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Alright, then. Will anyone else back me in a war to free the IGU?
Do they require assistance in securing their rule?
Speak for yourself. Our faith survives on loving the weak and the strong, bringing everyone together in His name. Your religion, meanwhile, is an evil deception of Satan. If we weren't a more peaceful people, perhaps we'd consider a crusade. But alas, those are for a more primitive folk than we.
*Cracks open the new testament*
"34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
Gospel of Matthew 10:34 - 39
By all means please explain, I enjoy the topic of religion a great deal but from the outside perspective from which I view it it looks pretty violent...
Post self-deleted by Candro.
Which is a very understandable point of view. But Jesus is well-known for telling parables and using certain words to represent different messages. I believe that Jesus used these things in the verses to represent a different and nonviolent message.
In case you weren't aware, Jesus was a very controversial figure when he began his ministry, especially with the Pharisees, the religious leaders at the time, who opposed Jesus and tried to trip Him up and make him look weak because He spoke against them. Jesus divided the people as well. He had many followers, but also many skeptics who stood with the Pharisees. That is what Jesus primarily referred to in this passage.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."
This is worded strangely, but Jesus simply meant here that His coming was going to bring conflict to the world as a result of all of the different beliefs about Him (we can obviously see this throughout history with the Crusades and general religious division). He meant that He was going to be, and already was, a figure of controversy.
"For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household."
And Jesus shows how He was a figure of controversy here. He's saying that family members will be divided. One side of the family will follow and listen to Him, and the other will continue to doubt Him and stand by the Pharisees.
"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."
This is Him basically reiterating the first commandment, "Put no other gods above me." This really just means that you can love your family, but not more than Him, which makes sense, considering He is an Almighty and loving God.
"And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
I actually really like these next verses. Jesus was very clear in the Bible that being a Christian is not something to take lightly or to waver on. He wanted complete commitment (Revelation 3:16 says, "So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth," when talking about those who wavered or were indecisive in their faith). Back in those days, criminals would carry their own cross that they would be crucified on to the hill where they'd be set up (something Jesus would actually end up doing Himself). It was quite common for people to watch crucifixions. When the people saw a criminal carrying the cross, it signified one thing: death. Jesus saw the ultimate commitment to Him would be that you are willing to die for Him. So he used "take up your cross" as a way to represent that. This just means that you have to be willing to die for Him.
(A more common but less accurate interpretation of this verse is that a cross represents the burden we carry when we commit to Him. See, Jesus made it very clear that being a Christian wouldn't make life easier, but it would actually make life harder. So the cross could be representative of the burden we take on when we follow Jesus. This is where the common Christian saying "This is my cross to bear" when discussing a hardship that one is going through comes from.)
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
One of the biggest things that Jesus stressed in His ministry was making the weak strong, and making the strong weak. (Matthew 20:16 says, "So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.") This doesn't mean that the only way to love Jesus is to live a poor life, but it does mean that those who are famous and popular in the world MAY (key word: may, not will) not be so lucky when they meet their eternal fate, while those that are hated and unpopular MAY (key word again: may, not will) might be treated better when they meet their eternal fate (This is all dependent on the people in question's relationship with Jesus). This is pretty much just another way of saying that. Whoever denies Him and finds material possessions more important may "find their life" and be well on Earth, but in heaven, they will meet a worse fate. Whereas, those who give up anything and everything for Him will be rewarded plentifully in heaven.
Sorry for such a long post! The Bible is full of verses like these that sound bad, but most likely aren't. But I actually think that it's for the best. I think that you can signify your faith in Him by trusting that these violent sounding passages are simply just Jesus using examples to preach a message instead.
True, but I choose to not question God. (Isaiah 55:8 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.)
You can very validly question His reasoning, but as a believer in a religion where faith is stressed heavily, I choose that road instead.
Oops.
I don't have any doubt in my choices and beliefs. I can understand why you would, but I simply don't.
I also don't lose the ability to ask questions. It's not like anyone can completely 100% understand such a complex and important series of texts. But I can use faith to find a meaning to all of my questions.
If my life is ignorance, I wouldn't want it any other way. But I am strong in my belief that it isn't.
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