Christianity superior to other faiths for very specific reasons. Awaken to true FREEDOM..!!

Hi folks,

Now I get that the thread title is a little inflammatory, and I fully expect the usual suspects who relish trying to destroy the credibility of the Way, or Christianity as it became known early in its two thousand year history.

All of Western civilisation is founded upon the Christian faith - not only on the institutions (the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches) but rather upon the teachings, truths, virtues & general life lessons which have been imparted to generation after generation, soaking into the fabric of our collective unconscious, forming an innate holiness in our general outlook upon life itself. So much so that even after the enlightenment & the dawn of rational scientific inquiry & the industrial revolution, the very nature of the character of each individual member of a community that was originally founded upon Christian tenets in fact display & are imbued with the virtues of a Christian, whether they know it or not. See:

The mutual love of law & order within societies, the decrying & absolute destruction of the practice of witchcraft in as far as it can be understood by modern minds ("We don't want any of that spooky weird stuff around here, thank you very much..") General good behaviour towards one's family, friends, colleagues & neighbours - everything that a typical middle aged British person of the 21st century believes in, in terms of virtue, charity, providing aid to those in need within their community - it was all inculcated very specifically by the precepts of the Christian faith that were introduced & nurtured over millennia within the wider societal structures of the European nations who had adopted Christianity absolutely & completely as a life system to be admired & revered. With faith in a God who loved & cared for them, yet who had standards for behaviour & indeed sometimes arrived at the point of judging those who had persisted in committing evil. Our legal system is structured entirely around the precepts of the Bible, with the letter & spirit being entirely inspired by the Christian virtues.

A note to add that unfortunately, in this age of social media & instant gratification, the standards of morality & character are dropping precipitously amongst the younger generations, and it is a genuine tragedy that the virtues & character of their forebears no longer interests or inspires them.

And yet, despite this general dislike of religion amongst the youth, there is a growing movement of Christian believers, and those of other faiths. Since the pandemic, a third of young to middle aged people now state that they believe in God. Prior to the pandemic - only a few short years ago - it was only a quarter of that demographic who stated that they believed in God. So things are changing, certainly for the better.

There is much in the way of attacks against the faith when it comes to the accusation that Christianity usurped traditional pagan festivals & sacred sites, instead building festivities into the narrative of the church calendar throughout the year - and the construction of churches in place of the sacred groves where pagans worshiped & performed their sacrifices. Some neo-pagans & new agers take issue with this, but what they don't understand is that there is a spiritual war for the soul of Humanity writ large going on in this world. In order to win any war, one must capture the territory of the Enemy, and ensure that they are acclimated to their new position as vassals of the conqueror until they can be trusted in the ways & means of this new faith, trusted to create an allied society.

The truth is, demons exist. You may believe this to be nonsense, but anyone involved in the true Christian Way understands without question that those entities are real. They are aggressively territorial, and in order to conquer the territory that has been held captive to a particular ruling spirit from the demonic hierarchy (which is arranged just like an army/aristocracy), certain acts & rituals must be performed, to sanctify a space where formerly there had been demonic mischief of whatever grade had been operative, according to the power of the individual ruling spirit of that place.

When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He sent His own Spirit to dwell with Mankind, with all who would accept that Jesus is Lord of the Creation, who would believe that He died & was resurrected in order to forgive us of our transgressions before a Holy God.

The arrival of the Holy Spirit brought true purity into the world, which before had been restrained to operate only within the Jewish temple & before that, in the traveling tabernacle which crossed the desert for forty years before entering the promised land. With the arrival of the Holy Spirit, it was possible to sanctify & purify both people & places, ensuring that their sins were forgiven, and that their own spirit would act in accordance with the Holy Spirit of Jesus. The need to replace pagan sites where their worship of demons & nature spirits took place was essential in ensuring that demonic oppression was minimised within a region, a territory, a nation and the world more broadly. Although pockets of demonic activity always spring up, like black mould growing in grim conditions, the general architecture & infrastructure of the Christian world was purified & sanctified before God, enabling a pure & chaste society to grow around the infrastructure of the parish churches & cathedrals. Purification was afforded by the presence & action of Jesus's Holy Spirit in the Christian territories, which eventually became more or less unified under Christian faith, doctrine & practice operant within the entire society, leading to the generalisation that is Christendom - a force for positive & reconstructive change in society, not only in terms of regenerate hearts within people who had repented of their past evil deeds, but also in terms of the overall prosperity & growth/development of those societies so joined in their mutual Christian faith.

