Was this directed at me?

I went to 14 years of Catholic School. I believe that I can therefore make my own decisions about Christianity and especially the Catholic Church. If I sat here and pushed my atheist/agnostic/Buddhist beliefs on anyone or posted poems about it, I believe that a lot of people would feel offended; this is not a religious forum as Admin stated earlier. No, I'm not going to burn in hell or go to heaven, because they don't exist, so don't threaten me. No one judges me but me. Thanks.

Unfortunately I think you hit the nail right on the head. Many people are turned off by so-called Christians and also turned-off by their contradictory behavior.

Good heavens, NO! Never, ever would I make a personal assumption! For many years I was one of those people who wouldn't accept my Lord because of really bad experiences with religion in general. I finally decided that my Lord was not a 'religion' but a way of life! I am so very sorry if you thought I was talking about you, I didn't even put the two together to be honest. I am very active in my church and work a lot with young people who have been turned off by religion and I have heard some really heartbreaking stories from them, I have found that I have to keep my mind as well as my heart open wide when dealing with them. I apologize deeply and sincerely.

I agree totally stewiesMom - I have been judged by so called christians when they reckon that it is their god that does the judging :confused:

btw I am living in sin - until we get married next year :rofl28ib: Bob had to get divorced from his CHRISTIAN wife who left him before we could plan our wedding :rolleyes: His christian wife that emptied the bank accounts and nicked off with the furniture while he was at work and she can still be seen selling the war cry on a friday morning at our local shops - religion eh? :mad:

it is not so surprising that we that have been on the receiving end of such behaviour take a very dim view of crazy christians and I don't suppose all christians are crazy but I can only assume by the ones I've met that it could be so :D

Junebug: Great question and yes, I would probably think that was just as strange.

People who have known me for years have told me that that they only found out last year that I was Catholic because we enrolled our son in a Catholic school for Kindergarden. They never knew that the reason we will leave a party early on a Saturday night is that we have to go to mass the next morning. Why did they never know???? Because I rarely talk about my religion. if someone is curious I'll talk to them about it. Other than that, it's no ones business. I just think unsolicited religious rants are kind of strange, JMO.

I do not go to church every Sunday, but I should. I am a better person when I go, it helps me to think before I react, to think before I talk, to think before I condemn, to think before I judge, and to forgive so that I might be forgiven. This is what it does for me.

Faith is in your heart, your soul, the very core of you. Faith cannot be forced, it can only be accepted.

hockeymom - the forgive bit gets me - do christians think they can do bad things because they are forgiven anyway? :confused:

I never said anything about christians. You could have any faith or no faith.
I believe I said "I" ( in regard to me, myself,) in my post. I did not say we, us, them, christians, or non christians. I did not ask anyone to believe or have faith, I simply stated "MINE", just like everyone else.

I was not aware that forgiving someone was wrong. If I do something wrong (lie, cheat, be mean to someone, cossip about someone) and I am sorry, or realized I was wrong, then yes, I would hope that they could forgive me.

I did not realize that accepting people for who they are and what faith they have is wrong.

sorry hockeymom - a misunderstanding. I thought christian people worship god on sundays in church and when you said about going to church on sundays I thought you meant as a christian worshipping and being forgiven by God.

I meant in my post about christian people doing bad things and wondering if they think it is okay to do bad things because they are forgiven by God anyway. sorry :)

I still wonder though :rolleyes:

If I sounded harsh, I am sorry too. I wonder about all kinds of things, that's what gets me into trouble sometimes. My mouth speaks before my heart has time to tell me to be quiet.

this is by no means a slap in teh face to anyone that is christians, this is just a funny story that didnt seem funny at the time:

During my childhood we lived in this house. It had 4 bedrooms and a large backyard. My parents decided to rent the house because we needed the room, they had one girl(me) , two boys (one of them going into his teens soon) . The house was a mess when we moved in, my parents did A LOT of work on the place while the landlords paid for nothing, if we wnated it fixed we had to fix it ourselves. We lived there for 10 years. During those 10 years the landlords raised the rent every year..... except for the last year. the last year they raised the rent every other month!!!!!! :eek:
(remember this in no way is a slap to christians....... although i think those of you that are christian will want their address so you can go get em....lol)
needless to say the rent was outrageous, my father was teh only person that had a job, my mother was a stay at home mom.... and all this time they were raising the rent they said that they "are good christian people" *so god told them to raise the rent??? :confused: ......lol..... all the work that we had done on the house (which was extensive) was not reimbursed at all, we were given a very short time in which we were to get out when they finally told us that they wanted to move into their home (that is now liveable because all the work we did) and all the time they were telling us they were "good christian people"........... if anyone heres this phrase from their landlord run the other direction........

