Why do we have to be right?

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Phat,

So. Whadid I tell you? If you go to the Baptist site, they’ll tell you you gotta be Baptist. If you go to the Muslim site…well, you get the idea.

Don’t let man’s words make your decision for you, whether they’re in some book or on this site. Look inside yourself.
 
phatrunt29 said:
Homosexual can’t love one another like heterosexuals because homosexuals can’t bring life in to the world.

Because they can’t bring life into the world?
How can you say such a thing? Should a mother and son bring life in the world together? NO Should a father and daughter bring life into the world together? NO but yet there is an unconditional love between them. So why can’t homosexuals love like heterosexuals? Your point is quite sad and maybe you should rethink it? I think that they should have the same rights and priviledges that you do and then some because they took it upon themselves to stand up and admit that they are different…unlike everyone else in the world that believe that they have to fit into a set mold! Just except that there are people in the world that are different and that they are completely human because of a few differences and deserve to be treated with respect!!!
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Phat,

Let’s make a couple of things perfectly clear.
(1) There are more ways to express love than by sexual union. Sex is reserved for married people.
(2) There is a world of difference between saying that someone should not be doing something and being disrespectful of that person.

The quote that “homosexuals can’t love one another like heterosexuals” is something of a misnomer. I believe that what the original poster meant was that homosexuals shouldn’t have sexual relations with each other because these actions cannot bring new life into the world. (Incidentally, this is also why the Church condemns artificial birth control; the Church is most definitely not singling out homosexuals here.)

Homosexuals are definitely people, made in the image of God, and entitled to all the human rights and respect that all people are entitled to. But having sexual relations indiscriminately with anybody you want to is not a human right that anybody is entitled to, either homosexual or heterosexual.
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Phat,
I have to admit that I believe I understand what you are saying! I am 22 and in the same place you are (looking in to religions). What is hard for me is every religion thinks that they are the “truth”. It is a diffacult concept to grasp… Everyone’s “truth” is different! So what is the real “truth”? I believe we have to find our own.

I know that what I have wrote will upset some, but be honest and not preachy for a moment… What you belive to be the truth others don’t agree with. I am not saying is right and one is not… but God will sort it all out in the end. :o
 
To me, one of the the reasons I am Catholic and believe in the Catholic teachings, beliefs, and dogma is because of the chain back to Peter and consequently to Jesus Himself. No other church or denomination can claim that. The Church might not have been right on everything through the ages, but that is because it is His pilgrim church on Earth that is lead by men who, like the rest of us, are sinners. We aren’t perfect, we all make mistakes. But of the other religions, the main tenents we believe seem to be explained on sound logic. We don’t have to have the “free will” debate because we understand that our salvation is made possible by Grace, and it is through our faith and works that we may reach that salvation. But there are no guarantees. Works without faith are nothing more than gestures. Faith without works is mere lip service.

And with regard to other faith’s, I have read some of Luther’s works, I have read the beliefs of other Christian denominations, and so far, Catholicism still makes the most sense to me. I don’t know what the answer is. Do I think that all Muslims, Jews, Budhists, etc. are destined to burn in hell? I certainly hope not! But that is not for me to decide. All I can do is live my life the way that makes sense to me. And to me, the Catholic Faith makes sense. Maybe that is the purpose of purgatory, for those those Chirstians that are still stained with sin, and those that had alternative beliefs to reach salvation. Maybe it’s not. But we will all find out on our last day.
 
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sambar:
Phat,
I have to admit that I believe I understand what you are saying! I am 22 and in the same place you are (looking in to religions). What is hard for me is every religion thinks that they are the “truth”. It is a diffacult concept to grasp… Everyone’s “truth” is different! So what is the real “truth”? I believe we have to find our own.

I know that what I have wrote will upset some, but be honest and not preachy for a moment… What you belive to be the truth others don’t agree with. I am not saying is right and one is not… but God will sort it all out in the end. :o
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Clearly a religion that thinks it has the truth can’t ever change what that truth is. Provided of course the truth is from God. So that eliminates many religions right off the bat.

If Christ did establish a church through Peter, and it was supposed to last, it has to be consistent with the teachings of that time.

There is only one truth, Gods. Finding our own “truth” might make us comfortable with decisions we make about what is right or wrong, but that’s it. We’re not trying to make it into our own heaven, but into Gods heaven. It’s his, he decides the rules and his truth is the only truth that matters.
 
Hi Phat,
I notice you started this thread about a month ago so I hope you’re still reading.

I think you asked some very deep questions that I once asked myself too. But I didn’t start asking until I was in my early 20’s. I remember it being a stressful and confusing time. I read from many different sources trying to learn the “truth”. I was introduced to one religion after another and they all sounded like the truth. I even attended a World Wide Church of God service a few times on Saturdays. Even though I was raised Catholic I didn’t know a lot about the Catholic teachings. I felt it was a lot of politics and ritual stuff about which I didn’t understand the meanings.

