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Do We Have a Christ Followers Thread?


ernest_t_bass

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2 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

They don't believe the scriptures are true.  There is no use arguing which interpretation should be correct.  They don't believe in either one.

Agreed. But as a thought experiment, if there is a predominant religion that says "all shirts must be blue", then there is a chance that laws / regulations will be passed mandating blue shirts. As someone who likes to wear green shirts I have skin in the game. So it may be accurate to say that atheists / agnostics don't have skin in the game about whether scripture is true or not, but they certainly have skin in the game regarding whether scripture is perceived as true when it is a major cultural force. And given that skin the game, many atheists / agnostics have incentive to understand the scripture, if nothing else to try to influence how it is perceived.

Bring this specifically to homosexuality, I believe your view that it is biblically wrong but you don't want to pass laws discriminating against homosexual behavior. I don't share your view, but I believe it. At the same time, while an agnostic, I do have skin in the game about scriptural beliefs / understandings because many Christians who have similar views on Christianity as you do want to discriminate against homosexual or other non-Christian behavior.

 

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19 hours ago, Poe It Up said:

No. It’s just bizarre behavior and I can’t even imagine how that comes up. “Hey guys, time for the ABC song. Oh, color inside the lines kids, and did I mention homosexuality yet?” 

 

16 hours ago, trauma babe said:

You know it goes way beyond that. Don't be such a discredit to your religion by misrepresenting things

that's the thing that annoys me the most.

either poe is a fucking rube and a rhetorical tool for fucking liars, or he's a fucking liar. this misrepresentation is just so comical that there is no other way to interpret it.

i can't reconcile this, so maybe poe can do so.

why do you think that teachers are making homosexuality part of the curriculum? where are you getting that idea?

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13 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

 

that's the thing that annoys me the most.

either poe is a fucking rube and a rhetorical tool for fucking liars, or he's a fucking liar. this misrepresentation is just so comical that there is no other way to interpret it.

i can't reconcile this, so maybe poe can do so.

why do you think that teachers are making homosexuality part of the curriculum? where are you getting that idea?

My district had a teacher introduce gender/pronouns to 5 year olds. The parents managed to shut that down very quickly, but you’d be surprised what some teachers will tell little children. 

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Just now, Poe It Up said:

My district had a teacher introduce gender/pronouns to 5 year olds. The parents managed to shut that down very quickly, but you’d be surprised what some teachers will tell little children. 

i don't get this.

this cannot be possible.

you told us that you and yours were not subject to anything gay, so you don't get the big deal.

is it a big deal now?

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7 hours ago, Johnny Sack said:

In this thread I’m learning I’m a terrible Christian because I believe the Bible is true and I’d be a better one for ignoring the parts that do not conform to society. I know what the Old and New Testament say about homosexual sex.  I know that Jesus said marriage is between and man and a woman.  

I’m not judging your faith or relationship to Christ, but I would argue that Christ’s gospel provides us with tests to seperate the signal from the noise and asks US to weigh and wrestle with these things. Luke 10:25-37 is an example, where he is specifically asked (by a lawyer, no less) how to get eternal life in the context of the Great Commandment. He doesn’t answer the question, but instead provides a specific example- the Good Samaritan.

The point is not the surprise that the Samaritan helps. The point is that the ritually unclean and cursed Samaritan is the neighbor in the eyes of God’s law, while the priest and the Levite follow the rules, and do not act as neighbors.

so where does that leave you, and me, and your pastor and mine? Are we priests, levites, or the Samaritan, or the injured man bleeding in the road? At one point or another we are all those things, but it is clear what Christ asks from from us: to love our neighbors as ourselves.

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6 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i don't get this.

this cannot be possible.

you told us that you and yours were not subject to anything gay, so you don't get the big deal.

is it a big deal now?

I only consider it a big deal when you’re having these conversations with a 5 year old. Otherwise, you do you. 

Edited by Poe It Up
Too much space at bottom, weird.
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7 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

My district had a teacher introduce gender/pronouns to 5 year olds. The parents managed to shut that down very quickly, but you’d be surprised what some teachers will tell little children. 

1) lmao what constitutes a moral panic these days is laughable

2) this isn't something that happened to you, it's another story that's passed around as fuel for moral panic

3) What's the big deal with saying "Hi I'm so-and-so, and I prefer to be called he and him"? Is empathy unchristlike to you? Is it a sin to call someone what they prefer to be called?

