Why do Christians proselytize?

Cypress said:
I can respect a genuinely principled atheist, Christian, or Buddhist.

I don't have any respect for anti-christian zealots who are still emotionally scarred and bitter from their parents dragging them to some fundy church.
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Agreed on principled people.

Also agreed on not respecting haters per se, but I do feel sorry for any spineless little fuckwads who believe the only way they can improve themselves is by tearing down others.
 
PostmodernProphet said:
odd conclusion.......you receive God's grace by accepting it.......how more certain can anyone be than of whether or not they actually believe?......
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You can easily think or convince yourself you have received God's grace but there's no way for human consciousness to be 100 percent certain. But Calvin thought you could see signs if one had grace.

For example, the fact that you lie, curse, and flagrantly insult people is a sign you do not have God's grace.
 
BidenPresident said:
You lie all the time.
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Remember that thread where I had you cornered on not knowing anything about the human intellectual tradition outside of western Europe, and you ended up trying to lie your way out of the corner by suddenly and belatedly claiming you had read the Eastern classics like the Analects, the Zhuangzi, the Baghavadgita.

At least I don't lie about what I have read, and I admit ignorance on topics I haven't studied or read about.
 
Cypress said:
Remember that thread where I had you cornered on not knowing anything about the human intellectual tradition outside of western Europe, and you ended up trying to lie your way out of the corner by suddenly and belatedly claiming you had read the Eastern classics like the Analects, the Zhuangzi, the Baghavadgita.

At least I don't lie about what I have read, and I admit ignorance on topics I haven't studied or read about.
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You lie all the time.
 
ZenMode said:
At this point, I'm not entirely sure what the conversation is about. You seem to believe that, because of my avatar and screen name, I shouldn't acknowledge reality.
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It's about you claiming to be in "Zen mode" and then shitting all over anyone who believes differently than you.

I'm 66. How old are you? When did you first become interested in Zen and why have you failed to understand it?
 
Cypress said:
Zen comes directly from Buddhism.

So you reserve to yourself the right to take bits and pieces from a religious tradition while ignoring the rest, but you don't extend that same courtesy to Christians.

Not all christians accept that the bible is literally true, a lot of them do not literally accept the Genesis accounts, a lot of them do not subscribe to the sacraments, and some of them don't even necessarily accept the divinity and trinity of Jesus. For many of them, the core tenets of Christianity boil down to spiritual salvation and emulating the ethical example of Jesus.

That's really not any crazier than a lot of what is found in the Buddhist tradition
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Yes, I've already said that Zen meditation comes from Buddhism. Buddhism, in as much as it is viewed as a religion, is nothing like Christianity. If you took the time to read for information, not just to counter what I'm saying, you would understand that. You'd also see that Buddhism, as a philosophy, very much exists independent of any loose religiosity.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
It's about you claiming to be in "Zen mode" and then shitting all over anyone who believes differently than you.

I'm 66. How old are you? When did you first become interested in Zen and why have you failed to understand it?
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I have no idea what your religious views are. I do find it odd that you are apparently so insecure about them that you see me making one lightly snarky comment as "shitting all over" you.
 
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Cypress said:
You can easily think or convince yourself you have received God's grace but there's no way for human consciousness to be 100 percent certain. But Calvin thought you could see signs if one had grace.

For example, the fact that you lie, curse, and flagrantly insult people is a sign you do not have God's grace.
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and you base that on something that gives you 100% certainty?......(besides, when I call you a worthless lib'rul cunt why do you believe I am lying?).....
 
ZenMode said:
I have no idea what your religious views are.

I do find it odd that you are apparently so insecure about them that you see me making one lightly snarky comment as "shitting all over" you.
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Good.

Dumbass, you already admitted you were ridiculing Jesus, a figure you also admitted was written about decades after his death. The logical conclusion here is that you're lying about ridiculing Jesus, but were, in fact, ridiculing all Christians with your lame snark.

Lying is an indication a person is not mindful. You're a poser and probably a sock.

