night everyone. Thank you spider for this thread. I
think it carries many important points that I hope people consider when
communicating with a believer in the future.

I guess if anyone is offended or confused by the off color joke I made,
please see point 1. I'm sorry I made the joke, it's not something I
would normally do in the religion forum, but it was posted by mistake.

I think if they take it too seriously they should ignore it or don't
read the post. It wasn't intentional

Here are some others common misconceptions, would you like to address
them?

All Christians take communion.

All Christians believe in saints.

All Christians take some kind of vows to be a member of a church.

All Christian beliefs are the same.

All Christian churches are run like a business.

Like any business, Christian churches are in competition, to gain
members for funding.

All Christians belonging to an organized church are taught how to
convert people.

All Christians pray to Jesus.


Just so you all know, these are not my opinions. I just felt that
Spiders list was a little too weak. I made my list up from things I've
heard others say over the last several years. I also want you all to
know I defended a more Christian view on many occasions, however, there
are times, when given the explanation for the statement, I could not
argue the point.

I like those ideas red, I agree with some. You are entitled to your own
opinion

what's this ..BUMP

bored, I did not say these were my opinion. I was simply asking for
some more qualified explanations. After all, they do seem to be some
of the most 'common' comments that I've heard, more so than those that
Spider decided were relevant. Just wondered how other Christians might
respond to this list.

Just questions, no manipulation intended. The door was open, the
welcome mat was out, I entered and asked.

Okay - I'll give it a shot:

All Christians take communion.
*** I'd say yes to this - however it is the regularity which
differs. Catholics have it as part of a mass, some non-denominational
Christians take communion once a month, others only at easter.

All Christians believe in saints.
*** All Christians ARE saints - unless of course you are refering to
Catholics - who tend to tack a more specific meaning to sainthood.

All Christians take some kind of vows to be a member of a church.
*** Absolutely false. All Christians are members of the "church" in
which Jesus established with Peter as the rock. But often "Church" is
misrepresented - when Congregation should be the term.

All Christian beliefs are the same.
*** Yes. However not all Christians interpret the same.

All Christian churches are run like a business.
*** If a church is run like a business - it isn't a Christian one.

Like any business, Christian churches are in competition, to gain
members for funding.
*** Again - if this is what a church is doing, it isn't a christian
one. Merely calling onself a "Christian church" does not necessarily
make it one.

All Christians belonging to an organized church are taught how to
convert people.
*** No Christian converts anyone. Only God can convert someone - a
christian merely shares the experience.

All Christians pray to Jesus.
*** At least once in their life - yes. Some do so daily.

Hope that gives you some insight.

La

Communion? To commune with god or nature? Sacrament to partake of a
sacred ritual often referred to as communion. yes you are correct most
Christians do take communion to renew a covenant in the memory of
Christ, however it is only a ritual for renewal of this covenant with
him. The frequency of this ritual does depend on the person involved.

Saints? Nope sorry I don't believe in saints as you put it, thus I could
not be a saint in the literal term. If you mean a saint as in one who
accepts certain teachings and allows God and his son Christ into my
life, then yes I am a saint, but these are not necessary to be a saint
in my book. In my book A saint is one who has spirituality and follows
his heart. If you use that definition then yes we all have the ability
to be saints.

Member of a church? HHhhhmmm this would be tough to answer, yes and no.
From time to time I wander into a church and as a result I could be
considered a member. In this aspect you would be correct, however since
I lean to a more strict belief system than most it would be hard to say
which religion I would align myself with. Most religions preach
damnation and I don't think anyone will be damned in the end, they will
simply be judged for who they are inside and not necesarily what they
have done on this plane of existance.

Same beliefs? That depends on How you interpret the beliefs they have.
Basic belief of christians is that Christ is a man of God, beyond that
christian beliefs vary. Some say he is the son of god, some say he is
God's incarnate upon this earth, some say he is a part of God. I am sure
there are other ideas also.

Many Christian churches are run like a business, they have secretaries,
leaders, doorman, and many other positions that a business does. This
does not however make it a business, to spread the beliefs they, they
have need money. To build the churches to hold meetings they need money.
Is this wrong? To ask a member of any church for money, or any other way
of gathering money to do these things is necessary Evil in order to
carry out the work they do.

Competition? Not in a literal sense, however most if not all organized
religions want you to follow their beliefs and in so doing you could say
they do compete for your soul.

Conversion? HHhhmmm if telling you how I feel about Anything I believe
in is conversion then yes, so by the same statement anytime you tell me
your opinion on anything you are trying to convert me. Are you calling
yourself a Hypocrite?

I pray for guidance, inspiration, protection, etc etc etc, however as it
is written in the Bible I pray to no Man or Idol. I do pray in the name
of Jesus Christ. There is a very big difference.



