Christianity: The Solution?

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QuesT

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Hello all,

I am aware that discussion of religion is not allowed, but after browsing through this forum I want to at least throw this message out there - not to start a public discussion but to invite people to participate in a private discussion through some other medium (email, chat, or private messaging). If the moderators do not like this, I apologize, but in the interest of this being something people might find useful, perhaps you could lock this thread but sticky it?

Jack Johnson, a well-known singer-songwriter from Hawaii, has a powerful line in his song titled 'All at Once'. He says, "Underneath it all there's this heart all alone."

Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher and well-known atheist, once said: “Nothing can penetrate the loneliness of the human heart except the highest intensity of the sort of love the religious teachers have preached.”

When we remove all of the distractions from our lives, we realize that we really do feel this loneliness, this longing, in our hearts. God fills this void in our hearts in a way that no other thing in the world can.

"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
-St. Augustine

I realize Christianity is something that you may have already thought about and perhaps dismissed. But I urge you to think about it again. There really are very good reasons for believing that God exists and Christianity is true.

I felt posting this is relevant to this forum community because Christianity has its own community in the church. Becoming a part of a church community is a great way to interact with other people. Living a Christian life leads to the formation of many lasting, fulfilling friendships; most important of all a relationship with God.

Christianity makes very bold claims. If what Christians believe is true, then Jesus is alive.

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
-Revelation 3:20

Jesus promised to answer all people who seek Him with a sincere heart.

"How to seek? Not just by arguing but by praying, not just by talking about God, as Job's three friends did and did not find him, but by talking to God, as Job did, and found him. I always tell a sceptic to pray the prayer of the sceptic if he really wants to know whether God exists. This is the scientific thing to do, to test a hypothesis by performing the relevant experiment. I tell him to go out into his backyard some night when no one can see and hear him and make him feel foolish, and say to the empty universe above him, 'God, I don't know whether you exist or not. Maybe I'm praying to nobody, but maybe I'm praying to you. So if you are really there, please let me know somehow, because I do want to know. I want only the Truth, whatever it is. If you are the Truth, here I am, ready and willing to follow you wherever you lead.' If our faith is not a pack of lies, then whoever sincerely prays that prayer will find God in his own life, no matter how hard, how long, or how complex the road..."
-Peter Kreeft

Take some time to think about these things. This is life-changing stuff, perhaps the sort of thing we're all looking for...

Please, PM me if you have any questions at all and/or are interested in discussing these things further.

If any responses are allowed, please keep them respectful and constructive. I realize there are good reasons for disallowing it, but it really is unfortunate that discussion of religion isn't allowed because it is such an important topic that often is left untouched.

Hope to hear from you soon,
QuesT
 
Unfortunately, not everyone can discuss this subject in a civilized manner, which is why religious debate is banned. However, I don't see this thread as being a "debate" thread at the moment, so it will remain open until such a time that it gets out of hand. That is, unless the other moderators disagree, in which case it will be closed. Please don't be offended however, if we do need to close the thread.
Welcome to the forum by the way. :)
 
The same principles applies.
A person cant get manipulated unless theyre willing. Wheather through religion, palotics, relationships...

its not the religion (ltools)itself..its the motoives in which its being used for. Some use it for good other use it for ill will..

Chrisianity is not the only religion in this world and dont have the conner on the market to GOD. GOD belongs to evereybody...as Jesus stated
Half of the world dosnt belive in a god or religion. Some religion dosnt belive in a god....Surely someone had tuaght u about Faith...In others words..Keep an openmind. Thats Y Jesus pity men..cuz men are Ignorant...they dont know better or R closed minded.Is this not some of Chirst teachings?
Jesue simplified everything becuz humans makes honeysuckle complicted.
He simply state " LOVE GOD" " LOVE ONE ANOTHER"...if we apply just these 2 principles..the rest will take care of itself. Weather ur religious or not.

Whispers in the dark by Skillet :p

Goodwill towards Mankind.
 
I believe in God, and follow Jesus, but I'm not Christian. I do however, think that if people were willing to open their hearts to the idea, it may help them deeper than they realize. But you can't make everyone feel that way. All I know is I opened my heart to my faith, and I know where I belong.
 
Thanks for the welcome! :)

Hopefully the thread can stay open, but I won't be offended if you have to lock it up. I want it to stay open as long as possible, but I'm just not sure how to keep this as a discussion without it becoming a debate. Can we try having a very respectful discussion and debate or do you think it will end up ugly?

