Why does it seem the SL population hates Christians?

Neither is me holding hands with another man.

It does sound a little whiny to be complaining about a few IMs though. I mean it's not like someone nailed him to a cross or anything.

Because the OP was making a thinly veiled attempt at evangelism via martyrdom. You see it a lot on religious forums. "I'm persecuted, why am I persecuted? SEE, I'M PERSECUTED! Look at how horrible the nonChristians are behaving!"

It furthers the "us versus them" philosophy in modern Christianity and it's sickening. It's like a cross between a guilt trip on the nonXtian and a rally for their faithful.

Well, Yiffy... first, we have to determine which version of the Bible you're referring to. The actual contents have varied considerably depending on who was in political power at the time.

The last official version was commissioned by King James, and the monks who were putting it all together had to pick and choose which books to include based on what was affordable and easily available. You see, ol' James had given them a time limit on when he wanted the actual copies delivered, so they had to leave out a few books in order to come in under deadline.

As for translations, the original manuscripts were written in many languages, depending on the native tongue of the author and the time period in which they were written. It is theorized that the many books of the old and new testaments were written over a period of almost 7000 years! (Yes, that is seven thousand)

Also, not all of the books were original manuscripts... there are many instances of obvious plagiarism from other religions and cultures. The story of Noah and the Great Flood, for instance, originally appeared in ancient Sumerian texts predating the Hebrew culture.

I've read the King James version several times (as W.C. Fields said, "looking for loopholes", and I've noticed so many glaring inconsistencies that it's become impossible for me to take the thing seriously. In fact, if you want a hoot, try reading the Old Testament and substituting the word "alien" everytime you see the word "God". It makes a pretty decent SF novel.

Pax et Amor

Actually, it's not all that rare for Christian fundies to attempt to shut down Pagan businesses through nasty tricks like that... there are a lot of cases of Pagans having their businesses attacked, their right to raise children challenged, etc. simply because they aren't Christian. Check out this website for more details.

There are several there.



I already answered this one. Those concepts are simply not in mutual agreement. I agree with the author that both statements can't be true. Hence, one of the underlying ideas of christianity makes no sense, which makes christianity itself nonsense.

Same goes for Matthew 27:1-10 vs Acts 1:18-19. Both contain contradictory information. Either one or the other is incorrect. This in turn, conflicts with the idea that the bible is the "word of god", who according to the bible is perfect and can't be wrong.

We can see that:
1. The bible contains incorrect information
2. This conflicts with the idea that it's the "word of god", god being perfect and inerrant.
3. The information above about the inerrancy of god is contained in a book that clearly contains incorrect information, allegedly coming from a perfect being.

Based on that, we can deduce that christianity is based on a book that has certainly incorrect parts, is self-referential and in many places conflicts with itself. This is something that's clearly nonsense, hence christianity is yet again nonsense.

But wait, Victoria! I thought the world was only about 3500 years old? YOU BROKE MY CREATIONISM!

I agree with you on that 100%


QUOTE :"It does sound a little whiny to be complaining about a few IMs though. I mean it's not like someone nailed him to a cross or anything."

However here I disagree. Would it be whiny of you to complain about getting harrasing IMs about holding hands with another man?

I have a bit of an experience myself.

My RL fiancee is from a tiny southern town. She had to keep her beliefs private. Considering I'm not afraid of anything that can't eat me, I wore my pentacle pendant and kept my books in plain view, just like I would at home.

Her mother has a newspaper clipping now where my presence in the town, especially when it made Jade more comfortable so she would relax, made the locals. There's an article that told anyone seeing "the unusual black-dressed people from outside" talking to children should call DFAX (basically like a DHS with churches involved in it) and the police. The article said, "Satanists like these usually aren't a physical threat, but a psychological threat to children".

Amazing how that little S word gets tossed around at anything Pagan these days.

I think there was either one IM, or there were never any.

Yes. That would make me a big fat whiny-ass-titty-baby.

Good thing I am not that.

My sympathies to the OP and what happened, a AR would be more than warranted for such intolerance.

As to extremist evangelicals, or any other religious fanatic whom is intolerant of those of differing belief systems, I merely view them the same way I view a particularly odorous smell, tolerable if necessary, but avoided when ever possible. Very much like some posters in this thread.

Hmmmmm.... since "Neither is me holding hands with another man." sure SOUNDS like complaining, then I guess, in fact, you are.

Hmm, intriguing thread, particularly since I wasn't aware there was an appreciable Christian community online.

I dont wanna comment yet on all the points (some I find valid, others not so much), but I do want to point out some aspects of the Christian faith in general, and some misconceptions of it that people may have.

The first misconception if the concept of salvation by works. Such is a very prominently held conception, due to a combination of legalistic Christians, and a general 'higher calling'. However, a systematic appraoach to the nature of salvation, as based on the text of the Bible, will reveal that salvation is based on the grace of God, rather than our own efforts to be good.

