Posted by simus on February 22, 2006, at 14:12:42
In reply to Lynn, An answer. Long., posted by deirdrehbrt on February 20, 2006, at 14:53:13
> In studying, I've found that Christianity has completely misrepresented the faiths of the lands and peoples which they conquered through military might. Then, they systematically destroyed as many records as possible of those faiths. Thousands and thousands of pagan people, Native Americans and Europeans were killed when they wouldn't adopt Christianity.
As a Christian, I feel it is a shame when people wear the label of "Christian" (which is simply a follower of Jesus Christ), then act nothing like Jesus Christ acted. But to judge Christianity based on what some extremely errant people did would be a mistake. I am an American, and many Americans in the past engaged in the vile practice of slavery, but I would hope that people of other countries wouldn't judge all Americans to be heartless and cruel based on what some of our ancestors did.
> I found that I couldn't adopt the Christian viewpoint that billions of people were put on this earth for no other purpose than to suffer for eternity in Hell.
This is not the Christian viewpoint. In fact, it is actually polar opposite from the Christian viewpoint. I'm terribly sorry that someone led you to believe this. Matthew 18:14 states: "It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." There is verse after verse in the Bible that speaks of God's love for all people.
I'm truly sorry that you have run across some people in the past who were poor examples of what Christianity is. Please forgive us.
poster:simus
thread:611474
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20051105/msgs/612095.html