Really? There's a whole website where people can make fun of this guy? What's the URL?
Why Young Christians are Leaving the Church
Posts
Total:
563
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@Polytheist-Witch
@ludofl3x
It is no strange thing that someone standing up for Truth is mocked by those who prefer evil.
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@Mopac
Pride of self quite naturally brings forth the fruit of arbitrariness.
Keep teaching people to be weak so you can feel strong.
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@Outplayz
“Those of whom I speak and whom I call heretics are those who say that there is no one in our times and in our midst who is able to keep the Gospel commandments and become like the holy Fathers…Now those who say that this is impossible have not fallen into one particular heresy, but rather into all of them, if I may say so, since this one surpasses and covers them all in impiety and abundance of blasphemy. One who makes this claim subverts all the divine Scriptures. I think (that by making this claim) such a person states that the Holy Gospel is now recited in vain, that the writings of Basil the Great and of our other priests and holy Fathers are irrelevant or have even been frivolously written. If, then, it is impossible for us to carry out in action and observe without fail all the things that God says, and all that the saints, after first practicing them have left in writing for our instruction, why did they at that time trouble to write them down and why do we read them in Church? Those who make these claims shut up the heaven that Christ opened for us, and cut off the way to it that he inaugurated for us. God who is above all, stands, as it were, at the gate of heaven and peers out of it so that the faithful see him, and through his Holy Gospel cries out and says, ‘Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest’ (Mt. 11:28). But these opponents of God or, rather, antichrists say, ‘It is impossible, impossible.’”
–St. Symeon the New Theologian
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@Mopac
"The real joke is your stubborn, bone deep conviction that somehow, somewhere, all of this makes sense! That’s what cracks me up each time!"
The Joker.
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@Outplayz
"...with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
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@Mopac
“The most dangerous of all enthroned lies is the holy, the sanctified, the privileged lie- the lie everyone believes to be a model truth. It is the fruitful mother of all other popular errors and delusions. It is a hydra-headed tree of unreason with a thousand roots. it is a social cancer!”
Theism... run for your atheist lives!@@@@
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@Outplayz
Said the man who worshipped himsellf as god and encouraged others to so the same.
Truly that is "the lie everyone believes to be a model truth" in this perverse, wicked, and prideful generation!
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@Mopac
Said the man who worshipped himsellf as god and encouraged others to so the same.
Straw man... i encourage people to accept themselves as who they are and that it's okay that others are different. So, gtfo of here... you have nothing but blind faith telling people to bow to your words so you can feel bigger.
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@Outplayz
Satanism most certainly is the worship of oneself as god. That is where pride naturally goes.
Greater a feat it is to raise the dead than to truly know thyself!
I am not important, outplayz. I am not trying to make myself something. You on the other hand make yourself out to be god. Who is really trying to make themselves feel bigger?
We don't hold the same values. It would be a mistake for you to project your values on to me.
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@Mopac
You still don't get it. It's your belief, it's your heaven, everything you have defined in your head and read on paper that you hold true... is yours. Not mine. I do not share in your belief and i have been defining and telling you why... i don't even care if you don't have an answer for my contentions... i just let them be known. I accept you have found your heaven... your belief. You don't accept mine and want me to change. Why? And for the hundredth time... which shows how little you know and continue to dismiss.... the last thing i would want to be is god. Especially as defined by your faith. I just want to continue being myself bc i accept who i am. Period. It's really simple.I am not important, outplayz. I am not trying to make myself something. You on the other hand make yourself out to be god. Who is really trying to make themselves feel bigger?
We don't hold the same values. It would be a mistake for you to project your values on to me.
I know full well what projection is and when i do it... i am not projecting anything onto you. I accept your values. Period. You don't accept mine. Why?
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@Outplayz
I am not trying to make you do anything, outplayz.
However, I would be doing you a disservice if I lied to you and simply told you what you want to hear.
You make this into an arbitrary thing, simply a matter of personal discretion. In a sense, yes, we have to make our choice... but at the same time, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
I want you too find the right way, and that is nothing I will profit from. You would be in err to ascribe impure motives to my actions.
