TU Cent Thoughts, 12-17-05

[greybeta]

I am of the belief that you should not buy Christmas gifts for your closest friends. That's because your closest friendships transcend material goods.

Having said that, I believe in the first law of alchemy more, in the law of equivalent exchange. So I've been wanting to buy the Macross Saga portion of the Robotech novels for mysterious Phil. We were walking around Barnes and Nobles and we found them. I randomly decided to buy him the Robotech novels for Christmas. In exchange, he bought me C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity.

I admit I have recently become very interested in C.S. Lewis on the recommendation of angelic Jenny. I told her that I was having a crisis of faith and she pointed me out to the man who is considered to be the classic Christian apologetic. Someone once told me that I do not write like a true believer of Christ. He would be right. I am a doubting Thomas, I need to see the holes in Christ's hands and feet everyday to believe. After talking with several people, I have come to the conclusion that I am a heretic. I have faith, but it is not the traditional fundamental Christian faith. I am too dualistic for me to submit myself one hundred percent to the dogma of Christianity. Yet I know that there's something in Christianity that draws me in.

Then I look at my position in the BSU. I am seriously contemplating stepping down from the leadership team. It is inappropriate for a heretic to masquerade as a Bible study leader. Don't get me wrong, I still believe God. But there are too many things in the Baptist Faith&Message that I disagree with. I now realize the only reason I go to the Baptist church is because of Ralph and Jane, my American grandparents. As long as they walk this green earth, I owe it to them to attend a Baptist church. But to be honest, I'd rather follow the path of the friend that I've known the longest and go to the Episcopalian Church, a denomination that tries to understand other faiths rather than condemn them.

Then again, I agreed to be on the leadership team for one year. I would be going against my word to quit. Sigh, I suppose I am well loved heretic in the BSU. And my most basic philosophies still line up, as I will always be a social conservative and an economic liberal.

Note to self: Sleep inducing meds and driving do not mix.

Convo of the Day:
D2: So when are you going to work today, anime Mike?
Mike: Funny you should mention that.
D2: What?
Mike: I signed the form that said I didn't want to work at Wal Mart anymore.
D2: Sleep shifting get to ya?
Mike: Yeah. So neither you or Jameson win the over/under on one week, because I lasted exactly one week.
D2: Funny you should mention that.
Mike: What?
D2: I lied.
Mike: Huh?
D2: Jameson and I actually argued whether or not you would last even one week. He said less. I said the average person lasts at least one week. So I win.
Mike: Wait a minute...white mages aren't supposed to lie.
D2: Thief...I'm not your standard white mage.

Quote of the Day:
"In relationships, every experience is a good thing."-Mysterious Phil, wldntulk2knwwho

Link of the Day:
What it means to be sempai. I have decided to view myself as the sempai of the BSU dojo. I am to challenge people in their faith, just as they will challenge me.
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Guys tend to get irrational when their sports team is losing. We are strange creatures like that.
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King Kong has been added to the queue of movies I should see over Christmas break. The others, in order:

1. Narnia
2. Rent
3. Harry Potter
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Having the spiritual gift of discernment is like having perfect pitch. You see, a person who has perfect pitch cannot stand to listen to people play music incorrectly because it hurts them. Likewise, a person with the spiritual gift of discernment hates interacting with other people because they cannot stand to see other people behave incorrectly.

This is part of the reason why I am antisocial.
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Do you think I am a heretic?

[Poll #635865]

Comments

[thucyditron.livejournal.com]

I think I'm a heretic, too. I've been considering renouncing Christianity and adopting Stoicism as my formal creed. Care to join me? Note that I may very well be the Devil trying to tempt you.

[agirlnamedluna.livejournal.com]

I hit "yes", without knowing Baptist Church I know that in the Catholic one I grew up with you weren't considered a heretic as long as you dressed fancily to go to Church ( heh )

There's been many denominations of "heretics" -- but for the Catholic Church, all those not agreeing with Rome would have been heretics.

Hence my yes vote ;)


I am in no way Christian anymore though. Lost that long ago.

[stella-x3x3.livejournal.com]

Quote of the Day:
"In relationships, every experience is a good thing."

i like that alot..its cute and true.

