You Are Making God Weep! STOP IT!

You do NOT have to go to church to be close to God!!! When I left my church I found I came even closer to God. I watch multiple preachers on TV on Sunday mornings. That way I'm not looking just from one angle. An excellent preacher from Atlanta was discussing who would & would not go to Hell. He pointed out that, if a murderer asked for forgiveness from God, he would make it into Heaven. Then he said, if you look down your nose at someone else because you're a better Christian, you have condemned yourself to Hell. Jesus said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." God knows I've sinned multiple times. One of the reasons I try NOT judge anyone else...I have NO right. Jesus best friend was a wh0re. He did NOT judge her. He saved her. I have not met a Christian that's better than Jesus. Most wars have been brought on by Christians trying to force somebody else to live their peaceful existance. Doesn't make sense to me!!! I didn't start this to bash Christians & thinkin about it, I have forgotten my original point...so I will hush now & go pray for God to change their hearts. Any chance Sparky's back from her doin her dance???

All I can say, spark, is I applaud you, very loudly! Oh, wait, did you say you were going to howl at the moon? WoooooHooooo!!! Another moon howler! Hooray for me! I love howling at the moon!*G*

Hi sparks, I tried not to respond to any religious topic and I have not see that post too..ANyway, I know and understand well what you mean, and in real life been meeting a lot of hypocrite religious people who give all their best in dancing and singing to praise God but will not even share a piece of soap or chocolates to her grandkids! That is my officemate's struggles to her MIL who was the leader in the church!

Christians have always been like that. They forget that they are not to judge, as it is God's job to judge So, put on some heels (NOT MINE!) and dance and howl at the moon

Hi sparky, I really don't blame you for going off the deep end at some people who gets everything wrong and spout their religous whatever to people, that is why I won't go into any discussions about religion as I do believe in God but happy to say I am a pagan and if people don't like that then its tough sh**t. I do agree with you but please calm down, we don't want you to be upset cause we love you sparky! Tamara

I look at it this way, you are entitled to believe what you want, you are your own person and knows what makes you happy. Also, you are an individual that can believe whatever you want to. A good friend should embrace your beliefs no matter what they are. People are so quick to judge today, it makes me furious. They think that their way is the only way, and shun any other belief or way of thought. Keep on keeping on, only you know what is right for you!

wow are you mad! and I have seen alot of so called chirstians do alot of back stabbing

This has been an issue with me for years. I'm sorry to hear that you have had to fall into a depressed mood because of the people like this. It is a travesty the way people use God's name to do things they want to do. Take it easy Spark and try not to let these people get to you. I don't anymore, or at least I try not to.

Well, you just can't escape a goat to act like a sheep and otherwise. There will always be pretenders which may delude us, but not all, sheep will always be sheep whether they are in the christian church or not. Just live your life with the most of it, after all, that's what Jesus said in John 10:10. And it's not christendom, it's how you should live.

Yikes! You scare me a little when you have your hackles up! LOL! But, for as much as you scare me, you always manage to make me think outside of my own comfort zone and you have such a way with words! Also, I was in a discussion earlier that had some potential for what might have upset you but, I don't know if it was that one and, certainly hope that it wasn't me that upset you! Not that I think I have that kind of power but, I still can't help but hope it wasn't me! Anyway, as usual...well thought out and well said!

well wewt and booyah.. goin native /cheer welcome to the fold ..;giggles;..

I would never try to change you, sparkofinsanity. My only job is to love you. That's what my Bible says, anyway. It tells me to love everyone, friend, neighbor and foe. [em[happy[/em] People think that the Bible says that we're not to judge. But the verse that they quote about that continues. When we judge, we need to remember that we will be judged in the same way. Therefore, if someone questions another's faith, one has to know that his/her faith will also be questioned in the same way. When we question another's motives, our own motives can be questioned. Christians are not perfect. That's obvious to the rest of the world. Every church (every faith, actually) is full of hypocrites and sinners. "All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God" after all. In today's world, people talk about the importance of tolerance. But I don't think tolerance is good enough. When you tolerate someone or something, you put up with it. But when you love, you respect and honor and hold in high regard. Christians - myself included - would be wise to remember this.

Spark, I had read Irish's discussion and saw nothing in it that should have made anyone say those things to her. I also read the comment to which I think you are referring. As Irish so nicely put it in a comment, don't judge all of us by the answer of one. There was another comment that really bothered me! This person has no real knowledge of what she was speaking; therefore, her comments were of not real relevance. Just ignore stupid remarks. But, I know with me, that is easier said than done. That's why I have comments moderated on my blog. I can delete them without saying something back that would be mean. Some people,as the old saying goes, 'open mouth-insert foot'. Some don't understand and some are just plain mean and out to hurt! Lord, help me to keep my mouth shut unless I need to say what I'm about to write. My mouth is not big enough to hold my foot!!

