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Meeting with a christian

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Comments

  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    James, no place is perfect, and in many countries you literally have no choice.
  • I was lucky enough to have a heavily Christian family: there's lots of practice for being skillful around other Christians :cool:

    Although that practice/experience has essentially led to Zero's stock phrase "I'm sorry, I don't discuss religion or politics" :D But I also think it has led to a good deal of acceptance and understanding about Christianity and other religions
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    edited February 2013
    Hey I used to like the church lady on SNL. Whatever happened to her?

    I live in South Carolina where MANNERS are the most important thing. It would be considered very rude for someone to take a hostile stance disallowing a neighbor from having his or her own interests. Disapproving attitudes there may be, but that's no excuse for incivility.

    Here's a Bumper Sticker I wanna have made on Zazzle to sell:

    BUMPER STICKERS MAKE ME SO MADD!!!
  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    edited February 2013
    Nirvana said:

    Hey I used to like the church lady on SNL. Whatever happened to her?

    I live in South Carolina where MANNERS are the most important thing. It would be considered very rude for someone to take a hostile stance disallowing a neighbor from having his or her own interests. Disapproving attitudes there may be, but that's no excuse for incivility.

    Here's a Bumper Sticker I wanna have made on Zazzle to sell:

    BUMPER STICKERS MAKE ME SO MADD!!!

    Dana Carvey! .. "well isn't that special"... " could it be... SATAN!"




    love it.

    also plenty of aversion to catholic/christian faith in this thread which is why I haven't been responding much, too much negativity. I know where it's coming from as I had it once too as someone who grew up in the church, was an altar boy, youth group leader and all that. Thankfully through my practice I've been able to let it go and make peace.
    YaskanInvincible_summerJeffrey
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    I think going to church as a non-Christian could be a great learning experience for yourself and others. Granted, one trip isn't going to change anything. You may have to make *gasp* more than one visit!

    At my parents' church (a fairly conservative Baptist church), they have monthly fellowship meetings where a group of congregants meet up and discuss the Bible over dessert. One of the attendees has a husband who is an agnostic, but respectful of his wife's beliefs and has attended their meetings for the past... 15 years at least. The group welcomes him and his questions about their faith. My parents have even said that they feel he is a blessing to their group, as it strengthens their faith to answer his questions.
    Yaskan
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    Here are some in-your-face bumper stickers for the more middle-of the road Christian baiters:

    ANOTHER ANGRY CHRISTIAN


    CHURCH IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR
    SOMEBODY ELSE TO FOOL.


    RESURRECTING JESUS ONE DAY AT A TIME


    SOBER CHRISTIAN SEEKING DISSOLUTION BY VICE
    OPEN TO ALL FAITHS.


    HOW ODD OF GOD TO CHOOSE THE JEWS --Ogden Nash
    HOW RUDE OF NASH NOT TO MENTION
    THE ATROCITIES OF CHRISTIANS 'GAINST THE JEWS!

    I LOVE TO GO TO CHURCH ON SUNDAYS.
    IT'S THE ONLY TIME IT'S EMPTY.


    PROTESTANT, CATHOLIC, MORMON, OR JEW
    IF YOU PAID YOUR TITHE, YOU TOO CAN ____________

    PIE IN THE SKY: A CHURCH IN PROGRESS

  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    How 'bout a more endearing bumper sticker:

    POMPOUS, PAGAN, AND PROUD!
    ............(Pray for Me.)................


    GAY NAZIS FOR CHRIST


    HONK YOUR HORNY FOR JESUS!


    RUSH LIMBAUGH IS GOD!


    I'M SAVED.
    GO _______ YOURSELF.
    Dandelion
  • Why not find things in common and develop those together. All the religions have something that practitioners can relate to oneanother with .
    lobstervinlynInvincible_summerBhikkhuJayasara
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    edited February 2013
    Spot on, @blu3ree! However, for those who, on effect, insist that their own pattern of thinking/believing be replicated all around them, it is often very hard to find common ground.

    BTW, it's my dharma to remain a Christian, and in no insignificant respect. Hence, my bumper sticker ideas are meant in good fun. I received this "instruction" about my Christian Dharma straight from my swami, who had the insight to know this truth. But as an Episcopalian I am quite used to poking gentle fun at both my church and other Christians. Christianity is based on a hoax, after all, but that doesn't void all of its spiritual value: so many wondrous things have blossomed from this "fabulous" [fabled] tradition. Or, as St Paul would say (2 Corinth 6) "We are Deceivers, yet True."
    lobster
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Before you call Christianity a hoax, please remember that there are a lot of mixed Buddhists/Christians here on the site.
    Invincible_summer
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    It's based on a hoax. That's clear to many. it's just another statement that at least does not attack other people.
  • Nirvana said:

    It's based on a hoax. That's clear to many. it's just another statement that at least does not attack other people.

