Okay. Disclaimer first. There will be things on this page you may find offensive….okay, so what’s new? I ran across this last week and just about soiled myself as I laughed at some of the stuff. This list is intense and it is one hundred percent accurate. These are, indeed, ten things that Christians and Atheists must agree on…and they are a nice reminder of what civility is all about.
I hope you enjoy the list, but more importantly, I hope you find truth within it and can apply it to your life. I know I am trying.
Once you read over it, I would love to use it to start a discussion here at Shaeman. At the very least, some of the pictures are worth watching for:
You keep coming back to things like this. Why?
My short comments, minor caval is that one CHOOSES to be offended. Some ideas are pretty gross but if it stays in the area of ideas I can leave it alone. I do not have to act offended.
It’s different if they try to limit my life, or I theirs. (So where does that leave the effort to limit abortions?)
Acting offended is my attempt to change another’s behavior, at least usually.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Thank you – this was great! And it’s very relevant for this time of year, when everyone argues over who “owns” the Christmas holidays, which gets more out of hand each year.
Of course we always assume that there are just two sides to each issue – either you’re for or against. But the truth is there is a very real and very big gray area where most of us tend to exist on many issues. And at some point we need to find where it is we can compromise. This of course gets tricky when religious arguments move into the political realm. How do we compromise on tough issues such as abortion, evolution, stem cell research, welfare, the environment etc…?
The first thing we must do is put aside our egos. Man do they get in the way! Because when we peal away that self-righteous pride (no matter what side it’s on) we are real people with real moral belief systems.
I have a lot of healing to do in my life and many things to reconcile with on faith and reason etc… But recognizing you have a problem is always the first step, right?
Cynicism is an ugly thing, no matter who’s wearing it.
Bruce, let me answer your first question regarding why I seem to keep coming back to topics like this. Simply put, topics like this still need addressing. Honestly, they will probably ALWAYS need addressing until we can live with civility and compassion in our camps. I witness, on a daily basis almost, the comments that would appear we would believe there is some merit in bitching people into the kingdom of God. I don’t buy it. The only people Christ appears to have a track record of dealing with in any manner of harsh tone are the religious leaders.
Dawn, thanks. I thought it was great, too. You know, I STILL have a lot to reconcile in my own mind with what it really means to be a follower of Jesus as opposed to a “Christian”. I’ve altogether stopped identifying myself as that. I can honestly say with all conviction that I am NOT a Christian. I left that a while back and I don’t ever care to go back. Sad to say, that has become the antithesis of what it means to follow the Jesus of scripture and do live as he lives/lived and to be a part of His economy of life. However, you’ve hit the nail on the head when it comes to egos. That’s the toughest part of most (if not all) of this whole thing.
Maybe that’s a good topic for my next post?
At some point I realized that if God gave me free will, then he also gave everyone else free will. I know this sounds painfully obvious, but often times, Christians forget this reality. Yes, Jesus says there are real consequences for sin, but he didn’t use fear tactics to “convince” people to follow Him. He used love which they could accept at face value, ignore entirely, or accept while asking for a relationship that would give them an unlimited supply of love. It was their choice.
Considering this, who the hell am I to use fear tactics? If God doesn’t do that, and I’m supposed to do as He does, then aren’t I sinning if I stray from following His example? When fear tactics are used, we have a tendancy to say that we are doing God’s will, living out the Great Commission, helping others by trying to save them from an eternity in hell, but the reality is, if we stray from God’s example, then we are sinning. We use fear tactics because we aren’t trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives through the retelling of the gospel story.
And now I will step down from the pulpit/ soapbox….