In the words of Jesus, unless our works outdo the works of the Pharisees, we shall by no means enter into heaven. And the Pharisees, by all outward appearance, were really righteous people.

What grace means is simply that God chose to reach out to us and rescue us, before we ever did anything to try to rescue ourselves. Mercy is God removing from us the punishment we are all due.

There are admittedly some hard teachings which relate to these, and perhaps some differences of thought in answering this difficulties. One of the foremost of these difficulties is why God would choose some and not choose others.

Another related difficulty is wrestling with the concept that none of us are worthy. But with proper understand, it will be impossible to justify a judgmental response so often seen, because that which we are judging (as though we were God), we are also guilty of.

Another danger we often fall into is to try and place upon the world our vision of godly standards. Not only because you cannot expect the world to act like we ought to, but also because our own perspective will often be marred by our own corrupted nature. We will add to this standard some of our own rules (such as intolerance towards drinking any alcohol for any reason), and perhaps miss some of them that we may not be so keen on. In a sense, the Christian ought to view themselves as merely a guest in this world.

At any rate, it is my firm belief that I (or any other person) lack the ability to force anyone into Christian belief and relationship with God. That is God's responsibility, and if I attempt it, I will either turn them off of Christianity through my own mistakes, or else it will only be a superficial change, with no lasting power.

Which brings me to a last point. It isn't about rules so much as it is about a relationship. One can hold to a set of theological tenets and moral behaviors without possessing the relationship. Such a person will probably tend to be very miserable in a sense.

It is my hope that how I behave would reflect God's principles, without me having to say anything.

And of course, I recognize that there are many who disagree, each having their own perspective on things of this nature. I will continue to respect those opinions, and would endeavor to understand why they are held.

Yikes. Wow, sorry to hear it! It'd be nice if people would make an effort to get to know you instead of automatically accusing you of evil and cringing in fear. Still, I have to grin at the 'unusual black-dressed people' part-- that describes pretty much everybody in my close circle of friends.

Very well said, and the same can be said of my religion.

Thus, God(dess)(es) talk(s) to all who listen, I suppose. And we may all hear a little differently. What's important is that we're listening to our deity, not a person defining our deity for us.

God (lol) I hope you know how annoying you are >.<

I doubt they would whine. Who would listen? Why care about such minor nuisances when we can't even get granted all of our Civil Liberties. Who has it worse off again?

And you know, I just have to mention-- 20 pages and counting for this thread, and it hasn't degenerated into name calling (well, at least not too much) and it's spawning some pretty fascinating discussion, AND it hasn't been locked yet! That's the kind of thing I like to see!

He's right - Aimee isn't - Christopher Walken is.

HERETIC!! How DARE you doubt The Aimee!!

You obviously never heard me complain.

I didn't even use the word fuck once.

My pointing out the handholding was hardly a compaint. It was more of an example.

Shyotl, dude, you are preaching to the choir now! (to use a metaphor appropriate for the thread!)

Perhaps a new thread on this subject is in order?

Maybe because people think that christians eat young kits and babies, all this sort of stuff.
I dont care let people eat what they want.

I've moved this to Off-Topic; the discussion has shifted away from Christianity in SL.

Because we, as proud Repulibcans or Democrats - or a mix - realize you're just giving the religious evangelicals that you claim to detest fuel for their ongoing fire. I like you, Magnum; but your debate skills are zero of 18. Its okay; my subtlety skills are zero of 18. You're heart is in the right place, in my opinion; however, when someone disagrees, you call it a personal attack. It has never been a personal attack. It is typically someone who's brain doesn't fire on the same neuron cycle as yours; your proclaimations of superior knowledge make the entire liberal cause look as inept and blind as those worshipping a deity without any kind of thought behind it.

One thing I can't understand; how are so many people who've voted Republican in the past - myself included - standing for the current USA B.S. from the party? Its being taken over by nonsense issues. BOYS KISSING is not a Repulican issue. When Reagan was president, being Repulican involved making government smaller; the rights of the individual; keeping more money in Americans' pockets, not businesses (okay, that one is a stretch, but nothing like Bush's America). Over the past 20 years, that has changed; but not just for Repulicans. The Democrats are just as guilty of lobbying.

Thus, why I no longer affiliate, with any religion or political party.

I realize I have plenty of faults too; I'm overly passionate, I often tend to hit "Submit Reply" before I've read my post for a second time... we all have faults. However, I try to minimize mine; you seem to try to glorify yours.

We're on the same side (as usual, actually!) in this debate, Magnum; I hope you take these comments to heart. When you make comments about robots being able to eliminate the concept of "economy" from the planet, you seriously undermine your credibility. There's a difference between Utopia and reality; you should express your opinions how each should work separately. I'd love it if every human on earth suddenly become an being of pure energy without needs to eat or breathe of poop (mandory hehehe inserted)... but that's not likely to happen soon.

Regards,

-Flip