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23 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

My district had a teacher introduce gender/pronouns to 5 year olds. The parents managed to shut that down very quickly, but you’d be surprised what some teachers will tell little children. 

My guess is that you and your fellow parents did more damage to your children’s education and future by freaking out over basically nothing, but time will tell. 

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Sure you have.  IF (and I use that qualifier) the people observing you, being led by you, etc. know that you are a person of a particular faith, then you have certainly influenced their theology by their EXAMPLE.

That's actually a lot of what we're talking about in this thread: people observe what loud, vocal "Christians" are saying and doing.  Those observers have theology that is being influenced by what they see.  When they see cruelty committed In the Name of the Lord, their theology turns away from Christianity.  Likewise, when the observers see people walking the Way, doing their best to live in humility and kindness, and actively practicing love and kindness for their fellow human, that also influences the theology of the observer.

The most powerful evangelism isn't preaching, or talking, or ordering and commanding.  The most powerful evangelism is the evangelism of example.  I suspect that you are a good man, who has the interest of those he commands in mind.  Those you command see that, and respond accordingly.  If your faith is known, then your actions are seen as a positive reflection of that faith.

An old priest in my church who passed away a few years ago used to say, "Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ every day.  And if you really have to, use words."

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So non sequitur here a bit, but this seems like a good thread. 
 

a church that I drive by on my way to work each day recently had this message on their sign: Faith begins where god’s word ends. 
 

my immediate thought is that nobody knows the word of god, so it’s all faith based. 
 

if you believe that the Bible was divinely written, that’s still a faith based belief. Not a fact. 
 

it’s entirely plausible that a guy wrote it, or multiple people wrote it, said it was written by the hand of god, and people believe it. 
 

shit, people still can’t agree on whether or not it should be taken literally and people lived for hundreds of years and sired hundreds of children. 
 

faith is faith, and faith is fine. What is it that some people need to turn their faith into fact?

 

am I way off base?

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8 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

why? about the conversation, not the me doing me part. i'm married. i do myself all the time.

It’s a conversation that I’d prefer to have at home, it’s really not more difficult than that. 

 

15 minutes ago, Captainant said:

1) lmao what constitutes a moral panic these days is laughable

2) this isn't something that happened to you, it's another story that's passed around as fuel for moral panic

3) What's the big deal with saying "Hi I'm so-and-so, and I prefer to be called he and him"? Is empathy unchristlike to you? Is it a sin to call someone what they prefer to be called?

It happened to a very close friend, so my wife and I got the details. It was a very concerning to all involved, but she got her hand slapped and stopped the nonsense. That shit won’t fly with children. 

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and here, i'll contribute more so you know i'm not trying to trap anyone or whatever. it's a bit of a testimony, so bear with it or skip to tl;dr

this last weekend i wentto go to some kind of festival over on the east side at a place called "the little gay shop."

i've never heard of this place nor had occasion to visit, but there it was. lots of vendors selling all sorts of things. 

due to some recent events in my life i've had reasons to reflect on this or that from time to time. 

anyways, i'm there in the middle of this chaos of sexuality with my wife, and i'm enjoying myself, even as we pass booths selling washable female sanitary napkins. none of this is my scene, really at all. suddenly, someone shows up with some runt of a dog, platform boots, a very elaborately well done make up job, and a huge smile.

he? she? am i worried about that?

no, actually.

it took me a second to realize that i didn't care, as strange as that sounds. i'll never talk to this person outside of a "badass makeup" compliment, and that's pretty gender neutral anyways. it doesn't affect my life except to, for that brief instant, brighten it up a bit because of how much life joy that person was bringing along with them to the little festival at this little gay shop parking lot in little old east austin.

i grew up in dallas suburbia hell. i didn't know it was hell at the time, but i came to know it as such. i was pretty cloistered. white boy, middle class in an upper middle class neighborhood. never hungry but rarely brand name either. also, never church or bible. or prayer. or anything much else to do with god aside from "goddammit." maybe occasionally my dad would wish out loud he was born jewish, "because they take care of their own." but honestly, aside from that, i was told told generally we were "methodist." 

i've sought faith most of my life. i'm culturally catholic, even though i converted later in life (20), i still consider it a pretty important part of my identity even if i don't practice. it's hard to explain. i will absolutely get defensive about it. it's weird.

