Is this how they see us?

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yesukristus

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Just came across theses lines from a fiction book (based in the real world though):
psychotic + Bible = disaster… there was no publication more destabilising to an already fragile mind. Maybe it was the mysticism and superstition; maybe it was the notion of something greater ultimately being in control, that abdication‐of‐responsibility deal; maybe it was the images of supreme power. Who knew? But it ****ed them up every time
Jesus Christ had changed nothing. Sorry. Two millennia after he ‘gave his life to save the world’, the world was no nearer to being saved – if indeed saving was what it needed – than before. For the two thousand years since his death, and for many thousands more before his birth, people the world over had been loving their neighbour as themselves, turning the other cheek, and forgiving not seven times but seventy times seven. They had also been hating their neighbour, striking out in violence, and avenging every wrong done them. BC or AD, armies rampaged, men murdered, raped, stole, hated; BC or AD, people cared for one another, were selfless, loved, forgave. Jesus Christ changed nothing. Using his gift for oratory and communication he had sought to spread humanitarian principles, but he did not devise them. And those principles had survived unhi now not because of the churches that bore Christ’s name; nor even in spite of them. They had survived simply because they were part of man’s nature. It was part of man’s nature to love and to care, just as it was part of man’s nature to hate and destroy. If the good side was ever to overcome the bad, then it would not be through fear of God, nor even through love of God. It would be because man had evolved. Christ’s teachings were irrelevant to the growth and self-sustainment of the Holy Roman Empire and all the sects it spawned. The legacy that was the Church, the legacy that was Christianity, was not the legacy of Christ, his words or his deeds. It was the legacy of men and their ambition. It was the legacy of power, of wealth, of dominion. And however much men talked about the Kingdom of God, the kingdom they were really interested in was right here, on this earth.
Like I said, is this really how some people see Christ and us Christians? It’s as if all the good Christians do or ever did was just human effort, human nature, nothing more, and all the bad anyone ever did a sign that there is no God because if He did exist He would have done something about it all. It’s as Occam’s Razor is at play in these people’s minds- the paranoid, disillusioned kind that is.
 
Like I said, is this really how some people see Christ and us Christians?
Yes, a lot of people share this view. Some also see Christianity as having actually made the world worse. Pray for them to receive the gift of faith that you have received.
 
A lot of ignorant, uneducated, misinformed,and unenlightened people seem to share that view.
 
A lot of ignorant, uneducated, misinformed,and unenlightened people seem to share that view.
There are a lot of highly educated people who share that view also. The point is not their level of education but a lack of faith. That is why they need your prayer.
 
its fiction…anybody who believes that must be simple because a quick browse through the bible would put them right…and if people see christians/catholics like that then that is there own fault for being judgemental and narrowminded:D
 
It’s not how “they” see us.

It’s us taking a bunch of militant atheists seriously.

Or it’s us taking the opinions of a bunch of two-year olds seriously.

Who, exactly, are “they”?

We have St. John of the Cross and the Evangelists and St. Theresa and Fr. Solanus Casey and St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. And a whole army of other saints and elegant writers and doctors of the church.

Who are “they”? How much brain damage have “they” incurred with pot smoking? Or drinking?

Why do “we” give “them” so much credence?

Visit www.lifeeternal.org and buy their 2010 calendar. Every day there is a different saint. Look up that person. Some are writers. Some lived lives of holiness. Some gave their lives as martyrs.

Sit in front of the tabernacle for a while. Or sit in front of Jesus in the Monstrance for a while. And then reread that passage.

WHO … THE … HECK … ARE … “THEY”?
 
5 A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.
Code:
6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.

7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants.

8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown. When he said this, he called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

9 His disciples asked him what this parable meant.

10 He said, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
 
Once again, instead of making insulting comments about “them” - people you don’t actually know - why don’t you all pray for their conversion and the salvation of their immortal souls. The Father loves “them,” Christ died for “them.” We are all sinners, those who do not yet realize that they are sinners in need of redemption, are in great need of mercy and prayer.

Also, charity is much more likely to give unbelievers a more favorable impression of Christians than insults and smug comments.
 
We know "them"only by the words that they put out or the words we are given.

Absolutely pray for them.

But don’t take their words to heart.

Redouble our missionary work.

There will always be people who are totally off the beam.

Pray for them.

But consider that you can’t convert everyone.

Pray for them.

But don’t let them influence you.
 
There are a lot of highly educated people who share that view also. The point is not their level of education but a lack of faith. That is why they need your prayer.
No need to be snarkey about this. This is not being uncharitable, it is describing the truth. You have no idea who I am praying for or not. By the way, anyone who actualy believes the tripe in the OP, is uneducated and ignorant about Christianity.
 
Once again, instead of making insulting comments about “them” - people you don’t actually know - why don’t you all pray for their conversion and the salvation of their immortal souls. The Father loves “them,” Christ died for “them.” We are all sinners, those who do not yet realize that they are sinners in need of redemption, are in great need of mercy and prayer.

Also, charity is much more likely to give unbelievers a more favorable impression of Christians than insults and smug comments.
You said it Student. Yes Jesus redeemed all mankind, God created us for himself. We must pray that each and everyone of them,who actually think that way, realize their sin and reach out to God for his actual grace(available to all of us) and accept the redemption Jesus died for.:gopray2:Peace Carlan
 
Sadly the quote represents a very common view of Christianity and the Church in particular. Its a very real attitude and it is not being expressed exclusively by “uneducated” and “stupid” people. In fact, it is not necessarily being expressed by hostile, militant atheists either. This view is being adopted not only because of what is taught in school but more importantly, it is being adopted due to very bad experiences with Christians. This is how we are viewed because we have lacked love. We don’t show enough of it to others. Instead, often times we sit in judgment of others. Also, sad as this is, the history of the Church doesn’t help either sometimes :(. We are associated with conquistadors, imperialists, and other politically motivated people because the missionaries often came with the conquerors. In some parts, Christianity is considered a “white” religion and therefore has nothing to offer non-white, non-western people.

This is how we are viewed. Is it true? No, for the most part it isn’t but I also think that we don’t help matters any either. We need to pray and love more. That is the only way that anyone would become attracted to the Faith.
 
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