Posted by Michael83 on February 22, 2007, at 16:53:03 [reposted on February 23, 2007, at 11:25:09 | original URL]
In reply to Re: little by little - okay I'm back » Michael83, posted by madeline on February 22, 2007, at 6:59:11
But someone like me, who cannot believe because of the way I think, am to be punished for this?
Clearly the Bible states non-believers are not included in the "eternal salvation" plan.
So I'm punished for something beyond my control. Is this a fair system?
Let me tell you what separates me from so many other people, religious or even non-religious people. When I think about a belief system or any sort of ideology about mankind, I don't just think "how does it effect me?" I think of all possible situations for all possible types of people to judge whether or not it's valid.
I think of the person born and raised in another culture. Is a Buddhist born and raised in China to blame for not accepting Jesus? Or the Hindu in India? Or the Muslim in Jordan? The impact of the idea of Jesus has much less effect on them because it's not the primary way of thinking.
Is a man whose mind it intensely logical and because of this cannot make the leap of faith to blame?
I could go on and go, listing hundreds and thousands of different kinds of people throughout the world and thinking "what is it like from their perspective?"
It's so easy for religious people to pound "it's a choice! it's a choice!" But the fact is it's not. Biological factors, psychological conditioning, cultural factors are all huge players in this and any system that expects everyone to believe in one certain thing is bound to have good people who deserve heaven fall through the cracks. And no perfect God would create an imperfect system.
If there is any shred of truth to Christianity, the only possible way could be through John Marks Templeton (one religious person I admire greatly for his humility in religious matters) ideas, where although he is a Christian and once was even a minister, he believes God reveals himself in many different forms to many different people throughout the world and throughout history. Anything else leads to an unjust system, in my opinion.
poster:Michael83
thread:735360
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20070223/msgs/735360.html