to not understand why Christians think Jesus died for our sins?

[switcheroooo]

If Jesus died for everyone's sins, does that mean people are not accountable for their actions? You can kill people, steal and lie but have a protected status because Jesus died for your sins.

How does this work? Why are people not responsible for their own sins? Where is the justice?

We can't see people's intentions so it is best not to make assumptions.

People can define themselves as being a particular religion but do not practice it in its true essence.

I know people who call themselves teetotal but drink 😂

The minute one's participation in a religious group creates an 'us and them' mentality, the entire point is moot.
I was brought up with the mantra, "what would Jesus do?" Jesus, being the perfect ideal of kindness and tolerance. My parents were raised Catholic but considered themselves Christian more so, as they aren't believers in indoctrination, just treating people well and have seen people attend mass but look down on others while doing so.
They would not be disappointed in me for anything other than being unkind and even then, would seek to understand what caused me to act that way.
I've found that having this moral compass in life has made things easier for me.
I have a daughter who is currently a baby. I will definitely bring her up with Jesus as a moral ideal. I won't obscure things with talk of afterlives and pleasing God. I'll teach her that kindness is its own reward and that intolerance leads to frustration which is one of the most unpleasant human emotions.

Someone who has a true understanding of faith would not create an us and them mentality because they are participating in a religious group. Religions generally care for the whole of humanity. Everyone should be treated well regardless of faith or no faith.

Jesus would love his enemies.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:43–45).

What will you teach your daughter about justice? It does not exist? People only follow rules and laws because of threats?

There's no talk of justice in that quote. It's saying that to be like Jesus and God, don't look for justice. Seek to be the better person. Happiness should follow.

I agree with you that those who have true faith would not be creating an 'us and them' situation. Unfortunately, organised religion often leads to that though.

I always think of the boy who wanted a bike and was going to ask God to send him one. His mate told him that God doesn't work like that. You have to steal one then confess and ask for repentance.

Yes, but not be disrespectful to Christians because you can get away with it without being called bigoted or worse as might happen if you are disrespectful about other creeds and religions.

My interpretation isn’t about a line in the bible. It comes from being raised catholic. Confession, absolution, and the importance of baptism are something I am very familiar with.

If one does not look for justice, one should be fine with someone attacking them, stealing from them, murdering a member of their family?

How will seeking to be a better person help in these situations? How exactly does happiness follow?

How does it do that? Which are the organised religions? Which are the unorganised religions?

If someone attacked or murdered a member of my family, I would never ever forgive them. I would want them dead. Justice.

Most victims of serious crimes against their loved ones will say that hating the perpetrator only brings more misery into their lives. It's very hard to do, but trying to understand the person who has acted badly in a situation, is more likely to bring comfort. That is not to say that some people belong behind bars as they aren't capable of mixing with society. They're too damaged, sadly, to be out and about. They're most likely damaged to this extent because of unkindness shown to them in their lifetime.

Religion is a belief system. Organised religion is an entirely different thing; it involves behaving the way the group believe you should behave and shunning rational thought.

Exactly. Everybody wants justice. But then denying the afterlife means the perpetrators who got away with it on earth, get away with it forever. There will never be justice.

That is not easy to live with.

You can want justice without hating. Many people who have lost someone go onto to campaign to make changes to try and stop other people experiencing the same. They are not full of hate, they want justice and to prevent a recurrence.

I definitely wouldn’t be looking to understand them - I would want to have the death penalty.

They want to help others. They've found a way to make something good out of the awful thing that has happened and it gives them comfort and direction. That's not about seeking justice, it's about helping others. It's exactly what Jesus was talking about.

If they were campaigning to bring back the death penalty so that the perpetrator got exactly what they deserved, I don't think they'd be as comforted by their efforts.

I'd disagree and say faith is the belief system, religion is the organised aspect of faith. Which sometimes doesn't have a lot to do with faith. This is why "religion" gets a bad name. People weaponising it

You can still have justice without hating.

I don’t understand why Christian’s believe any of the nonsense, to be honest

I guess it's all about the motivation. Are you seeking 'justice' so that the person who has wronged you, suffers, or are you hoping to prevent another wrongful act? I think the difference in motivation has an impact on the pursuer of justice.

I am Jewish and I believe in G-d but not in Jesus as his son but a Jewish man who was a teacher .

Could I ask an honest question that sort of relates to this?

I read this article, about prayers being said for Myra Hindley. https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/13178
Someone I know lost their child in 2006. At the time they were a practicing catholic family. The child was young and had never done anything wrong,
Other than when the child was illl and immediately after they died, there have been no prayers for them.
I find this really conflicting and difficult to understand.It seems like Hindley is more ‘deserving’.

I do have a close friend who is a practicing catholic and she very kindly talked through her understanding which is that Hindley is a demonstration of the idea of redemption. I just wondered how other Christian’s feel about this challenging idea?

I hope this is taken in the spirit of genuine curiosity. I appreciate that faith can be a beautiful part of people’s lives so no disrespect. I’m a pagan if anyone wonders.