Lonesome Crow said:
The same principles applies.
A person cant get manipulated unless theyre willing. Wheather through religion, palotics, relationships...

Chrisianity is not the only religion in this world and dont have the conner on the market to GOD. GOD belongs to evereybody...as Jesus stated
Half of the world dosnt belive in a god or religion. Some religion dosnt belive in a god....Surely someone had tuaght u about Faith...In others words..Keep an openmind. Thats Y Jesus pity men..cuz men are Ignorant...they dont know better or R closed minded.Is this not some of Chirst teachings?
Jesue simplified everything becuz humans makes honeysuckle complicted.
He simply state " LOVE GOD" " LOVE ONE ANOTHER"...if we apply just these 2 principles..the rest will take care of itself. Weather ur religious or not.

Interesting thoughts here, Lonesome Crow, thank you. I'm just not sure what exactly you meant when you said, "A person can't get manipulated unless they're willing." As far as some of the other things you said: I think the case is actually that most of the world believes in God or some type of religion. I do realize that Christianity is not the only religion in the world, but I do believe that Christianity has a lot going for it. I think it would be hard to debate that Jesus was simply the most compelling figure ever to walk the face of the earth. This is where we start to get into a sort of discussion/debate as to why I believe Christianity is true in the first place, but I don't want it to cause the thread to be closed so I don't know how far I should go... we'll see how the discussion develops I guess...

VanillaCreme said:
I believe in God, and follow Jesus, but I'm not Christian. I do however, think that if people were willing to open their hearts to the idea, it may help them deeper than they realize. But you can't make everyone feel that way. All I know is I opened my heart to my faith, and I know where I belong.

The word Christian comes from a Greek word, christianos, meaning follower of Christ. So I guess that makes you a Christian. :) But I'm curious, VanillaCreme: why do you identify yourself as a follower of Jesus, but not a Christian?

I definitely agree, if people were more willing to explore the possible truth of Christianity, they might be surprised where it takes them. That is certainly what happened to me. I was pleasantly surprised and - to be quite honest, amazed - at what begin to change in me as I opened my heart to faith, as you said. All I've wanted to do since then is tell people about it! :)

LGH1288 said:
Hello QuesT -- Welcome to ALL! LG:)

Hello! :D

 
I asked Jesus to come into my heart as a child. I attend church N sunday school thorughout my teenage years.
My father was the dean of the church.

I get on my knees N pray everynight before I slumber with my wf N child.
I pray that god would keep us togehter and help us.

I used to pray on the alter N cried my heart out every sunday morning
for Mchelle N jordan.

Dear father..why have you forsanken me?

Anywho. Ive had ministors worked with me very deligently one N one..lots of couseing and inturputations of the bible. Lots N lots of living tools and spiritual principles to live by.
I aslo work the 12step program. Its about having a relationship with god.

Dont feel like talking to god @ the moment or cant do god. Cant wrap my head or heart around god @ the moment...We have relationsip issues I suppose....yeah yeah its never god fault its always mine when this relationship aint working...
Im really sicvk N tired of oneway relationships to be honest with ya..
How in the fresia can I have a relationship with god..if god aint listening to me?
Errr..that like my GF now...she dont listen worth fresia or cares how I feel.lol
 
I'm not sure what the solution to Christianity is just yet. I'll let everyone know when I find it, though.
 
Heya there, Quest. Got to admit I'm not into religion myself.

Still, as long as there's no 'You wicked sinners, you're all going to Hell and roast like chestnuts for not believing!' or the more extreme 'All disbelievers should be maimed till they see the light' undertone in the discussion, you're all welcome here by me. 'Live and let live' and all that. :)

I generally don't feel any animosity towards religious folks that I would towards any other human beings, as long as they don't try to force anything unto others. On an ideological level (meaning the creed and code by which each religion states their flock should live by) most stuff is all nice...but when you throw people into the mix, things get ugly.

And hats off to Brian for wit. :)
 
I wanted to edit my original post, but apparently I can't do that. I wanted to add in the quotes in my signature and discuss some other things. Perhaps I can add that in another post later on.

Lonesome Crow said:
Dear father..why have you forsanken me?


Im really sicvk N tired of oneway relationships to be honest with ya..
How in the *fudge* can I have a relationship with god..if god aint listening to me?