    Is the hoax you are talking about the resurrection? Or the virgin birth?
  • 'Myth' might be a better way of putting it. 'Hoax' fits Scientology better!
    MaryAnneInvincible_summer
  • From experiance; expect a very long and very lenghty world of interuption. I work with such people, (born again ultra fundamentalist), and no matter what you say, or do, it will not stop untill you place a complaint with managment. And even then it'll only last for a few weeks. Just accept this as a test of Karma. :coffee:
  • DandelionDandelion London Veteran
    I haven't ever had 'difficulties' with another individual and them lecturing me about their religious beliefs, but I did know one man that was really hurting (this was 10 years ago, so I do hope he is still not in pain about it now, I don't know what happened to him), because he honestly believed his dead father would be in hell, for not being a Christian. You could see the torment in his eyes, it was really sad. He felt utterly hopeless and depressed about it. Imagine that, you really believe that a deceased relative that you love has died and gone to HELL and there is NOTHING you can do about it; you really believe they will be there for ALL eternity. So sad, and in my opinion, very very worrying.
    BhikkhuJayasaraInvincible_summer
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    I don't understand why anyone would want to have such beliefs. I can understand finding comfort in the concept that the good will go to heaven and be reunited and the bad will be punished with hell. But yes, it takes on a whole new meaning when you have to consider your belief that your loved one is going to hell, especially for something such as them being gay or something else considered "bad" by the bible but nothing they did to act badly in their life.

    I have been engaging in a debate with some friends (and thus some of their friends) on FB the past week, and one guy who is a fundamentalist Christian just wrote an 8 page long document that he attached to the discussion about his beliefs that all the rest of us are atheists and preaching harmful things to children. Anyhow, it was a little bizarre, his long document. But mostly I just felt bad that a person would choose to live a life based on so much fear and judgement of other people.The fact he was judging me and others based on our "lack of beliefs" was something that affected him far more than it affected us. Unfortunately, he uses his beliefs to make laws that affect the rest of us and thinks that is perfectly fine because being as a minority group we deserve less rights and less privilege, that's just how it is in his mind. It's been an interesting discussion, lots of disagreement, nothing terribly uncivil.
    Invincible_summer
  • DandelionDandelion London Veteran
    karasti said:

    I don't understand why anyone would want to have such beliefs. I can understand finding comfort in the concept that the good will go to heaven and be reunited and the bad will be punished with hell. But yes, it takes on a whole new meaning when you have to consider your belief that your loved one is going to hell, especially for something such as them being gay or something else considered "bad" by the bible but nothing they did to act badly in their life.


    Me neither.

    "Lack of beliefs" ~ really he is feeling negative because you don't believe in the same things as HIM. When in actual fact, you just have a different set of beliefs. I will never understand why some people have SUCH a hard time accepting that we don't all follow the same path in life! What a shame it is affecting him so much.
  • DandelionDandelion London Veteran
    @karasti I guess the man I mentioned.. for him it wasn't about 'choosing' to have his beliefs.. it was probably something more than that... there are a variety of adjectives I could choose, but I don't know which one would be most accurate.. so I'll stop here.
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    edited February 2013
    riverflow said:

    'Myth' might be a better way of putting it. 'Hoax' fits Scientology better!

    I said hoax and I meant hoax. I assure you that the difference between the two can be gleaned by a six-year old. Who's insulting whom?

    The hoax is just simply "Having to believe" in the first place. It's a matter of putting structure over substance and stressing the importance of that element (of some structural detail) until it becomes the very substance itself in the minds of many.

    You can really see this development in Mormonism and in Christian Science in latter days, but St. Paul was a very powerful hoodwinker. It's probable that he really believed his mystical experience to be a "deeper reality," but the way he stressed the primacy of the Resurrection inflicted great stressors on the sincere seeker.

    The HOAX consists in the "having to subscribe to certain belief" that the minds of most people on a clear day really cannot. It's not totally unlike Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny for children. The HOAX is a sel-perpetuating story that we have to dumb down our reasoning to and bend the knees of our minds to.