Now of course, mistakes were made, and less developed societies often fell victim to misguided & cruel 'Christians-in-name-only', but in general, when new opportunities for Christian growth were made available to peoples who were less developed than the new arrivals, they would eagerly learn & practice this new faith, because it had clear & obvious benefits for the practitioners, affording holiness, a relationship with God through prayer & meditation, and a pure community of believers who would be incredibly loving & supportive of each other, even blessing their enemies in the attempt to show them a better spiritual path than the paganism, animism or shamanism that they had naturally created for themselves over the preceding millennia - not all of which was healthy at all, because of the risk of demonic infestation where such practices took place.

To appreciate this argument, you must accept that demons are real, that they are highly territorial, and that they cause social ills & even medical complaints wherever they strike or embed themselves within primitive communities (or even in modern communities, under dark circumstances). But you must stomach the idea that demons are real, and conversely, that good angels also exist to help us in all sorts of ways, to minister to us as we inherit our salvation, protecting us & defeating demonic influences when partnered with us through persistent prayer & fasting.


FITO.

AI says:

Faith in a creator sans organized religion, also known as deism or non-institutional spirituality, is a growing trend. According to the search results, there is a rise in people identifying with alternative religions, such as Kopimism, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and Terasem, which are not affiliated with traditional organized religions. Additionally, the Temple of the Jedi Order, which is inspired by the Star Wars franchise, has a significant following despite not being recognized as a religious organization under UK charity law.

Moreover, the search results suggest that people are increasingly turning away from organized religion, with 59% of people in Scotland identifying as non-religious, and 7 in 10 people under the age of 44 reporting no religious affiliation. This trend is also reflected in the growth of nondenominational churches, which are often locally based and not affiliated with national denominations.

It’s worth noting that this trend may be driven by a desire for a more personalized and flexible approach to spirituality, as well as a rejection of the perceived dogma and institutionalization of traditional organized religions.

Also AI generated:

According to various sources, Islam is considered the fastest-growing religion in the world. This is primarily due to its high birth rates and the fact that Muslims have a younger median age compared to other major religious groups. Additionally, Islam is spreading through conversion, with many people from other religions converting to Islam.

Here are some key points that support this claim:

The Pew Research Center projects that by 2050, the number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world, if current population growth trends continue.
Muslims have the youngest median age (24 in 2015) of all major religious groups, more than seven years younger than the median age of non-Muslims (32).
The growth of the Muslim population is also helped by the fact that Muslims have a higher total fertility rate (TFR) compared to other major religious groups.
Islam is spreading through conversion, with many people from other religions converting to Islam.
It’s worth noting that while Christianity is still the largest religion in the world, its growth rate is slowing down, while the growth rate of Islam is accelerating. This trend is expected to continue in the coming decades.

Here are some additional points that support the growth of Islam:

The number of Muslims is projected to increase by 73% between 2010 and 2050, while the number of Christians is projected to increase by 34%.
The Muslim population is expected to grow from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.8 billion by 2050, while the Christian population is expected to grow from 2.2 billion to 2.9 billion.
The growth of Islam is not limited to any particular region, with significant growth rates observed in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Overall, while there may be some variation in the exact numbers and projections, the general consensus is that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world.

a reply to: nugget1

It’s worth noting that this trend may be driven by a desire for a more personalized and flexible approach to spirituality, as well as a rejection of the perceived dogma and institutionalization of traditional organized religions.

I think this is caused by people getting sick and tired of "my god and my religion are the true ones and all others are fake!" approach of people who practice their religions.

