Satanism

[Chewbacca]

Yorrick,draw whatever conclusions you wish on your journey. It is your own after all.

Christians do not follow Christ because of what he taught, but becasue of what he DID. His death and ressurection are the cause of our love and devotion, not his teachings. Yes they help us, and guide us, but we believe we have an ongoing relationship with Christ.

Umm I never said I followed the teachings of Christ or Budda for that matter. Religion to me IS about the practicing of it. You cannot deny me the timeless Joy, infinite love, and powerful peace of Christs presence within myself eveyday any more than I could deny you the clarity, wisdom, and fullfilment of being just being present and aware. I simply choose to expirience both.

You have no idea what religious practices I take part in for I havent really diclosed much information about my practices.Perhaps connecting the dots is difficult with what little I have disclosed. Anyhoo if you would like to offer any more opinions or have any problems on my "religion", just remember that beliefs are neither fact nor opinion. My thoughts, feelings, and actions relating to spiritual practice are way different than you think. Some of the thoughts I have shared. Take those as you wish. Its enough said about your opinion on my beliefs. I took that risk when I decided to share a little.

Believe what ever you wish, but when you make generalizations about religious beliefs that are not your own, you set yourself up for critism. It is total your own decision to study and then renounce buddism. Thats great, why go telling everybody its this and that. You may have interpreted the loss of ego as the permanent destruction and end of the "self", others have considered this to be "buddas message", but as I plainly stated there is an alternative view from WITHIN the diverse realm of buddist thought. An ongoing process of spiritual evolution. Compassion as a guide for behavior. Enjoying having and being as much as seeking and doing. Being connected to the spiritual. You must have missed these buddist teachings during your study.

I rejected organized religion. I prefer an distinctly individual expirience. I wont try to discredit the entire faiths built around expanding the flock and controlling poeple. I have already posted about religious ego. If the majority of those practioners are fine and can find meaningful spirtual growth within thier individual cultures framework, Great. thats the measure I judge religion upon. If not, well, time will always tell.

Im done here. Im glad I could share about my expirience of satanism, shamanism, and buddism, with a little christian in the mix as well. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Yorick]

Fair enough Chewbacca. I'm sorry if I offended you. Have a nice day. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Daniel_M]

Originally posted by Yorick: Fair enough Chewbacca. I'm sorry if I offended you. Have a nice day. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Oh, nothing more to say

[the sauceman]

Sauceman says, "its time for a new thread, oohhhhh, yeah!"

[caleb]

Duffman seconds that OH YEA!!!

[Barenziahlover]

Originally posted by Absynthe: quote: Originally posted by Neb: L. Ron Hubbard? Isn't that that Scientology person? The founder or something?

That's the man, officer!
He was also a sometime science-fiction writer. I've read a few of his books, and they're rife with his rather simplistic theories on human behavior. I can't really find any respect for him as a writer or as a student of human behavior, but his organization sure pulls in the cash...[/QUOTE]The movie they make base on his first book bomb out at box office. They sent over 200 million dollars makeing it than it only gross 80 million dollar so far even counting the oversea market. The critic where too afraid to say anything bad about the moive but the public wasnot afraid
to stay away from moive.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

My sincere apologies to sauceman and Caleb for continuing this thread, but I had promised a response to some earlier Posts and am just now finding the time to honor that promise.

Originally posted by Melusine: Cerek, could you perhaps elaborate a little on what you consider sin? We talked about sincere repentance of sins, but what do we consider a sin? Obviously (obvious to me at least), we cannot take the Bible (or the O.T.) as a literary and conclusive list as to what sin is, and obviously there are widely divergent opinions on sin among the different branches of the Christian Church. I realise that because of the latter fact, I've just opened a big can of worms But let's say therefore that I'm just asking your personal definition of the nature of sin. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Sorry for the long delay in responding, Melusine. I'm afraid real life has been intruding on my time (albeit in a very pleasant manner).

Now to the question, "What is sin?"

The obvious starting point are the 10 Commandments. These were laws handed down directly from God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Some of them have remained constant through modern times (stealing, killing, and adultery are still criminal offenses), the importance of others has been reduced by society (most notably, honoring the Sabbath). I believe most Christians would agree that the Commandments are to be adhered to and that is also my personal starting point for defining "sin".

However, there are numerous other examples of actions, thoughts, or deeds throughout the Bible that are displeasing to God. These examples (and God's displeasure with them) are listed as a reference for Christians to use in determining how to conduct themselves in a manner that pleases God.

