I've changed my blogger settings to no longer allow anonymous posting. For those of you who don't have blogger accounts, it's super easy, only takes a minute, and you don't get spammed. So, please take the time to set up an account so that you can keep commenting. All I wanted to do was start a simple pregnancy update blog, and then people had to come in and ruin it with rude comments that have nothing to do with my baby. So, I've been forced to change it.
As for new posting from me, I know it's been a while, I just don't have much to say lately. I'll think of something soon and post. :)
1 year ago
16 comments:
Meh. It was bound to happen. The Gibson name attracts it. :)
Since I've been gone, I haven't been able to read the blog. Wow, that anonymous person hasn't got a clue. Andy, I think you handled him pretty well. Nice dissertation on the lemmings!
Jeannett - I'm so sorry you're sick. It is so much worse when you're pregnant. Wow - only 2 months to go! Nice to talk to you last night.
Wow. I just read the whole thing. Good job, Gibby!! People have a lot of time on their hands!
Anyhow, I guess it's good that nothing new has happened as you are coming into the home stretch... as you know with my case, things went to the dumps when I was this far along.
XooX
Good idea. I guess being anonymous gives some people a power trip. Yucky.
On the positive side, isn't it great to have a husband that will stand up and fight in your defense? Go Andy.
I miss you guys.
The comments were not meant for anyone in particular. They were for your little group of friends that are Christian bible beaters.
The lemming thing was a test, Andy. I obviously was using the term "lemming" in the social context in which it has a "blindly follow the leader" definition. This corresponds to the 99% of Christians that follow the Bible blindly and know nothing of its origins, the social context of the day (and what was considered acceptable), who REALLY wrote each of the canonized books, why certain books were excluded, who decided what was included and what wasn't, what their agendas were, etc. If the Christian masses actually did their homework, I guarantee you that there would be very few Christians.
Now, you seem to be an intelligent fellow, since you at least took the time to look up lemming on Wikipedia. Good, that was the second part of the test. You did some research. Now, go off and do you research on Christian origins. It's ok to be a bit stunned by what you find out. That's part of the realization process. You and all of your friends can escape the shackles of Christianity and move on to higher and more pure forms of spirituality.
Please don't take these comments as attacking in nature. They are not meant to be.
When you all decide to rely on each other (in the preemptive confines of your Christian Church), you cut yourselves off from the outside world and a larger reality. Your circle of friends then become your safety net. I've noticed that you all like to reassure each other, which has the effect of becoming a self righteous, self fulfilling activity. In psychological terms, you are all falling victim to something called group think.
You guys are better than this! Open your eyes to the world!
Or, you can take this as a personal attack, reaffirm this with your circle of friends, and use this as a self-fulfilling reaffirmation that the outside world is trying to attack vunerable Christians (when in all actuality it is the other way around in this country).
You may have a point with the group think, however, that is not how I operate. I have tested and proven my faith many, many times over.
What you mentioned is how a lot of Christians operate in this country, and it is sad. But in actuality, God continually calls us to jump out of our comfort zones and share the Gospel with the world. It is a shame when people use their religion as a defense and see their church as confining. I try my darndest not to do that, and our church (see my pastor's blog: http://pastortimgraceslo.blogspot.com/) works very hard to equip its members with the tools and knowledge to minister to people just like yourself, a skeptic of the Word.
I don't take it as a personal attack, but it would have been better had you posted this in the beginning rather than your one liners meant to stir the pot. I have researched the basis of my faith, and there is a true element to why it is called such, faith. And I am sure you have faith in your sources for the authors of the different books of the bible, which I have considered and dismissed as a load on my own account. So therefore, I do not suffer from group think.
You are better than this as well, I'll pray that you open up your heart to the real faith and your Creator. Put your faith in God and you will be stunned by the peace and power he will bring to your life, which I have been lucky enough to experience over and over again.
I'm a very happy person outside the confines of Christianity.
I think that the actual things that all of you are doing such as connecting with each other, helping each other out, trying to do good for others, etc. is great, but what I have a problem with is that it took someone in a church telling you to do it to actually do it.
