Posted on 01/03/2002 11:19:13 AM PST by ArGee
A very rich man decided that he wanted to show kindness to the people of the fair city where he lived. Since he was very rich indeed, he decided to throw a banquet for the entire city. He rented the largest sports arena in the city and began his plans. He planned for huge amounts of the best food possible, making allowances for every religious and medical diet. He advertised the banquet in every possible manner - television, radio, billboard, door-to-door canvassing. Considering that there might be some who could not travel, he arranged for free bus transportation to and from the event, and some special-needs vehicles for all who could not ride busses. He even scheduled the banquet to run for 24 hours a day for several days so that everyone could be sure of being served.
He planned long and hard and finally the big day came. The rich man ate quickly and then went about wishing all his guests well and personally making sure that all had every need met. After a while he went outside to tour the grounds and talk with those who had not yet gone in, and those who had already left. Everyone was happy. Many were profusely thankful. It was a glorious occasion.
At one point the rich man noticed a group of people sitting outside a locked door with most unpleasant looks on their faces. Sensing they were not happy, he went over to them. He did not introduce himself but simply asked them if he could be of service.
"We want to go in through this door," one of them replied.
The rich man explained to them that the hall was arranged to feed a large number of people as quickly and effortlessly as possible. This required order inside, and the entrances and exits had been carefully planned to be as efficient as possible. He then offered to go call one of the golf carts that were avaialbe to help people who could not walk far to take them to the entrance. But the man replied, "We do not want to go in the entrance. We want to go in this door. We don't understand why we can't go in any door we wish. We think the man who set this banquet up is mean and hateful for insisting we go in through the entrance. He has tried to bill himself as a very kind man by offering this banquet, but he is not kind at all if he will not indulge us and let us go through this door.
The rich man was distressed at these words, but still attempted to please these people. He tried once more to explain to them what was behind this particular door, and how if they went in this door they would disrupt the meal service being offered inside. He offered to drive them himself, not only to the door, but inside the hall to their tables if they would only go through the entrance to enjoy the meal. Again the man said, "No, but only a hateful man would keep us from going through the door of our choosing. And we will sit here and tell anyone who will listen to us what an awful man he is until he lets us in."
At that the rich man was enraged and he shouted, "Enough." Then he called a police officer to have them thrown off of the property and ordered that they not be allowed to return until the banquet was over and all the scraps had been hauled away. Then, mourning for their loss, he turned to visit with other guests.
Judaism generally doesn't believe in a heaven&hell scheme. But even if that's the case, I prefer to go it alone. If I fail to live up to what God wants from me, on my own, then I am willing to accept eternity in Hell. Pride or faith, it's a deeply emotional decision and one that I have made peace with.
If I don't respond quickly, it's because I have to get off the 'Net now.
If Christianity is false and one follows it's true teachings "in totality" and not selectively, he will have lived a very fulfilling existence, not harming anyone along the way.
Good point. Everybody is either an athiest or an ex-atheist.
You start from the premise that all religions are equally valid and that all practioners of religion are equally self-serving and corrupt. That is your personal opinion, and cannot be proven in any meaningful or empirically valid way. Therefore, since your premise is not empirically provable, your conclusion is equally invalid.
You're entitled to your opinion, but then again, so are we.
If you were to do an unbiased study of Christianity, you would find that it is the only religion that starts out with the premise that man cannot save himself, and therefore needs a savior. That being the case, God makes the way for man to be saved, and all man has to do is accept it and be transformed by it. No other religion does that. God, being God, receives all the glory for it, and man cannot boast of what he did, which keeps man and God in proper perspective: God as savior and man as undeserving recipient, as defined by their original relationship, before man became unworthy of salvation apart from outside intervention. All other religions concern themselves with how man can clean himself up enough, be good enough, do enough good things, and earn his salvation. God says (and I paraphrase greatly) "You can't earn it, it is a free gift which I give you, but you must receive it."
Why is that so hard to grasp?
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.Time for the Flanders to sell those SUVs.
What I don't understand is your following the Orthodox Jewish form of writing G-d when you mean the English word God. I realize Orthodox Jewish people write this way, because of tradition and respect for God (and perhaps a little superstition too?), however the writers of the New Testament (and Old, for that matter) didn't hesitate to spell out the full word in the original language. And of course the Bible alone is our guide... I doubt if you'd ever win over Orthodox Jews to the gospel by copying their tradition, and to the rest of us, writing "G-d" for what you will pronounce out loud as "God" is a distraction.
Just a suggestion...
Please! Take all the time you need. Let me know of any legitimate Scriptural refutations you have if you disagree with it. I'm all ears.
Likewise, I think the God of Abraham as described in the Old Testament, appeals to baser human attributes as well. In reading the Old Testament, the God of Abraham comes across to me as a demented tyrant who stomps about the earth in bloody murderous tantrums if he is not properly genuflected to.
If such attributes were applied to a human being, people would immediately recognize them as horrific, brutal, and tyranical. And yet when applied to something the call a God, they fall to their feet in worship.
I'll never understand it.
It's sick.
It's sick.
Getting any bites today?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.