If you want an example just look at title and first post of this thread. He even claims "demons exist, they are very aggressive and territorial" but doesn't realize he is acting the same way he describes demons despite acknowledging his thread's title is "a little inflammatory".

There are also extremists who think like "all non-believers must be killed!" which are conveniently described as "misguided & cruel 'Christians-in-name-only" in the first post which TO ME sounds like shifting the blame to someone else instead of owning your mistakes and learning a lesson from them. I've seen this happening with muslims too, "but they are not real/true muslims" is commonly used when talking about extremists and terrorist organizations such as isis. So this problem is not specific to christianity but probably all religions.

So, here's what I think on this subject. To all people who practice a religion, doesn't matter which:
Get your sh!t together, stop nagging people, stop telling them what to do and what to believe. Maybe then people would be more willing see your religion as "the one and only true one" out of ~10.000 religions(source below) in the world.

There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide,[9] though nearly all of them have regionally based, relatively small followings. Four religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—account for over 77% of the world's population, and 92% of the world either follows one of those four religions or identifies as nonreligious,[10] meaning that the remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined.

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

All of Western civilisation is founded upon the Christian faith - not only on the institutions (the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches) but rather upon the teachings, truths, virtues & general life lessons which have been imparted to generation after generation, soaking into the fabric of our collective unconscious, forming an innate holiness in our general outlook upon life itself. So much so that even after the enlightenment & the dawn of rational scientific inquiry & the industrial revolution, the very nature of the character of each individual member of a community that was originally founded upon Christian tenets in fact display & are imbued with the virtues of a Christian, whether they know it or not.

Your own book says there's nothing new under the Sun. I find the insinuation that things such as individual or collective morality only exist under the christianic framework disingenuous at best.

Our legal system is structured entirely around the precepts of the Bible, with the letter & spirit being entirely inspired by the Christian virtues.

That tends to happen when bishops and the likes are consistently placed in positions of power. This is no theocratic nation though and I'm sure you know fine well that common law is the law of the land. Without extensive documentation being found which is unlikely I'd say again it's possibly quite disingenuous to say Christianity is the moral fiber of the UK since not all migrants over the last 1500 years (particularly the earliest) were Christian. The laws evolved from the people who were here and became to be here... A fascinating line of enquiry if one had the patience.

A note to add that unfortunately, in this age of social media & instant gratification, the standards of morality & character are dropping precipitously amongst the younger generations, and it is a genuine tragedy that the virtues & character of their forebears no longer interests or inspires them.

I'm slowly approaching middle aged and I'd still prefer to read about the classic Greeks, meso-america, various aboriginals or pretty much anything than so called christianic values. It's not ironic at all to find similar to the same values throughout other cultures because they're not derived from your God or your book... They derive from human thought and our inherent want for coexistence. However I do see less desire in other cultures to demand a "yes and no" world around us whether they're using clubs, swords, textbooks or the tongue. That seems to be an overly aggressive trait of the Abrahamic religions... Yes is to be borged as in assimilated and no is to be destroyed as in absolutely denied and/or assimilated. I could mention irony and point out some serious flaws but I'll be polite...

The truth is, demons exist. You may believe this to be nonsense, but anyone involved in the true Christian Way understands without question that those entities are real. They are aggressively territorial, and in order to conquer the territory that has been held captive to a particular ruling spirit from the demonic hierarchy (which is arranged just like an army/aristocracy), certain acts & rituals must be performed, to sanctify a space where formerly there had been demonic mischief of whatever grade had been operative, according to the power of the individual ruling spirit of that place.

The irony... It burns!

