Religion and stuff like that.

[butterfly]

One of the points brought up in the Non-Religious and Proud of it thread is the inability of most religious people to keep their noses out of it.

Even those of us, who like me don't post or try covert anyone, still read it. Why?

Part of the Christian religion is about conversion. It's right there in the Bible: Matthew 28:18-20. In my version(Contemporary English Version), it reads:
And Jesus came, and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Part of it is that bubbling urge to share this love, this wonderful thing that you've discovered that makes you feel alive. I want to share my Christianity for the same reason that I want people to know that I love Buffy and *NSYNC - they are all things that make me happy.

Now, I'm someone who doesn't try to convert people. Most people online probably aren't aware that I'm a Christian(Evangelical Lutheran) or, if they do, they don't know how firm and full my faith is. I've felt God in my life. I've had prayers answered.

No matter how dark it gets, I've never stopped believing. I've questioned but underneath, there was always this... unexplainable certainty.

I don't share this the way I share my Buffy love or *NSYNC love. Anyone who's talked to me on the MBTV boards can probably tell you that I love them. Most of them wouldn't know how I feel about God.

I know that they don't want to know. It hurts, sometimes, not sharing such a huge part of myself. But I don't want to push anyone anyway and talk of religion does that.

I wish that people could just talk about it. I'm fairly interested in other people's view of what religion is and what they do and don't know. But it seems like that if you say that you're a Christian, you get painted with this intolerant, pushy brush. Or paint, I guess. I think that my metaphor just confused me.

Anyway.

I wear a cross necklace fairly often. I plan to keep wearing it. It's simple but pretty. I'm fond of it. It's on an almost choker-length chain. This is the only external sign of my beliefs.

Because, in the end, no matter how important something is to me, I can't make it important to someone else.

My mom will never like *NSYNC.
My brother will never like Buffy.
And you can't make anyone to believe in something that they don't.

Just because these things make me happy, doesn't mean that they can make other people happy, no matter how much I wish that they could.

Comments

[walkawayslowly.livejournal.com]

You know. Thank you. Just. Thank you. I'm a Christian and I have posted about it, but I'm not trying to convert anyone. Recently it's just been me attempting to work things out in my own head.

I don't actively try to convert people. It's not something I'm comfortable with. But somebody way cooler than me said that you don't have to use words to preach the Gospel. And that's really what I try to do. Most of the time.

I can't really be termed intolerant though. I don't think. I mean, look at me. I write and read about puppy love. That's something my church doesn't believe in. And I'm still working out those issues, but I don't believe homosexuality is wrong either. Because, you know, I probably wouldn't read and write it if I did. :)

I wear a cross daily. I feel naked without it. I have a couple different ones that I switch around as the mood strikes me. I also have a pendant with the greek letters alpha and omega. "The beginning and the end." I like that one.

And you're right, you can't make anyone believe in something they don't. Or don't want to. The most I can do is love them for who they are, and appreciate them in all their complexity.

[polichinelle.livejournal.com]

I can't really be termed intolerant though. I don't think. I mean, look at me. I write and read about puppy love. That's something my church doesn't believe in. And I'm still working out those issues, but I don't believe homosexuality is wrong either. Because, you know, I probably wouldn't read and write it if I did. :)

This is so weird, because my roommates and I were having a discussion about this last night. I too am a Christian and feel exactly as you do. It's weird trying to find out how my slash life fits into my religious life. Sometimes I feel like the biggest hypocrite in the world. *sigh*

But, Diana, thank you so much for posting what you did. It was beautiful, and said exactly how I feel more eloquently than I ever could.

Re:

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I just started reading the book A Case For Faith, which was written by someone who started out as an atheist.

One passage that I read that struck me is a section of the author's interview with Dr. Peter John Kreeft:
Atheism is cheap on people because it snobbishly says that nine out of ten people throughout history have been wrong about God and have had a lie at the core of their hearts.
Think about that. How is it possibly that over ninety percent of all the human beings who have ever lived - usually in far more painful circumstances than we - could believe in God? The objective evidence, just looking at the balance of pleasure and suffering in the world, would not seem to justify believing in an absolutely good God. Yet this has been almost universally believed.
Are they all crazy? Well, I suppose you can believe that if you're a bit of an elitist.

Later on, he(Kreeft) says:
So atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning?

It's a fascinating book.

Re:

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

It's weird trying to find out how my slash life fits into my religious life. Sometimes I feel like the biggest hypocrite in the world. *sigh*

Oddly enough, I've never had a problem with this. Because to me, God is love. And I can't believe that God would punish anyone for loving.

And I just got called eloquent. Wow. I'm so proud of me.

[polichinelle.livejournal.com]

Because to me, God is love. And I can't believe that God would punish anyone for loving.

That's always been my reasoning, too! But then there are parts in the Bible that, you know, condemn it. So, yeah. Rock...hard place...ME. But it's good to know I'm not alone! :)