G

Redykeulous,

"I just felt that Spiders list was a little too weak."

I agree, but for some reason many people on these forums still labor
under those misconceptions. I hoped that by posting this thread, I
could clarify these misunderstandings and we could move past them and
actually discuss issues for a change. I'm so sick of hearing "shoving
religion down my throat" and "Judge not lest ye be judged". For awhile,
I couldn't make a single post without some kind of pseudo-Christian
response, explaining why I shouldn't have posted in the first place.
The problem was, the person making the post didn't understand the
concept behind the scriptures or was attributing me speaking of my faith
as an attempt to force my beliefs on others.

Anyways, I hope these misconceptions won't appear again in the forum,
but if they do, I will just bump this thread.

I do not think that we "labour" with the misconception.

Most of us do know what Christianity is about.

We are labouring with the way YOU bring YOUR Christianity over to us.

Why accuse others of debating when YOU are the person that constantly
shows disrespect for every thing others say.
When you can't take our opinions for what they are, our opinions, and
just tell us we are wrong.
This is disrespectful and shows contempt where there should be love and
understanding.
You especially are painting the picture of Christianity with the arms
close to the body.

invisible,

You have so much hostility towards me, I really don't know what to do.
I haven't made any angry posts in this thread. I haven't told anyone
that they are wrong. You are talking about my reprehensible behavior
from weeks / months ago. I am a changed man, I am keeping my eyes on
the broze snake, if you will. I am sorry for any offense I have given
you in the past, but I kindly ask that we move on and let it be water
under the bridge. I created this thread to address some misconceptions
that seem to be raised on a regular basis. If you disagree, then
present your disagreement to the arena of ideas and allow the readers of
this forum to decide whom they agree with.

This is a perfect example of another misunderstanding

"Christians don't make mistakes"

"Christians are not tolerant because they don't accept my views"
It's NORMAL to disagree. Often times, people outrage when it comes to
something they don't want to hear or see.

When you ask be prepared for a variety of answers.


I think we're missing the point here. We should establish a way of
better communication together to where things are clear with no
assumptions. Ask, like Red's post mentions. Ask when the other feels
their "buttons" are pushed.

*****************************************************************
The point of this topic is to remove the negative image or
misconceptions about believers on this site.

To enable better communication. Grasp tight to the MESSAGE before you
respond in anger. I'll admit I have been a victim of responding in
anger, but we can make this section better.
***************************************************************

Out of ALL sections of JSH, the religion is the worst to communicate
with people. There are members who come to me, only to chat with me on
faith because they don't want to get involved with the nonsense here.

If there is no change, people will drop out like flies.

BC please define 'nonsense'.

and just what you mean by 'change'.

Based on things that have been said to me by a few people on here I am
wondering if you mean 'anyone who posts other than as I and my friends
post should stop'.

I would hate to think this to be what you meant so please clarify for me
if you would.

Please don't think the WORST when you read my post. I'm glad you asked
rather than respond automatically in anger, or frustration. This is
something I'm learning not to do.

nonsense to me is anything that stirs up hostility, animosity between
users for ANY reason. The common misunderstandings that can be easily
resolved like we're doing RIGHT NOW. Like Red's posts stated, just ask
the user when either side feels someone has crossed that line.

The way I used changed is exactly what I meant in the context of the
sentence. I feel there needs to be a change in how we communicate to
remove disagreements and the burden in posting responses under pressure.
People don't like posting here when it
becojavascript:add_smiley('flowerforyou','post_text')
Flowerforyoumes a domino effect to arguments, or debates.


God bless AND THANK YOU FOR ASKING

oh..yeh I meant my message for ALL users. I don't believe in the high
school mentality, popularity contests where there is an alliance and
groups.

boredchick, I don't see any reason to NOT make my feelings known.

You are the one talking about not tag-teaming, you are the one saying in
every post: no debate please. But as soon as spider starts it you urge
him on, and when somebody else opens the mouth, you do your oh sigh bit,
like, oh look, there they start it again.

Before you do say anything like that, make sure that you are not the one
doing it yourself.

I see there was a posting error

Some people don't like posting here with the burdens of the domino
effect of disagreements and arguments. One simple post can ead to a 14
page argument and debate. We can prevent this together with changes.

Invisble you are VERY similar. You check others but not yourself.

"Why accuse others of debating when YOU are the person that constantly
shows disrespect for every thing others say.
When you can't take our opinions for what they are, our opinions, and
just tell us we are wrong."

You do this ALL THE TIME. Regardless if you know it or not you
tend to respond in anger. Your posts comes very disrespectful which
further stirs things up.

It makes people not want to respond to you. You are quick to tell
someone they are wrong also because it is something you either don't
want to see or hear.

Instead you can say "I acknowledge our disagreement but I remain in my
opinion, thank you for your posts."