If I could buy Christianity a mirror it would be a wasted investment because it still wouldn't see itself. Yes, I'm alluding to vampiric tendencies. Your lot went around cleaning up those filthy yet inherently holy sites around the world and now the world is a mess according to your own tongue. Why is that? Could it be that you follow a doomsday cult and actually demanded this in a collective manner all along? I don't see such hatred for the earth, life and fellow humans by any other groups than those Abrahamic religions. I feel it's pertinent to mention "there's nothing new under the sun" again since I don't wish you to feel I'm attacking you or your religion because my intent isn't to harm you. It's to cynically dismiss you. If snowflakes are individual and special you are definitely not one of those... You're an ice cube forged in the freezer of great expense. Not that I'll apply such observations to all Christians or adherents of the Abrahamic faiths, many genuinely care regardless of another's faith and don't wear glasses that needlessly repaint the world.

To appreciate this argument, you must accept that demons are real, that they are highly territorial, and that they cause social ills & even medical complaints wherever they strike or embed themselves within primitive communities (or even in modern communities, under dark circumstances). But you must stomach the idea that demons are real, and conversely, that good angels also exist to help us in all sorts of ways, to minister to us as we inherit our salvation, protecting us & defeating demonic influences when partnered with us through persistent prayer & fasting.

Christianity doesn't chase the gay away to put it short.

To be slightly more informative it doesn't stop people losing their minds, it doesn't stop abuse and it doesn't stop murder despite such things being rather important tenants of the faith. Such things are important within those 'primitive' cultures too which are the ones who taught it to the abrahamic religions anyways, especially the prayer/chanting/meditation and fasting thing. 40 days in the desert and even Jesus said some horrible things about himself, if it's all gospel and the man never lied then he must have had some foresight about himself and the inevitable direction many will take us. I'd probably disagree on whether it was all worth it though but whatever it takes for another soul to see the light am I right? He kissed his enemies and said "no more of this!" From what I remember... Do you seek forgiveness and offer it at all opportunity?

Personally I'm not so quick to discount all of the other people who clearly aren't celestial who've helped me and of course helped you on your little journey at the drop of a religious hat. I guess that comes down to the dismissiveness of religiously inclined folk who could be described as "firebrandish". I can all but guarantee those who've supported you in the past were not all so religiously inclined.

I fear you have much to learn. For myself, I have nothing to learn... I need to merely listen. Condemnation hardly ever saved a soul and to look at others with discontent or even disgust is hardly productive, to be dismissive is cold. It's no wonder to me why the youth are dismissive of the talking heads, being raised by the stick with the promise of a carrot if only they'd think correctly, with half a brain they'd notice it never worked for you. So give them time to work it out?

Because one day they'll know where they're going... The road to nowhere. I'd rather them a smile on their face and a hope in their heart with a brain unwilling to submit to hatred. Let's hope they are more forgiving of our past digressions. Because that #? It's accumulative and most definitely collective.

originally posted by: nugget1
According to various sources, Islam is considered the fastest-growing religion in the world.

I discovered that fact recently, myself.

Anyone have any idea why this is? Beyond the attempts at explanation provided by AI research...I think it's deeper than that.

duplicate post....again!

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

The need to assert your church as the one superior authority over all other metaphysical authorities, is what crosses the line from spiritual wisdom to dogma and cult behaviors. It's extremely off putting, no one of any expertise is going to say "I'm the best" because that's not authority, that's EGO and any informed audience will immediately pick up on it.

a reply to: TzarChasm

Doomporn is no longer porn when it isn't recreational...

Another Christian said:
Love is cursed by monogamy, idk... Maybe he's right.

Probably being "in bad taste" here although I'd say wishing for end times is too.

People and governments and groups like WEF and UN believe they can be they're own gods like little children with a very big sandbox saying and believing they are creating a utopia, while destroying this world and the people in it.

Condemning Christians and traditional morality while tearing down the fabric (true morals and ethics) of societies, claiming and preaching all the good they will do while at the same time causing the death and destruction of many.

When people see the real evil coming, and the diabolical, when the pit is opened up and things come out, some will change, and some will still deny they need to.

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

The need to assert your church as the one superior authority over all other metaphysical authorities, is what crosses the line from spiritual wisdom to dogma and cult behaviors. It's extremely off putting, no one of any expertise is going to say "I'm the best" because that's not authority, that's EGO and any informed audience will immediately pick up on it.

