I'm a born-again christian single parent - AMA

[midwifeinthemaking]

Just that really - would love to answer any questions, dispel myths etc.

@donquixotedelamancha

is the fundamental flaw of the Bible.. it's nonsense and mostly irrelevant.

Everyone needs a hobby. It's certainly possible to put the tenets of Christianity to fairly objective historical study and say (for example):

There was a bloke called Jesus- true.

He was the son of god- core belief of all contiguous Christianity, supported by the bible.

Being gay is wrong- belief held by most branches but little biblical support and not core.

The Bible isn't a reliable source in of itself though- there's clear factual errors in there, historical and geographical, there's lacking of contemporary evidence, some of it was written decades after events happened. there are 'missing' texts. and contradictions within translations...

but, as i said before - at it's heart the religion (IMO) is a sound one based on good ideals and teachings. kindness/forgiveness etc.

Friends of my parents have a DD and BIL who are born again Christians. They have been told by their young grandchildren that they are sinners and will go to hell. The DD like OP claims she loves her parents regardless but can't/won't see the hurt those words and mindsets are causing. But hey sinners are useful babysitters when church duties call.

I find it interesting that you had your 3 year old daughter 'baptized' rather than being 'dedicated'.

Most religions that espouse the concept of being born again don't practice infant baptism. They regard baptism as a public profession of having accepted Christ as their saviour, a symbolic gesture of a private decision. Not as a 'sacrament' as with the Catholic church as something necessary for a person to go to Heaven, nor to be received into a church congregation.

Normally a child doesn't get baptized in most 'born again' faiths until they reach the 'age of accountability' at which time they can fully understand the sacrifice Christ made for us and to truly understand what it means to live as Christ would have us live (which is what being 'born again' is about).

What does baptism mean to you, personally?

If god is real, is he/she is a massive egotist who expects to be worshipped whilst causing bad things to good people?

@AngelicaSchuylerAndHerSisters

If god is real, is he/she is a massive egotist who expects to be worshipped whilst causing bad things to good people?

Have you read the old testament? The god portrayed in there is an angry and vengeful one !

The Bible isn't a reliable source in of itself though

Yes and no. It (along with the contemporary records of the debates leading to it's writing) is a pretty solid source of the beliefs of early Christianity.

Since it's also treated by Christianity as divinely inspired you have to accept it as a big source if you are interested in why Christians believe certain things.

My point is that with that framework 'being gay is bad' is not inherent to Christianity- it's mostly cultural.

I'm a serious, lifelong Christian and I would like to point out that there is a huge difference between the New Testament, which is the testament of Jesus' life, and the Old Testament, most of which was written many thousands of years before the New, and tells the story of humankind's early relationship with God and the establishment of Israel.

Most of the ideas you have a problem with come from the Old Testament, which is informative for Christians but not definitive. The New Testament tells of a new covenant (i.e., agreement) between God and people, which replaces the law of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God gave us extensive rules which were to be followed for salvation. In the New, s(he) replaces those rules with one--love others as yourself, have faith in Jesus and you'll be saved.

And yes, I say s(he) because the Bible, in both testaments, makes it clear that God is both male and female. Not something that male dominated churches and media emphasize, but true nonetheless.

@00100001 No I was brought up by two atheists so religion has never featured in my life.

@Krazynights34 - maybe she is, maybe she isn’t. I’ve met many born again Christians like her either way. Another poster on here has openly said that except for the homophobia they share the OP’s views. The OP’s views are pretty mainstream evangelical Christian so it’s sparked an interesting discussion either way.

I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I had you here OP. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it okay to call the police? Here's one that's really important 'cause we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: Touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads?

J Bartlett.

Why do bad things happen to good people? In a nutshell, free will.

The best definition of the Bible I've ever heard is that it is the story of a Creator that fell madly in love with creation. God loves us more than we can know, and created us to love him/her in return. If you don't believe me read the Song of Songs, where God is almost blushingly effusive in describing the depths of that love.

Love cannot exist without free will. Think about it. If we were just robots who were programmed to "love" each other the result might mimic love, but it would not be real love. Real love must be voluntary, which requires the lovers to have free will.

What does humanity having free will mean? Well, look around. It means murder, rape, theft, selfishness, greed, racism and all manner of sins. Because the world is fallen it means disease. Because the world is evil it means Auschwitz, the killing fields, environmental degradation war, etc. It means some pretty horrible stuff. Which is, tragically, the price that God and humans must pay for love.

It didn't have to be that way and it wasn't God's original intent for humanity (see Genesis for details) but it is the way it must be until Jesus comes again.

@Alternista

All of that is from the Old Testament. Christians consider the Old Testament edifying to a degree, but not a "controlling authority" in any way. The New Testament, which is the Christian guide, replaces all of that with loving your neighbor and believing in Jesus Christ.

It is a specious argument to try to bludgeon a Christian with the Old Testament.

With the greatest respect, @LifeExperience, that kind of mental gymnastics makes absolutely no sense to me at all. It absolutely doesn't explain why bad things happen to good people, and frankly, it's pretty insulting and dismissive towards some of the parents who have shared their stories of children with cancer etc.

The argument that you have put forward relies on a weird kind of internal logic that could only possibly make any sense to people if they had already swallowed the flawed premises that are your basic starting points. It has no independent validity at all!

