>see the thing is, a lot
>of the "dogma" can be
>traced straight from the bible.
> if you are a
>Christian, and believe the bible
>is the word of God,
>then aren't you supposed to
>have the kind of faith
>in the word where you
>accept what it says even
>though it does not make
>any sense in your every
>day life?

Please, Please tell me who told you that?! That's like, the anti-truth! We have a principle in our church that "if it's not practical, it's not spiritual (it's a relative term dealing with Biblical issues and "blind faith").

>your church, for example, says that
>women can't wear pants.
>my grandma doesn't wear pants
>because she can point out
>in the bible where it
>says a woman should not
>wear the clothes of a
>man. so how is
>it that you can be
>a Christian and say your
>not being able to wear
>pants is "bull defacation" if
>it's in the bible?
>if you really do believe
>that the bible is God's
>word, then He meant it.
> who are you to
>say that God won't ask
>you why you wore pants
>when you get to heaven?
> just because that's you're
>opinion, as a Christian aren't
>you supposed to have that
>much faith in His word?
>
>
>i know that there is the
>argument that interpretation has a
>lot to do with it,
>and there are a lot
>of things that are just
>out dated. but if
>you can say that about
>the way you dress, what's
>to say that key principles
>about Chirstianity aren't a matter
>of interpretation too? does
>that mean that where it
>says non-Christians are essentially going
>to hell is another thing
>that can be argued down
>too? if you really
>sit down and read the
>bible, there is a lot
>of stuff in there that
>seems kind of far out
>when applied to life today.
> but if you are
>a true Christian, you should
>be following it shouldn't you?
> who gets to say
>what is truth in the
>bible and what is not?

Question, how much have you really studied scripture. Is it just a matter of reading, or do you research the culture, history, languages, etc to unearth the truths that are there? If not, you're in a Catch 22 situation in understanding scripture.

>i also don't like how organized
>religion is manipulated to control
>peoples' lives. and that
>can be applied to religions
>other than Christianity. we're
>only having this discussion about
>Christianity because we're in the
>united states. if we
>were in afghanistan it would
>be a whole different discussion.

Well, I started the thread, but I guess if I was in Afghanistan and a Christian, I'd probably done the same thing. So I guess i can be held somewhat responsible . . .

>another thing i wanted to ask
>you is that don't you
>think you're being spiritually hindered
>if you think that some
>of the practices of your
>church are bull? i
>respect your spirituality and because
>of that, i think that
>maybe you might want to
>find another church where you
>wouldn't feel that way.
>it might be better for
>you.

That may be the best thing you said in the post . . .

Apocalypse

"When purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable . . ."