Originally posted by GetOutOfMyRabbitHole
reply to post by badmedia
I did not know that. I think it would behoove most Christians to be more Christ-like. Or at least adhere to his teachings of respect, compassion and
peace a bit more.
That goes for everyone, actually. What a nice world this would be.

I was not a christian until about a year or so ago. I thought it was a bunch of myths and a system of control. All I had really ever seen was the
church. I grew up in the bible belt, I knew better than to ever say I wasn't a christian around people. But I was just like yeah whatever.
And then I started to "awake" to what was going on. Especially when it came to the reaction to 9/11 and the Iraq war. I seen people foaming at
the mouth, and of course the bible thumpers and flag wavers were all about killing some people and getting revenge. Even more so I thought it was
all crap.
Then I had somewhat of a spiritual awakening recently. I gained all kinds of knowledge. Not image knowledge, but philosophy, and understandings
when it came to consciousness. And I would see these odd bible passages out of the blue, and I would be like WOAH - that is exactly right. I
had seen the same passages before, but they didn't make sense.
What happened is I was no longer blinded by image. I started to understand what was truly being shown, the analogies and the
philosophy/understanding. All I'd ever been shown was image. Told it was right - because it was in the bible. I was seeing what I learned
repeated too me in it.
I even seen what happened to me mentioned in John 14. I felt/seen this connection with god, and I knew in a moment that everything is connected, no
seperate etc. And when I seen it said in there, it was mind boggling.
I quickly found out there is 2 different kinds of religion in the bible. There is the religion about Jesus, where they worship the false idol and
follow the symbolism around. And then there is the religion of Jesus. Where you know and understand why Jesus was right in what he said(and more),
and you try to follow the path.
Take the Jesus dieing for your sins on the cross bit. These people actually wear the device used to murder him around their neck. They celebrate
his death. Why? Because they actually believe all they have to do is believe he did that for them, and they are "saved". It's a flat out
lie.
If god just wanted to save people, he doesn't need to send his son to die. To suggest that is to say god is limited in his power.
The real reason Jesus came to earth was to show people the path and the correct way to live, or the truth. He tried to show people not to judge,
and that is was better to die than to become the evil himself by fighting back, and lots of other things. He refused to do what men expected him to
do, and refused to become king of the Jews. The bible even says that those who truly believe in him will follow the path. And it also says that
people will do many things in his name, but they are not followers.
Tripped me out. Peoples view of Jesus is all based on the churches image worship. You don't see these people being persecuted, the president of
the US claims to be christian. But you let someone get up and actually try to tell people the things Jesus talked about, and you will find the
persecuted. And it has nothing to do with if they mention Jesus or not. You are against the war? You are considered to be a problem. You are
against the moneychangers? You are considered to be a problem. You try to tell people not to judge, you are considered to be a problem. But
you wanna hide behind a cross and Jesus and do things completely the opposite - and you can be president!
Best advice I could ever give is to not let the image/false idol worshipers push you away from the truth that is told. And btw, the people who
also focus on the image to disprove Jesus and all that are just the other side of the coin. They also focus on the image instead of the message.
They will avoid the message just as much, because you can't prove it wrong.
You don't even need the bible to be honest. Think about what a "heaven" would be like. How would society/people need to act toward each other
to live peacefully. That will show you the truth, but you have to drop your biases against people(IE: get rid of everything but the stuff you like
as peace). My #1 rule is to never impose on the free will of another. Physically or mentally(murder of the mind, manipulation). You can get many
more from it, but that is the main rule I follow.