anyways, i grew up with the word "faggot" prominently featured in my pejorative vernacular. it was top 5, you made it there i was really mad at you for whatever reason. 18 year old me that went off to texas in austin had no idea what he was getting into. 18 year old me was pretty sure i knew some shit and i also knew i had a lot of questions. one thing i was sure of, i wasn't gay, and i'd kick your ass if you were and you came onto me or whatever. that kind of pent up toxic shit. anyways, i've grown up, gotten married, had kids, seen the world, gained a ton of perspective, with tons more to gain, and i had to laugh at the idea of 18 year old me traipsing through the parking lot of the little gay shop. 

right now, i feel like i have a lot more in common with the person in the platform shoes than i do with many self-professed christians. i was a lot happier in that parking lot with all this weird uncomfortable (for me at times) vague sexual energy swirling around and this very made up person who i should hate because they committed the cardinal sin of dressing up their poor fucking dog than i would be discussing whether or not i am drinking wine or blood or which creed is right. 

tl;dr: fuck it yall. be nice. that's pretty much it, ain't it?

 

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6 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

It’s a conversation that I’d prefer to have at home, it’s really not more difficult than that. 

 

It happened to a very close friend, so my wife and I got the details. It was a very concerning to all involved, but she got her hand slapped and stopped the nonsense. That shit won’t fly with children. 

you aren't answering why, though.

why is it a conversation you'd rather have at home? what other social conversations would you rather have at home? what is so bad about someone telling a 5 year old about pronouns? i dunno if you are paying attention, but it's a thing. it's a pretty fucking important thing that's going on right now. there are a lot of very important things going on right now. it's very important to quite a lot of people and it costs us...nothing, really.

so why does it bother you? how is saying "this is Rainy. Rainy prefers to be referred to as they/them" much different from "this is mr. richardson. he prefers to be called major richardson, or the major?" 

believe it or not, 5 year olds are way more capable of not giving a shit about this stuff than you are. they'll only make a big deal out of mr sarah if you do. 

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

Sure you have.  IF (and I use that qualifier) the people observing you, being led by you, etc. know that you are a person of a particular faith, then you have certainly influenced their theology by their EXAMPLE.

That's actually a lot of what we're talking about in this thread: people observe what loud, vocal "Christians" are saying and doing.  Those observers have theology that is being influenced by what they see.  When they see cruelty committed In the Name of the Lord, their theology turns away from Christianity.  Likewise, when the observers see people walking the Way, doing their best to live in humility and kindness, and actively practicing love and kindness for their fellow human, that also influences the theology of the observer.

The most powerful evangelism isn't preaching, or talking, or ordering and commanding.  The most powerful evangelism is the evangelism of example.  I suspect that you are a good man, who has the interest of those he commands in mind.  Those you command see that, and respond accordingly.  If your faith is known, then your actions are seen as a positive reflection of that faith.

You are mistaken.

 

Changing into battle has only one leader that men an womof my ilk follow.

 

I am not a good man. I walk through your "hell"

 

I have no need for faith because I am the reason you believe you don't. You want to hold an idea. Fine. Your prerogative. Have your idea. I've fought and bled so you can. So have it.

 

Happy?

 

At exactly no point are you allowed to impose that idea upon anyone else. My blood over the United States Constitution, do not fucking test me.

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3 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

you aren't answering why, though.

why is it a conversation you'd rather have at home? what other social conversations would you rather have at home? what is so bad about someone telling a 5 year old about pronouns? i dunno if you are paying attention, but it's a thing. it's a pretty fucking important thing that's going on right now. there are a lot of very important things going on right now. it's very important to quite a lot of people and it costs us...nothing, really.

so why does it bother you? how is saying "this is Rainy. Rainy prefers to be referred to as they/them" much different from "this is mr. richardson. he prefers to be called major richardson, or the major?" 

believe it or not, 5 year olds are way more capable of not giving a shit about this stuff than you are. they'll only make a big deal out of mr sarah if you do. 

Because gender fluidity requires one to suspend reality and that’s confusing for little children. 

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3 minutes ago, HOOK'EMHOOAH said:

You are mistaken.

 

Changing into battle has only one leader that men an womof my ilk follow.

 

I am not a good man. I walk through your "hell"

 

I have no need for faith because I am the reason you believe you don't. You want to hold an idea. Fine. Your prerogative. Have your idea. I've fought and bled so you can. So have it.

 

Happy?

 

At exactly no point are you allowed to impose that idea upon anyone else. My blood over the United States Constitution, do not fucking test me.

Well, I think you're bristling at someone and something you don't need to be bristling at.  You're not a believer -- that's all fine by me.  I'm not trying to turn you into one, not in the least.

