Why are Christians so scared?!

reply to post by Jkd Up


2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Originally posted by OzWeatherman

Religious or not, people can still be complete asses, it not the religious beliefs that determine ones character, its the person themselves

Bravo! I cannot disbute your frankness

I have to wonder though, why all of a sudden is this a big problem? It seems that more and more Christians are standing up as there is some major conspiracy against them.

reply to post by 5thElement


Religious people, by default, invest a LOT into believing that life after death is a FACT (they just don't wanna die, simple as that). If this is true then why wouldn't they want to die? And is it in the bible that suicide is a sin.

Originally posted by dalan.
But, uh, you don't have to be such a meanie-weenie with you're responses I wasn't attacking you.

Incorrect. Stating the truth in a matter of fact fashion, replying to your reply without the use of 1,000 hug smilies, and correcting your false assumptions does not classify as 'meanie weenie.' I also took nothing in your first post as a personal attack nor did I ever accuse you of personally attacking me. Are we a little overly sensitive today or something?

No hard feelings.

Editing out paragraphs that would possibly lead to thread derailment.

[edit on 12/26/2008 by AshleyD]

Originally posted by Jkd Up
Why are the Christians so afraid of their reign of being the best and biggest. If it is indeed over; it's been a heck of a run. But it will not drop off.

If there is indeed "chest pounding" going around for being the best and biggest anything, than that is an unrelinquent pride in personal intellect.
Pompous narrating to an appropriatness for everyone else.
- If that is the case, I think it is only a matter of time before there is a realization of how inviting someone into your beliefs is not about whether it is true of false, but why it is good if it is followed. I think arrogance fades with time, but honestly, humility is the approach everyone should be taking.

Im still a Christian (mystic) and it was the best decision of my life. It was huge upgrade from my miserable and selfish prior atheistic existence, no offense of course to others.

First of the Bible predicts not only the decline of Xtianity but also a time of a 1 world Gov and implemented 1 world Religion ......a time during which Christians will be killed, beheaded, executed, imprisoned for their beliefs.

So, it is the natural progression that Xtinaity as w hole is headed to. The less advanced Christians who still take everything as Dogma, fear this and their scared.

The more advanced Christians who have Spiritual Enlightenment are prepared and know intuitively that we are headed there. I am in the Now and I continue to Be and have absolute and Extreme peace in all situations even if the world is ending.

Do I worry about other peoples souls???? I never worry, but I do care about other souls, Why? Because what ever level your vibrating at when you die, thats where your soul will attract to in the after life. Im not worried about myself cause I Love God, and I love meditation and see things behind the veil. Christianity becomes very mystical when you start experiencing the deeper things Jesus promised would happen to you if you walk this path.

You either have SPiritual Enlightenment and are operating and a deeper level of eternal unity, or your operating on ego and seperation us vs. them etc.

If everyone was enlightened, the whole news section on ATS would be happy news and wonderful stories of miracles.

We have wars, murders, rapes, and so on because 99.9% of people are operating on ego and not through SPiritual third eyes, through Love, Light, and self control over lusts and passions.

This world is disgustingly sick, and I admit in the past I have added to its sickness. But now I see the nature of reality, who's behind it, who made it, and just how crazy of a ride we're all in for on this planet ...all because of "Ego."

The OP seems very sterotypical. Just dropped by to say that no, not all Christians are worried and that no I don't operate on Beliefs that God exists, I personally know for myself directly that God is real. I have no other way to exist except with and through this being that we walk through when we travel from the computer to the kitchen and so on.

Love you guys all

Hey dude, interesting thread thanks for the read.
I'm a Christian and i suppose i get what you are saying. I wouldn't say we are scared, i feel that you're trying to imply that we feel threatened or something but that's not the case from my point of view. Although there is some aprehension i would say.

The world is going through very exciting times, whether you are religious or not, im sure you agree.
There is crazy stuff going on everywhere at the moment regardless of religion.

I personally think that some big event will happen in our life time, something massive and global. That could either be the second coming and Christianity will be a fact, or that maybe Aliens exist, or maybe a global catastrophe and that were simply in the Chaos theory. So i wouldn't say i was scared, but i would definately say, i feel like i am living in the times where we will soon be finding out one way or the other whether atheists or religious people are right.

So scared?... no.. Excited and anxious for everyone not just people of my religion? yeah.

I don't mind being proved wrong about religion. If it was proven a fact that we were from aliens and religion was all rubbish, then i'd accept it. Just like if there was a second coming and rapture, u could soon change ur opinion. Thats what makes us all individual. If it was that easy to decide what to believe, people wouldnt have spent 2000 years arguing about it. I dont want to argue... all opinions are interesting!

reply to post by N. Tesla


How do you know the entire Christian faith is a lie?. As an agnostic, I see Christianity and atheism as a testament to human arrogance.

reply to post by juveous


Excellent point. Any knowledge or wisdom I have was achieved through humility.

