First, being a Catholic, I have nothing against speaking in tongues, and I have no evidence to prove it false or otherwise. I agree that it is a mystical thing that I cannot explain, nor do I care to. It was a mis-interpretation, and I wasn't arguing about that, I was arguing about something else that seemed very wrong to me in the "Jesus camp" video.
-That is, children being forced into accepting these kinds of camps and borderline radical practices. The repentance scene is enough to make me want to gag. I feel that children should not be convinced that if they do not beg for forgiveness and "REPENT!" they will go to hell. Furthermore, the video misconstrues the meaning of the word repent, which means to change one's ways (if I learned anything in religion class its that). True repentance takes time, and is not something that can be done on demand as the video implies.
-I cannot accept the man at the beginning saying that we should use everything the Earth has to offer. We don't know when Jesus is coming (btw he made it sound like Jesus was coming to abduct us), and we need to think about future generations, wasting resources has terrible outcomes on the children of tomorrow. The phrase "rape the earth" is wrong, it is a gift God gave us, not meant to be "raped," "wasted," or used up.
-I also do not agree that you have to be jumping around and loud to worship God. Being quiet and respectful of God's presence is my style, if God ignores me because of that, its His fault for making me that way.
-Reading the bible is not out of question for me, in fact I make a habit of reading it. At this point i only have maybe 4 books to go. However, what is out of the question for me is interpreting every word of the bible literally. That is why no one will convince me creation happened the way the bible said. That is a discussion for another day, so don't bring this up if you comment.
-God loves and thinks about everyone, the bowling scene just serves to show the utter level of insanity that these things can be taken to. How would you feel if a little girl came up to you (after asking Jesus to help her bowl (gutter if you look in the background)), and said that God wants you back. I'd be highly offended, or perhaps confused, since it hasn't happened I don't know exactly how I'd respond.
-There are other powers of the Holy Spirit, not just glossolalia (tongues(which by the way have been misused “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men” I Corinthians 14:20)). What have I experienced you ask? Well for starters I am still alive. I'd say its a miracle, since I've been near death on several occasions. Next, the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Piety, Fear of the Lord, and Courage are the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. All people have these to some extent, however being Catholic I have undergone the sacrament of Confirmation, which is the acceptance of God and the Holy Spirit. As a result, a certain gift is bestowed upon you, mine is wisdom. With prayer and thought this gift seems to evolve within me, but that is again a topic for another day.
-When you say born again I assume you mean the word I am more familiar with "saved." What I have to say on the matter is simple, the bible is open to interpretation. You can argue that its not but for the readers information I feel the need to post this rebuttal "And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of Israel were sealed." Revelation 7:4 So... Welcome to Heaven population 144,000... Somewhere else it says all 144,000 are virgins as well, but I will wait to post more about that until I find the exact verse (even though I know its there because I read it at least 7 times in shock). But before I continue, can I get a show of hands of how many here are Israeli? We aren't descendants of the tribes of Israel, so does that mean we are all damned, certainly not, God would not predestine anyone to hell. As I see it this is conclusive evidence that the bible is not meant to be literal, if it was why should I even try to get to Heaven. In other words, there is no clear undeniable way set out to get to Heaven. Being saved or born again is no exception (it can't hurt to accept God in my opinion, I just choose to believe that no God could possibly destroy anyones' lives by separating them from ones who they loved that didn't get reborn).
"Faith Without Works is Useless"
-You weren't persecuted, you were criticized on what I see as a trivial matter. Seeing the future... I believe its possible, but for a different reason than God's influence. The theory that all time is simultaneous and that it is an illusion. I see this as the most logical viewpoint. If God could see the future free will would not exist. If God knew everything you were going to do in your life, He could pass judgment immediately (the notion of predestination). Also, say hypothetically God knows the future, what if your free will allows you to do something different than he expects, God would be wrong, which is impossible.
Anyways, I appreciate your attitude towards the situation, because I firmly believe that no man has any right to pass judgment on anyone else.
Keep in mind that truth and fact are not always the same thing. The bible is truth (spiritual sense meant for interpretation), science is fact (provable with physical evidence in all cases). Case in point, biblical age of the Earth is a bit over 6000 years, science says billions. Evidence such as the "baby planet" pretty much proves this. Furthermore, dinosaurs came before man, despite the bible saying that man came first (discoveries also indicate woman came before man btw). Carbon dating proves this (go ahead and argue this if you want).
Conclusion: all people are entitled to freedom of religion/beliefs. Criticism and persecution are different, criticism is expressing counter beliefs in this case, persecution is attacking someone for their beliefs, or condemning them. Well argue away, I ran out of time.
4 comments:
just so you know man God wont ignore you no matter what despite what you do. also, there are many different ways of praying you just don't realize it as well as others. you stay quite will others express themselves...they can jump around, shout at the top of their loungs, even dance(like i do at Our Lady Of Guadalupe Celebration). the way my father puts it is that it's like praying twice and that's what they're doing...all they need to do is put their heart into it but none of it is wrong and i know it and i just hope you know that, even if you don't agree with it.
also, i wouldn't be offended if someone came up to me and said that God wants me back...i'd be confused but not offended. i'd tell them what they were talking about and that i was already with God but i would understand with what they meant. they are pushed in the same direction as we are, but not on the same ground.
now...i'm not as religious as you are now and i'm not into my religion to much. cause i just take my life one day at a time without doing anything religious, but i do believe in God and i may not show my love for him but it's there. that's just the way i am i don't show my interest in anything but it doesn't matter cause God know how i am...and that's what you have to know...realize(instead of judging them before you know them)who they are and how they pray.
that's all man complain whatever you want to me but that's where i stand. ATERLA...stay cool
You suck at gifs.
The pointy man in the red suit scares me.
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