wow! this is becoming a very interesting post. ;) i believe in the right to choose your own religion. i also believe in the right to not choose one at all. i think either way you have to respect people. it doesn't matter what religion or color they are. its how they are on the inside. i'm not saying you have to be best friends with every nice person you meet on the street, i'm just saying that they deserve respect no matter who they are. i,personally,belong to a religion that has a lot of rules. some of my friends think i'm crazy to ever want to go to church every sunday or listen to all the rules. well, thats how they think, i think differently. my post isn't directed at anyone just thought i could put in my 2 cents. :)
personally, i love just about everyone on this forum. and knowing what religion they are or aren't wouldn't change my idea of them at all. :) but i must a gree with lily's mom-i liked this poem too.

orinskye - as far as that being "a funny story that didn't seem funny at the time" - I still don't think it's funny at all, and it is those kinds of things that turn people off from "religion". In fact I think what they did is a form of religious abuse, and on behalf of Christians, I want to apologize to you for that happening to your family in the name of "christianity". That may sound silly to apologize, but those kind of stories anger me, and I think an apology is owed to you & your family. I grew up in a very strict (rules)/"christian" family, & my father was a preacher. However, he abused me, and I also witnessed abuse to my sisters. If my husband were to ever do that to one of my daughters, I would have him prosecuted. It took me many years to separate "religion" & rules with the TRUE Christ. My father passed away when I was fourteen & I didn't really even begin to see the anger I had towards God & the church until I was well into my thirties. Anyway, not trying to give my life history, but I just get angry when I hear of stories such as yours. And by no means do Christians have a license to sin just because they know they are forgiven!!! P.S. I do wish I could have their address ;) !

When I first saw the poem posted on this forum I admit I was a little put off. It just didn't seem like the place to post something like that. I purposely ignored the thread to see if it would die a natural death. Whichever side any of you fall on you have to admit that discussions about religion usually draw many many different opinions. I'm so glad to see that this has not become heated and no one has intentionally tried to hurt others or malign their beliefs. That is what makes this forum so great. We've come to know and respect each other. We feel that the relationships that we have built here are worth working on and cherishing. And we may never meet each other face to face. I am a Christian, a very devoted follower of Christ. I'm not ashamed to discuss my beliefs with anyone and will do my best to be a worthy representative of my faith. But if I fail to show respect and love for others, even those I may never meet, then I need to examine my beliefs and my motives. I'm the only one I can answer for. Everyone makes their own decision about who to follow, what moral compass they choose, beliefs about life after death, etc. Being a Christian will never make me perfect. I can only hope that it makes me show a little more love and respect to others. In my daily life my faith gives me comfort when I'm hurting and hope when I can't see my way through. Most of all it gives me peace. In good times and bad. When I've messed up or when someone has hurt me. Christianity isn't just church on Sunday (my church also has services on Sat. night for those who work on Sunday). Christianity is 24/7. Having said all that, I also want you to know that I have no less respect for those of you who don't beleive as I do. That has nothing to do with me. Take me as I am and I'll do the same for you. Sorry to be so preachy. I'll try not to do it again. Every day when I log onto this forum I am more and more amazed that we all get along as well as we do. Sure there are little skirmishes along the way. But there are a lot of apologies too. It's a wonderful place for me to spend my time!

Wow Cynthia, that was a very nice post. Brought a smile to my face. Thanks for that :)

Great post Cynthia. Thanks for reminding me again today why you're one of my favorite members here :)

the only reason i say it was funny, is because they use that phrase as a shield...... in honesty, no it wasnt funny, but if i let things such as this devastate me and if i think about them too much i get angry, and i am really not angry with those people........ im more dissapointed
There is no reason that anyone should have to apologize except them, i apologize to the people that are christian for having people like that as part of their religous group (sort of gives a "bad name")
the reason i say i am not angry is because i think my family turned out better for it, we moved into one house and then into our own home, they in effect prompted the purchase of our own home (if given the choice my parents probably would have stayed renting for a very long time and we wouldnt ahve bought the house we have now (at the bottom of the market i might add)...... i am dissapointed that anyone would "hide behind their religion" to justify their actions (which were wrong........ hmmmmmm........ maybe she was reeincarnated hitler)...... anyways, this was the thing that was THE MOST WRONG about the whole thing

I got a few very nice Pm's, & that was the first i knew that there was confrontation over the Jesus poem that i posted :confused:

I often get positive thoughts in my e-mails,& this was one of them that i wanted to share with all my Yorkie friends

Dont take things so seriously :eek: ___we only live once______enjoy :yeahthat:

I_Luv_My_Yorkie, good thread, very thought-provoking. I'm glad Admin gave us this off topic forum. It helps us get to know each other better. There are so many awesome people here from so many different backgrounds. I have learned so much! Even learned a little about Yorkies along the way, lol!
Dawn, thanks for the sweet reply.
And Kristy...ditto!!! :wink:

Last Note: I didn't mean to offend anyone, it was a poem I really liked and wanted to share with you all. I know that religion is a very personal thing but I think its good to be open minded about all religions and people, If someone posted something about another faith I would be interested in reading it. :)

My relationship with Jesuis is very important to me and I want to share what I have with others but it is something you have to come to know for yourself. It wasn't my intention to "force" it upon anyone with this poem.

