I recently responded to a short series of questions relating to religion, God, and the Bible. Here are the questios I responded to:
Holy Bible and Religion Criticisms, Skepticism, and Questions:
1. Why believe in something you can’t see?
2. Do any of you believe that it’s possible once a near death experience comes that you can see the light (of heaven)? or complete dementia?..
3. Doth a little wine do the body good?
4. Why do a lot of Christians criticize other religions? For instance: My step grandmother is catholic, my grandparents that i live with now. They are Christian (i know what you’re thinking) but they said she was going to hell for praying to Marry, and all of these other things.
5. Oh and My brother, a gay man, we went to a gay church, and there were holy heterosexual people out the as* yelling at us and telling us we were going to hell….. calling them faag0ts?? I was about 7 when they did this to all of these people. And i felt that they were extremely out of line. The cops came and ended the church gathering. i heard it’s no longer there.
6. Why follow the bible?… Were you raised to believe in your god?… or do you non believers think the Christians were completely brainwashed into perception that praising the Lord is the right thing to do..?
7. Do you think, if you or your child were forced to believe in something you or they didn’t feel comfortable with, Do you assume yourself or child would rebel even more?…
8. Do you look at Christianity just as a profit source?.. ex. If you buy this video for 34 dollars we guarantee you’ll become closer to god.
9. Thoughts on satan?
My grandmother told me my girlfriend had evil spirits inside his heart. She have a lot of forgiving ‘issues’, and the devil was taking course of action. that he was the reason she is f*king up in life.
Now, my girlfriend is sweet and sincere. Just has a lot of scars. I believe that what you do in life is on you. Do you believe that the devil is a made up guy?… just a guy to put blame on for all of our hard ships? My grandmother isn’t slow nor delusional.. lol or at least. i don’t think…Thank you for your time. and I appreciate you taking the time to read, or even answer thes questions i have
I’m open to all of your opinions, dont give me any quotes from the bible, i want to know what YOU as a person thinks on the matter.
You asked a ton of good questions, so I will try to keep my explanations/answers brief:
1. Why believe in something you can’t see? Do you believe in love? Can you see it? Do you believe in wind? Can you see it? Do you believe in cold? Can you see it? Get my point. Many things exist without any visible form. You may be able to see the results of something (i.e. ice from the result of cold), but you can’t see cold itself.
2. Yes I think the human mind is set up in a way that it sees lights, feels comfort and peace, etc. when the moment of death comes. I think this is what you experience on your way to back to the God that gave you life in the first place.
3. I don’t drink any alcohol at all. Small amounts of wine is fine. Being a drunk or doing it all the time is a little different. Some people become addicted very fast. So it is best to avoid it all-together.
4. It is true some christians criticize others, but then again, so does everyone else too. Atheists tend to criticize all religions, christians tend to criticize all other religions, muslims tend to criticize all other religions, etc. It has nothing to do with God, jus the way people are sometimes. Also, not “ALL” people criticize others. But there are people of each faith that do this. This doesn’t represent all people of that faith.
5. Sorry people yelled at you and called your family gay. I don’t necessarily agree with homosexuality, but I view it as every other issue mentioned in the Bible and I never yell at people or am rude to people who do it. I have some friends that are. I let God do the judging, and I do what God asks of me, which is to love, forgive, and follow his word. We have all done wrong in life. We should treat all people equally and give them respect and love. We should never do what the people you described did to you and your family. If I was there, I would have happily told them to mind their own business and defended you and your family. At the same time, I try to follow the Bible, and it is pretty clear on all sins. I bet the people that were yelling at you were guilty of several sins themselves. So they had no right to judge. Only God should.
6. I wasn’t raised in a church setting. My mom would sometimes say something about God, but not often. I started asking questions about life, and studied religion and science. I started to ask hard questions like you, and that is what started me on the path to God. I realized it is actually quite logical and makes sense. When I followed it, I realized it felt right.
7. People can rebel for different reasons. What you are raised believing doesn’t always impact your entire life or beliefs.
8.There are good Christians and bad ones. Some ask for money and do wrong. Some do very good things in this world and you never hear about it because they don’t flash it around to make themselves seem like a “good” person. Some of the nicest and most honorable people I know had a strong faith in God. Jesus is the best example of a Christian, not the people on TV.
9. I think evil exists. I think the devil is the spiritual “embodiment” of all evil, just like Jesus was the physical embodiment of all goodness. I think he is a real being. That doesn’t mean all things are caused by him. Some problems or events in our life may come from our own doing. But a darkness exists in this world.
I hope I have helped with your questions! Best of luck to you and God bless!