Well, I am not scared that Christianity is in danger, nor am I afraid for myself.

I am afraid however that society is devolving and that we are about to enter a new dark age. I don't fear for myself or even for others of my generation. I am well educated and I make a good living. The sort of degeneration that I am talking about takes generations to occure. I would guess that we are two or three generations along the path. It is my opinion that our society as a whole is in danger slipping into an age of barbarism that could take centuries to recover from. I arrive at my conclusion from observation, not from any sort of religious belief.

So what makes me so sure that our society is in decline?

1.) The deterioration of education. What we know about science, literature, art, math, philosophy, theology, etc. we are not passing on. We have some of the worst elementary schools in the world, while at the same time we have some of the best universities. Most of the graduate students at our universities however, are foreigners. We are not retaining the knowledge that we have.

2.) The destruction of knowledge. A few centuries ago, a classical education included arts and letters in four or five major disciplines. A professor had to demonstrate his expertise in each of the major disciplines. This was later reduced to a single area of specialization. So we got professors of math and science who knew nothing of art, philosophy, theology, etc. This resulted in an imbalance in the various disciplines. This later resulted in the almost total destruction of art and philosophy. Now we are witnessing the destruction of theology and literature as disciplines. Science and Mathematics cannot carry the burden. It should also be noted that Science and Mathematics will not survive for long without the other major disciplines.

3.) The coursening of the society at large. This is something that I have witnessed first hand. I am not that old but I can remember when there were certain words that were not used in public, and certainly not in front of women. Now you can hear those words on the street, in public, from women. We have definately lost something.

4.) The loss of discipline. We see this in the school system where the kids now run the place. They wear what they want, say what they want, come to class only when they want. Learn nothing, study nothing, do nothing. What happens when this crop of kids gets to college? Will they even go to college? They'll probably waste their 20's living at home, playing wii, and texting their buds. We already see this one happening.

5.) The loss of manufacturing capability. This society was built by the Industrial Revolution. The rapid expansion of the means of production with a rapid decline in the cost of production. So, we have enjoyed the greatest economy in all of history. Now, the means of production is moving offshore, and being concentrated in a single country. This will result in the cost of raw materials increasing, slowly at first and then very rapidly. The cost to ship raw materials to China and then receive the finished goods in return is causing a massive trade imbalance for every country in the world. This will cause a worldwide economic colapse. It's just a matter of time. Most people don't see this one coming because we don't require economics at the secondary school level.

6.) The lack of information in the information age. What passes for knowledge in the society as a whole is based on rumor, inuendo, and feelings. Most journalists simply repeat what is coming across the wire and they don't crosscheck the facts. There is better reporting on this site than can be found in most of the MSM.

Anyway, these are some of things that keep me awake at night.

reply to post by OzWeatherman


I believe the difficulty with anyone speaking of Christianity is the idea that there is only one kind.

Last I checked, there were over 33,000 denominations of Christianity, most of whom disagree violently with each other.

I tend to call myself a Messianic Gentile, but that's a whole thread in itself.

As for everyone's upbringing, in church/synagogue/temple/cult/hall of bogoted scientists/communists/etc....well, I doubt that anyone had a very good one, or there would be no reason for us to reach out to a being that we could term our Creator.

Presuming Intelligent Design, the Creator's got a lot of perfection for us to reach for, and we have a lot of work to do.

For that matter, we have a lot of work to do in just getting along with one another.

The truly terrifying thing is the actual, physical persecution of any religion anywhere for any reason..and there is a lot of that going on, even in the West.



[edit on 12/26/2008 by DreamTrekker]

[edit on 12/26/2008 by DreamTrekker]

[edit on 12/26/2008 by DreamTrekker]

Originally posted by lunarminer
Well, I am not scared that Christianity is in danger, nor am I afraid for myself.

I am not myself either, at least not at this time. However, any traditionalist has a cloud of future fear hovering over their heads like Damocle's Sword.

Jews and Christian's both feel the pressure of secularists, humanists, and Muslim's.

I am afraid however that society is devolving and that we are about to enter a new dark age. I don't fear for myself or even for others of my generation. I am well educated and I make a good living. The sort of degeneration that I am talking about takes generations to occure. I would guess that we are two or three generations along the path.

I wish this was so, but one good disaster like Katrina is enough to remind us all that our civilization is only skin deep for those not brought up traditionally.