I'm spiritual, but not religious, and I'm very happy. I've done a good amount of volunteer work, etc. because it is the right thing to do, not because I'm hoping it will earn me merit points with my god.
Morals are universal laws that are not bound to religion. I think many Christians believe that morality is something that Christians created and have to defend (another hypocracy....aka Holy Wars and persecution in the early church).
There are Buddhists, Hindus, and atheists that are very moral and happy people.
It's a proven fact that the Bible has many innacuracies (I'll gladly list a few for you if you like). If there is a god or gods, then it is quite logical that Christianity is not correct. If there is even ONE innacuracy in what is supposed to be the tell-all, most important book in human history, then it's obviously not all it's cracked up to be. If your god is all-knowing and as many of you believe the Bible to be divinely inspired, there should be NO innacuracies in it. Even one proves that your god is non omnipotent and omniscient.
My point is that it's great that you guys connect, but fiercely believing in your "Christian God" is wrong. He does not exist.
Organized religion is also much more dividing than unifying. It is the #1 problem in the world today. In fact, since every faith-based religion believes they are right and everyone else is wrong, it leads to hate, war, and ultimately, could lead to the destruction of society or humanity. Think about it guys....there are a plethora of religions out there, all with their own holy books, all with their own gods or twists on what you would call your god. What makes you guys right? You don't know, and you have no proof.
If there is a god, he's not defined as narrowly as your Christian God is (yes, you've very narrowly defined him).
Biggest takeaway point: you guys think you're doing good (and to an extent you are), but you're probably very unaware of the divisiveness that your religion creates in the world as well.
A general spirituality is all inclusive and non-devisive.
The Buddhists have a great metaphor to this extent. They respect all of the worlds' religions for the positive aspects that they bring. Yes, they all do have some good, but the point here is to get away from the negative parts and the divisive, innacurate parts.
Here is what the Buddhists say: they say that each of the religions is like another trail or path up the mountain (the mountain being the search for truth, inner peace, and ultimate fulfillment). Some are more direct, some wind around the mountain more, some have more bumps in the path, etc. They are all possibly paths on the way to nirvana, just some are more effective than others.
Try to think about that a little bit. By calling yourselves Christians and telling everyone you're right and they're wrong if they don't believe the same thing as you, you ultimately cause negative feelings and spread hate into the world.
Why call yourself a Christian or a Muslim, etc? Why not be inclusive and love your neighbor no matter what his religion? He may have some wisdom or insight to you that could help you out and vice versa!!! Don't you all think we'd be more effective in climbing the mountain if we all worked together rather than segregating ourselves into different sects that believe everyone else is wrong and only they are right? If there is a God, don't you ultimately think that this is what he would want?
Comments? :-)
Dear truth,
That was actually a wonderful and honest post. I wish I could sit down and have coffee with you somewhere. The answers to your comments and questions are long, but there are answers.
One thing I would like to say is that God created the world. And when he created it, he had in mind how it would best work, through human beings caring for one another and the earth (which we've done a terrible job of) and certain moral laws. I think that you and other buddists, hindus and others that do volunteer work and follow a moral law have figured out that world works best that way. I don't see how that negates God in anyway.
I'd love to have a conversation with you about Biblical error. I've actually done some research in that area. I bet you could show me some things I haven't discovered too. E-mail me if you want. lclaity@gmail.com
Interesting that you chose the name "truth". Jesus called Himself "The Truth" too.
Sorry guys if I caused any animosity or hurt anyone's feelings with my first few posts. I just get a little worked up on the topic of religion. I'll try to remain low key from now on.
J, I know this is not the intent of your blog so I'll stop. Just your posts on your religious conference got me a little worked up.
The only reason I posted anything was that in reality I do care about everyone, and I am just hoping that you expose your child to a variety of cultural and religious beliefs. Hopefully you can expose him to ideas that may not be your own so that when he gets old enough, he can make those all-important decisions for himself.
All of you guys have your heads on straight and seem to have a good, moral center. :-)
Sorry, J for the interruption.
