Can you point out the circular questioning you referenced in these two? These are the two you quoted, also. Always trying to learn, here. Awkward position in my life? And you label me as questioning with a circular reference? That's rich. I guess it's OK for some of you to label us as in awkward positions in our lives.....or, our belief systems are just "sad".....because we refuse to climb into your boxes??? I'll ask you too, then, BC. Is this the way you think God wants you to bear witness?
Any Christian that says he 110% faith, I will say is less than honest. I wrestle with Christian doctrine daily. Sometimes my faith is strong, hense tested and reliable. I see and hear God's message everywhere. Sometimes, its weak, I question things. Its just the walk of the Christian. So when you refer to those who are pushy, your saying those who don't listen to your beliefs? Am I correct? Usually thats how it goes.
I don't think anyone is in a position to force you to believe something. Even in the Islamic countries you are free to believe what you wish. Of course you have to publicly profess "belief" in the prevailing doctrines in order to avoid being stoned, but you can believe privately whatever you wish. I do feel a little sad for people who hold on to their faith out of fear of some sort of eternal punishment if they deviate from it. Of course this also requires informing other people that they will suffer some sort of eternal punishment if they don't share this particular belief structure. Anyone who refuses to go along is a challenge to their feelings of security. May The Sheep Be With You
Sometimes, I think and thought you are here to actually learn. But others, not so sure. An example of endless questioning, would be the first few pages with the dialogue between you and I. Several questions, answered to you as complete as possible, seems when you run out of questions, you switch gears to either someone else or another tangent. Its not ok to label you anything. It gets not "ok" as you say, when no matter what or how someone explains it to you, you continue with the endless circular questioning. Maybe, I am wrong, maybe you know 100% who you are, and what you believe. But when I say awkward, I am meaning toward your believes on spirituality, God, savior, etc. I am not sure if its rich or not, but I thought you made it clear, that you were kinda shakey on your believe system and looking for answers. A Christian is always awkward, as its faith based. But one cannot belong to the world and God at the same time. And you have seen my posts in the past and maybe even present. I have tried to serve both. And I have yet to find a way too.
You're missing the point of my original statement. It was nothing more than a rhetorical question because your statement can equally be applied to science and religion. No. Please reread my last post regarding this. It's not that difficult as one should be able to discern when someone is pushy or not.
Again, it's not a matter of "forcing" someone to beliefs with what I stated. What I'm saying is that if one person disagrees with another's beliefs, there's two ways to handle it: 1) Accept whom the person is for their beliefs and let them be. 2) Continuously badger and belittle them by saying their beliefs are stupid, wrong, childish, inconceivable, confusing, etc. I've seen this happen primarily between Christian and Atheist/Agnostic people. Though, lately it seems Christians are starting to go after Muslim/Islam. People just need to accept the fact that others may have opposing views and that it's whom and how they are. Most times, continuing to badger, or belittle, another person's beliefs will not convert said person and will in fact turn them away more often than not.
Not really, what I notice is most people do not like someone's confidence. Especially athiest, I notice. One time I was over in the middle east, and the taxi driver and I had a conversation. Its not uncommon for people to ask you if your a zionist or a Christian. Little awkward the first few times. He started telling me how they are different. I learned a trick from a preacher who ministered there, and I started explaining how we are alike. Started talking of the kingdom, and then Jesus Christ. He said Jesus was coming back, I nodded and agreed. He was amazed how alike our thoughts were and was unaware of Christian beliefs. Point I am getting at, is my grandmother was correct when she said, "it takes two to argue". So, when you say someone is pushy, it might go both ways.
You keep saying circular questioning. Is this the new buzz phrase. Do you know what it means? If you know, I'll ask you again to point out an example. What I try to interject in conversations such as these is........I don't think people who are SO entrenched in their beliefs .......have a clue as to what might be possible. They put God in some define-able box and think the translated Bible has an answer (here's the key) that they can comprehend. It's OK to answer a question with....."I have no idea. With God, anything's possible". It really is. You can also admit when the concept of God has exceeded your ability to process it. I admit it. The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth. - Pierre Abelar The wise teacher does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom, rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. - Kahlil Gibran I do not want the peace that passeth understanding. I want the understanding which bringeth peace. - Helen Keller
Don't confuse confidence with arrogance. There's many in all religions, as well as those whom don't believe, that are extremely arrogant. Those whom are confident are accepting of the fact that there are those whom hold different beliefs and will accept those differences. Those whom are arrogant are the ones which are pushy. As for me, I've always been saying that I've seen it from many different angles. I have yet to push my beliefs on anyone, and never will. If you've seen otherwise with my couple of posts, please feel free to point them out.
BTW BC.... An example of a circular reference would be............ "Do your in-laws know you hit their daughter"?
Good thing circluar reference isn't the same thing as circlular arguements. We all might be in trouble. A good example for you, would be the classic "Who is on first, thought you said who is on second". Or another favorite is the cheech and chong, "where's Dave, hey its Dave"
Nope. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This person probably lived a miserable life. (if in fact they never chanced to experience that peace which passeth all understanding) I would even venture to say they probably suffered a miserable death as well. He looks like you Jeff. You were created in His image. (if you believe that)
Crystal clear, now, Bobby. Crystal! I'm joking. Some things can't be answered/comprehended. I'm OK with that. I can't understand why everyone isn't.....why everything that threatens their belief system must be compartmentalized into something tidy that they can dismiss.
Ok. Look back to this post and see where you pointed out a false dichotomy. I explained my position clearly, as I could. After all that, you come back to false dichotomy. Where there was no dilemma in the first place. . "Who's on first, then who is on second?", "dave who's dave?, It's Dave, Dave's not here, hey dave". On and on it goes
