I think I'm non-Christian now

[mordant]

Originally Posted by thrillobyte

And yet the adultery rates among "Christian" couples rivals that of non-Christians. If they are steering clear of "non-married persons of the opposite sex" as you say they're only doing it in the light of day and doing their fornicating/adulteries under the cover of night. Typical un-Christian behavior from typical Christians.

There are many reasons aside from religious ones that put a damper on a married person having a friendship with a potential rival for the affections (much less the sexual attention) of their mate. Some people's spouses are insecure or outright the jealous type, so it's safer to just not even create the appearance of conflict of interest. Even where jealousy is no factor at all, some people are insecure about their own ability not succumb to temptation and so avoid the issue.

The simple fact is that once a single friend becomes married, you are a potential rival for their new spouse. This is true even if you're not a likely sexual rival -- say you are a hetero dude, and a hetero male friend gets married -- it is not uncommon for the spouse to feel neglected if the two male friends continue to do pub-crawling or whatever it was you used to do together. There is an expectation not just for primacy of relationship with a spouse but also a general expectation to do more grown-up and responsible leisure activities.

Even when the spouses is fairly secure / independent and actually LIKES to have "their space" it can be fairly complicated, at least for guys.

What's kind of odd about all this is that it's somehow way less of a problem for each spouse to hang with other married persons of the same gender -- just not so much unmarried persons of the same gender and certainly not unmarried persons of the opposite gender.

Marriage DOES seem to break up established friendships not predicated in some way on marriage. I'm not saying it should, or has to, but at least in the cultural environments I'm familiar with, it does tend to.

Does this necessarily mean that married couples sit at home together staring at the TV every night? That their once a week moribund date night is strictly with each other or perhaps another married couple? No, but this isn't uncommon, either.

[BigCityDreamer]

Originally Posted by Shirina

I don't think Christianity would have an issue with a dark skinned, black haired Asian-Indian dumping Hinduism and Indian culture to embrace Christianity and Western culture. In fact, they would be tickled pink - which is why while growing up in India my village was crawling with missionaries.

But you DO have to completely reject all tenets of Hinduism and, by default, much of Indian culture. It is just a way to build up the primacy of the Christian religion - to make the "tribe of Israel" bigger and better and more powerful than all of the other tribes. And they have essentially accomplished that mission in many respects.

But it all comes down to ensuring loyalty and obedience not just to God and Jesus, but to the duly appointed representatives of God here on earth - e.g. bishops, popes, pastors, chaplains, priests, and even televangelists. When the founders of this messianic cult known as Christianity (a.k.a. whoever actually wrote the New Testament) has full control over the dictates of the faith, it is only natural that they would write themselves into the hierarchy. "The only way into heaven is through Jesus, and the only way to Jesus is through me." Of course that isn't implicitly stated, but it is the reality of organized religion.

See, that's the kind of thing that could never work with a person like me when it comes to Christianity or any organized religion.

I've always had an issue with any kind of authority - even teachers, parents, bosses, police... I didn't go around breaking the law, of course, but I did not take any of it seriously either at the end of the day. It's just not in me and I don't see any point in it. My style is to simply do my own thing, to the extent that the legal confines of society allow. That's what living a free and prosperous life is about, for me.

So, if I were asked to obey an imaginary "authority" like God, that is just laugh worthy material. Something tells me if I lived during the middle ages, I would have lost my head by now. LOL.