In article <Apr.17.01.10.58.1993.2246@geneva.rutgers.edu> mdbs@ms.uky.edu (no name) writes: >bissda@saturn.wwc.edu (DAN LAWRENCE BISSELL) writes:  >>same.  Hey we can't do it, God himself inspires us to turn our lives  >>over to him.  That's tuff and most people don't want to do it, to be a  >				^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >>real Christian would be something for the strong to persevere at.  But  > >	So you think it is easy to be a Muslim? Or be a Buddhist? [good points on buddhism, etc. deleted]  just because one says christianity -- true christianity -- is hard to follow faithfully does NOT mean that one discounts the validity and difficulty of other religions.  i admire those of any religion who are willing to make the kind of sacrifices and dedicate themselves spiritually in the way you are talking about.   [more deleted] >And perhaps some more. But leave the crap in it out ("woman was created >after man, to be his helper" etc).  do you think this is what christianity is all about?  not all christians believe in this particular story literally.  it sounds above like you are supporting a policy of "to each his own" -- here is another example of that.  if it helps someone's faith to take every word of the bible literally, i support and respect that, too.  >>time.  We don't rush it in one day, Christianity is your whole life.   >>It is not going to church once a week, or helping poor people once in  >>a while.  We box everything into time units.  Such as work at this  >>time, sports, Tv, social life.  God is above these boxes and should be  > >	When ever I turn on my TV there is this Pat Robertson and >other brain washers (Oh boy, what an act they put on!) with an >1-800 number to turn in your pledges. >God it seems is alive and well inside these boxes.  please don't judge all of christianity by one man.  the only man one can truly judge all of christianity by is jesus (makes sense, right?).  i think his point about how we put our lives into little boxes is very true -- what does your comment about robertson have to do with that?  >>carried with us into all these boxes that we have created for  >>ourselves.  	    >	Parting Question: >		Would you have become a Christian if you had not >been indoctrinated by your parents? You probably never learned about >any other religion to make a comparative study. And therefore I claim >you are brain washed.  i was raised agnostic -- my father was never baptised and was raised atheist.  he is not an atheist because he found a close-mindedness present in the viewpoint of his parents equal to the close-mindedness he found in the viewpoint of the christians he came in contact with. thus i was _free_ to choose how to live my life, and he supported the decision i made to join the episcopal church, although he emphasized to me that his respect for my beliefs should result in my not intruding on his beliefs, ie, i should not try to convert him, as that is his decision.  (please, no flames or advice on how to convert him!) one of my good friends is hindi and i greatly respect her beliefs and the culture surrounding her religion.  my best friend is jewish and i have always held a profound resepct for the jewish religion (chaim potok and isaac bashevis singer are two of my favorite authors).  i really do not think you can make that kind of generalization about how christians choose -- and i do mean CHOOSE-- their faith.  if they have not consciously accepted the faith in their adult lives (which is what confirmation represents), THEN you can talk about their being brainwashed.