I feel ya. A relationship with God is definitely not easy, but it's worth pursuing. The way God works is often not clear to us, but we can rest assured that He is always listening to us and He is always at work... Pray that you may have the wisdom to see how God is working in your life.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Brian said:
I'm not sure what the solution to Christianity is just yet. I'll let everyone know when I find it, though.

Good luck. :)

Countenance said:
Hello, QuesT, and welcome.

Hello. Thank you. :)

Bread said:
Heya there, Quest. Got to admit I'm not into religion myself.

Still, as long as there's no 'You wicked sinners, you're all going to Hell and roast like chestnuts for not believing!' or the more extreme 'All disbelievers should be maimed till they see the light' undertone in the discussion, you're all welcome here by me. 'Live and let live' and all that. :)

I generally don't feel any animosity towards religious folks that I would towards any other human beings, as long as they don't try to force anything unto others. On an ideological level (meaning the creed and code by which each religion states their flock should live by) most stuff is all nice...but when you throw people into the mix, things get ugly.

Hello, Bread. :) Why aren't you 'into' religion?

Surely, we will keep the extreme positions out of this discussion. But you're right: people are messy. :D

 
FYI:

'Secret Ingredient' in Religion Makes People Happier
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101207091802.htm

While the positive correlation between religiosity and life satisfaction has long been known, a new study in the December issue of the American Sociological Review reveals religion's "secret ingredient" that makes people happier.

"Our study offers compelling evidence that it is the social aspects of religion rather than theology or spirituality that leads to life satisfaction," said Chaeyoon Lim, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who led the study. "In particular, we find that friendships built in religious congregations are the secret ingredient in religion that makes people happier."
 
QuesT said:
Hello, Bread. :) Why aren't you 'into' religion?

Surely, we will keep the extreme positions out of this discussion. But you're right: people are messy. :D

We-ellp, since you asked, the gist of it is- I just can't believe in a god. Generally I've seen religion as is from the historical point of view, a tool for governing. Early cultures and their god-kings, claiming some divine link as a reason why he should be the one on the throne. Plenty of cultures, myriad of gods of which most have been lost in the annals of time, or appear as footnotes in some historical study regarding the culture in question. History plays a big part in my views on this. My country was originally pagan, left to it's own devices in the dark ages, until the western neighbours saw that there was this huge patch of land that nobody had laid claim over, and they invaded on pretense of converting the locals into christianity. It wasn't alltogether done with good grace and inspiring sermons. *Sigh*

Plenty of other examples of how people with political power have used religion as a device to further their own political agendas, or seek to make money. Tv-evangelists weren't the first ones to cash in on the faithful- the medieval (1517) pope Leo X gave order to market and sell these little slips called 'indulgences' that forgave the sins of the customer to fund the construction of the church of St. Peter. Lots of indulgences were sold by the elaborate invention of the purgatory, too. One of the points which inspired Martin Luther's thesis.

As you and I both concurred, there are opportunistic people who can take advantage of their fellow men on noble ideas and the like. *Sigh* There's the Crusades, too. And more volatile recent examples, in more than one camp o' religion.
 
A Desolate Soul said:
call me a cynic, but I'm pretty sure an imaginary friend isn't the answer to loneliness.

There may be no studies on the effects of religion on loneliness specifically; but based on my post above, participating in religion improves happiness. Other studies show that it also is related to better health. More articles:

Belief in a Caring God Improves Response to Medical Treatment for Depression, Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100223132021.htm

Losing Your Religion May Be Unhealthy, Research Suggests
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100922155120.htm

Of course, where there's a yin, there's a yang.

When God Sanctions Killing, The People Listen
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070223143009.htm
 
Mary Mary said:
A Desolate Soul said:
call me a cynic, but I'm pretty sure an imaginary friend isn't the answer to loneliness.

There may be no studies on the effects of religion on loneliness specifically; but based on my post above, participating in religion improves happiness. Other studies show that it also is related to better health. More articles:

Belief in a Caring God Improves Response to Medical Treatment for Depression, Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100223132021.htm

Losing Your Religion May Be Unhealthy, Research Suggests
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100922155120.htm

Of course, where there's a yin, there's a yang.

When God Sanctions Killing, The People Listen
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070223143009.htm

i wouldn't doubt that it's actually the social support from a group and sense of belonging that's the cause, not religion itself. but i guess it's just a matter of how you interpret the information.

i could say a lot of nasty things about religion, but i'll keep it to myself. as you can see i'm highly against organized religion. i say everyone is free to believe what they want, but to keep it to themselves.
 
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