    It's a HOAX also to the extent that the "pious story" gets in the way of true religious feeling or seeking. It's a HOAX because YOU HAVE TO keep it going or leave the game.
    Invincible_summer
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Insulting other religions is considered wrong speech by Buddhist monks I have talked with.

    But you better stop and think about whether or not you can prove (and I don't mean by mere logic) the workings of karma and rebirth with facts.
    MaryAnneInvincible_summer
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    edited February 2013
    I ran out of time to finish my above post (I largely edit and write as I go.) Although the Christian faith (The religion about the Divinity of Jesus) is based on a HOAX, it also supports the Christian Wisdom Tradition (The religion/Way that Jesus Himself taught). This is called, among Christians, the Religion About Jesus vs The Religion Of Jesus.

    The idea of the HOAX of the Christian Religion in no way questions the divinity of Jesus, except it would look askance at any exclusive claims to such divinity claimed by most churches.

    When I speak of the HOAX, I am referring to the kind of churchmanship/churchianity that insists on having its own way on everything doctrinal. These people are insecure, thinking that their world will crumble around them if they don't keep up the right front. Whether they truly believe the hoax or are suspicious of its authenticity deep down, the actual teachings of Jesus are not in their culture.
    ..................................................
    I am not insulting the Christian religion. I myself remain a Christian, albeit an Eastern-leaning one. I do not get your reasoning or your bickering. All I am trying to do is share some ideas. Why bother reading them? Most people on this site don't bother, just as I ignore the more shallow posters.
    ..............................................................

    I thought this thread was about encountering certain rigid-thinking Christians who believed that their way was the one and only way leading to goodness and salvation. Therefore I posted:
    Nirvana said:

    Spot on, @blu3ree! However, for those who, on effect, insist that their own pattern of thinking/believing be replicated all around them, it is often very hard to find common ground.

    BTW, it's my dharma to remain a Christian, and in no insignificant respect. Hence, my bumper sticker ideas are meant in good fun. I received this "instruction" about my Christian Dharma straight from my swami, who had the insight to know this truth. But as an Episcopalian I am quite used to poking gentle fun at both my church and other Christians. Christianity is based on a hoax, after all, but that doesn't void all of its spiritual value: so many wondrous things have blossomed from this "fabulous" [fabled] tradition. Or, as St Paul would say (2 Corinth 6) "We are Deceivers, yet True."

    It is the sectarians and such, who believe that they have all the answers, that are the troublemakers —not those like myself who are unafraid to think for themselves and use apt (and sometimes unaccustomed) words.

    Heresy is a sin against the truth, but:

    Sectarianism is a sin against Charity.

  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    I think where we (very general, not necessarily everyone here) and many Christians go wrong is in sticking to the details of the stories in the Bible. I don't believe the majority of them are true, but more like Aesop's fables. But I don't believe the stories literally either that Buddha made himself so large he could touch the moon and other such things. However, I do see Buddhists who believe in those types of things as literal fact, while at the same time bashing the idea of a virgin birth or Noah's ark or other mainstays of Christianity.

    If you take them equally it's easy to see why Christians feel how they do about the bible stories, because in their mind it is possible. Just like to many Buddhists, including my teacher, the miracles of Buddha are possible as well. My teacher very much takes a "just because we don't understand it today doesn't mean it didn't happen and doesn't mean it isn't possible" stance where Buddha's miracles are concerned. Yet he will tell you that the stories in the Bible aren't possible. Well, if Buddha could do it, then why couldn't Jesus?

    Where if you look at the core of what Buddha teaches and nevermind the stories, you find a lot of simplicity and beauty. If you do the same with Jesus' teachings, you find the same. We get lost in the details. However, most Buddhists don't seem to focus on the stories but focus more on the core teachings. Many Christians don't seem to do that, they are so lost in the details of arguing virgin birth that they then lose the core teachings and treat people badly because they don't agree with the details.
    MaryAnneTheswingisyellowriverflowInvincible_summer
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    karasti said:

    I think where we (very general, not necessarily everyone here) and many Christians go wrong is in sticking to the details of the stories in the Bible. I don't believe the majority of them are true, but more like Aesop's fables. But I don't believe the stories literally either that Buddha made himself so large he could touch the moon and other such things. However, I do see Buddhists who believe in those types of things as literal fact, while at the same time bashing the idea of a virgin birth or Noah's ark or other mainstays of Christianity.

