by James S » Mar 22, 2006 @ 1:12am
To explicitly answer your question, I think that Christianity already teaches universal acceptance and love. Thus it passes your test. I thought the things I said stated that.
Who says I believe anything only because "my religion tells me"? It sounds like you're arguing against someone other than me, or you're not really paying attention to the things I say. I'm not so low brow, lower-middle class urban spiritual-feel-gooder.
And my "heart of hearts"? What is this, Oprah? Where's my free car? I believe that, all else the same (my personality, my intellectual education, my goals), that if I were Muslim then Christianity would be far more appealing to me than the Muslim faith with which I would have been raised. It's simple, because Christianity is more peaceful and more intelligent.
Of course I'm not the kind of guy that needs to feel okay about going out and getting drunk, hitting a joint, and having a girl suck my dick my senior year of highschool. I don't do stupid stuff.
If by "most Christians" you mean, "a miniscule number of the great number of people I've met in my life who are Christians" then sure, we can agree that "most Christians hate homosexuals." But if you actually mean "most Christians" when you say "most Christians" then I'd be curious to know if you live in an Aryan commune in the countryside outside of Boston. That would certainly explain some things.
The Spirit's revelation to Mary was very much reasonable and testable, because she could either be pregnant or not. Either she was going to get pregnant or she wasn't. Revealed knowledge about the world is always verifiable, because it is about a solid and material thing.
The Catholic church tells everyone that they suffer from a disease: sin. What's new?
You mention in and out groups, but there aren't any restrictions. These message boards are more exclusive. Man, I'd hate to think what you'd say to a Zoroaster.
Generalizations are not bad and sometimes helpful, much like the one about liberals I made. But when you say things that are wrong, such as "most christians hate _______," then I simply must correct you.
I don't know where you're getting your stuff on Augustine of Hippo. Have you not read his Confessions? It's entirely introspection. He claimed that there are limits to our ability to reason in regards to the nature of God ... but other than that...
Have you read Augustine and Aquinas for a class? Because I thought I was getting a liberal education at my school. If you're reading them for yourself, I'd suggest not doing that anymore.
Thank You