing for a long time, maybe longer than I've been alive, but were you born into it?  Did you learn under the Circe teachings?  I did and I was. I knew Lady Circe before she died, my mother and her were very good friends. 

[Maloryn]

*sigh*

You're completely missing the point.
Pagan was not invented for pagans... it was a word that was already in existence which was applied pejoratively to those who didn't convert to the new-fangled religion (Christianity).

I'm not even going to touch on the rest... we're derailing this thread enough as it is.

---Mal

[asteria]

That is true. Paganism is all non-christian beliefs. The only religion that I have a strong problem with is mormons.