to those with so much hate and confusion.......

[Echoside]

hey everyone, i'm kind of in a depressed mood at the moment. I was just speaking to someone about a variety of topics, and eventually it moved toward religion. The person was by no means unintelligent, but there's this huge block she seemed to have against it.

I asked about specific things she disliked about religion (specifically christianity) and she went on about things like:

1. Why does god think the pope is so important but not the rest of us
2. why is it ok for priests to rape little boys but homosexuality is so bad
3. Religious people are always telling me if i sin im going to hell
4. why would god send someone to hell if he cares so much
5 etc. etc.

basically the main theme i'm seeing here is a gross undereducation about what Christianity actually is. The core message is love, but this person; and many others i've talked to all seem to have these same objections. Logically, I refuted all the above questions, several common fallacies and the like but it seems that these people are full of hate, confusion, disbelief, and all these feelings that bias them from the start. She even told me she never read the bible and didn't plan on it, but had all these examples of things the bible "said" when in reality they couldn't be further from the truth.

I'm feeling quite sad that so much of the world, even those with educated backgrounds have these feelings that get in the way of the real message, to the point that it feels like nothing reaches them. This is probably an odd request, but this issue is probably doubly saddening for those here, and any prayer for God to help ease the pain and confusion so many people have regarding his message and help them see what the real message of it all is, one of love


Sorry for the long post, it's just something thats beyond me to understand sometimes.

[Danieltwotwenty]

I feel exactly what you feel and i shall pray for better outcomes.
God bless

[neo-x]

Hey Echo,

I know the feeling but the best we can do, as you said, is to pray. People only change when our prayers are answered and we let the light of Christ shine through us so that others can see.

[Byblos]

Prayers are definitely in order but we also have to be equipped to answer such questions with sound arguments as these questions/doubts have been answered a million times over. We can only provide the answers but we all know it's the Holy Spirit's job to convict the person so that they are open to receive them.

1. Why does god think the pope is so important but not the rest of us

Huh? Where on earth did she get that impression? Without getting into the the whole Catholic thing, suffice it to say that popes not only are ordinary people and very much fallible, they are SERVANTS of the people, not the other way around.

2. why is it ok for priests to rape little boys but homosexuality is so bad

It's okay for priests to rape? Did she read that in some official doctrine somewhere? Of course it's not okay (and again, without getting into the whole history of it). Priests are as much sinners as anyone else (probably even more prone to sin than any of us).

3. Religious people are always telling me if i sin im going to hell

And if they are right would that not be out of genuine love?

4. why would god send someone to hell if he cares so much

You know the whole free will and all. We are not robots, it is a choice each of us must make

5 etc. etc.

What else?

[Echoside]

Byblos, I am well informed that many of the accusations that get thrown out aren't logical, part of doctrine, biblically supported, etc. and that's just my point. Sometimes it feels like people have emotional, not logical issues with God and they just throw out whatever random thought they find displeasing with organized religion in general or just God himself. I'm not speaking of seasoned atheists, just ordinary people who seem to be emotionally opposed to the idea, don't want to confront their own sinful nature or past; those types of things.

I'm not undermining the importance of apologetics, but sometimes logic and reason aren't always the best route.

[Danieltwotwenty]

I agree echoside, sometimes we are to clinical and cold with our reason and logic and we need to speak more from the heart and not just our minds.
Love is a more powerfull tool than logic.