    If you take them equally it's easy to see why Christians feel how they do about the bible stories, because in their mind it is possible. Just like to many Buddhists, including my teacher, the miracles of Buddha are possible as well. My teacher very much takes a "just because we don't understand it today doesn't mean it didn't happen and doesn't mean it isn't possible" stance where Buddha's miracles are concerned. Yet he will tell you that the stories in the Bible aren't possible. Well, if Buddha could do it, then why couldn't Jesus?

    Where if you look at the core of what Buddha teaches and nevermind the stories, you find a lot of simplicity and beauty. If you do the same with Jesus' teachings, you find the same. We get lost in the details. However, most Buddhists don't seem to focus on the stories but focus more on the core teachings. Many Christians don't seem to do that, they are so lost in the details of arguing virgin birth that they then lose the core teachings and treat people badly because they don't agree with the details.

    So well stated!

  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    edited February 2013
    I was sitting on my property, in a swing reading a Buddhist book. I heard a car coming down my long driveway. A man gets out of the car with a book in his hand. He invited me to church I said "no thank you". He got back into his car and left. Not so interesting or exciting, but that was one of my encounters.
    Invincible_summerlobster
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Good point, @Theswingisyellow. Although I have had a handful of overzealous Christians approach me over the years, virtually all my encounters were pretty much invitations with little or no preaching. Thanks for keeping it in perspective.
    TheswingisyellowInvincible_summer
  • hoax (hks)
    n.
    1. An act intended to deceive or trick.
    2. Something that has been established or accepted by fraudulent means.
    tr.v. hoaxed, hoax·ing, hoax·es
    To deceive or cheat by using a hoax.
    [Perhaps alteration of hocus.]

    myth [mɪθ]
    n
    1. (Myth & Legend / Classical Myth & Legend)
    a. a story about superhuman beings of an earlier age taken by preliterate society to be a true account, usually of how natural phenomena, social customs, etc., came into existence
    b. another word for mythology [1] [3]
    2. a person or thing whose existence is fictional or unproven
    3. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (in modern literature) a theme or character type embodying an idea Hemingway's myth of the male hero
    4. (Philosophy) Philosophy (esp in the writings of Plato) an allegory or parable
    [via Late Latin from Greek muthos fable, word]

    There is a big difference between Hoax and Myth. I also see a big difference between saying someone's religious belief is based on "a hoax" or based on "a myth". Big difference where respect is concerned....
    vinlynriverflowInvincible_summer
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    ^ And differences in meaning, like the one you point out, is the key to understanding right and wrong speech. Thank you, @MaryAnne!
    riverflow
  • vinlyn said:

    ^ And differences in meaning, like the one you point out, is the key to understanding right and wrong speech. Thank you, @MaryAnne!

    :thumbup: No Problem. :)
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Right speech is a key tenet of Buddhism and compassion.
    MaryAnneInvincible_summer
  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    Right speech is for me to practice, not to remind one of their need to practice. I see nothing wrong with someone being able to speak their mind, even if I deem it insensitive or offensive. Was this speech meant to cause harm or directed at anyone personally? Let's not stifle thought or critical analysis. Any one here is free to challenge or call in to question any beliefs I hold, it will not cause offense. Let me point out the old testament-pretty bloody. So is it wrong of me to question predicating a system of beliefs, ethics and morals on a god, described in their own book, as one who commits and condones mass killing? Is it insensitive of me to point that out? Or for the sake of being P.C. should I just white wash over those facts and ideas? Maybe the word hoax came off wrong. Maybe there is a better word to use that does contain such a negative conotation. To me hoax comes across as purposefully attempting to decieve. I think all of us can better temper our posts and our responses.
    Just an observation.
    All the best,
    Todd
    Invincible_summer
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    edited February 2013
    Some people do believe the bible is a hoax, that it is not the word of God, but a book written by men in an attempt to deceive and control the population at the time it was written. Whether it is true or not, who really knows. But there are a lot of people who agree with the idea. There are multiple documentaries on such things. That doesn't mean the religion and the teachings in it are a hoax though, nor does it lessen the impact of what Jesus had to teach.
  • NirvanaNirvana aka BUBBA   `     `   South Carolina, USA Veteran
    edited February 2013
    The word "HOAX" also carries with it the idea of an enterprise with MOMENTUM, and DOES NOT necessarily convey the nuance of "Fraud."

    What I object to most here is people being so very preachy about purity, etc. It's like a Buddhist Totalitarianism (Buddhist Nazis).

