Posted by San on September 13, 2001, at 21:45:45
In reply to Re: two wrongs... » San, posted by akc on September 13, 2001, at 20:35:18
> If I had refrained from my parenthetical comment, which appears to be sarcastic, I believe my response was civil when I shared my beliefs about Jesus. I respect your beliefs, and would ask that you do the same with mine. I'll be the first to admit that I do not know everything. This does not mean I am "confused." I use to think I knew all when I blindly accepted a doctrine given to me by another. I am now on my own spiritual journey. One in which I happen to believe -- my belief, not yours -- in the greatness of certain humans who have lived in history. About these humans much is written. I also believe -- my belief, not yours -- that not every thing that is written is necessarily correct.
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> I share this because right now there are many people in this country who are very scared. And in that fear, they are striking out in anger. My first response when everything that happened was anger. Let's get those bastards and all of that. But that is not part of my beliefs. My beliefs, from this spiritual journey that I am on, comes from Jesus, from Ghandi, from Mother Theresa, to name a few. And from those individuals, I have learned that killing is not the answer -- throw the first stone and all of that.
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> We all are trying to deal with this in our own way. I am certain that your faith in Jesus, as the Son of God, gives you great comfort now. And we share some same teachings -- the turning of the other cheek, the throwing of the first stone. In this time of fear, it is easy to strike out in anger. But instead of striking out at each other, let's find those things we share in common. Let's give comfort to each other. This doesn't mean you are less of a Christian. It just means we remain civil even though we disagree in our beliefs.
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> akc
>akc, I do believe in your right to choose what you want to believe--but can't you also see how I find it difficult to understand how you can say that you believe in Jesus and His teaching, yet make other statements that are in opposition to those teachings.
You say you also follow the teachings of Mother Teresa. She spent her entire life trying to follow the teachings of Jesus who she worshipped . To equate her with One who she so humbled herself to, adored, and knelt in prayer to, I think would appall her. Ghandi, while he had many good teachings, never claimed to be THE Son of God/Messiah. So I can't see why you don't "cut out the middle man" and simply follow Jesus who is who He said He was/is.You also say that Jesus taught "don't cast the first stone"--true. But we didn't cast the first stone--the terrorists did.
We, in this country, at this time, turn to God, because He is the only one who can help us. We alone, cannot save ourselves.If you want to disregard my expressions of my beliefs, I wholly accept that and will argue with you no longer. In closing, you must also note that in my faith, those who do not accept Jesus and do not follow His teachings in their totality will not be accepted into Heaven when they stand before God. All I am trying to do is point you in the right direction---the rest is up to you---YOU and ONLY YOU can make that decision for yourself. I wish you luck in your spiritual journey and my only hope is that you find the truth, just as I have journeyed and found the truth. Best Regards, San
poster:San
thread:11152
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010909/msgs/11343.html