Christianity misuse

랴연

My background is born, baptised, raised Catholic.

So I'm living in Asia at the moment and have come across these kind of situations quite a bit and its made me more aware of them on a larger world scale.

Firstly I know this isn't just a Christian problem, its a problem with most religions. But I do have to say, from looking at the evidence, it seems to be mostly Christians who are doing this in the modern age, perhaps because of its popularity.

Anyways, what I want to talk about it this.

I came to Asia a year ago and started learning the lingo. Still only beginner but .... point is I know a little.

So I was walking down the street a few months ago and along comes some guy holding a 4 foot cross ranting about Jesus, or so I thought.

You see I assumed he was talking about Jesus because of the cross but when he was closer I could hear him say the word for buddha. This was a bit surprising to me so I asked my g/f what he was saying, her reply;

"Believe in Jesus and you go to heaven, believe in Buddha and you go to hell".

So since that I have been paying more attention and this is not uncommon at all, in fact its frighteningly common here.

My g/f who has no religion doesn't seem to think its abnormal, she thought its the way Christians act worldwide. (Catholics are seen as different from christians).

So basically I read up on it and low and behold theres an enormous amount of religious nonsense going on here, 99% of it caused by American evangelist churches. (not the Catholics/some other protestant churches)

So in a few basic points.

- These churches and followers are extremely anti-Buddhist (its the main competition)
- These churches demand that its followers sign over a percentage of their yearly salary. Some as much as 10% but I think the minimum is 3%. Check out this monster. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoido_Full_Gospel_Church
- There are companies here who will only hire Christians, and some even certain types of Christians. i.e > Most of them see Catholics as nearly as bad as Buddhists.

The current president over here is one of these evangelists and has been accused of anti-Buddhist (and to a lesser extent anti-Islam) policies especially regarding the armed forces.

So in the culture with these Christians they will only associate with other evangelists. (Catholics and Muslims are ranked just above Buddhists for their evilness). Will only marry other religions if they convert, some will only marry other evangelists and some will only marry within their own type of Christianity.

So heres me wondering where all the craziness is coming from when I get a new job and theres an American woman there. So this girl can't talk about coffee without sticking in a good word about Jesus into the sentence.

Fair enough says you, she has her thing, let her away with it.

No ... no its not fair enough. Why ? Because every day I have to listen to the fat (ugly) cow tell me how the "light of Jesus is shining out of you". After finding out my g/f was an atheist she actually went on to tell me how "its not that bad, at least she doesn't believe in resurrecting as an animal *fat girl laugh*. You can change her"

So I got sick of it and told her I was converting to Buddhism. She spent a week trying to talk me out of it to "save" my soul and now she won't talk to me at all *yay*

Anyways, my question is. Why does christianity make so many lunatics and why is it so anti-Other religions.

Nodin

"Believe in Jesus and you go to heaven, believe in Buddha and you go to hell".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentum_ad_baculum

I'd imagine it would be impossible to quantify "worst offenders". Certainly Hindu and Muslim faiths have their intolerant sides too. I think the intolerant aspect of some of the Americans register so much on the radar due to the fact one expects a bit more open-mindedness from such an (in many ways) advanced country.

Pamela111

랴연 wrote: »

Anyways, my question is. Why does christianity make so many lunatics .

I don't beleive it does. Different customs in different cultures. Lunatics to those who don't beleive though since the concept of Truth is lost when one lacks Divine Wisdom and only has the kind of wisdom thought by man. In essence, only Jesus will decide who is a lunatic or not. For me anyone who beleives in Christ has the greatest wisdom of all. This wisdom only comes from the Holy Spirit and the Truth is hidden from those who contrive evil without repentence.

랴연 wrote: »

and why is it so anti-Other religions.

When one is in full knowledge of the Truth regarding Jesus all the mysteries are revealed. Without beleif in Jesus we are better off not being born. That is Truth!

prinz

Empty vessels make the most noise? Tbh I try to avoid the street preachers as I have rarely had a good experience listening to them for a start. The lads opposite the Spire in Dublin being the exception for the most part.