So what makes me so sure that our society is in decline?

1.) The deterioration of education. We are not retaining the knowledge that we have.

Unfortunately, most people are not even aware of it.

2.) The destruction of knowledge. A few centuries ago, a classical education included arts and letters in four or five major disciplines. Now we are witnessing the destruction of theology and literature as disciplines. It should also be noted that Science and Mathematics will not survive for long without the other major disciplines.

Not disputed by anyone with a college degree...even a recent one, or at least so I hope.

3.) The coursening of the society at large. This is something that I have witnessed first hand. I am not that old but I can remember when there were certain words that were not used in public, and certainly not in front of women. Now you can hear those words on the street, in public, from women. We have definately lost something.

It would have been nice to have retained all that was good as we advanced in womans/civil rights (all kinds), and the interchange of culture and knowledge. Unfortunately, this did not happen, and it is not reversible.

Those who are Believers (Judaic/Christian/Muslim) know that this is a planned event. They merely disagree on who survives.

The other half of the population do not even expect to survive.

4.) The loss of discipline. We see this in the school system where the kids now run the place. What happens when this crop of kids gets to college? Will they even go to college? They'll probably waste their 20's living at home, playing wii, and texting their buds. We already see this one happening.

Strict fundamentalists of all religions view this with horror...but it cannot be stopped. From a "Judeo/Christian/Muslim" worldview, it is to be expected, and sadly, quaranteed to get worse.

5.) The loss of manufacturing capability. The cost to ship raw materials to China and then receive the finished goods in return is causing a massive trade imbalance for every country in the world. This will cause a worldwide economic colapse. It's just a matter of time. Most people don't see this one coming because we don't require economics at the secondary school level.

It's not required in most colleges, either, where it was once called 'Political Economy', yet it is necessary for any civilized discussion...even here.

6.) The lack of information in the information age. What passes for knowledge in the society as a whole is based on rumor, inuendo, and feelings. There is better reporting on this site than can be found in most of the MSM.

It makes me particularly glad to have the internet...one can ferret out 'Truth', if one is willing to put in the time and effort. One does need to realize that there can be different truths...depending on the subject matter, and cultural context.

Tolerance creates mediocrity...and some kindnesses end up killing people.

i cant believe that we christians are so afraid?!?!, of..... what......?????? i love the living god and i read the bible and try my best to remain of the spirit, a kindly man so that i can get good work done for the lord, spiritual work, like getting his message across that he is the savior of man, and he writes in the bible, "say this, what can a man do to me?" and also "nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, but still have no fear!" and remember this my friends, in the end the heathens will be getting madder and madder and those that are following the lord will be getting happier and happier!, as it is written, and what with these terrorists in all of these islamic nations, here Israel is a giant to them when its only a little sliver of land in a sea of heathen people mocking that christians are to blame for the world's problems?!?!?!, christians who really are christians are about the lords work and are not being lead by the lord to anywhere that he is not watching over them to help to get this good work done for him and of course have no reason to fear anything ..... and I dont!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by pigwithoutawig

Religious people, by default, invest a LOT into believing that life after death is a FACT (they just don't wanna die, simple as that). If this is true then why wouldn't they want to die? And is it in the bible that suicide is a sin.

Suicide thing is a pretty good fail-safe then, isn't it ?

Trust me, you would see much more of them happening without it...

how can you use your tiny little brains to try andfully understand the ways of GOD?...

the truth is, the world is scared because they now understand that it is more than likely Jesus is coming back, and they fear GOD will not accept them, and punish them for all the Sin they've been doing.... so rather than turning away from sin, they use this to fuel and justify their actions to sin even more.

All you need to do is turn away!... dont put yourself down any longer, Jesus didnt come to the world to condemn it, but to bring life. So why condemn yourself if Jesus doesnt condemn you?... Jesus wants you to turn from your sinful ways and receive eternal life through Him. Seek him while he may be found. Why turn away from Love?...to turn away from Love doesnt make sense.

If your not sure if Jesus is real, why not come and see?... speak to JESUS on a serious level, tell him your pains, worries, fears and ask him to help your unbelief.... if you are serious he WILL answer you!... i did it myself. Jesus IS interested in your salvation, and is waiting to reveal himself to you, but you must first want it.

The time is short....and the whole world knows it!...wether they connect it to Jesus return or not, doesnt change the fact that its really happening!...

Make the right choice PLEASE...