    I repeat, please don't respond to posts when you don't even try to understand where they're coming from. The drawback to boards like this is that we pay too much attention to the words themselves --and words more often than not just get in the way of understanding.
    trendybuddhalobster
  • http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=/#/watch?v=VlQJ9B70ySY&feature=plcp
    This video talks about the face in the deep blue sea and a king.
  • blu3reeblu3ree Veteran
    edited February 2013
    Genesis 2 16-17: and the lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

    I believe this references a middle way being possible.
    Invincible_summerTheswingisyellow
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    blu3ree said:

    Genesis 2 16-17: and the lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

    I believe this references a middle way being possible.

    You just blew my mind.
  • trendybuddhatrendybuddha Explorer
    edited February 2013
    Nirvana said:

    The word "HOAX" also carries with it the idea of an enterprise with MOMENTUM, and DOES NOT necessarily convey the nuance of "Fraud."

    What I object to most here is people being so very preachy about purity, etc. It's like a Buddhist Totalitarianism (Buddhist Nazis).

    I repeat, please don't respond to posts when you don't even try to understand where they're coming from. The drawback to boards like this is that we pay too much attention to the words themselves --and words more often than not just get in the way of understanding.

    I agree to this, I felt like some people on this board almost attacked me for even posting about my meeting with this Christian. Like I was an asshole for not going to church with her, and how I offended her and hurt her feelings. When I was open and respectful, and she insulted my beliefs, and did not even stop when I politely said that I had found something that worked for me and tried to end the convo. I am getting sick of all the preaching about right speech, I hope you guys are able to keep up the purity. I am just trying to be good Bodhisattva, and I don't think that I am better than you, but I don't think that I am worse.
    BrianlobsterTheswingisyellow
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran



    I agree to this, I felt like some people on this board almost attacked me for even posting about my meeting with this Christian. Like I was an asshole for not going to church with her, and how I offended her and hurt her feelings. When I was open and respectful, and she insulted my beliefs, and did not even stop when I politely said that I had found something that worked for me and tried to end the convo. I am getting sick of all the preaching about right speech, I hope you guys are able to keep up the purity. I am just trying to be good Bodhisattva, and I don't think that I am better than you, but I don't think that I am worse.

    From following the thread, I honestly didn't get that vibe, but I do apologize if you feel any of my posts were negative and directed towards you. It wasn't intended that way. Also, I'm pretty sure @vinlyn's comments about right speech were more directed at @Nirvana :p

    I think people are just chiming in in general about inter-faith relations (well, at least I was), and not your case specifically.

    MaryAnne
  • BrianBrian Detroit, MI Moderator
    There are preachy Buddhists and they're just as bad as preachy Christians. :)
    Invincible_summer
  • If people feel like it is so important to go to church and hang out with christians, dont ask others to do it, do it yourself.
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    edited February 2013

    If people feel like it is so important to go to church and hang out with christians, dont ask others to do it, do it yourself.

    I do. :cool:


    But I go to a United church more often than any other denomination, so it doesn't really count :lol:
    BhanteLucky
  • karastikarasti Breathing Minnesota Moderator
    @Nirvana and it is your responsibility to make sure you are conveying what you truly mean in the best words possible. Because in text, that is all we have. We don't have the benefit of knowing each other to assume what you mean, or tone, body language and other such things. You can't assume because you understand words one way, that others understand them the same, especially if the definition of the word is different from your use of the word.
    vinlynblu3reeInvincible_summerMaryAnne
  • DaftChrisDaftChris Spiritually conflicted. Not of this world. Veteran
    edited February 2013

    If people feel like it is so important to go to church and hang out with christians, dont ask others to do it, do it yourself.

    I go to a Unitarian Universlaist church. Does that count? :D


    Invincible_summer
  • I feel the original poster of this thread was kind.
    Unlike Christians who require a slap in the face and continual cheek turning, I make judgements and karma on when to slap and when to tickle . . .
    Hysterical Christians need a slap. The calmer tend to be kinder. :coffee:
    BhanteLucky
  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    blu3ree said:

    Genesis 2 16-17: and the lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

    I believe this references a middle way being possible.

    I love it! I think your right on!

    :bowdown:
  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    @trendybuddha- It's good your trying to be a bodhisattva and your also right that being a good buddhist and following the noble 8 doesn't entail being a doormat.
    All the best to you,
    Todd
    Invincible_summerriverflow
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