And as for disrespecting someone's religion, or lack thereof, is just bad manners, particularly in an Asian country with probably a Buddhist culture and background. As for the American Evangelicals....... I'm going to throw a guess out there and say South Korea? I've met some members from the South Korean Free churches and they seem to be very fervent, with lots of ties to American organisations.

prinz

Pamela111 wrote: »

I don't beleive it does. Different customs in different cultures. ........ Without beleif in Jesus we are better off not being born

If I was an attorney I'd take a seat and rest my case.

JimiTime

The marrying their own I understand. Thats where it stops for me. They just sound rude after that. I think there are alot of people who like to think that they're right, that they know more than you. For these people, religions like Christianity offer them something that can make them feel superior. Of course, they miss the point of christianity when they do this, but what can you do? As a christian we need to respect our surroundings, and shouting at passers by that they're going to hell is not respecting them. Neither is it respectful, to insult what you know is the religion of the land. We should be declaring the good news of the kingdom when we evangelise, not being the judges of men.

PDN

랴연 wrote: »

So I was walking down the street a few months ago and along comes some guy holding a 4 foot cross ranting about Jesus, or so I thought.

You see I assumed he was talking about Jesus because of the cross but when he was closer I could hear him say the word for buddha. This was a bit surprising to me so I asked my g/f what he was saying, her reply;

"Believe in Jesus and you go to heaven, believe in Buddha and you go to hell".

So since that I have been paying more attention and this is not uncommon at all, in fact its frighteningly common here.

That certainly wouldn't be my way of evangelising, but I don't live in that culture. I've learned not to be a cultural fascist, and so I don't assume my western diffidence is necessarily better than the full-on approach I see used by many Asian Christians.

I'm assuming the guy really was saying what you report (since it was flitered through your atheist girlfriend's translation).

My g/f who has no religion doesn't seem to think its abnormal, she thought its the way Christians act worldwide. (Catholics are seen as different from christians).

I wouldn't necessarily see the need to argue with that view of Catholicism and Christianity.

- So basically I read up on it and low and behold theres an enormous amount of religious nonsense going on here, 99% of it caused by American evangelist churches. (not the Catholics/some other protestant churches)

So in a few basic points.

These churches and followers are extremely anti-Buddhist (its the main competition)
- These churches demand that its followers sign over a percentage of their yearly salary. Some as much as 10% but I think the minimum is 3%. Check out this monster. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoido_Full_Gospel_Church
- There are companies here who will only hire Christians, and some even certain types of Christians. i.e > Most of them see Catholics as nearly as bad as Buddhists.

The Church you mention, Yoido Full gospel church, is not an 'American evangelist church'. It is a Korean church founded by a Korean (David Yonggi Cho) and frequently criticised by some American evangelicals for taking on board too many Buddhist ideas and concepts.

I am familiar with the Yoido church and they do not demand that their members hand over a percentage of their salary. Like many evangelical churches (including my own) they teach tithing (giving 10% of your income to God) but it is not forced or demanded.

It is not uncommon for religious minorities to employ other members of their faith. I remember in London in the 1970s that many Jewish businesses in Golders green etc had staff that were almost exclusively Jewish.

No ... no its not fair enough. Why ? Because every day I have to listen to the fat (ugly) cow tell me how the "light of Jesus is shining out of you". After finding out my g/f was an atheist she actually went on to tell me how "its not that bad, at least she doesn't believe in resurrecting as an animal *fat girl laugh*. You can change her"

So I got sick of it and told her I was converting to Buddhism. She spent a week trying to talk me out of it to "save" my soul and now she won't talk to me at all *yay*

If the way you talk about this woman is representative of your level of conversation then I admire her patience for continuing to talk to you as long as she did.

Anyways, my question is. Why does christianity make so many lunatics and why is it so anti-Other religions.

I have met crazy Christians, crazy Buddhists and crazy atheists. No-one has a monopoly on craziness.

Christianity can come across as anti-other religions because we believe that mutually exclusive religions cannot all be right. therefore, if we believe our religion to be right, then we believe others to be wrong. in my book that doesn't excuse rudeness or coercion - and once again no-one group has a monopoly on rudeness or coercion.

