Yeah, I don't really want to get into a mindset of "everyone who isn't dirt poor is greedy and going to hell." I have known people with money who were very generous with their money and feel God gave them money so they could help others and I think that's wonderful. But then there are people who have wealth and despise those who do not, which seems contrary to everything Jesus taught. And I don't think I can ever forget those nice Christian people who came down to harass me while working at my sinful profession while I was barely making ends meet for myself and my child and they were wearing tasteful real gold crucifixes and nice watches and clothes from the Gap.
You make me think on these things, you evil person you :P I have asked close friends before to lock me up and shoot me in the head if I ever again give into the self-abusive insanity of converting back to Fundamentalist Christianity. But this doesn't mean I think there was much wrong with what Jesus said. The other day it occurred to me that I believe in Jesus but not in the Bible or the church, and that this is not a contradiction. I will never identify myself as a Christian to anyone, although it is obvious to me I take Jesus' words more seriously than most modern Christians. If I were to introduce myself to someone as a Christian when they were not, they would likely shrink away from me in disgust, feeling they would be unable to relax around me because I would point out to them in what manner they were sining, and if they were a self-identified Christian, they would probably feel the need to examine my behavior minutely and criticize me for any act which they felt was an infraction of their code. This is not far-fetched bigotry, this has been an experience so often repeated in my life it has become stale and worn. Non-Christians are right, IMO, to shrink from those who identify as Christian, because someone who proudly says "I am a Christian " in our society is likely to be intolerant of any faults they perceive other to have, preachy, self-righteous, etc.
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You make me think on these things, you evil person you :P I have asked close friends before to lock me up and shoot me in the head if I ever again give into the self-abusive insanity of converting back to Fundamentalist Christianity. But this doesn't mean I think there was much wrong with what Jesus said. The other day it occurred to me that I believe in Jesus but not in the Bible or the church, and that this is not a contradiction.
I will never identify myself as a Christian to anyone, although it is obvious to me I take Jesus' words more seriously than most modern Christians. If I were to introduce myself to someone as a Christian when they were not, they would likely shrink away from me in disgust, feeling they would be unable to relax around me because I would point out to them in what manner they were sining, and if they were a self-identified Christian, they would probably feel the need to examine my behavior minutely and criticize me for any act which they felt was an infraction of their code. This is not far-fetched bigotry, this has been an experience so often repeated in my life it has become stale and worn. Non-Christians are right, IMO, to shrink from those who identify as Christian, because someone who proudly says "I am a Christian " in our society is likely to be intolerant of any faults they perceive other to have, preachy, self-righteous, etc.