but when I actually started looking at the Bible I decided I just couldn't associate myself with a religion based on that book.

--on the contrary, I know the bible can be taken in the wrong way if you chose, but reading it honestly might paint a different picture for you.

For instance, in the New Testament we are told not to fight against tyrants:

Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

--God has put us where we are for reasons. In the case of masters and slaves what God is saying is that whatever your roll is, you should pursue it with all your heart.

Ephesians 6
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.


And that wives should unquestioningly submit to their husbands in all affairs:

--It also says that husbands should love their wives. That is naturally how a husband/wife would best get a long. I've experienced this; women need to be loved and to know they are loved. Men who are called by God to do something need to have patient wives who will not attempt to stop them.

Ephesians 5
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the churchâ?? 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[c] 32This is a profound mysteryâ??but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.


And of course, Jesus also believed in the eternal damnation of hell. I can't fathom why any person who believes in love and forgiveness would support a "justice" system in which one is tortured infinitely for a finite number of evil deeds, with no chance of forgiveness ever. Bertrand Russell said it best in his speech Why I Am Not A Christian:

--Romans
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualitiesâ??his eternal power and divine natureâ??have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

The key is that last line. We who never accept God; who consistently say no when God knocks in our hearts, are without excuse. God has called every person here in some way; perhaps God has led you to a forum where his truth is being discussed, perhaps it's the missionairies that came last week. What I'm saying is that God, who has written himself into our hearts, is continually trying to call us, and the only way we could not hear Him is if we continually choose not to listen; the alterantive to God is essentailly what we know as "bad", therefore when we are doing good we are following God, but the bad thigns we do lead us down a path further and further away from God, so that when we die, God is no longer anywhere to be found.

--If you ask me, the Tao Te Ching makes a lot more sense.[/QUOTE]

I've noticed such a trend in eastern philosophy and religion. I believe this is because the western world itself has been crumbling morally; we realise this and blame the "belief system" that is most popular, but in actuallity I think it's a cultural flaw.
Pyramidsonmars Reviewed by Pyramidsonmars on . My mom is trying to convert me to Christianity! She came over last night, and we dicussed what it meant to be a Christian, and how she thought I was wrong for denying Christianity. I told her that I would gladly join the flock if she, or anyone else could convince me it was the right thing to do. I'm fairly open minded, and Christianity along with a number of other spiritual schools of thought have been on my mind for ages. I have several Bibles, along with many other books on other types of spiritual beliefs. Kabbala, paganism, Rating: 5