But I'll argue with your assessment that you're "not a good man."  If you lead others, and you give a shit about it, then you are a good man.  You are leading, and influencing, by example.  That's reality, and it's a good thing.  Being "a good man" doesn't have to be viewed strictly through the lens of faith; shit, it's really limiting if we do that.

I also have no quibble with the rather hard stance that a stand for the Constitution is a stand for me, and every other person on this soil, to believe as they wish.  I think it's an incredibly important point, actually.  And I believe that it's a right worth fighting for.  But the MINUTE that one of those believers tries to impose THEIR beliefs on me, forcing me to live out THEIR beliefs (necessarily at the expense of mine), they are completely crossways with that point, and we've got a problem.  And in a society and a state that is run by openly Dominionist leaders....we've got a BIG problem.

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Just now, Poe It Up said:

Because gender fluidity requires one to suspend reality and that’s confusing for little children. 

ok, in the thread about belief...

come on, dude. you're trolling. i'm very close to banning you. it's a decent act, i guess. 

but try and post in good faith. it's tiring discerning intentional troll from abject dumbass. can you help me identify which you are?

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3 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

Because gender fluidity requires one to suspend reality and that’s confusing for little children. 

More confusing than taking them to Sunday school and then pushing The Great Replacement theory the other 6 days of the week?

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2 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

ok, in the thread about belief...

come on, dude. you're trolling. i'm very close to banning you. it's a decent act, i guess. 

but try and post in good faith. it's tiring discerning intentional troll from abject dumbass. can you help me identify which you are?

You want to ban me because I don’t want my little children taught about gender fluidity? Ridiculous.

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Because gender fluidity requires one to suspend reality and that’s confusing for little children. 

Children get confused by suspending reality???

Have you told your five year old that Santa and the Easter Bunny aren’t real?

Do you allow them to watch cartoons?

How about the Tooth Fairy?

Do you tell them Noah’s Ark and Jonah and the whale are bullshit?

I feel so sorry for your kids.
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4 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

You want to ban me because I don’t want my little children taught about gender fluidity? Ridiculous.

I think it was more about you saying gender fluidity required a suspension of reality.  A rather unsubtle way to say you think you're right, and everyone else is living on another planet.

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3 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

You want to ban me because I don’t want my little children taught about gender fluidity? Ridiculous.

i don't want to ban you.

i want to understand if you are really this stupid or if you are elaborately trolling. because if it is the latter, as much as i'd rather not ban anyone, i'd be obligated. 

so which is it? abject dumbassery or troll?

will you at least acknowledge that asking children to suspend reality in a thread about faith is...paradoxical at best?

at second best, ignorantly bigoted, i guess. 

at worst, for me, really, is that you are trolling. are you?

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1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

 

that's the thing that annoys me the most.

either poe is a fucking rube and a rhetorical tool for fucking liars, or he's a fucking liar. this misrepresentation is just so comical that there is no other way to interpret it.

i can't reconcile this, so maybe poe can do so.

why do you think that teachers are making homosexuality part of the curriculum? where are you getting that idea?

Are you a believer?  Have you accepted Jesus Christ is the son of Gods and your personal savior?

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Just now, Bama Chick said:


Children get confused by suspending reality???

Have you told your five year old that Santa and the Easter Bunny aren’t real?

Do you allow them to watch cartoons?

How about the Tooth Fairy?

Do you tell them Noah’s Ark and Jonah and the whale are bullshit?

I feel so sorry for your kids.

They do all of those things. What I won’t do is grab Barbie and tell them it’s Santa. 

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4 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i don't want to ban you.

i want to understand if you are really this stupid or if you are elaborately trolling. because if it is the latter, as much as i'd rather not ban anyone, i'd be obligated. 

so which is it? abject dumbassery or troll?

will you at least acknowledge that asking children to suspend reality in a thread about faith is...paradoxical at best?

at second best, ignorantly bigoted, i guess. 

at worst, for me, really, is that you are trolling. are you?

This is akin to a “do you still beat your wife?” Question. It’s a sensitive issue with a lot of bullshit that is stated as fact, so I’d like to be there to answer their questions. 