I see where you are coming from. I'm not a religious person, I have deep spiritual beliefs (and for the record, I love religion!), but I think that religion is more of a social classification, spirituality is just inborn. So if you want to dissociate from Christians, which I could understand, you don't necessarily need to subscribe to another religion. After all, there are loudmouth jerks in paganism, scientology, or any other religion. There are great social perks to being involved in organized religion, but if yours is causing you this much distress, why not take a break? Your belief or faith in god isn't what's hurting here, its the people who practice alongside you. I would recommend taking a little break before jumping into anything else. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders, and don't need to be part of any flock to worship your god. Good luck!

You saw one Christian that said the wrong thing. Now all of Christianity is crap and your turning Pagen and started a topic judging and bashing Christians calling us all hypocrites? Are Pagens allowed to judge?

You have no idea what Christianity is. Christianity is obeying the law of God, of believing that Jesus Christ came to earth to save us from our sins, and trying to obey the Ten Commandments, and being heartfuly sorry for our sins. It is not looking for the good in all people. It is praying for the return of God's kingdom on Earth, that those who hear God's word would repent of their sins, and for the punishment of the unrepentant whose hearts are hardened. The world calls Christians hypocrites, because they have a false impression of Christians as nice inoffensive people will say everyone is good no matter how they live. But no one is good, we were all born in sin. And it is only God who saved us and HE does not want wimps in HIS kingdom.

i just wonder can we all get along. all this bickering about what each is said. we are all god's children whether or not we christians. the things we are doing are bringing tears to his eyes. what are we gaining from it?

I'm with ya! Let's go Pagan. The more I hear about them the more I like it. It is natural, about the earth, non-judgemental (unlike the ungodly hypocritical christians) caring and helpful. They cannot do any harm with any spells without they should expect 3x as much bad as they have wrought on their subject. It is better to do good, as you will receive 3x that back. I gave up on Christians a LONG TIME AGO. All except you, my dear. All except you, because you are unlike most Christians. You are actually forgiving and loving and non-judgemental.

Hi there, I have often heard of paganisms but didn't know what it was, so I looked it up. This is what it says, now mind you, I didn't say this, the defintion did. Heathen: a person who does not acknowledge your god A person who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion (not a Christian or Muslim or Jew) Hedonist: someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures Heathen: not acknowledging the God of Christianity and Judaism and Islam What were you before you decided to go Pagan?

Well, obviously I'm new here, so I don't know what "another Meg story" would be, but after reading this lovely little rant of passion from you, I certainly can't wait to find out! Firstly, I will say that I was raised in a Unitarian Universalist church, which most sects of Christianity would call a cult. Unfortunately for them, though, the true definition of a cult would be a religion with very few members that is not of the norm amongst its 'colleagues', shall we say. In fact, Wikipedia claims that "'Cult' typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding population considers to be outside the mainstream." Well, now this is just not true for the Unitarian Universalist anymore, because the religion has been around for so long and has so many members now that it is beginning to become more and more mainstream. Now, where have we heard this story before? Ah, yes... the birth of Christianity itself! Of course you know all of this because you are a smart, dare I say worldly, Christian. I used to think that I wasn't Christian, but the older I got, and the more I understood my religious upbringing, the more I realized how much truer of a Christian I was than most self-righteous Bible thumpers. I dare anyone on here to tell me otherwise. Unitarian Universalism is rooted in Christianity, specifically the Protestant faith. Oh, that reminds me of yet another cult of its day. The Protestants in Europe were persecuted for their beliefs because they were outside the 'norm', so they travelled thousands of miles to come here to the United States of America, where they could explore their spirituality without fear of ridicule. Hmmm... seems to me that Unitarian Universalists share this aspiration to explore since their whole ideology encourages one to seek an individual spiritual path. It's too bad that many Christians can't see beyond the end of the carefully selected Bible passages that their preachers focus on to the fact that we are all human, and therefore, we must all be in this together. So, yes, I agree with you, that we must stop judging others based on their religious backgrounds and start seeing what kind of person they truly are, which is easily portrayed in such a blatant unGod-like response that this person you speak of must have shown toward your friend. It's good that your friend has someone like you to stick up for what is right. I am proud to call you my Christian, or whatever else you may decide to be, sister, because on this big, beautiful planet, we are all brothers and sisters. Thank God/Allah/the many Pagan gods and goddesses/Mother Nature/and whomever you may think fits the job description for that!