Comments on: Committing Yourself to Christ

By: Best Of Pop Occulture (Classic Era) - [tmbchr]â„¢

Best Of Pop Occulture (Classic Era) - [tmbchr]â„¢ — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:56:59 +0000

[...] COMMITTING YOURSELF TO CHRIST [...]

By: Tim Boucher

Tim Boucher — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 02:31:32 +0000

Yeah good call, Kylark. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I first read that comment…

If he were touching you “down there” would you let him?

Hehe. My god doesn’t molest me, so I think I’ll keep searching.

By: Kylark

Kylark — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 02:18:59 +0000

Well said alistair.

By: Kylark

Kylark — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 02:17:23 +0000

If he were your boss, would you respect him? If he were president, would you praise him?

Vomit. There are so many assumptions here… I wonder if Christians even realize that it is statements like this that subtly turn people off.

would you bow down before him, as he stroked your head to let you know everything would be alright

That sounds vaguely gross.

first put all arrogance aside, even if youâ€™re six, and understand, particularly if you are trying to reach a spiritual epiphany, that god exists.

It’s not arrogance. It’s sincere questioning. It’s not enough to merely be *told* that god exists. Why should I believe you? Why should anyone’s teenage daughter believe you? The best you or anyone can do is show people the tools to know god, and live a good example in your own life. The rest is up to them.

By: alistair

alistair — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 03:19:20 +0000

arrogance is what will save a young spirit from the rabbit hole. yep, read scriptures but read alan watts too, and carl jung and some nlp and some r.a.wilson and some christopher hitchens…. but once you have lived a little, owned a car, been employed or had a business of your own. the idea of ideology is that it wants followers. see what the world of christians is doing for it`s self and see if you then want to be part of that game. the jesuits are fond of saying that if you will give me your child before the age of seven they will have them for life. that`s a good thing? i don`t believe most children have much chance in the face of such perverse determination to claim a mind. if any other institution made such a bold and public claim there would be suspicion as to the motives of the organisation.
it is clear that western religion is about behaviour and dogma more than about consciousness and well being. the scriptures are king jameses version……it says version right in the name fer christ`s sake…… of what jesus was saying. what jesus was on about was that the kingdom of heaven was in all of us when we decide. the kingdom of heaven was and still is in our minds. that`s why jesus himself was accused of blashemy and was put on trial.he said we are all the sons of god, the same as he was. he was giving the francise away. what his motives were, i don`t know, it eventually caught up with him and the romans tacked him up for the crows. the words do come through though, unless you get around absolute word of god types who are going to heave dogma at you until you relent and start saying things like “i`m a sinner” or “i`m not worthy” or ” if i don`t repent i`ll go to hell” . nice to see that there are those who care enough about our wellbeing that those are the thoughts that they want rattling around in the minds of our young.
the spanish catholics 400 years ago were so convinced that we must accept jesus as our saviour that if we didn`t accept the dogma we could be burned at the stake. these people actually believed that they we saving souls from eternal damnation and acted with the conviction of emergency ward surgeons trying to save a critically injured patient. some haven`t got too far from that position today, truth be known.

By: Seamster

Seamster — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:11:04 +0000

Very simple:

first put all arrogance aside, even if you’re six, and understand, particularly if you are trying to reach a spiritual epiphany, that god exists. That should be nearly enough.

Next, read the Gospels. What does the King say about you, heaven, earth, god? How do you relate to Jesus’ teachings? If he were your boss, would you respect him? If he were president, would you praise him? If he were a way, or THE way, to god would you bow down before him, as he stroked your head to let you know everything would be alright, as your savior from life’s turmoils and hell?

If yes, the give your heart and be obedient, if not, keep searching.

By: McCoy

McCoy — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 05:52:39 +0000

My advice to the young lady is this: Learn the scriptures inside and out. Pick passages and quotes out to justify, and validate your own beliefs. Use the vast recourses of the Bible as a means to an end, that end is self-empowerment, whether you believe in Jesus or not. Throughout this process you will find where you stand, and you will stand with confidence.

