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But that is disrespecting the belief systems of others.
As a Thai person I can choose to be loving and serve my fellow human beings. It has nothing to do with Jesus.
I think there may be some miscommunication here. I don't intend any disrespect.
1. I wouldn't try to make it about Jesus the historical figure for you. Nor would I purposefully try to rub your face in Jesus the historical figure.
2. In my mindset, anyone who seeks to serve others and ameliorate the suffering of others is already "believing" in Jesus through my point of view anyways - even if that isn't that person's definition of Jesus or their reality. It is about perspective.
That doesn't mean that I would call a Buddhist who loves and serves others a Christian or a Jesus follower, but to me if that Buddhist is already doing what Jesus wants....loving and serving others...then there is no need to proselytize anyone who is already loving and serving others...no matter their faith or lack there of...Jesus praised the good deeds of all people regardless of religion.
3. I imagine my perspective on Jesus is a lot different than yours. We probably both define Jesus differently. We both probably experience Jesus differently.
I can't tell you that your perspective is wrong. I can't even tell you that your perspective is not reasonable.
To me, proper proselytizing is not forcing or even politely trying to get people to become "Christians," but rather proselytizing is trying to get people to love and serve their fellow human beings by being a good example yourself outside of religion. I think one can proselytize for Jesus without ever mentioning his name or trying to convert them to "Christianity" or the "Society of Friends."
4. I believe that God interacts with people through truths in other religions and belief systems too. Christianity isn't necessarily better or worse than Buddhism. It is just a different interaction with God. One shouldn't judge Christians as a group, but rather the individuals and their actions and some Christians may go astray too often.
P.S. That is cool that you are Thai, I see you live in Arizona, but Thailand has an honorable healthcare system that helps all. That is what I call serving and loving your neighbors. I am a mut...mostly Swedish, French, then some Swiss, Austrian, and Welsh!
I think there may be some miscommunication here. I don't intend any disrespect.
1. I wouldn't try to make it about Jesus the historical figure for you. Nor would I purposefully try to rub your face in Jesus the historical figure.
2. In my mindset, anyone who seeks to serve others and ameliorate the suffering of others is already "believing" in Jesus through my point of view anyways - even if that isn't that person's definition of Jesus or their reality. It is about perspective.
That doesn't mean that I would call a Buddhist who loves and serves others a Christian or a Jesus follower, but to me if that Buddhist is already doing what Jesus wants....loving and serving others...then there is no need to proselytize anyone who is already loving and serving others...no matter their faith or lack there of...Jesus praised the good deeds of all people regardless of religion.
3. I imagine my perspective on Jesus is a lot different than yours. We probably both define Jesus differently. We both probably experience Jesus differently.
I can't tell you that your perspective is wrong. I can't even tell you that your perspective is not reasonable.
To me, proper proselytizing is not forcing or even politely trying to get people to become "Christians," but rather proselytizing is trying to get people to love and serve their fellow human beings by being a good example yourself outside of religion. I think one can proselytize for Jesus without ever mentioning his name or trying to convert them to "Christianity" or the "Society of Friends."
4. I believe that God interacts with people through truths in other religions and belief systems too. Christianity isn't necessarily better or worse than Buddhism. It is just a different interaction with God. One shouldn't judge Christians as a group, but rather the individuals and their actions and some Christians may go astray too often.
P.S. That is cool that you are Thai, I see you live in Arizona, but Thailand has an honorable healthcare system that helps all. That is what I call serving and loving your neighbors. I am a mut...mostly Swedish, French, then some Swiss, Austrian, and Welsh!
Actually, I incorrectly typed that. I am American, but Thai (Theravada) Buddhist.
However, you are totally missing the point in your response part 2. Very disappointing.
Actually, I incorrectly typed that. I am American, but Thai (Theravada) Buddhist.
However, you are totally missing the point in your response part 2. Very disappointing.
She made the same point that Paul did that those who do by nature what the law commands are a law unto themselves showing the law written in their hearts.
She made the same point that Paul did that those who do by nature what the law commands are a law unto themselves showing the law written in their hearts.
I don't care how a Buddhist, or Hindu, or atheist behaves. They are not behaving that way because they are incorporating Jesus into their decision making processes. Stop trying to co-opt the belief systems of others who are not like you.
I don't care how a Buddhist, or Hindu, or atheist behaves. They are not behaving that way because they are incorporating Jesus into their decision making processes. Stop trying to co-opt the belief systems of others who are not like you.
I am not trying to co-opt anything. You forget that I encountered a consciousness that matches that attributed to Jesus. I believe that consciousness is within everyone and capable of influencing those who are receptive. It has nothing to do with religion or co-opting.
It would be so easy for me to just stop believing there is a God were it not for this pesky detail:
"The 2010 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica contains 32 volumes, 50 million words and 300 million characters. It requires roughly 1 gigabyte (GB) of disk space to store. A single byte (or 8 bits) can represent 4 DNA base pairs. In order to represent the entire diploid human genome in terms of bytes, we can perform the following calculations: 6×10^9 base pairs/diploid genome x 1 byte/4 base pairs = 1.5×10^9 bytes or 1.5 Gigabytes, about 2 CDs worth of space!"
I hope you got that. The human genome could hold the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and still have room left over for another half of the set. To my mind this kind of gigantic organization of coded information could not have come about by accident. The odds of something like that happening on its own are so infinitesimal as to render the number virtually incapable of being written out.
A single Byte can store 256 values, so you are only using 4 bits (GC,TA,AT or CG) but ignoring the remaining possible 252 values. A byte can store 64 base pairs in a sequence, not 1.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrillobyte
So I personally can accept there is a Higher Intelligence out there and I can even accept that this Intelligence operates on a morality totally different from ours, but I cannot accept that this Intelligence chooses to foist its warped sense of morality on we who have to suffer under its pernicious set of evil laws.
So I may believe in God but I am under no obligation morally, religiously or otherwise to acknowledge Him or to hold Him in anything other than complete and total indifference. I think by that definition it makes me an atheist who believes in an evil God, strange as that may sound.
That does sound strange. If you believe a god may exist, then that would mean you believe if a god exists, it must be evil, not that you do believe in an evil god. But an evil god would just be one option, this god may not know we exist, it may not care, or it may not have the power to help.
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