Haha, regrettably not in my budget or particular lane of interest. Knives are tools for me, not weapons; I barely have the time to stay proficient with handguns as it is!Originally Posted by RevolverRob
You see this @Nephrology - January - Edged Weapons Overview. And you'll get a chance to get beaten up by the excellent Paul Sharp, too.
You took a pretty big leap from none to ‘hey let’s go pick out the most onerous stuff of one faith’ as an example.” Do you have any other false equivilancy arguments you’d like to present?
Men freely believe that which they desire.
Julius Caesar
There's a LOT of stuff in the MANY books of the Old Testament that is pretty harsh by today's standards. I'm aware of it but don't ask me to discuss it intelligently.
Fortunately the more moderate believers can focus on the kinder, gentler teachings in New Testament and try not to interpret that Old Testament stuff too literally.
Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?
Dude, you don't know what living is, until you're tangled up with someone, lose your knife, draw your backup knife, and stab them in the taint. Taint stabbing is an artform that few get the luxury of practicing, before it becomes necessary to employ such techniques in the wild.
Remember Kids: Learn to taint-stab in training, so you don't get taint-stabbed on the street.
This message brought to you by @SouthNarc and @Paul Sharp via a student who got and did some taint stabbing in training himself.
Last edited by RevolverRob; 08-22-2018 at 02:19 PM.
The OT was the law of the Jews that laid the foundation for the coming of Jesus and the NT. When some of the apostles tried to bind the OT law on new Christians, they were reprimanded and told it wasnt to be done. The new way superseded the old. The OT was referred to as temporary, and would be put away when the new came to fulfillment. No real conflict between them in that light.
Where is/was the false equivalence?
You will more often be attacked for what others think you believe than what you actually believe. Expect misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and projection as the modern normal default setting. ~ Quintus Curtius
I was raised in a largely indifferent or agnostic at best household. We went to a local church once a year to hear the choir sing Christmas music. We never read a Bible or another other religious text and we rarely discussed the existence of God. Both my parents were raised in environments similar to what you’ve described and both rebelled once they lived on their own. Neither felt the urge to expose my brother or I to anything resembling church.
Around when I hit puberty – and around the age when I could be said to be accountable for knowing right from wrong – I started feeling the conviction to pray and acknowledge that God existed, despite never having read the Bible or talked to anyone else who prayed (this experience is consistent with how the Bible describes God’s efforts to reach out to those who may respond). All throughout my teens and into young adulthood I prayed on a daily basis for things that I did that would be considered sinful or wrong (i.e. unloving behavior towards others for example). As my conviction grew I started to seek out those whose opinions I felt were worth hearing who maintained a relationship with God in an effort to find out what it is they were doing. I eventually attended church here and there with careful reservation and I watched how others behaved, what was taught, how it was presented, etc, etc.
In my prime and the height of my self-conceit, vanity and general “I own the world” mentality I met a pastor on a flight to Cleveland. While guzzling beer I grilled him with many of the common questions that skeptics of Christianity might have. Why do you believers think you own the world? What does the Bible say about this? What do you believe about that? He ate it up and he was ready to demonstrate convincingly why he believed what he did. He left an impression on me and I made the point to seek him ought once I got back to continue our conversations. We still meet regularly today – almost twenty years later – and our roles have now somewhat reversed where I find myself caring more for him as he gets older.
Finally in February of 2001 I hit a low point in my life where the consequences of my actions caught up to me. I knelt on the floor of my apartment and gave my life to Christ then. The rest of my testimony would stretch beyond the focus of anyone reading this but suffice it to say that I’m very much an active believer today.
To get back to your original question, I don’t currently belong to a church that practices what you’ve described, and I wouldn’t ever recommend such a place to anyone. Basing a belief system on feelings is a great way to become indoctrinated into the philosophy of those controlling the experience, and it sounds like that’s what happened to you. It’s readily apparent to anyone who has watched hucksters such as Benny Hinn on TV that people can be convinced to see, hear and do extraordinary things when properly led or motivated to do so. The Bible – which must be the authoritative source that defines Christianity – is clear that “feelings may lie”.
Not being argumentative and I value your experience shared, what scriptural references would you use to support this notion? In the past I would use Galatians 5 fruits of the spirit (love joy and peace) and the many references in John 14 discussing the Holy Ghost as witnessing to all truth among many others that claim the spirit as the witness to truth.The Bible – which must be the authoritative source that defines Christianity – is clear that “feelings may lie”.
Another question I have is how you would differentiate your conversion experience with those of a person in similar circumstances who converted to islam. For example, had you grown up in Turkey or Iran, could you see yourself being converted to christianity, or do you see the possibility that you would be drawn to what is a majority belief system in those areas.
Heh....drinking contests and taint-stabbing. I'm thinking this thread may have run its course...
My background is Southern Baptist, in the USA. A third of a century in big-city LEO-ing has given me some real-world insight into much of the human condition. Retirement has given me the time to read much more, and to get enough rest, which helps me think clearly on what I have read.
I no longer “buy” all of the doctrine of the Southern Baptist Convention, or any other one denomination, I have yet
found.
I married into a Catholic family, so have close-range perspective in that area. My late father-in-law had actually considered becoming a priest, once upon a time.
I believe in what we know as God, the Father, and Jesus, the Son, and, what we generally call the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost.
BUT, I am not so sure that the Council of Nicea got the concept of Trinity correct. This has, actually, bothered me for a very long time.
I no longer believe that the entirety of any denomination’s Bible is literally, word-for-word, correct. It is, of course, impossible for all of them to be correct.
I believe some of the Epistles may well be fiction. I am not yet prepared to cite anything specific, but there is plenty of further reading I plan to do. How I do wish I had learned to read Greek, when my brain was younger!
I am, also, concerned that one of the Gospels may be what we may, today, call “fan fiction,” borrowing a bit too much from other regional religions of the time, and to be of dubious provenance.
My core faith remains unshaken, but much of the part outside the core is being reviewed and reconsidered.
Last edited by Rex G; 08-22-2018 at 03:32 PM.
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