People are fine with being disrespectful to Christians

[Flymetothezoom]

At a church playgroup. The people who run it are very devout Christians. I am taken aback, by the number of parents, who thought it was appropriate to bring their kids to the church dressed for Halloween. Kids are dressed as witches, goblins, skeletons, creepy pumpkins etc..
The church holds a light party every year on Halloween and is very clear that they do not endorse Halloween.

How are they all from the same source, when Judaism doesn’t have the New Testament, and Judaism and Christianity don’t have the Qur’an? Mohammed lived 600 years after Jesus, and the revelations he felt he received, recorded in the Qur’an, are not part of Christianity or Judaism. Nor are the traditions about him recorded in the hadith.

You stated that my views on Islam were ignorant. I replied that they are based on the Islamic sources, which you can see for yourself. If you don’t want to, that’s up to you. But if you did, I think you’d see that there is no comparison between the ‘nasty bits’ of Islam and Christianity when it comes to women.

I think op the difficulty for me is that church is meant to be the gathering of people rather than the building itself. And the people are supposed to be welcoming and accepting of people exactly as they are. I think that's why people find the concept of hell and judgement so difficult because by focusing on that it doesn't come across as open or accepting. I also think some Christians forget that judgement day isn't here yet and it's not for us. That's between God and each individual so as a Christian it's nothing to do with me how someone lives their life I'm much more interested in trying to focus on the important part which is Grace and that we are all equally loved no matter who we are and all equally deserving of heaven. So when people choose to focus on judgement when trying to evangelise I personally feel they miss the whole point. I also really dislike when people talk about Christianity as if its a blanket religion, or The Church as if there's one church. The church I go to has a large LGBTQA+ community and lots of asylum seekers who aren't necessarily Christian but are welcomed anyways as part of the community because showing love to others is actually the only thing we're really asked to do by Jesus. The majority of my church including myself also actively promote a womans right to bodily autonomy and choice. So I think for me, I don't see why I'd be offended by a child dressing up in a church space when I should just be glad they felt welcome enough to be there in the first place. I also as a Christian think it's really important we don't deny the history and mistakes that have been made in the name of Christianity, there's been a lot of damage done and a lot of hurt caused over the years so I personally don't find it offensive when people criticise it or feel anger towards it- thsts understandable and i can see why they feel that way. I think it's important we criticise ourselves more in order to hold ourselves to account and focus on practising faith in better, kinder and less harmful ways going forwards. As with any gathering of people things can get off track and unhealthy unsafe cultures can form so it's important that we recognise that to prevent it from happening in the name of religion because it has on the past far too often. Therefore its important to listen when people say certain practices or approaches are harmful or hurting them and important to make sure we aren't so in a bubble of Christianity that we forget we're in the real world too.

@pepperminttaste "Yoga can viewed as unChristian? Really?!"
Umm yup for sure, https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/should-christians-do-yoga

also any martial art dojo that is 'too' Japanese. Bowing as you enter the dojo? - spiritual corruption donchaknow

https://www.equip.org/articles/should-a-christian-practice-the-martial-arts/

For clarity I'm an atheist but in a been there done that kinda way

I'm an atheist and have avoided some martial arts because of their spiritual elements.

It doesn't seem that far out that sometime would avoid it because it clashed with their spiritual beliefs

I didn't report your thing pointy things but I did actually mean to reply to you

for those that asked I'm anti contraception and pro-choice. My maxim is that if you don't want a child don't have sex. Simple

Read it again folks; clearly someeone who's anti-abortion isn't going to be pro choice in the commonly meant sense of supporting a woman's right to choose abortion, so instead it's turned around to pretend it means whether or not to have sex

As with the unwillingness to address uncomfortable questions, this is what exposure to dogma can do to people - sad indeed, but perhaps not as sad as what can happen when they're put in positions where they're able to influence policy (see the overturning of Roe vs Wade, have a look at the makeup of the Supreme Court and then consider we now have a health secretary who's likely to share similar views)

@OneTC so do you avoid particular forms of Yoga/Martial arts because they are rotted in theism? I'd class that as an extreme position on the atheist side.

The Christian position on it seems more paranoid than that though, almost as if these people are afraid that there might be other gods who are more powerful than their own. Also they seem to be a feeling a teeny bit sensitive tonight.

How are they all from the same source, when Judaism doesn’t have the New Testament, and Judaism and Christianity don’t have the Qur’an? Mohammed lived 600 years after Jesus, and the revelations he felt he received, recorded in the Qur’an, are not part of Christianity or Judaism. Nor are the traditions about him recorded in the hadith.

There's loads of stories that are common to both though, often the message is different but the stories are based on the same people, Solomon for example, and David. Much of the source material is common

*rooted, obviously.

I just feel it would be disrespectful to people that do believe it.

As a Christian totally agree with this, church and state need to be kept separated to make sure that ALL people in communities are protected, represented and catered for. NI and DUP are the prefect example of allowing yourself to become so convinced you're right and you speak for other Christians that you stop representing the general public you're supposed to be serving and are lifting a wage to serve. Obviously people can hold personal values and beliefs but they shouldn't cross into a professional capacity imo especially if they directly conflict with another person's rights and welfare.

@OneTC that actually makes a lot of sense.

I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here.

As I said she could have been Queen Consort, she's even got the same name as our future QC, I think he just met the wrong one.

The point my husband was making was that she couldn't be Pope because she was female so he didn't have the same issue with being sovereign because a woman can be sovereign. You might have but I was talking about what he felt.

If they are Christians then I'm a unicorn.

As a Christian totally agree with this, church and state need to be kept separated to make sure that ALL people in communities are protected, represented and catered for. NI and DUP are the prefect example of allowing yourself to become so convinced you're right and you speak for other Christians that you stop representing the general public you're supposed to be serving and are lifting a wage to serve. Obviously people can hold personal values and beliefs but they shouldn't cross into a professional capacity imo especially if they directly conflict with another person's rights and welfare

You just summed up the whole thing better than I ever could, Cw112

I've every respect for people's right to hold their own views, no matter if they contradict my own, but none at all for expectations that religion should be brought to bear on public policy - and that applies to them all equally

That is just proof that human beings aren't perfect. We can still keep trying even if we get it wrong.

My family has many religions, Muslims and Jews and Christians of various denominations, none of us have issues with each others beliefs or the beliefs of the ones who don't have religious beliefs. Tolerance is undervalued I think, one thing I always remember is being teased at school as my mother wasn't a Catholic, one of the nuns said how disappointed she was in their behaviour and told them to remember one very important thing and that was the prayer is like smoke, it all goes up. I still like to think of prayer being like smoke, making it's way to where it should be.

I don't know there is a God, I have faith and believe but I can't know. One day I might find out.

Just because they do things you don't like doesn't mean they're not Christians.

@arctica And you know this how? Are you a Baptist? I've been to a Baptist church - have you?

I agree with @Cw112 - believe what you want, but keep your faith out of public policy where there are people who do not share your faith. Freedom of religion should also mean freedom from religion for those of us who wish to live a secular life.

@arctica this is the problem with religion - each kind has multiple subtypes, each of which insists that it and it alone is the one true faith. They can't all be right.

Of course WBC are Christians.

Repellant Christians, but Christians all the same. They are super famous because of their ways but there's other equally extreme interpretations that don't have the publicity. Various Baptist congregations are more in the vengeful jealous God model rather than the fluffy hippy Jesus model