The New Testament, which is the Christian guide, replaces all of that with loving your neighbor and believing in Jesus Christ.

So gay marriage is fine, then, because there is no conflict between gay relationships and loving your neighbour/believing in Jesus?

I am an atheist. I don't believe in any god, neither do I believe in anything paranormal or "woo". I am always interested when people of faith think the religion or faith has changed them in some way. Do you not think that you have made conscious decisions about your life choices rather than a god or prophet telling you to do it? As an atheist I can tell myself to stop being a bitch to someone and try and be nicer without a god telling me to do so.

Is prayer just hope, in essence? I don't pray, so are my hopes of less importance than those who are rewarded by praying? Is there a sliding scale?

I didn't like what you said about your faith being the one truth faith. I find that intolerant and contrary to the God Loves Everyone idiom.

How do you know God exists? What evidence can you provide?

If I sound flippant I don't mean to be, its just no person of faith can properly explain it to me.

Also if God Loves Me why is he so judgemental? Surely he'd accept me for who I am?

@LifeExperience - Christians can’t have it both ways. They can’t use the Old Testament against those they consider sinful and at the same time tell non-Christians not to hold the Old Testament against them because they’ve moved on.

You have used a lot of flowery, sanctimonious language there to say, well I’m not quite sure of your point actually. Interesting to see you know of God’s plan though. I thought we were not able to know of God’s plan, God being a higher being and all.

The bible is the only book I know of that cites itself as a source. The best definition I can think of for the bible is a book produced by several committees, changed by some kings, interpreted through several different languages, edited some more to suit some political agendas, chopped and changed a bit more and then republished about 10,000 times. Can’t see that chain of evidence standing up in a court room.

@AlexaShutUp

Corinthians in the New Testament makes it clear that homosexual BEHAVIOR is a sin, one among many. It is no worse a sin than gluttony, adultery, prostitution, fornication, or any other sin. We are ALL sinners and unworthy of God. Every single one of us, without exception. It is faith in Jesus that makes us worthy to be with God.

As far as civil marriage goes, sinners of all kinds get married every day. I have no problem with what the civil authorities choose to do in that regard.

I would draw the line at civil authorities forcing religious authorities, whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish (all 3 have the same strictures against homosexual behavior) to perform gay marriages.

Just on the idea that free will makes human suffering inevitable...

As a loving parent, I don't force my dd to love me. She has free will. Most of the time, she listens to me, but sometimes she thinks she knows better. As a loving parent, do I have a chat with her about why that wasn't a great idea and how she can do better next time, or do I decide that she has made a mistake and must now be written off indefinitely as a sinful human being? Surely, as a loving parent, I have a choice as to how I respond?

If humans are inherently selfish, then why did God make them so? It's perfectly possible to have free will without being inherently evil. Was it a mistake on God's part, then, that humans are naturally sinful?

Why was the world set up in such a way that it had to "fall" because of one minor transgression on Eve's part? Was that a mistake too? And why couldn't God fix it?

If free will is so important, why have generations of people had to suffer as a result of Eve making one decision that God didn't like. Was it supposed to be free will as long as you do exactly what I tell you to do? Sounds pretty abusive and controlling to me.

And if Jesus is going to make it all better in the second coming, then what is he waiting for? Why not get a move on? Surely, a loving parent would want to put their children out of their misery at the earliest possible opportunity.

So, either your god is a little bit incompetent and just doesn't have the power to do anything about the world's suffering, or else he is vindictive and is still punishing us for the sins of our ancestors. Or else he just doesn't exist.

@TitusPullo; @AlexaShutUp

I have never used the Old Testament against anyone. Christians who do are in error.

I have limited knowledge of God's plan. God says "My ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. " But I do know what I've read in the Bible, and since I have a personal relationship with Jesus, I know what he has revealed to me.

I am telling you my beliefs. You have every right to disagree.

We are ALL sinners and unworthy of God. Every single one of us, without exception

Does that apply to a newborn baby? If so, what sins have they committed? Simply being human? Again, sounds like a bit of a design flaw to me. I blame the manufacturer.

I am telling you my beliefs. You have every right to disagree.

Yes, of course. I do disagree, but I absolutely respect your right to believe whatever you like. I just don't understand how anyone can believe because as far as I can see, the arguments just don't stack up.

But you are presenting your belief as fact and the bible as evidence of those facts. That’s a closed loop. That is not how reasoned argument works. Why is the bible truer than any other religious text? Because it says so? They all say that.

Also if you are using the New Testament for your homophobia then you are on shaky ground. Unless you are using the bits that refer back to the Old Testament? But then you don’t use the Old Testament do you? Except you referenced Genesis above, so then you do use the Old Testament. Or is it just bits of the Old Testament? Do we all get to just pick which bits we use?

Free will is not just important, it's vital, because we can't love God back without it.

This life is a blip. A moment in eternity. Yes, there is immense suffering. But for the Christian there is immense peace. I can't explain it any better than that. I've had my share of pain, sickness, disappointment, divorce, a child with a severe chronic illness, and a body blow of a disappointment that I suffered today that is still too raw to even think about.

But through it all I have peace. Because my real life will begin when this one ends, and I will have eternal joy.