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@Mopac
I want you too find the right way, and that is nothing I will profit from. You would be in err to ascribe impure motives to my actions.
I think i already told you somewhere in this thread that i do not think you are doing this with any nefarious reasons. I truly think you are doing this out of a place of kindness, and maybe even love in some form... you are trying to be what you preach. That is why i respect you. However, i am telling you i have found my way... that i've spent years finding what that peace is. It all comes down to accepting yourself... but, when i say that, it's actually really deep. Bc i do think "yourself" is infinite. So i find it's very important to define what that means. That is why i always ask you to define 'heaven' ... not many people think like me but a lot of people talk about an eternal heaven. I've defined what that means, i'm just curious if others have too... i've found many haven't.
The first part of our conversation was constructive... the part about corrupt humans. We may not fully agree, but i think you understand what i meant. But this part we haven't gone far on, defining heaven/hell... and that's okay. I was just wondering how much you've thought of it. If not much, then whatever... i'm cool with that. But stop presupposing i don't know what i'm talking about. These two issue are king to me; that i have my expertise on this subject on. All of the scripture you throw at me and anything else doesn't matter... bc mostly i agree too btw. It's my understand of who i am to eternity that matters to me the most. On top of that, who i trust help me find that meaning is very important and has put me down a path of human sociology and psychology. Your faith does to a level, but not all the way. You should know that too bc you should know your faith isn't too specific on defining heaven... which is cool. But that issue matters "a lot" to me. It's just who i am. I can't deny that i have this ability (or blessing) to understand these implications. In understanding them too... i have never been closer to "god" than anytime before. I'm sure that might sound familiar to you, we just do it differently. We have different expertise. I just wish people can accept those differences bc that is where the beauty is.
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@Outplayz
Heaven is Jesus Christ.
An Orthodox understanding of Jesus Christ is essential to getting my answer.
So who do you say Jesus Chriist is?
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@Outplayz
It might save you two a lot of back and forth if you refer to the following webpage, which is the Orthodox Church's own explanation of their view of heaven and hell.
In a nutshell, the presence of the returned Jesus is both heaven and hell--heaven for those who love Him and hell for those who hate Him.
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@Mopac
Idk, what do you say?So who do you say Jesus Chriist is?
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@Stronn
For those who love the Lord, His Presence will be infinite joy, paradise and eternal life.
This is a common one i get. Some people define paradise different. No one (from abrahamic faiths) really thinks of the implications of being infinite tho. I wouldn't put "joy" and "infinite" together without "finite" being a part of the deal. But that's just me. Who knows what others would enjoy.
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@Outplayz
Eternal life is free from the delusions and conflict of your fleshly self. You say we don't think of the implications of "infinite", but that in itself is not a word we use.
Eternity the way we understand it is timeless.
Who is Jesus Christ?
The very Word of God incarnate, conquering death by death and His resurrection, bringing into himself all things and reconciling all to God.
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@Mopac
Timeless would be frightening. The implications of timeless would mean you'd know everything simultaneously. I don't think that would be a good state to be in... even if it's possible for consciousness to be timeless. I think since we have tasted the state of being finite and bound within some form of time... it would be tortures to go back to any state of timelessness. Then, there is the paradox of how can you be timeless and still think... not possible bc knowing, imagining, being, are all temporal process that require some form of time. The best would be if everything happens and is known simultaneously... a state hard to imagine but conceivable. However, it's also sorta easy to imagine being timeless is no fun if it means you are everything in the moment. You can look at it as being in a state that is the ultimate spoiler. Can some handle this state... maybe, but i know i can't. That would be classified under one of my hell scenarios in regards to being timeless. Being timeless and eternal would classify as a worse hell imho. That's what i have to say about timelessness at least from my perspective.Eternity the way we understand it is timeless.
Thanks for the definition. I don't believe it happened, but it is a hopeful and powerful story... making it timeless. If it did happen i'd shake such a person's hand for such bravery. I actually quite like Jesus' story... i just don't think it actually happened in this reality. At least the resurrection part. I don't think anyone has come back after complete death. We don't have to get into this bc we already have... my logic is the same as what we started with... people lie and are greedy for power.The very Word of God incarnate, conquering death by death and His resurrection, bringing into himself all things and reconciling all to God.