I also thought Truth's last post was good and very honest. It raises some good questions and points and I wish more people were willing to be so honest, because that allows for some good dialogue.
Lara's right, each of those points has a long answer. I'll just say that yes, the Christian church is a mess!!! Collectively we have committed many an atrocity (both in the name of God and not. Let's face it, if we can't keep our act together in our own families we're obviously not going to be able to do so on a grand scale either.) We are a bunch of hypocrites and all too often shelter ourselves in the "safe" confines of our church as opposed to actually getting out in the world and doing much of the good that you and many other non-church goers are doing. In all honesty it's just plain easier memorizing Bible verses and patting ourselves on the backs for being so "spiritual" than loving our neighbor or feeding the poor.
BUT, the world is such a sad mess. World hunger and oppression and homelessness. Greed and pride and prejudice and hate. Jesus came so that we'd have LIFE. He came to make the world right and is working His beauty in our world right now. He came to save us from this mess we've been creating. He loved the poor, the prostitutes, the people that many Christians disdain today.
Truth, I don't put my faith in religion or my ability to please God by any means (thank goodness, I'd be pretty disappointed if I did). But I put it in Jesus, in God. I don't have all (or even most!) of the answers but I want to live like Jesus did. I don't want to hide in my church and just affirm myself and others like me. I'm sure I do a poor job of this most of the time. I think other religions DO have positive elements as you said. I however believe anything good or beautiful or right in our world is from God. Including acts of mercy or justice done by people who claim to not believe in Him.
Truth I'd be curious to know what you think about the man that was Jesus. You can have my email also if you're interested in having this type of discussion: briannaheldt@hotmail.com.
ok first off i thought this was suppose to be about Jeannetts pregnancy not religion.... who cares we're not here to talk about religion or tell others what to believe in... (officially annoyed)
anyways jeannett you need to blog about something other then having a religious debate, this is getting really old and lame, i sure dont come to read about this stuff but on how your doing... well anyways cant wait to see you on saturday and post something worth reading.... love you sis
Diana, it's really easy if you don't want to talk about religion. You and your buddies don't need to bring it up every other sentence! If you guys don't bring it up, then there's nothing to talk about. Some of you guys like to talk about church, god, etc. every other sentence. The way that some of you talk about it, it makes you guys sound self-rightous.
Hi everyone! Not quite sure how this all happened, but nonetheless, it is what it is. Good dialogue, if you want, continue on...
Diana-I'll post something soon. I just honestly don't have anything to say! Imagine that!
Truth-Sorry if it makes us sound self-righteous...I honestly don't think any of us here are that way. In fact, we commonly discuss ways that we are all disappointed in fellow christians and the way that it's always the "bad seeds" that leaves the strongest impressions. Unfortunately, you get lumped into this big group of christian atrocities and holier than thou attitudes...and that's just as unfair as saying that all black people can dance, or all jews are cheap (or whatever other awful stereotype exists). And, in terms of "mentioning it every other sentence"...well, when you define who you are and how you live your life by a certain book or person (Bible, God), it's hard to NOT mention it constantly...just as someone who survived the holocaust or fought in a war does...not to say being a christian is the same as those by any means...jsut the point that when something defines you, it comes out naturally. In any case, if you don't mind my asking...how did you come upon my blog in the first place? I'm just always intrigued by the fact that people outside of my family and friends come upon my little pregnant belly blog.
Wow, lose the self-righteous argument, is that all you have?
Two people have come out and laid themselves on the line, Brianna especially admitting what is wrong with the world, and what she is working on doing to help it, as a broken member of this world herself. How is that self-righteous? Because according to your previous arguments, the Buddhists, Hindus, and atheists are self-righteous as well, because they are all doing things in the world that are taking them up the magical trail on the mountain in their search for “inner peace”. Why is it only Christians that are self-righteous when they are doing something to follow what you have defined so importantly as “moral law” (which I agree does exist, and it had to have come from somewhere, right, in your subconscious, the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Did that ability in the human mind really “evolve”)? You argue for religions/beliefs which harbor the inclusiveness of everybody, but that can’t happen because all of the religions of the world offer different claims where everybody can’t be correct?
