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Yeah, I'm not a fan of Ray Comfort, so that's something we can agree on.
I meant to add about Ray Comfort: anyone watching the video below can see that Christians like Ray Comfort have serious SERIOUS mental and emotional issues. Really, it is they who need saving--from Jesus. Ray Comfort may have been a completely normal person before he got infected with Christianity. Do you see how Christianity and Jesus turned him into this fruitcake who spends his entire life going out on beaches filming people, intruding into their typically happy life and upsetting them with all these inane questions about are they worried they are going to go to hell. Is this normal, Mink? Don't blame Comfort because he is just following Jesus' command to go out into the world and preach the gospel to every living creature. That's what Jesus tells him and every other Christian out there to do. You tell me: is this normal for Christians to butt into people's life with all this religious crap in an attempt to turn them into fruitcakes too? Is Ray Comfort's secret intention to make otherwise normal happy people as sick and unhappy as he is?
I meant to add about Ray Comfort: anyone watching the video below can see that Christians like Ray Comfort have serious SERIOUS mental and emotional issues. Really, it is they who need saving--from Jesus. Ray Comfort may have been a completely normal person before he got infected with Christianity. Do you see how Christianity and Jesus turned him into this fruitcake who spends his entire life going out on beaches filming people, intruding into their typically happy life and upsetting them with all these inane questions about are they worried they are going to go to hell. Is this normal, Mink? Don't blame Comfort because he is just following Jesus' command to go out into the world and preach the gospel to every living creature. That's what Jesus tells him and every other Christian out there to do. You tell me: is this normal for Christians to butt into people's life with all this religious crap in an attempt to turn them into fruitcakes too? Is Ray Comfort's secret intention to make otherwise normal happy people as sick and unhappy as he is?
The bold is completely misguided. He is doing no such thing. We are supposed to spread the GOOD NEWS (Gospel of love and reconciliation), not that crap he is spreading!!!
I meant to add about Ray Comfort: anyone watching the video below can see that Christians like Ray Comfort have serious SERIOUS mental and emotional issues. Really, it is they who need saving--from Jesus.
Mental and emotional issues? That's quite a judgment, thrill.
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Ray Comfort may have been a completely normal person before he got infected with Christianity. Do you see how Christianity and Jesus turned him into this fruitcake who spends his entire life going out on beaches filming people, intruding into their typically happy life and upsetting them with all these inane questions about are they worried they are going to go to hell. Is this normal, Mink?
I understand that Comfort had no religious training while growing up, but he got his 'zeal' from Christianity from somewhere.
I don't see that Christianity and Jesus "turned him into this fruitcake..."
I don't see that he spends his "entire life going out on beaches filming people..." He obviously wrote a number of books, and while he was writing those books, he probably wasn't on beaches filming people.
I don't see that he's "intruding into their typically happy life..." as we have no idea if the people he interviews are "happy."
And I don't see that he's "upsetting them will all these inane questions..." Some of the people on that video were very receptive to his questions.
What he does isn't common, but that doesn't mean it's not 'normal'.
Quote:
Don't blame Comfort because he is just following Jesus' command to go out into the world and preach the gospel to every living creature. That's what Jesus tells him and every other Christian out there to do.
Jesus' words can be interpreted different ways. For instance, Jesus commanded his Apostles to go out into the world and preach the gospel. And some Christians believe that all Christians are "apostles" of Jesus, and therefore have a duty to preach the gospel as the first 12 did.
Not everyone has the gift of gab. I know I don't. Writing on a forum is one thing; try getting me on a stage or a podium or a soapbox, and you'll see me quickly turn into a puddle of embarrassment. I just don't have the stomach for it, and God KNOWS that about me.
Quote:
You tell me: is this normal for Christians to butt into people's life with all this religious crap in an attempt to turn them into fruitcakes too? Is Ray Comfort's secret intention to make otherwise normal happy people as sick and unhappy as he is?
Do MOST Christians behave the way Comfort behaves? Hardly. Yes, there are some 'zealots' out there who are like Comfort. And there are some Christians who "preach the word" by handing out pamphlets (I think they're called 'tracts' or 'tracks'?) to people stopped at a stoplight. And some Christians will knock on your door to 'spread the word'. And some Christians will threaten you with hell if you don't listen to *THEM*.
Those people -- in my mind -- are of the 'hard sell' type. Jesus didn't 'hard sell' his beliefs, and there's nothing in the bible that instructs anyone to brow-beat someone into humble submission. Jesus didn't do that, so I don't get what the whole hard-sell attitude is all about.
It boils down to this, Mink: if God saves everyone and even atheists go to heaven then what's the point of obeying all the rules?
SOME people believe that God saves everyone. If that's true, then I'd agree with you; there wouldn't be any point in obeying the rules. If everyone is going to heaven, no matter what they do, it wouldn't have made sense for Jesus to walk this earth, preaching and dying on the cross.
But through my own (and some others) interpretation of the bible (there's that pesky word again!), Jesus came here for a reason. Some will be saved. Some won't. And while Jesus wants everyone to be saved, he KNOWS that not everyone will care to be saved.
I want to ask you a question, Thrill. Do I recall you posting that you were once involved in law?