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@Outplayz
For you, it would be hell because you are attached to death.
You don't really know Jesus. That is why I asked you, "who do you say he is?"
Lies, greed, and power have nothing to do with it.
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@Stronn
"What, then, is the real reason young Christians (and other religious believers) leave the faith? The answer lies in a prior, 2016 Pew Research Center survey which allowed respondents to answer in their own words. In this study, most “nones” said they no longer identified with a religious group because they no longer believed it was true. When asked why they didn’t believe, many said their views about God had “evolved” and some reported having a “crisis of faith.” Their specific explanations included the following statements:"
“Learning about evolution when I went away to college”
“Religion is the opiate of the people”
“Rational thought makes religion go out the window”
“Lack of any sort of scientific or specific evidence of a creator”
“I just realized somewhere along the line that I didn’t really believe it”
“I’m doing a lot more learning, studying and kind of making decisions myself rather than listening to someone else.”
The mention of learning evolution should be the glaring factor. A child is taught a process of his environment which is different from the one he learns in church. Not to mention, he's exposed to the ideology of evolution far more than he is to his own religion. It's not a difference in "rational thought;" it's a difference in marketing and exposure. And given the resources of the state when juxtaposed with the resources of a single church, the state can sponsor any ideology with efficacy. It's like comparing NIKE to Sketchers.
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@Mopac
You don't really know Jesus.
Why do you get to define how i know Jesus? Plus, when you asked me to define... i gave you one definition i hold of him "love." I also think he was a person that stood in the face of the greedy and powerful. I also think he is a story of selflessness. And other things. I've read his story.
it would be hell because you are attached to death.
Quite the contrary... i understand without death there is no fear. One can even say without death it's bliss. But i also think without death there is no new experience and/or "truly" experiencing an experience. Death is the most brilliant creation an eternal entity discovered to experience what it knows... and also explore who he/she is. Being eternal (no more death) is just as frightening as being afraid to die for the finite imho. Yin and Yang. They work beautifully together.
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@Outplayz
You love the creature more than the creator. I stand by my assessment.
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@Mopac
You love the creature more than the creator. I stand by my assessment.
I don't believe there is "a creator." So your assessment isn't off, it's just not nuanced.
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@Outplayz
Given my assessment, I am not surprised at your declaration.
I stand by my assessment.
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@Athias
I see no evidence of a state-sponsored anti-religious marketing campaign in the U.S. Quite the opposite. Religious organizations receive huge government subsidies, not the least of which is tax exemption. And the fact that 75% of people in the U.S. are Christian refutes your contention that young people are exposed more to anti-religious ideologies than religious ones. Most of those young people grew up in a religious home, after all.The mention of learning evolution should be the glaring factor. A child is taught a process of his environment which is different from the one he learns in church. Not to mention, he's exposed to the ideology of evolution far more than he is to his own religion. It's not a difference in "rational thought;" it's a difference in marketing and exposure. And given the resources of the state when juxtaposed with the resources of a single church, the state can sponsor any ideology with efficacy. It's like comparing NIKE to Sketchers.
Also, evolution is not an ideology any more than atomic theory is an ideology. There is nothing about evolution that inherently precludes religion.
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@Stronn
Considering Christian discipline has a great deal to do with Thanksgiving, self denial, the subduing of the passions, and abstination from idolatry, it seems rather bizarre to me that you would be unawares that the good old USA's culture is literally the polar opposite of this.
US culture is overtly satanic, nominal Christians aside. Pride, self indulgence, embracing of the passions, and the normalization of idolatry.
The USA is thoroughly pagan in every regard.
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@Mopac
I stand by my assessment.
This is why i agree with the OP and why he's right. "Assessment" ... you have to end with that? A simple you disagree would get a lot more respect from people. Instead you end it with the most judge-y word you could use. Okay great master... i accept your 'assessment' ... smh.
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@Outplayz
Jesus loves you.