Looking for input to help center my thoughts regarding religion.
I had an astute man once tell me that to be a Christian, all you have to do is believe that Christ died to save us. That is all. There are no other requirements, though practicing his teachings would certainly be a personal bonus.
Okay, some background: I was taught Christianity from a Catholic school that had a mix of nuns and your regular school teachers. It was also a diverse group, where people like me (bi-cultured) were in the majority. So my concept of Christianity has always been a vision of diverse skin colors. Anything else would have seemed odd. Also, though Christ's teachings of kindness and goodwill appealed to me, I suspect that that aspect of Christianity just happened to fit in with my personality. And this is the fusion with religion that has stayed with me to this day, and quite frankly, I don't know how to protect that in lieu of the co-option that an Anglo-American culture is taking over Christianity.
The most difficult thing I contend with, is that I have always been skeptical of organizations. And when the pedophile Priest situation started, I was very young and became forever jaded with my trust in the Catholic church. But it didn't affect the other qualities, which I pointed out in the above paragraph.The negative though, is that I'm a lone-wolf practitioner, which means, I will have to fight this battle alone.
So, my dilemma: How do I survive a barrage from Anglo-Conservative Christianity, that wants to sell themselves as the only true way to practice Christianity? They are like borgs, killing everything around them in order to sustain themselves. Shouldn't we have, in this day and age, a clear understanding that there are Christians who feel no kinship with the borg-style Christianity that the Right is pushing? And I know the answer is, yes, I just wonder how we get that point across, so they understand it?
As of today, the only way to make myself understood is to call their version, White Jesus. Some have been very shocked by this, but by the time I'm finished with my argument, it becomes very obvious why the Republican party is anti-woke.
Ocelot II
(120,813 posts)singing that little kid's song about how "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight." and we drew pictures with crayons of all those multicolored children hanging out with Jesus. I guess at a lot of churches they don't sing that song or draw those pictures in Sunday school any more, and that the grownups who once did have forgotten.
wnylib
(24,372 posts)and placement of children in cages, I attended a church service where the pastor preached a rousing sermon of human unity and then led the congregation in singing Jesus Loves the Little Children.
Members then began calling and e-mailing Congress for action to halt the sadistic program.
Today, like many people in the US, we are bracing for what is to come and thinking about ways to cope and reach out to people needing help.
Response to Baitball Blogger (Original post)
Tadpole Raisin This message was self-deleted by its author.
TomSlick
(11,885 posts)Anyone can claim to be a Christian and many "wolves in sheep clothing" make the claim. However, in the most basic terms, a Christian is follower of Christ.
Jesus said "If you love me keep my commandments." Jesus also said that the greatest commandment was to love God and the second greatest commandment was to love others as yourself.
Someone who hates others is not a follower of Jesus.
Baitball Blogger
(48,022 posts)But we apparently don't have politicians that are ready to make them see them, as we see them.
TomSlick
(11,885 posts)The opinions of so-called Christians and politicians are irrelevant.
Baitball Blogger
(48,022 posts)the environment we're in today.
The Great Open Dance
(46 posts)Humor may help get us through: