posted on Aug, 22 2007 @ 09:08 PM
Alright FlyersFan, fair enough, I guess I mis-read your tone with regard to wanting people to "know Him as you do." I just thought that was kind of
an arrogant statement to make, no matter how politely you stated it (it sounded like you know Him *much* better than they do, qualitatively speaking,
which is a common symptom of the christian experience, no matter what your flavour). Sure we all wish everyone in the world had the same opinion of
things as we do personally (although on a certain level I guess it would be a smidge boring), humans are quite predictably sad in that regard.
The thing is, although I am not christian, some of my very close friends are christian (jeez, I feel like that white guy saying "but some of my best
friends are black" :lol
, and I am of the opinion that if people the world over followed the 10 commandments in terms of a moral outline for
behaviour, the entire Adamic race would be better for it (I'll even go so far as to say 9 and forego that first one, since it pre-supposes belief in
a/many God/s). I do, believe it or not, find value in man's inherent desire to recognize it's spiritual nature. We just haven't got the best
record as far as that goes by and large. Anyhow, put down the holy hand-grenade, I admit my statement came off a little smug, and you most likely
don't deserve that.
Not that anyone asked me, but I think Ellipses has made possibly the most cogent point with regards to this thread so far. It wasn't "they are evil
satan-worshippers" or any of that sort of drivel which gets lobbed at LDS from fundies and mainstream x-tianity, it was a personal experential
perspective regarding the Mormons, stated plainly and simply. My family are a bunch of speaking-in-tongues bible-thumping fundamentalist zealots who
are inches away from picking up serpents and guzzling strichnine, but are they friendly and nice and sincere? YOU BETCHA. Will they help you change
a tire on the side of the road? YOU BETCHA. Are they also scarey as hell? YOU BETCHA. They have the same condition as any number of mormons, or
fundamentalists, or even Hassidic Jews I've met. They are nice because they honestly believe that according to their system, they feel they have a
moral obligation to live their lives in a particular manner. Is that cool with me? YOU BETCHA. On the flipside there are those who bomb abortion
clinics, and shoot doctors, and (on the so-called "islamofascist" side) those who will walk into a crowded market with a bomb strapped to them and
blow everyone in a 50 foot radius to "kingdom come" as it were. I'm not defending those who use their religious doctrine as an excuse to be jerks
to the rest of us, but to those sincere people who hold themselves to a higher moral standard with the concern for others foremost in their minds, I
say BRAVO.
Peace,
Hex23