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1 minute ago, Johnny Sack said:

Are you a believer?  Have you accepted Jesus Christ is the son of Gods and your personal savior?

this reminds me of something that happened to me recently.

i sat on a jury. not a good one. it was a bad one - super aggravated sexual assault of a minor under 6. victim remembered it at 10. 

i won't get into details, but we ended up finding the guy guilty. 

unsurprisingly, i was the last holdout on the uncertain part of the jury. i convinced myself with a couple of other reasons i'll not get into - but the point is this: there is a truth out there. there is what happened. that's the truth. then there are memories of what happened. those aren't always the truth even if they aren't always lies.

i had to understand and accept one thing to vote guilty: i would never, ever, ever know the truth about what happened on those two days. now, that was easier for others to get to than it was for me. we didn't have video, we had faulty, broken human memory. 

prosecution told us that a not guilty verdict meant we didn't believe the victim's testimony. i resented that. i absolutely believed that everyone that testified was 100% convinced of the truth, even of there were differences in stories.

however, we did our best. and i think we got it right in the end. but i'll never know. i think i'll always struggle with that. 

and i think i'll just always struggle with not knowing generally. i'd much prefer to be certain. it'd make life easier. 

i'm baptized catholic. i've raised my sons in the church as much as i promised. 

i believe everything in the bible is written as though it was truth. and i think they did their best, and got pretty close to right in the end. but we'll never know.

to answer your question: yeah, i have. once. not sure i'm still there, but it doesn't mean i don't consider myself catholic or christian more than anything else. 

what's the purpose behind your question? because it seems like you've asked it more than once as a shield. jesus wouldn't do that. he's entertain challenges and questions and answer everything in good faith.

why won't you? jesus didn't require prerequisites to talk god stuff. why do you?

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8 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

This is akin to a “do you still beat your wife?” Question. It’s a sensitive issue with a lot of bullshit that is stated as fact, so I’d like to be there to answer their questions. 

of course it is. 

because i cannot reconcile your motivation.

i guess i'll side with dumbass for now.

can you really not see the disconnect in your world view and your posts? it's like the grand fucking canyon.

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8 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

of course it is. 

because i cannot reconcile your motivation.

i guess i'll side with dumbass for now.

can you really not see the disconnect in your world view and your posts? it's like the grand fucking canyon.

Nice. You got me suspended a couple weeks ago, you’re threatening to ban me, and now you’re name calling knowing I can’t retaliate in kind. So in that vein, good luck and I wish you well. 

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10 minutes ago, Poe It Up said:

Nice. You got me suspended a couple weeks ago, you’re threatening to ban me, and now you’re name calling knowing I can’t retaliate in kind. So in that vein, good luck and I wish you well. 

Victimhood? In my christianity thread??? SAY IT AINT SO PAWL!

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It's also funny to see sack and poe aw-shucks-ing that "well our hate doesn't hurt anyone! It's only our religion!" when there's towns that are losing their libraries because towns are defunding them over "books and lifestyle choices that are wrong".

I wonder wherever they got the idea that homosexuality is a choice and is wrong?

Sure does sound pretty similar to poe and sack, and it sure does seem like the church is directly and oppressively affecting our society and use of taxpayer funds.

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3 hours ago, hayden_horn said:

sure about this response?

in the christ followers thread?

empathy. sympathy. these are the paths you are looking for. 

right?

right?

Of all the hateful, sidebar insults in this thread directed at me and Poe, it is telling you choose only to criticize me for an innocuous and dumb joke I made quoting Ricky Bobby's dad Reese.   

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I read this today and thought of this horrible thread with all you horrible people in it:

Quote

 

It’s no surprise that the global lockdown caused religious revival.

Last year, VCs invested $175m into faith-based apps (a ~360% YoY increase). Some relatively simple ones like Bible meditation app Abide have amassed huge user bases.

Investors have called it a “land grab” happening right before our eyes. We combined market insights and startup ideas in the religion tech market report.

Read the Trends deep dive for:

  • Why a Bible coloring book app has grown to nearly 1m users
  • How “SaaS for churches” could become the next $10B industry
  • VR/AR solutions that are redefining the church experience

 

 

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1 hour ago, Poe It Up said:

Because gender fluidity requires one to suspend reality and that’s confusing for little children. 

yeah but taking them to church and asking them to believe in a sky daddy definitely doesn't require suspension of reality

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1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

Are you a believer?  Have you accepted Jesus Christ is the son of Gods and your personal savior?

I was, then I grew up and realized I wasn't a dumbass who believed in all that fairy tale shit. I can't imagine the type of church that would have you as fucking deacon 

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4 hours ago, El Tri said:

I was, then I grew up and realized I wasn't a dumbass who believed in all that fairy tale shit. I can't imagine the type of church that would have you as fucking deacon 

Username checks out.  The pure class El Tri fans are famous for.  

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