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billbright
Experienced Member
Picture of billbright
Posted
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91831930

Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.
 
Posts: 3006 | Registered: Tue 13 March 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
all4truth


"a seeker of the TRUTH always!"
Posted Hide Post
Blessings BillBright,

Hopefully you are not surprised by the numbers and percentages. I have known this for quite sometime. I think the numbers (%) of those who are wishy washy about God are higher than the polls indicate.

LJ

quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.
 
Posts: 902 | Registered: Sun 30 December 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Whirled_Peas
Member
Posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Blessings BillBright,

Hopefully you are not surprised by the numbers and percentages. I have known this for quite sometime. I think the numbers (%) of those who are wishy washy about God are higher than the polls indicate.

LJ

quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.


I find it to be "wishy-washy" only for those whose religions state clearly that it's "my way or the highway", to coin the phrase. For example, if someone's religion says clearly that no other faith is valid, and all other roads lead to condemnation, then that person must fully believe that, or that person is not being faithful.

However, part of my belief structure is firmly rooted in the fact that all paths are valid, and all paths have different lessons to be learned that our souls need, and it's all part of the bigger picture. I would actually be violating my own faith if I told you that your religion is not a path to God. I believe that we each find our paths based on what we're supposed to accomplish and learn within this lifetime. It's all part of a greater web that we all weave.

I have extremely firm beliefs about right and wrong, good and bad, compassion and evil, and the nature of God and the soul. But to be dogmatic about specific paths of the soul to God? That goes against what I believe. And yes, that even includes the path of the atheist.
 
Posts: 824 | Registered: Mon 07 April 2008Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
all4truth


"a seeker of the TRUTH always!"
Posted Hide Post
Blessings Michelle,

quote:
Originally posted by Whirled_Peas:
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Hopefully you are not surprised by the numbers and percentages. I have known this for quite sometime. I think the numbers (%) of those who are wishy washy about God are higher than the polls indicate.

LJ

quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.


I find it to be "wishy-washy" only for those whose religions state clearly that it's "my way or the highway", to coin the phrase.

For example, if someone's religion says clearly that no other faith is valid, and all other roads lead to condemnation, then that person must fully believe that, or that person is not being faithful.This is what I was referring to because the poll seemed to be heavily slanted towards Christianity. Which must follow something like this. You statement is a little in error based on your choice of words. Yahshua taught about the path to His Father. So if you desire to get to the Father of Yahshua, there is no other path, if you are a Christian. The whole thing about condemnation assume you know what His Father's decision will be regarding your choice of how to get to Him.

Now if your belief says that you are getting to somewhere else, other than the Father of Yahshua, you should hold to that belief in order to not be wishy washy, IMHO.


FTR, I have very clear beliefs and understandings to me. They are mine and I do not try to force them onto anybody. Believe what you will, but stay TRUE to your beliefs what ever they are.

However for a Christian, there can only be one correct path because you must follow the teachings of Jesus to be TRULY a follower of His teachings. If someone believes differently then they should explain their stance as it is incomprehensible to me to be someone's follower in any other way.

LJ
 
Posts: 902 | Registered: Sun 30 December 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Fightdirector
Member
Picture of Fightdirector
Posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
However for a Christian, there can only be one correct path...
LJ
As Shakespeare might have said, "Ah, there's the rub."

As a follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospels, I consider myself a Christian and I believe that I am "on the correct path". However, there are those, as we all know, who will say I am not "on the correct path" because I do not follow the teachings of Saul of Tarsus/Paul or who will say I am not "on the correct path" because I do not follow the teachings of Pope Benedict or who will say I am not "on the correct path" because I do not follow the teachings of Doctor of Child Development James Dobson or who will say I am not "on the correct path" because I do not attend weekly religious services at a church of their specific variant/denomination of Christianity (Roman Catholic, Southern Baptist, American Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, FILL IN THE BLANK...).

I personally am not concerned that one person goes to a Methodist church while another goes to a Congregationist Church while another person sleeps in on Sunday morning and attends no church services at all.

So I guess that means I am one of those "wishy-washy" Americans Wink
 
Posts: 1159 | Registered: Thu 20 December 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Whirled_Peas
Member
Posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Blessings Michelle,

quote:
Originally posted by Whirled_Peas:
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Hopefully you are not surprised by the numbers and percentages. I have known this for quite sometime. I think the numbers (%) of those who are wishy washy about God are higher than the polls indicate.

LJ

quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.


I find it to be "wishy-washy" only for those whose religions state clearly that it's "my way or the highway", to coin the phrase.

For example, if someone's religion says clearly that no other faith is valid, and all other roads lead to condemnation, then that person must fully believe that, or that person is not being faithful.This is what I was referring to because the poll seemed to be heavily slanted towards Christianity. Which must follow something like this. You statement is a little in error based on your choice of words. Yahshua taught about the path to His Father. So if you desire to get to the Father of Yahshua, there is no other path, if you are a Christian. The whole thing about condemnation assume you know what His Father's decision will be regarding your choice of how to get to Him.

Now if your belief says that you are getting to somewhere else, other than the Father of Yahshua, you should hold to that belief in order to not be wishy washy, IMHO.


FTR, I have very clear beliefs and understandings to me. They are mine and I do not try to force them onto anybody. Believe what you will, but stay TRUE to your beliefs what ever they are.

However for a Christian, there can only be one correct path because you must follow the teachings of Jesus to be TRULY a follower of His teachings. If someone believes differently then they should explain their stance as it is incomprehensible to me to be someone's follower in any other way.