[genuinechris.livejournal.com]

Man, social conservitive, economic liberal. I'm the opposite, at least the way that the poplulace is defining 'conservative,' and 'liberal.' I can't stand the government, and I think that America is being strangled by it.

[wldntulk2knwwho.livejournal.com]

Yay for the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Two more books added to my queue now.

[odclay.livejournal.com]

I don't think you're a heretic. Well, maybe you are. I dunno. But I'm of the opinion that doubt is better than blind faith; it seems to me that one of the central tenants of Christianity is unwavering, unquestioning faith, but it also seems to me that humans are by nature curious and questioning. While some can freely submit, there are plenty more who want to know why they should. What's wrong with that? Would God want us to accept without question or question before accepting?

I'm not a Christian anymore. I still believe in God, but I can't bring myself to believe in the text of a very, very old book. That's one reason I abandoned religion.

[happydog.livejournal.com]

Someone once told me that I do not write like a true believer of Christ. He would be right.

or, he could be dead wrong. What is a "true believer of Christ?" Pat Robertson would say he is one, and there are lots of people who would back him up, who would say that Pat Robertson writes like and talks like a "true believer of Christ."

But by their fruits ye shall know them. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. And if you listen to what Pat Robertson says, and read what he writes, and pay attention, you will note that he really has very little in common with the Christ.

And truly, what human has the right to judge your faith? Think about that for a moment. What human has the right to judge your faith? What human has the right to censure, or to criticize, how you express your faith in writing?

Who did Jesus come down the hardest on while he was here on earth? Think about it. Wasn't his wrath most often directed toward the Scribes and Pharisees - those who allegedly interpreted God's law according to their own prejudices, and attempted to apply their own prejudices as God's law?

Beware the leaven of the scribes and pharisees. The Scribes and Pharisees never had any doubt that they were absolutely right and knew what God wanted. The whores and the tax collectors, the wine-drinkers and the woman at the well, they knew they weren't doing what the Pharisees said God wanted. They doubted they even knew how. Who did Jesus say would be in the kingdom of Heaven long before the Scribes and Pharisees? Look it up.

Daniel, you can read CS Lewis or not, but one thing I tell you: there is no rational basis for any belief in any god. Humans can argue all they want, and argue they do, and they make rules for God, and make rules for others to follow, rules that they say will lead others to God. Humans argue that there is no god, or that God is like this, or like that. They know nothing.

Daniel, in the final analysis, it is between you and God, you and the Divine. The only way you will know God is to know God yourself. Faith is not rational, it is not scientific. Faith is internal, it is utterly subjective, and it cannot be argued into existence or nonexistence by anyone but yourself.

Many people tell me that there is no God. I cannot deny that there is no scientific proof for God, no tests that can be made, no mathematical analysis that can be done that will prove Her existence. Yet I know that She Is, and that She encompasses all things, and that She is within me, and I within Her. This is a knowledge without proof or apologetics or scriptures. This is a knowledge that I was born with, a bone-knowledge, a heart-knowledge, a blood-knowledge; since before I could remember, I knew there was a God. Nothing can prove it, because to me it does not need to be proven.

Daniel, do not try to argue yourself into believing what someone else believes about God. I did that and I failed. Simply be with God. Look to God. Pray and meditate and do spiritual work, and let your heart guide you, not the words and pontifications of those who most likely have no idea of God. All they have are dead words and rules and regulations.

I know Christianity, and I know born-again Christianity. If you are born again, is it not said that you have the Holy Spirit within you? What does the Holy Spirit tell you? If you find yourself unable to be a Baptist, if you find yourself unable to condemn other faiths, if you find yourself unable to judge people - if you find yourself unable to believe "The Baptist Faith And Message," is it not at least possible that this is the Holy Spirit telling you, "This is not right for you?"

Think about it. And read this, carefully, many times:

http://www.creative-native.com/lyrics/godislyr.htm

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The strict Baptists might consider you a heretic, but then the Pope thinks the strict Baptists are heretics too. There are so many different versions of Christianity in the world- and a good thing too!

[kimmaline.livejournal.com]

D, if you are happy, and you live your life to the fullest...and you try to always be good to others, then I cannot believe that there is ANY God that would think badly of you for that.

Make decisions for yourself. Listen to your heart.