By: alistair

alistair — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 01:12:18 +0000

no, the dogma of engineering principles or math is fine. metrics are for measurement. but, come on, the absolute word of god?

By: Tim Boucher

Tim Boucher — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 21:18:31 +0000

I don’t really know that dogma is always bad, nor do I think that’s a totally fair assessment of east/west religion. What’s Confucianism for example? It’s nothing but dogma.

By: alistair

alistair — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 21:16:29 +0000

alan watts claified something for me a minute ago. he said that eastern religion and psychology are interested in changes in consciousness, whereas western religion is interested in dogma and behaviour and rules. a person seeking or being asked to take western religion into thier lives should be aware of the distinction.

By: rev max

rev max — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 21:10:04 +0000

Experiment with drugs and sex first

By: bill

bill — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 20:38:04 +0000

In my middle age I’m still unsure of what I believe. I wrote a post about it today, coincidentally. You were right on to tell her that seeking is normal and good. It’s those who neglect to look themselves in the mirror occasionally, who forget who they are and who have the most difficulty making good decisions.
As a parent, my own struggles affect the answers I give my kids about God, faith and religion. But I figure that the most and best I can do is to encourage in them a sense of awe and discovery, give them access to good stuff while protecting them from bad stuff, and then let the Spirit lead them. If I’m ultimately wrong and there is no such thing as God and Spirit, then they will have made their own choice and I will have failed at mine without forcing failure on them.

Make any sense?

By: alistair

alistair — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:44:09 +0000

church is a social sorting mechanism. this young girls parents want her to have access to thier group. by future pacing ideas such as getting married in the faith, etc. you can see agendas.the parents didn`t give much clue as to why they want thier child in thier faith so it`s difficult to know where thier arguements lie. the girl will be negotiating her spiritual freedom whith her parents until the cows come home unfortunately. this is the hypocracy of superficial church teachings that people aren`t even equipped to be reasonable with thier child. the parents have a totalitarian approach to getting her bum on the plank, full stop. no more thought. mind control.
i went through that with my dad over catholicism. i was laughing at him, actually. i couldn`t understand how a scientist who spoke five languages and played with calculus for fun would buy such utter bullshit pushed by the creepiest of people imaginable. he wanted the church to do his job for him. i lost respect for him at that point. i was six.

By: scott rassbach

scott rassbach — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 17:20:04 +0000

I went through the same exact thing with confirmation in the RCC, but it was “I don’t know if I’m ready yet.” I got a speech from my dad about how it would make my mom happy, so I did it. Not sad I did, but I wish I’d been given my time to reconcile the church with the hierarchy. Now, I just don’t care, and am taking a similar but different path.

Advice…Hmmm…

To thine own self be true.

By: Kylark

Kylark — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 17:03:18 +0000

This is really a tricky problem; religion is the one area of our life where we’re supposed to be utterly sincere; so because of this expectation of sincerity and holiness, to have to go to church and mouth words you don’t believe in feels like the worst kind of lie.

My advice would be don’t try to “force” yourself to believe. To do so can sow seeds of insincerity that will ultimately be damaging to your integrity and sense of self. Think of the New Testament as a book of philosophy and wisdom and read it for what speaks to you. Try to cultivate an attitude of openness and observation. If you seek the Spirit, it will eventually come to you. However, dogmatic “faith” is, in my opinion, a hindrance to direct connection with the Divine.

Maybe she could tell her parents that she is trying to seek God in her own way, and doesn’t want to tell a lie in the meantime? She could ask her parents what’s more important, doctrine or a true relationship with Jesus. It’s hard to tell from the brief excerpt here, but it sounds like their church might be of the evangelical stripe. There is a lot of beauty and power in some Evengelical faiths, but they do tend to have a fixation on winning souls and getting people to recite the phrase “I accept Jesus Christ into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior.”