What I see in religion is a whole lot of mental illness. Too many think they're 'special' in the eye's of the Lord and fancy themselves modern day prophets compelled to share their visions, dreams and messages God has chosen them to disperse. Smacks of Jim Jones, to me and the number of 'self profits/chosen ones' has exploded along with the internet.

I've known a lot of 'Christians' who wouldn't miss a Sunday service of Wednesday meeting, and their 'Godliness' stops the minute services are over. They always have the 'I'm a work in progress' or 'the devil made me do it' excuse.

Truth of the may=tter is organized religion is a money-making, human-controllling system that changes the rules every time the collection plates start suffering. The rules change as the wind blows. Two hundred plus years of 'the Bible says you'll go to hell if' changes to 'we've evolved and re-interpreted the Bible correctly this time'. Maybe at the direction of those modern day prophets espousing 'the word of god'?

I honestly can't picture the Biblical Jesus entering any church on the planet today and being pleased.

The difference between being spiritual and having a relationship with the Creator and being religious and following your prefered church doctorine is as plain as night and day, and the proseltyzing Christians of today have no one to blame but themselves for the falling away from organized religion.

originally posted by: FlyInTheOintment
All of Western civilisation is founded upon the Christian faith

Bit of a misnomer there.
For instance israel calls itself a 'western democracy'
BUT is NOT
at all founded on Jesus Christ.
Another example . .
is the Norse religion, . . brought
over from Scandinavia to the west.
Bottom line though,
the so called 'western civilized' Lol
would have Jesus Christ killed and crucified all over AGAIN.,
And still continue to worship
imperial-capitalism, and jingoism.
It does not register cognitively or spiritually,
thus they are set in their destructive ways.
Rotten apples to ruin all.
When imperial-capitalism, and jingoism is the priority,
then religion absolutely means nothing.
. . . we are all going to hell in a hand basket
no thanks to these demons. You know
who they are, they take your taxes and feed you bull.

___________________________

a reply to: nugget1

Matthew 7:13-14 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

originally posted by: AliceTheSmall

originally posted by: nugget1
According to various sources, Islam is considered the fastest-growing religion in the world.

I discovered that fact recently, myself.

Anyone have any idea why this is? Beyond the attempts at explanation provided by AI research...I think it's deeper than that.

I know, I know!

Because the antichrist has often been misunderstood and anthropomorphized as a specific man of peace instead of a religion of peace. "Salam," means peace, but if you've ever read, say the Hamas Charter, you will see a mission statement that is about as close to the biblical enemy of the chosen as one can get. It's the type of inversion one would expect from evil. In the name of Allah, of course. Maybe Islam is the epitome of Satan on Earth? There's a religious argument for "The Religion of Peace," being that placeholder. At least with the chosen people of Israel.

And I think, historically, authoritative and oppressive religions that take over and let none others exist while they beat everyone into submission, always spread fastest.

originally posted by: AliceTheSmall

originally posted by: nugget1
According to various sources, Islam is considered the fastest-growing religion in the world.

I discovered that fact recently, myself.

Anyone have any idea why this is? Beyond the attempts at explanation provided by AI research...I think it's deeper than that.

No, its not really much more complicated than the fact they have more kids while western countries where many christians live which tend to be richer and have more education so people dont have many kids. Education being the biggest reason which also causes people to be less religious and the less religious people are the less kids they have because they are more aware of reality. Many Muslim countries dont have good schools or womens rights so thats going to cause them to have more kids. They also have strict religious governments in some so its illegal to learn about things that contradict their religion.

Another reason too is that in many former Christian dominated countries alot of people are leaving the various churches because all the scandals and bs, so that bumps numbers.

originally posted by: jofafot
a reply to: nugget1

It’s worth noting that this trend may be driven by a desire for a more personalized and flexible approach to spirituality, as well as a rejection of the perceived dogma and institutionalization of traditional organized religions.

I think this is caused by people getting sick and tired of "my god and my religion are the true ones and all others are fake!" approach of people who practice their religions.

