Aren't those other ideas all based off of one idea - that death is the end? Regardless, just pretend I didn't say existentialism if that makes my point more clear. Are you serious? Why are they wrong, yet you are right?
So, christians are not bound by the 10 commandments... The only thing that makes a christian a christian is his faith in jesus/god? I mean, it just seems like that faith doesn't necessarily require any particular acts/action. So in that sense, I could be a serial killer, yet a Christian at the same time... right?
Sure! If you believe that true belief in Jesus doesn't change people at all, and faith is just a statement of belief in a deity. Even the demons know that there is one God and one Christ. Faith without works is dead, but works don't produce, equal, merit, or even indicate faith.
of course he is serious, are you suprised? thats what religions are, answers, correct ones. who is he to escape the crushing indoctrination of his region of birth? and i don't mean that disrespectfully, i mean to say that society hardly gives anyone a chance to think anyhting different. cparso, you mentioned that your dad is not a religious fanatic. my family is similar. i figure it is at least some dumb luck on our parts that you and i are not as confident about religion as supafan. the power of what you can tell people when they are young is amazing. seriously, i think you could trick a kid into believing almost anything for life if you brainwashed him properly. it took me 10 years to convince one of my friends that his catholicism was a stupid charade, and his parents arent even that hardcore. and he still felt really guilty and pretends like he is religious when his parents are around so they wont hate him.
It's tough to tell when people are being serious on the internet. There's no inflection or emotions. I never lived with my dad. My mom (and the rest of my far family) was very religious & took me to church every Sunday for years. She even tried to get me to go through conformation (pun intended). As a kid you are niave enough to believe anything your parents tell you. Hell, we still tell our kids that Santa brings them presents by flying all around the world in one night behind reindeer. How people go their whole lives without questioning that is what shocks me.
I'm not saying that it doesn't change people at all, just that there's no set way of how it should change people if the 10 commandments doesn't apply to Christians. Basically, your actions are based upon your interpretion of your faith in Jesus (according to you/the bible), right?
This is what I was getting at, thank you. I agree to a point, but I think that both definitions exist. Certainly there are those who live by a Judeo-Christian morality and have faith in it without the need for banding together in a religious group. I also believe that one can live by a Judeo-Christian morality without blind adherence to ancient religious myths, without the intercession of shamans and holy men, and without the veneration of idols, holy objects, and holy books. No beads, rattles, or incantations are required. But to many, Christianity is exactly what you mention above. Church attendance, tithing, dogma, rituals, and increasingly . . . fundamentalist literal doctrine. One man's enlightenment is often another man's heresy.
What is this truth you speak of? I listed four known facts and you say I cannot see. You don't refute them with any other facts, so you attempt to discredit the observer. Who is being blind here?
Check the image below. Young feller, you will see a lot of this in your future. Be very suspicious whenever you do. People who do not want to know the answers are unpredictable, untrustworthy, and uninteresting. One of the reasons I lurk on Internet discussions and work in a university environment is to interact with people who actually give a chit. "If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them." -- Isaac Asimov
It's not that they "don't apply". It's a matter of Christians being free "In Christ" (because He is the fulfillment of the law) from dedicating their lives in efforts to keep them. Remember, the law does not only include those 10 but all of Leviticus. Not just me. EDIT: http://www.realanswers.net/realanswersaudio.html has some audio links from Bob George giving a good explanation of what we believe to be the real New Covenant and what lots of "indoctrinated" Christians are learning today.