It is an "off Topic" thread so its up to you to reply or not. Well, can we move on now? I'll think about what I am putting up from now on. :)

I can add that I've known Rose for a few years now....and she is a very sweet person - She does post occasionally like this and she likes to share them in only the best way...I've read some truly touching posts by her.

I apprecated the poem... :rose:

Thankyou...

Thank you for your sweet and thoughtful post. I was raised catholic and although i dont always attend church i do follow my faiths beliefs. My faith has gotten me thru many tough times in my life including being molested as young girl by someone close to our family. I dont push my religon on anyone but do not hide what my faith is to me and my family. I do say to many of you that i wil keep you in my prayers, but i do so because prayer is something very special to me and I dont mean it to offend anyone. Its my way of letting you all know how special you are to me.

I personally LOVE the poem. I guess that is because I am a Catholic girl who goes to church every Sunday, but that isn't the point. I know this thread has caused a little controversy about posting religious things, but I think that anyone who wants to post something religious shouldn't be criticized for doing so. Do not take this the wrong way (I don't want to start a big argument or anything) but if you do not want something religious pushed on you (it wasn't meant to be pushed on you anyways :) ), than you shouldn't go to a thread that is titled "What Will you do! (JESUS Poem)" JMHO

I hope I didn't offend anyone, because that is NOT what I was trying to do. :D

I agree with your post. I also do not try to push my Catholic faith and religion on anyone else, but I do not hide it and I am not afraid to exress my faith. I also tell many people that they are in my prayers. I am sorry if I ever offended anyone for saying that, but as ssguzzy said, prayer is important to me and I believe that prayers can solve any problem. :D

JMHO

How sad that a post about Jesus makes others angry and defensive! I've read other posts on YT that mention other religions, and not one person posted that they were offended. Did I read correctly that someone would be offended if they were being prayed for? I can't imagine that! I would gladly be prayed for by a member of another religion!

As for the hypocritical actions of some Christians, please don't judge an entire group of Christians by the ones who stand out negatively. That is the same as judging all Muslims by the 19 fanatics who murdered so many on 9/11. There are good people in all religions, and no doubt good people who have no religion. The world is eager to point out the bad actions of some Christians as a way to legitimize the moral decay of so many. You don't often hear about the thousands of Christians who daily strive to help others and ease suffering around the world.

I do agree that YT is not the place for religious threads, but I had to chime in here since it was being discussed.

Jesus told us that we would be persecuted in His name, and I believe that is what is happening in society today, and what has always happened since Christianity has existed. I hope those of you who are so vehemently anti-Christian will at least stop and think of the wonderful message of love and forgiveness that Jesus taught.

I'm amazed at the way the love for our little Yorkies can bring us together when we all come from different creeds! I hope this post will be read in spirit of tolerance and love as it was intended to be. Elizabeth

i loved the poem too stephanie. i'm mormon, but have no problem accepting people of another faith. she didn't mean for it to be offensive, its not like she was attacking any one. if you don't believe in the christain faith, you don't have to read it.

It didn't say (Jesus Poem) until Admin edited it. Also, those who pay attention to the threads started by this person knows that many of them are similar --

you know, like there's an agenda.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's more than what meets the eye.

I completely agree with your post. I was absolutely shocked when someone said that being prayed for by someone here would offend them. I also do not think that YorkieTalk is the best place to post religious things because so many of us are different religions, but if someone does post it and someone else thinks they are pushing religious things, etc. they shouldn't read it.

I also agree with you when you said that you cannot judge an entire religious group on one or several people. Not everyone is the same. I am Catholic, but I don't shove my faith in others faces. I am not ashamed to express my faith, but I have no intentions of pushing my religion on others.

Elizabeth, I LOVE what you said at the end of your post. I also find it AMAZING that our Yorkies and the love of them that we all share can bring so many different people together. We are all different nationalities and races, and we all belong to different religions, but somehow, we all get along great. We never have any fights about races, religions, etc. I just love being apart of such a loving, welcoming, and understanding community.

I also agree with you, Megan. Like you, I accept people of other faiths. I enjoyed the poem, and as Megan said, if you do not want to hear about Jesus or something in the Christian faith, you don't have to read it. No one is forcing you to look at a thread with the words Jesus Poem in its title.

JMHO I hope I did not offend anyone because that was not my intention.