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If I want to look at a woman and lust after her I'll do it because it feels good. If I want to keep a million bucks that fell out of the back of an armor car with no consequences, then I'll do it. Who's hurt by lusting after a woman or man? Who's hurt by not going to church on Sunday? Sometimes lying is good, like when an ugly woman asks me if I think she's beautiful and I tell her yes, when I really believe she's ugly as sin. I made her feel good. I didn't break her heart by being truthful. None of this is absolute, Mink. I can pick and choose the good things I think Jesus said and throw away all the rest like John 3:16. It has nothing to do with what the words say in the gospels, it's how people choose to perceive and interpret them is all that matters. Jesus and believing in him matters not a bit. It's the words that are important, not who said them.
Yes it matters. But if we ALL interpret them differently, HOW are they going to matter?
Point is, that we can't simply read one verse (for instance) and think, "Yup! I get it! I know what it means!" Just for example, I'm sure you've read the verses about judgment before. The bible does say (paraphrasing) don'tjudgedon'tjudgedon'tjudge. But then there's a verse that says not to judge wrongly. Some take that verse to mean that it's WRONG(LY) to judge, PERIOD. Meanwhile, I take it to mean that we shouldn't misjudge. That is, that we shouldn't judge without having ALL of the facts.
SOME people believe that God saves everyone. If that's true, then I'd agree with you; there wouldn't be any point in obeying the rules. If everyone is going to heaven, no matter what they do, it wouldn't have made sense for Jesus to walk this earth, preaching and dying on the cross.
But through my own (and some others) interpretation of the bible (there's that pesky word again!), Jesus came here for a reason. Some will be saved. Some won't. And while Jesus wants everyone to be saved, he KNOWS that not everyone will care to be saved.
I want to ask you a question, Thrill. Do I recall you posting that you were once involved in law?
Yes it matters. But if we ALL interpret them differently, HOW are they going to matter?
Point is, that we can't simply read one verse (for instance) and think, "Yup! I get it! I know what it means!" Just for example, I'm sure you've read the verses about judgment before. The bible does say (paraphrasing) don'tjudgedon'tjudgedon'tjudge. But then there's a verse that says not to judge wrongly. Some take that verse to mean that it's WRONG(LY) to judge, PERIOD. Meanwhile, I take it to mean that we shouldn't misjudge. That is, that we shouldn't judge without having ALL of the facts.
Am I wrong in my judgment of judgment?
To the bolded...no. There are reasons to be a good person besides whether or not you will go to imaginary heaven.
Mental and emotional issues? That's quite a judgment, thrill.
I understand that Comfort had no religious training while growing up, but he got his 'zeal' from Christianity from somewhere.
I don't see that Christianity and Jesus "turned him into this fruitcake..."
I don't see that he spends his "entire life going out on beaches filming people..." He obviously wrote a number of books, and while he was writing those books, he probably wasn't on beaches filming people.
I don't see that he's "intruding into their typically happy life..." as we have no idea if the people he interviews are "happy."
And I don't see that he's "upsetting them will all these inane questions..." Some of the people on that video were very receptive to his questions.
What he does isn't common, but that doesn't mean it's not 'normal'.
Jesus' words can be interpreted different ways. For instance, Jesus commanded his Apostles to go out into the world and preach the gospel. And some Christians believe that all Christians are "apostles" of Jesus, and therefore have a duty to preach the gospel as the first 12 did.
Not everyone has the gift of gab. I know I don't. Writing on a forum is one thing; try getting me on a stage or a podium or a soapbox, and you'll see me quickly turn into a puddle of embarrassment. I just don't have the stomach for it, and God KNOWS that about me.
Do MOST Christians behave the way Comfort behaves? Hardly. Yes, there are some 'zealots' out there who are like Comfort. And there are some Christians who "preach the word" by handing out pamphlets (I think they're called 'tracts' or 'tracks'?) to people stopped at a stoplight. And some Christians will knock on your door to 'spread the word'. And some Christians will threaten you with hell if you don't listen to *THEM*.
Those people -- in my mind -- are of the 'hard sell' type. Jesus didn't 'hard sell' his beliefs, and there's nothing in the bible that instructs anyone to brow-beat someone into humble submission. Jesus didn't do that, so I don't get what the whole hard-sell attitude is all about.
Mink, I can't respond to your apologetics for a nutjob like Ray Comfort. All I can say is what he is doing is NOT normal behavior. It's aberrant.
To the bolded...no. There are reasons to be a good person besides whether or not you will go to imaginary heaven.
Heaven is not imaginary, Phet. You can see it on a clear night or look at Hubble and Webb pictures. Our Spiritual Life is not about OBEDIENCE to gain reward or avoid punishment! It is all about having a mature Spirit. When will our species mature beyond this childish obedience meme???
The bold is completely misguided. He is doing no such thing. We are supposed to spread the GOOD NEWS (Gospel of love and reconciliation), not that crap he is spreading!!!
He is spreading exactly what the Bible says, Mystic.
Mink, I can't respond to your apologetics for a nutjob like Ray Comfort. All I can say is what he is doing is NOT normal behavior. It's aberrant.
I'm not saying that someone like Ray Comfort is going good.
What I'm saying is that not ALL Christians believe in Ray Comfort, or that what he's doing, and the WAY he's doing it is a good thing. His methods don't reflect the beliefs of ALL Christians. Not even MOST Christians.
Don't you get that?
Sorry Thrill, but you seem to take these outlier fringes of Christianity and apply them as if ALL Christians feel the same way as Comfort.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
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