랴연

PDN wrote: »

The Church you mention, Yoido Full gospel church, is not an 'American evangelist church'. It is a Korean church founded by a Korean (David Yonggi Cho) and frequently criticised by some American evangelicals for taking on board too many Buddhist ideas and concepts.

I thought it was Confucian ideas ?

I am familiar with the Yoido church and they do not demand that their members hand over a percentage of their salary. Like many evangelical churches (including my own) they teach tithing (giving 10% of your income to God) but it is not forced or demanded.

Right. To God. Yeah.

It is not uncommon for religious minorities to employ other members of their faith. I remember in London in the 1970s that many Jewish businesses in Golders green etc had staff that were almost exclusively Jewish.

Funny that. Do you agree with the same process for Universities ? i.e > Only letting in Christians/Buddhists ?

If the way you talk about this woman is representative of your level of conversation then I admire her patience for continuing to talk to you as long as she did.

Shes a full blooded lunatic. I can accept been religious, I can accept been overly religious, I can accept going to church every sunday and thanking God for the weather once in a while.

I am not exaggerating, this girl literally talked about it at least once an hour. Plus she kept trying to persuade the students to come to church with her and once she had a fight with a student who didn't want to talk about JC and his manual for life.

I have met crazy Christians, crazy Buddhists and crazy atheists. No-one has a monopoly on craziness.

I never said they did. I said the majority seem to be Christians for some particular reason.

Christianity can come across as anti-other religions because we believe that mutually exclusive religions cannot all be right. therefore, if we believe our religion to be right, then we believe others to be wrong. in my book that doesn't excuse rudeness or coercion - and once again no-one group has a monopoly on rudeness or coercion.

You should take a page out of Buddhas notebook then.

prinz

I had a feeling this was where it was headed.:rolleyes:

PDN

랴연 wrote: »

I thought it was Confucian ideas ?

Nope, Buddhist.
http://falseteachersexposed.blogspot.com/2007/01/paul-david-yonggi-cho.html

Right. To God. Yeah.

Yeah.

I've been giving 10% of my income to God since 1981. As far as I am concerned the money goes to God's work, and the various church's I've paid it through are simply instruments or channels.

Funny that. Do you agree with the same process for Universities ? i.e > Only letting in Christians/Buddhists ?

If it's a private University funded by Christians or Buddhists? Absolutely. If it receives a single penny in public funding then it should be open to all.

Shes a full blooded lunatic. I can accept been religious, I can accept been overly religious, I can accept going to church every sunday and thanking God for the weather once in a while.

I am not exaggerating, this girl literally talked about it at least once an hour. Plus she kept trying to persuade the students to come to church with her and once she had a fight with a student who didn't want to talk about JC and his manual for life.

We all get impressions of people from what they say or write. I've formed an impression of you, for example, but I'm much too polite than to share it.

I never said they did. I said the majority seem to be Christians for some particular reason

If that's how it seems to you then so be it. It certainly isn't how it seems to me.

You should take a page out of Buddhas notebook then.

When it comes to body shape I do.

랴연

Nope, Buddhist.
http://falseteachersexposed.blogspot...onggi-cho.html

I stand corrected.

I've been giving 10% of my income to God since 1981. As far as I am concerned the money goes to God's work, and the various church's I've paid it through are simply instruments or channels.

I don't have anything to say to this if you honestly think thats right.

If it's a private University funded by Christians or Buddhists? Absolutely. If it receives a single penny in public funding then it should be open to all.

Its not.

If that's how it seems to you then so be it. It certainly isn't how it seems to me.

uh huh.

So wy can't you answer the question ?

Why is it Christian lunatics walking around telling people they're going to hell for believing in Buddhism/Islam/etc ?

Why do Catholics NOT do this ? Why do some protestant churches NOT do this ?

Why is it only evangelical loons.

PDN

랴연 wrote: »

So wy can't you answer the question ?

Why is it Christian lunatics walking around telling people they're going to hell for believing in Buddhism/Islam/etc ?

Why do Catholics NOT do this ? Why do some protestant churches NOT do this ?
[/URL]

I did answer the question. You need to get out more.