Finally, the Holy Spirit guides each individual on a daily basis. This is the 3rd part of the Holy Trinity and it is the spiritual aspect of God that indwells within each believer to guide their actions on a daily basis. This is also what leads to such a wide variety of actions that are considered "sinful" by Christians.

God has set down some absolute laws He expects all of us to follow (the Commandments). But there are other actions that some Christians consider sinful and others don't (like drinking beer for instance). What accounts for this discrepancy? The Holy Spirit!

God has a specific purpose for every single believer. Therefore, there are going to be some actions that are "OK" for one person, but not another, because it interferes with God's plan for the second person.

Alcohol is a good example. I personally don't see anything wrong with drinking in moderation, but the same rule would not apply to an alcoholic because they can't control their dependency or desire for it. That doesn't mean that alcohol itself is bad, just that it isn't wise for some people to drink it.

ANYTHING taken to excess is sinful. I heard a very good preacher give a sermon in a large church that was undergoing renovation and new construction. He commented on how beautiful the building was, but then warned the congregation not to get carried away with the importance of the construction. As he told them, Satan will let them build the biggest, prettiest church in the entire city - as long as THAT is more important than winning souls to Christ. So even a "good" thing can be sinful if taken to an extreme.

The aforementioned tele-evangelists are a PERFECT example of Religion taken to an extreme. Most of those guys have substituted God's vision of thier ministry with their own, so they end up serving themselves rather than God. And they give Christianity a big black eye in the process.

From my own experience, God directed me to quit playing PnP AD&D, because I was spending more time playing the game than I was in serving Him. Some of my gaming friends are also strong Christians, but they have no problem with continuing to play. That's because there is nothing wrong with AD&D itself, but God did not wanted ME to give the game up because it had become too important in my life.

This also addresses what Yorick was talking about in his example with the stockbroker. Our society DOES "worship" money and material things too highly. God's 1st Commandment is THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GOD BEFORE ME. This means that God is supposed to be THE most important thing in the life of a Christian. ANYTHING else that becomes more important to us is a "false god". It could be money, a prestigious job, a super-sports car, the "right" house, etc.

It could also include Christians wanting to have "the biggest church in town" or "the most widely watched televangelical program".

That's a brief overview of a very complex issue. I hope my explanation helps somewhat.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: And another thing...I work in the heart of Boston, The amount of wackos passing out doomsday material and "be saved or burn" literature is down right funny. Today alone in Downtown Crossing: The jehovahs witnesses, hari krishnas, baptist preachers, a crazy guy wearing a body sign with a picture of an aborted fetus on it, another crazy guy reading out of the bible in the middle of the street at the top of his lungs! Another guy offering the gosepel, his feet littered with pamplets that peoele refuse when he lunged it at them, hehehe! All of them wasting thier time as far as I'm concerned. There nothing wrong with the religions on the whole, just some of the "practioners".

This is an EXCELLENT point, Chewbacca.

I see so many Christians yelling at the top of thier lungs that "sinners are going to burn in Hell" and then they get angry when people mock them. But honostly, do they really think this is the kind of message that non-beleivers are going to listen to.

As Yorick pointed out, Jesus NEVER preached like that. He emphasized God's love for believers and non-believers alike. Unfortunately, Christians sometimes forget that THEY are also sinners and it is only by God's Grace that they aren't going to burn in Hell.

Christians should be able to respect the person even if they disagree with their beliefs. Mutual respect is the key that opens the door to civil discussion. It also increases the chances that the other person will listen to your viewpoint an open mind.

Fear is only a temporary motivator. Love and respect endure.

[Bad Mr. Frosty]

You are all going straight to hell....

hehe.....

[The Hunter of Jahanna]

Speaking of the 10 comandments , wasnt Mary Saint Josephs WIFE?? So by god makeing her pregnant with Jesus he was commiting adultery with another mans wife!! What a great example he was setting. Who would have though that god would have such a hard time getting his own chicks.Also look at the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment. I can think of several times in the bible that god did exactly that. There was the great flood,kiling the first born and also there was that red sea trick when he dropped it on the pharos men. I guess that comandment only applies to kiling christians.If god does it or if man does it , KILING IS KILLING! If God is going to go around claiming that he is a supreme being and handing down commandments to us lowly mortals he should at least make an effort to follow them himself. Hipocracy is SO unflattering.

[ 05-28-2002, 08:57 AM: Message edited by: The Hunter of Jahanna ]