Posted by MamaB on October 20, 2003, at 17:55:09
In reply to I see a few possibilities here..., posted by Tovah on October 20, 2003, at 17:24:28
> 1) Your friend could simply be very zealous in her faith. And many, but not all, forms of Christianity require "spreading the word" in the hopes of converting others so that may be what she is doing to you.
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> 2) Your friend could be A) religious and B) bi-polar. During manic phases of bipolar, everything is more extreme and more urgent. She may be extraordinally excited about sharing her faith if she is in a manic phase; in a depressive phase it might not matter to her as much.
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> 3) Your friend could have a religious obsession (a religious form of OCD, which is called Scrupulocity). This has little to do with religion per se; it just means that instead of obsessing over germs or door locks, a person obsesses over God. Sometimes the person is not even religious, just obsessional. But that really doesn't sound like the case with this person.
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> I know what you mean about spreading confusion and doubt, and sometimes people who are very zeaolus may cause these feelings without meaning to. I had been a religious Lutheran for many years when I went into college; my roommate was from a Fundamentalist denomination and she would talk to me about how I wasn't "really" a Christian because I did not accept a 7-day creation, etc. etc. This was the beginning of a slippery slope for me (see my post with my faith journey above) that started me asking questions and wound up making me choose first Fundamentalism, and then when that made no sense, I was nothing at all (agnostic, basically) for many years. In recent years I have found a different Christian denomination that answers the big questions for me. I am glad to have come to that understanding; however, if I had not met my husband I probably would have remained agnostic. The conversations that started with my roommate just caused me to ask too many questions for my faith to ever stay the same as it was before I met her.Hi Tovah,
You make some excellent points. Many "Fundamentalists" have a pretty shallow knowledge of their faith and can really do a number on someone they percieve as an "unbeliever". I don't mean that you must be a theologian or a Bible scholar either. I think it is better have a clearer understanding of one's own faith before you tell someone else that they are "wrong" or that they are going to hell" (that is between you and God, no one else can decide that at this moment in time) No true Christian is going to "tell you WHAT to believe", unless you ask them. That is something you learn as you grow in the faith. Yes, there a couple of basic beliefs you need to espouse to truly be a Christian, but not believing in the seven day creation is not one of them! It is not what you do NOT believe, but more what you DO believe. There are probably a number of things that I believe that you and Arrianna and others do not and that's OK for now. "Knock and the door shall be opened, seek and you shall find. Ask and it shall be given unto you." I always recommend reading C.S. Lewis' book "Mere Christianity", if they wish a clearer understanding of Christanity.
It can help to clear up a lot of things (IMHO)
MamaB
poster:MamaB
thread:270497
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20030908/msgs/271217.html