If you want an example just look at title and first post of this thread. He even claims "demons exist, they are very aggressive and territorial" but doesn't realize he is acting the same way he describes demons despite acknowledging his thread's title is "a little inflammatory".

There are also extremists who think like "all non-believers must be killed!" which are conveniently described as "misguided & cruel 'Christians-in-name-only" in the first post which TO ME sounds like shifting the blame to someone else instead of owning your mistakes and learning a lesson from them. I've seen this happening with muslims too, "but they are not real/true muslims" is commonly used when talking about extremists and terrorist organizations such as isis. So this problem is not specific to christianity but probably all religions.

So, here's what I think on this subject. To all people who practice a religion, doesn't matter which:
Get your sh!t together, stop nagging people, stop telling them what to do and what to believe. Maybe then people would be more willing see your religion as "the one and only true one" out of ~10.000 religions(source below) in the world.

There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide,[9] though nearly all of them have regionally based, relatively small followings. Four religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—account for over 77% of the world's population, and 92% of the world either follows one of those four religions or identifies as nonreligious,[10] meaning that the remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined.

en.wikipedia.org...

I personally believe the only good religion is no religion. I was raised in a Christian family but eventually all of us became non religious because of church BS plus actually reading the Bible and really thinking about how much nonsense is in there. Highly religious people are in my opinion the worst kind of people that I deal with in life.

originally posted by: Degradation33

Because the antichrist has often been misunderstood and anthropomorphized as a specific man of peace instead of a religion of peace. "Salam," means peace, but if you've ever read, say the Hamas Charter, you will see a mission statement that is about as close to the biblical enemy of the chosen as one can get. It's the type of inversion one would expect from evil. In the name of Allah, of course. Maybe Islam is the epitome of Satan on Earth? There's a religious argument for "The Religion of Peace," being that placeholder. At least with the chosen people of Israel.

By "Religion of Peace," they may mean that the purpose was to give order to all the religions which the prophet Muhammad thought were precursors of his religion, which functioned through sinful rapport. He did want to put a stop to all the warring between factions of his people, I believe.

RE: the OP:

Buddhism may be quite useful even to practicing Christians.

I had heard that there were Catholic priests who were authorized to also be Buddhist Lamas.

a reply to: burritocat

I was raised in a Christian family

I was raised in a religious family too. My experience wasn't so bad, unlike others my family was not tyrannical about religion so I can't say something like "only good religion is no religion" but I can definitely see where you are coming from.

Highly religious people are in my opinion the worst kind of people that I deal with in life.

I am assuming you mean extremists. Those are usually the ones who are most likely to join an "activist" group which would commit terror acts and cause needless bloodshed. They are also most likely the ones who can't wait for another crusade, jihad etc so they can go die in a religion war. But despite that they very much like to think of themselves as peaceful people.

If you meant non-extremist but still highly religious people I can handle them, atleast they are harmless. They don't want bloodshed on a regular basis. In my experience I found they are also the ones who are constantly nagging people with their religion. They just like to talk about their religion and their god a lot. I find their talks boring. Honestly, I'd probably fall asleep if I were to listen to them non-stop for more than 30 minutes but like I said atleast they are harmless folk.

originally posted by: charlest2
a reply to: nugget1

Matthew 7:13-14 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

And every religious sect/cult/orginization will tell you they're the only one who can get you through the gate.

a reply to: jofafot

Its a mix of both. Even the non-extremists are very rude, judgemental, and often hypocritical. Not very nice people to generally be around. I had an uncle who found god after being an alcoholic. Hes was much more pleasant as an alcoholic than as a Jesus nut. he was a pleasant drinker, never caused problems, mostly just drank too much and told us dumb cowboy jokes which were funny. And fell asleep watching Johnny Carson. But then he found god on one of those televangelist shows, and became super obnoxious and pushy towards family.

That also made me think of something else. Religion is alot like alcohol. Some people can handle it and still behave themselves, but alot of people become drunk and stupid on it.