You get Buddhists attacking non-Buddhists, you get Muslims attacking infidels, for centuries Catholics tortured and executed millions of people who disagreed with them, and in some parts of the world today atheists will still pull your toe-nails out with pliers for daring to be a Christian.

Crazy people are everywhere, and no one religion or belief system has a monopoly on them.

JimiTime

랴연 wrote: »

Why is it only evangelical loons.

Is there an answer that you are heasding for? I recall two of what you would call 'loons' here in Dublin. Anyone who would have frequented the city centre through the 80's early 90's would probably recall the 2 catholic women, one that used to march around with a Giant cross, the other who used to dance about with her rosary beads. In London, there was a guy that used to stand in the middle of Oxford Circus with a megaphone declaring us all sinners and in need of repentance, 'Are you a sinner or a winner' he'd say:). Then there were some muslim preachers who spoke of the infidel etc etc. So in 'my' experience, there are people in all walks of life that don't seem to meet our criteria as 'normal' folk. I think thats PDN's point. Your limited experiences, do not equate to fact. If I never moved to London, the only 2 'loons' i would have encountered were the catholic ones. I still never asked, 'why are they always catholic?'. As i said, you'll get certain types of people who are attracted to christianity for the wrong reasons. You'll also get people who are christians that are mentally imbalanced. You'll get this within any large demographic of people though. I have encountered far more mannerly religious preachers, than 'loons' though, be they Christians, Hare Krishna's, Mormons, Muslims etc. Maybe what you're witnessing is a product of the fact that evangelicals are encouraged to well, evangelise. So in a country where evangelicals are a big part of the population, you get to see any 'loons' that may be there. My guess is that for every 'loon' you see, there are probably 10 less obvious preachers you didn't notice. Catholics etc remember are not told to evangelise etc.

robindch

PDN wrote: »

and in some parts of the world today atheists will still pull your toe-nails out with pliers for daring to be a Christian.

You should put that in your sig -- it would save you hours of typing over the course of a year!

JimiTime

robindch wrote: »

You should put that in your sig -- it would save you hours of typing over the course of a year!

My pot and kettle sensor has just blown a fuse!! People in glass houses and all that.

PDN

robindch wrote: »

You should put that in your sig -- it would save you hours of typing over the course of a year!

Facts are stubborn things.

PDN

PDN wrote: »

When it comes to body shape I do.

No need to get anorexic!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Siddhartha_Gautama_meditating.PNG

thebouldwhacker

랴연 wrote: »

Anyways, my question is. Why does christianity make so many lunatics and why is it so anti-Other religions.

You'll find that kind of thing were money or power are involved. always.

krudler

Yeah.

I've been giving 10% of my income to God since 1981. As far as I am concerned the money goes to God's work, and the various church's I've paid it through are simply instruments or channels.

god needs money? To spend on what?

Fanny Cradock

I don't believe that anyone said God needs money. Like any other organisation a church needs to pay the bills. Its members will be involved with local and international communities in a number of different ways. Chief amongst this would be charity work. It all costs money.

robindch

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Chief amongst this would be charity work. It all costs money.

Unfortunately, the chief beneficiary of most religious charity is religion itself. As far as I can establish, charity in the normal meaning of the word accounts for a very small proportion of religious expenditure -- universally less than 20%, and very frequently less than five or ten percent.

Fanny Cradock

robindch wrote: »

Unfortunately, the chief beneficiary of most religious charity is religion itself. As far as I can establish, charity in the normal meaning of the word accounts for a very small proportion of religious expenditure -- universally less than 20%, and very frequently less than five or ten percent.

Well, it all depends on the congregation and the denomination.

Also, I don't think that it would be easy to put a figure on all charitable work. So it seems unfair to dilute much of the charity work that is directly facilitated by the church or indirectly through one of its organs or its partitioners into cold hard cash investments.

philologos

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/buddhist.extremists.attack.christian.run.childrens.home.in.sri.lanka/7261.htm

Every religion has it's distortionists.

Húrin

robindch wrote: »

Unfortunately, the chief beneficiary of most religious charity is religion itself.

Do you not mean the chief beneficiary of religious revenue is religion?