Its all, stupid all religion vs science nowadays its all about being right now, I thought the one general and major idea of religion was not faith, not worshiping a higher power, and NOT about who's right or wrong, but was about peace, whether its Christianity, Buddhism, Muslim, etc. but noooo its just something to argue and war about now. Jesus, The Buddha (Prince Siddhartha Gautama), etc. all those worshiped people who (supposedly) lived long ago wanted one thing and that was peace and unity yet it seems their words fall on deaf ears that just think (at least nowadays), "OMG they were smart people, let's worship them for all the wrong reasons!" They shouldn't even have been worshiped, they were just people after all, people who spoke up and said "Can't we all just get along?" Jesus was regular man against the Roman oppression and Prince Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha) was a monk who unlike the other monks decided to spread his knowledge of the "spiritual truth" and created a new religion that way. And then those who wrote things like [The Bible] took their words and put God and their own rules between them which really ruined their teachings. It sucks. Sure, most people follow religions because they were brought up in it but even those people should know its about the morals not just the deity.

Religion in truth is not the worship of a deity or at least shouldn't be, but is about the teachings the religion was based upon. It's ridiculous what people follow religions for now, its all about what deity they think exists. I WILL say that there are still those who don't just believe in their god but believe in the laws that religion stands for. But sadly their numbers are dwindling.

I don't even like the name Atheist because it makes it sound like a non religious, non agnostic person is a bad thing or just another religion. And its used as another thing to argue about.

And then there is also competition between the religious people like who's the "better Christian" you know? who attends more masses and prays more often and yet they STILL DON'T GET THE ^#%$!!% POINT, i can say it over and over again, its not just about the deity but about the original thoughts that sparked the religion in the first place. And I say ORIGINAL because saying nay to abortion and gay rights or believe in life after death, whatever that certain church priest believes to be right is NOT and original thought. I don't know how to put it well but the original thoughts are the things the creator of the religion or worshiped (if they actually existed, NOT AN ALL POWERFUL BEING [god] but normal person) person believed and thought everyone should think or know about.

And if one religion likes something but another religion doesn't like that something well they should just let the other religion believe what they believe or come to a common agreement instead of going to war about it.

Anyway, what religion has become is REALLY REALLY STUPID, what it used to be or should have been isn't.

The common thing that true religions share is the belief in peace and unity. But that belief has long been forgotten and, as I said b4, it's all about the faith and not about teachings nowadays.

AND there is no such thing as a religion in danger, a religion is a religion and not some material thing with a tank aiming at it, what is really happening is that it is losing followers but that doesn't mean its in "danger" per say but it is losing at least attenders to mass and even believers. Christianity will be around forever nonetheless because is is a spiritual thing and not a material thing.

[edit on 12/27/08 by MoothyKnight]

reply to post by 5thElement


I'm not sure if Jesus is going to come floating from the clouds to save us.

Everything evolves including religion. The desert religions will evolve with science to something new.

That is if the zionists (Zionists.) don't contribute their help to what was written in their books about the end times...Atempting to prove their old books word was written word for word by god and there is no escaping the end.

Peace


[edit on 27-12-2008 by One_of_Manny]

[edit on 27-12-2008 by One_of_Manny]

Originally posted by hannamtong
reply to post by N. Tesla

 

As an agnostic, I see Christianity and atheism as a testament to human arrogance.

How is it human arrogance to believe in a religion or nothing at all? It how you treat your status religious wise that can be arrogant, like saying "Oh I'm Christian I'm better than you, or saying "Oh I'm atheist I'm so much better than you." Being Christian or atheist (which i despise the term atheist by the way) should not be seen as arrogance, what your saying is that if you believe in 1 thing then your arrogant and if you don't believe in anything your arrogant but if u believe in something then your not arrogant? THAT right there is arrogance. Either you said it wrong or you are just as arrogant as supposedly ALL us Christians and atheists.

reply to post by N. Tesla


I know how you feel. I remember thinking that "Christians are full of garbage, weak minded, crutch seeking etc,,," I was raised in a Jewish household, with a dad who was high up at NBS (now NIST), and a mom who was a librarian.So when my family would have discussions about Christian doctrine and faith (logic versus spirituality) , logic always made more sense. Stay with me here buddy....when I was 15, I cried out to Jesus, on a dare.....and I got an answer. HIS spirit blew right through me. I went from being a total non believer to a complete believer in a second.I know, I know.....sounds completely nuts....but it has been my experience that if GOD wants you to know who HE IS - HE will do so. Christianity has gotten a bad rap because of all those televangelists who wear bad wigs, sell dumb books, and constantly beg for money. I certainly can understand why some people feel the way they do about it. Personally, those tv bums make me disgusted, and oh well......freedom of speech and free enterprise. In closing, Jesus is the only GOD that says 'Try me, test me...see if I am real."

reply to post by Jkd Up
Heck, I'm christian and I'm not afraid for my faith.