Now, let’s look at your lambasting the group of Christianity. You are talking about Buddhists, Hindu’s etc. like they are great because they focus on the search for inner peace? Well, isn’t it another religion or school of thought, which according to you is the #1 problem in the world today? You can’t have it both ways. Now, there are crappy Christians out there, I’ve seen them, I’ve heard them. But there are crappy Muslims too? How about the ones that hold up babies as defense during a gunfight, or the ones that put kids in cars to drive them through checkpoints, and then bail out of the car to blow it up, leaving the children in the car? But, not all Muslims are like that. Most are respectful and love the world, just like there are a lot of Christians that do and will make every effort to make the world a better place for everybody, regardless of color, shape, religion, belief, etc. by striving to be more like Jesus. A similar argument can be made for Buddhists and Hindus as well. There is brokenness in their religions, somewhere. Brokenness is part of this world.
So I’ll ask again, why the Christian hate, we are definitely in the scope here? I think we have shown here that we are not doing the things we do to be self-righteous, but to be more like Jesus everyday, by doing good in the world, but you continue to tell us we are self-righteous because we are simply talking about our religion, with no other support for why we are self-righteous. Maybe you are just as self-righteous for preaching all of your “inner peace” and trying to save us from Christianity by encouraging us to think outside the box. Let me make it clear again, you are talking to the wrong group because we have already thought of all of this, outside the box, outside the confines of our church walls.
I believe in the in the Lord, Trinity, Gospel, God, etc. for many reasons. First of which, did I really come from a single cell organism, which developed from a big bang of gases in the middle of a vacuum? No. Doesn’t make sense, my engineering mind has evaluated it from every angle. The world is too perfect and ordered in my opinion and the design of the world points to a designer. Just like the curves and engineering in a 500 HP corvette. It is sexy as hell, and it has a designer, so why not the universe? It is a seamless machine as well, is it not? It is only broken by humanity. As a humanly example lets consider birth, since that is the topic of this blog. It is amazing. How about the fact that engraved in the baby’s mind is the instinct to crawl up the mother’s belly immediately after birth to feed? It is just flat out amazing to watch it on video when the mother and baby haven’t been pumped full of drugs. Somebody had to have programmed that, because it didn’t “evolve”. The same way somebody programmed the Roomba to vacuum your room.
Now, back to the moral law argument. You have, engraved inside of your mind, a sense of morality, as do I. I also feel unfilled here on earth with the thought that there has to be something more because I don’t know the purpose of life here on earth, so maybe I don’t belong here on earth, but somewhere else, meaning I was designed for somewhere else (C.S. Lewis). This longing for immortality points toward a greater divine creator, which I do not live up to, and I know of nobody on the earth who can, even when they have found their inner peace and a fake meaning for their life. Anybody who says that they can take life on head on, on their own, is full of it. You have problems and you have areas of your life you are not happy with. I however, know I have problems, I know I am broken, and I know I can’t do it without Him. Yes, that makes me weak and nothing but a speck of dust in the universe, but because of Him, I have the opportunity to be more than that. Thank God. I am taking that opportunity and betting my life on Him, because I have considered all of the other options and all of the other bets, and none of the rest of them even come close.
So I’ll ask you, what are you betting your life on? Sounds like you don’t have one. And whatever it is, are you willing to go 6 feet under on that little wager?
And Diana, chill out, it’s the internet. It happens.
Andy i hate you!! lol just kidding i know but i get annoyed easily and u know how i am its not my fav subject and i always go on here and check out how my sis is doing not about you guy's religious beliefs.. but im over it... hey do u guys have any extra furniture or home decor u guys dont need my new apartment is still pretty bare.....
My bad, I came of pretty pissed off in my last post, I didn't mean too. It was going to be a long day, and I'm still at work now, the next day, at 11PM. So, my bad.
Truth, if you still lingering around, you said this in a previous post that I re-read:
"There are real forms of spirituality that are free from the man-made dogma of Christianity that are meaningless."
Care to expand?
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