[quote]countingbeans wrote:
[quote]dmaddox wrote:
God demands blood for the atonement of sins. [/quote]
This is where the train comes of the tracks (in one of many areas) in my opinion, and why I am completely confident that if there is a higher being, I’m in good graces.
You don’t need church for this, you don’t need prayer. You don’t need anything but an honest feeling in your heart and soul, and a correction of action. (ie: you may think killing is your sin, and pray for forgiveness, but if you walk away from the prayer and slay another person and go back and kneel, I find it hard ot believe you are saved simply by going through the motions of praying again.) Which logically leads to my point that, you don’t need any motions of rituals at all, but only honesty with yourself and doing right in action.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with those things, like praying, loving a jewish man who died on a cross a couple thousand years ago, going to church, reading the bible, any of it. And I respect people who do those things. I wouldn’t put someone down for it. I just don’t think it is necessary.
This is an omnipotent being we are talking about right? The creator of all that is? To think that being cares whether or not you go to mass every Sunday, when your lifetime is a blip to that being, because time is meaningless to it, seems, I don’t know, like a waste of effort. Because walking into a church and going through mass doesn’t mean a damn thing if your heart isn’t true. [/quote]
I agree with you to a certain point, and what you are talking about is Repentance. Which basically means doing a 180. You turn around and change what you are doing. It is hard, and I continue to sin even though I do not want to. Paul talks about this extensively in the New Testament of the Bible. Life is not a sprint but a marathon.
Church is very important and this is why. Look at the ten commandments, and also what Jesus said. Our relationship is not only with God, but also our fellow man. The first 4 commandments are about our relationship with God, and the next 6 are our relationship with our fellow man. Jesus said, “Love your God with all your heart, mind, and strength, and equally important love your neighbor as yourself.” The interpersonal relationships with other humans is very important, and just as important as our relationship with God. Church brings together both in one place and time. All of the people together in one voice, heart, mind, and strength worshiping God.
The one thing I struggle with is bringing a balance of Love and Justice/Truth. Lets use an example that we all are talking about these days, abortion. Does God hate abortion, yes, but does God love the person having the abortion and the person performing the abortion, yes. How can we rectify these two seemingly different stances? I don’t know, and that is why I struggle with it. The one thing I do know is there are consequences for our actions. “The wages of sin is death.” “All have sinned.” If you sin you will die, and it is pretty clear we are all going to die.