LJ


I understand what you're saying, LJ, but it still doesn't affect my beliefs.

I firmly believe that all "Gods" as humans view them are reflections of the one, eternal, infinite "God", the very nature of the universe. I believe that all religions are interpretations of God, filtered through human cultures, with elements of BOTH relative truth and real Truth. I believe that it all comes back together, in the end.

You're right that this survey seems to be Christian-slanted, and is comparing/contrasting Christian beliefs to other Christian beliefs for the most part. For those cases, for those people who claim to adhere to Christian philosophy and doctrine, then a "middle ground" can be considered wishy-washy, and I agree with that assessment. I was merely offering my perspective as one case in which an "absolute religious truth" is honestly unnecessary.

Fair? Or am I being confusing?
 
Posts: 824 | Registered: Mon 07 April 2008Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Whirled_Peas
Member
Posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Blessings Michelle,

quote:
Originally posted by Whirled_Peas:
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Hopefully you are not surprised by the numbers and percentages. I have known this for quite sometime. I think the numbers (%) of those who are wishy washy about God are higher than the polls indicate.

LJ

quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.


I find it to be "wishy-washy" only for those whose religions state clearly that it's "my way or the highway", to coin the phrase.

For example, if someone's religion says clearly that no other faith is valid, and all other roads lead to condemnation, then that person must fully believe that, or that person is not being faithful.This is what I was referring to because the poll seemed to be heavily slanted towards Christianity. Which must follow something like this. You statement is a little in error based on your choice of words. Yahshua taught about the path to His Father. So if you desire to get to the Father of Yahshua, there is no other path, if you are a Christian. The whole thing about condemnation assume you know what His Father's decision will be regarding your choice of how to get to Him.

Now if your belief says that you are getting to somewhere else, other than the Father of Yahshua, you should hold to that belief in order to not be wishy washy, IMHO.


FTR, I have very clear beliefs and understandings to me. They are mine and I do not try to force them onto anybody. Believe what you will, but stay TRUE to your beliefs what ever they are.

However for a Christian, there can only be one correct path because you must follow the teachings of Jesus to be TRULY a follower of His teachings. If someone believes differently then they should explain their stance as it is incomprehensible to me to be someone's follower in any other way.

LJ

I understand what you're saying, LJ, but it still doesn't affect my beliefs.

I firmly believe that all "Gods" as humans view them are reflections of the one, eternal, infinite "God", the very nature of the universe. I believe that all religions are interpretations of God, filtered through human cultures, with elements of BOTH relative truth and real Truth. I believe that it all comes back together, in the end.

You're right that this survey seems to be Christian-slanted, and is comparing/contrasting Christian beliefs to other Christian beliefs for the most part. For those cases, for those people who claim to adhere to Christian philosophy and doctrine, then a "middle ground" can be considered wishy-washy, and I agree with that assessment. I was merely offering my perspective as one case in which an "absolute religious truth" is honestly unnecessary.

Fair? Or am I being confusing?
 
Posts: 824 | Registered: Mon 07 April 2008Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
all4truth


"a seeker of the TRUTH always!"
Posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Whirled_Peas:
You're right that this survey seems to be Christian-slanted, and is comparing/contrasting Christian beliefs to other Christian beliefs for the most part. For those cases, for those people who claim to adhere to Christian philosophy and doctrine, then a "middle ground" can be considered wishy-washy, and I agree with that assessment.

Fair? Very fair on this article.

Or am I being confusing? Yes on your second statement below. I changed the order of the words in your post in order to be clearer in my response. I do understand that this is your belief but the point of the article was how each person viewed their convictions for their own personal belief. Not whether one belief is more valid than another.

I was merely offering my perspective as one case in which an "absolute religious truth" is honestly unnecessary.
 
Posts: 902 | Registered: Sun 30 December 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
billbright
Experienced Member
Picture of billbright
Posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Blessings BillBright,

Hopefully you are not surprised by the numbers and percentages. I have known this for quite sometime. I think the numbers (%) of those who are wishy washy about God are higher than the polls indicate.

LJ

quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.


For once we agree.

Indeed I think that many who say they are weak on the God thing are actually in full doubt. It's just too much trouble to say it, that's all. These are the people who have better things to do than to argue with religionists. They'll bow their heads when you bow yours; they'll even mumble the Lord's prayer and sing the hymns. Why upset the tight axes when they're busy being pious. Some of them are your best politicians, teachers, editors, etc. They know on which side their bread is buttered. Amen, brother.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: billbright,
 
Posts: 3006 | Registered: Tue 13 March 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
all4truth


"a seeker of the TRUTH always!"
Posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
quote:
Originally posted by all4truth:
Blessings BillBright,

Hopefully you are not surprised by the numbers and percentages. I have known this for quite sometime. I think the numbers (%) of those who are wishy washy about God are higher than the polls indicate.

LJ

quote:
Originally posted by billbright:
Recent poll shows most Americans are pretty wishy-washy about the whole God thing.


For once we agree.

Indeed I think that many who say they are weak on the God thing are actually if full doubt. It's just too much trouble to say it, that's all. These are the people who have better things to do than to argue with religionists. They'll bow their heads when you bow yours; they'll even mumble the Lord's prayer and sing the hymns. Why upset the tight axes when they're busy being pious. Some of them are your best politicians, teachers, editors, etc. They know on which side their bread is buttered. Amen, brother.
 
Posts: 902 | Registered: Sun 30 December 2007Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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