I asked your age because, if you are young, I can forgive folly in the young. If you're just a bitter, old asshole spreading hate and lies, then I am less forgiving. If you are in Zen mode, you'd do the right thing.

ZenMode said:
Dutch said:
ZenMode said:
For the same reason the earliest disciples of Jesus did- they believed they had "the way" to salvation and wanted to get as many people on-board as possible.

Jesus is coming back any day now :thinking:
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Ridiculing people isn't in "zen mode", dumbass. LOL
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People? I'm ridiculing Jesus. He said the kingdom of god was returning while some of his disciples were still alive. He's very late and clearly deserves ridicule for his tardiness.
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ZenMode said:
Yes, I've already said that Zen meditation comes from Buddhism. Buddhism, in as much as it is viewed as a religion, is nothing like Christianity. If you took the time to read for information, not just to counter what I'm saying, you would understand that. You'd also see that Buddhism, as a philosophy, very much exists independent of any loose religiosity.
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It's always pretty funny when purported irreligious agnostics and atheists steal the religious practices of world faith traditions and then claim they are only practicing philosophy.

So the takeaway here is religion has been an important influence on your life, even as you strip away any religious lexicon and language from your practice
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Good.

Dumbass, you already admitted you were ridiculing Jesus, a figure you also admitted was written about decades after his death. The logical conclusion here is that you're lying about ridiculing Jesus, but were, in fact, ridiculing all Christians with your lame snark.

Lying is an indication a person is not mindful. You're a poser and probably a sock.

I asked your age because, if you are young, I can forgive folly in the young. If you're just a bitter, old asshole spreading hate and lies, then I am less forgiving. If you are in Zen mode, you'd do the right thing.
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Wait... What did I lie about, again?
 
Cypress said:
It's always pretty funny when purported irreligious agnostics and atheists steal the religious practices of world faith traditions and then claim they are only practicing philosophy.

So the takeaway here is religion has been an important influence on your life, even as you strip away any religious lexicon and language from your practice
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Sorry, but no. Mindfulness, meditation and other philosophical aspects that come from Buddhism are not religious. I'm sure you will keep trying to sell that they are, but they just aren't.

I will say it again... If you actually took time to understand Buddhism, you would know that many actual Buddhists don't even believe in the existence of a God much less multiple gods.
 
ZenMode said:
Sorry, but no. Mindfulness, meditation and other philosophical aspects that come from Buddhism are not religious. I'm sure you will keep trying to sell that they are, but they just aren't.

I will say it again... If you actually took time to understand Buddhism, you would know that many actual Buddhists don't even believe in the existence of a God much less multiple gods.
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You would have never even heard of Zen Buddhism outside of the Buddhist religious tradition.

Obviously beginning in the 1960s Hollywood stars and atheists began to think Buddhism and Zen was cool and counter cultural, and they could claim they were just doing philosophy.

I don't hold any religious or intellectual tradition out as the model to follow. But I always believed even the most militant atheist and anti-Christian zealot has been profoundly influenced by religious thought, religious practice, religious ethics, even as they try to strip the religious language, religious history, and religious context out of those practices.
 
Cypress said:
You would have never even heard of Zen Buddhism outside of the Buddhist religious tradition.

Obviously beginning in the 1960s Hollywood stars and atheists began to think Buddhism and Zen was cool and counter cultural, and they could claim they were just doing philosophy.

I don't hold any religious or intellectual tradition out as the model to follow. But I always believed even the most militant atheist and anti-Christian zealot has been profoundly influenced by religious thought, religious practice, religious ethics, even as they try to strip the religious language, religious history, and religious context out of those practices.
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I am an atheist. I practice Zen meditation. I also practice some of the philosophies of Zen Buddhism. I have successfully done those things without ever incorporating a deity into the equation. That's about as straightforward as I can possibly state it.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
I have worked with and gone to school with and lived near Muslim people, yet have never once had one tell me about their religion. Well, other than my lab partner who complained that her hijab was fearfully hot in the St. Louis summers and made her hair flat. lol
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Why didn't she just take it off?
 
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