When I “casually” mentioned to my mom about possibly going to a new church she was calm but I know that behind the scenes she was worried. She and my sister (who doesn’t practice any religion) talked to me at different times and presented me with material about the new church but that only made me want to show them they were wrong. After all, I didn’t want to be embarassed by being wrong after I had taken a stand, albiet a shaky stand because I still didn’t know what the real “truth” was. I was studying this church’s bible course and it all seemed to make perfect sense to me.

Anyway, one day my mom said that before I leave the Catholic Church completely I should try to learn about it first. Even though I had good early upbringing in the Church, I didn’t learn a worthwhile thing after about 2nd grade (First Communion). I was so confused I was getting sick. One day I put my new bible study materials away, went into my bedroom and closed the door and prayed. I believed in God but at this point was not sure of a Trinity anymore or all the other things I assumed were true growing up. I prayed, asking God to show me the way to him. I put everything on hold with the bible study and the new church and didn’t attend any church for several weeks or months.

Then one day I met an aquaintance in the grocery store. She told me about the new priest at our Catholic Church that I hadn’t been to much since I was married several years earlier. (My husband was a non-practicing Lutheran at the time). She said the new priest was a great guy, sang beautifully, and gave a great homily. Then a few days later I was cleaning out an old drawer and found a booklet that I used to prepare for Confirmation. It’s like I was reading it for the first time. Everything that I didn’t care enough about or understand before became clear. It’s like the scales fell from my eyes! The “rituals” began to make sense.

I asked my husband to come with me and our kids to mass the following Sunday and he agreed. I can’t tell you what happened to me but I knew that it felt right to be there. Like coming home.

I’m unable to express in writing how the Holy Spirit was working on me but I think the bottom line was that I was open to the truth and I had to step back for a little bit to allow the Holy Spirit to come back into my life. I didn’t make the decision to come back to the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit brought me back. All I did was sincerely ask for the way to God.
 
You wrote: “And if God didn’t want us to have different faiths then why did he save the jewish and make them his"chose” people? No one has been able to answer this question for me for the last four years."

I asked this same type of question too. I don’t know if anyone has answered it or not but I’ll give it a try. God made a promise (covenant) with Abraham. If Abraham would obey God then he would give him many descendants. This was the beginning of the line of God’s chosen people – the Jews. Abraham’s descendants kept the promise their ancestor made with God. God brought from the Jewish people a descendant who would be the Messiah, Jesus. You know the story of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection. Jesus made a new covenant and the first Christians were the Jews, but obviously not all the Jews decided to follow Jesus, possibly because of pride or fear or whatever prevents many today from becoming true Christians.

So today there are still Jewish people who don’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Either Jesus is the Messiah or he isn’t. Christians and Jews can’t both be right on this issue. But just because there is not agreement doesn’t mean we don’t love our Jewish brothers and sisters. We pray that one day we will all be of one faith.

As to your dabbling in Wiccan (which I know nothing about) allow me to give some advice: Don’t go there before you have completely learned all you can about the Catholic faith you are considering leaving behind. Do as I did. With all sincerity, pray to God and ask for his guidance. Also, don’t ground yourself too deeply into one religion or another because it’s harder to admit you’re wrong. It’s OK to admit you’re confused and are looking for answers.

From the little you have said, I know that your parents love you more than you can imagine because I have 18 and 16 year old sons. They are at an age at which they won’t ask for my advice but they do take in what I have to say. I see it in their actions and read it in their essays. But they also think for themselves and question things. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to your parents, then see a priest. Explain to him that you have a lot of questions and see if he would be willing to answer them for you.

If that’s too uncomfortable then just keep asking here for awhile. But please approach with an effort to understand and not just argue your point.

God Bless,
Denise
 
🙂 Hi Phat, I’m a convert to the Catholic Church. I just want to tell you about a couple of things I learned. 1) Take a look at the "Caticisum of The Catholic Church) and read up on the official view of world religions. 2) Open a college level biology book and check out some of the single cell organisims. They’re pretty cool. Some of them hunt, sense light or movement. They have flagela and can motor about using their lilltl rotary motors. Look at how nutrients pass through the membrane wall and waste materials are eliminated. They even reproduce sexually. I’m talking about single cells here. Pretty amazing. What’s even more amazing to me it the organization of all the cells in our bodies and all fo the living creatures on this planet. They are all inter- related and work in concert with all of the other parts. No way are these things accidents. I am a cell biologist and to me, this is irrefutiable proof positive that God created the Earth and all that is in it. Forget Big Bang. And yes, I do believe that things evolve.👍
 
Hey PR!
One of my favorite people was a Wiccan and I was the only Christian that he’d talk to 'cos I never gave him any grief about it. My own opinion is that many Christians are afraid of others in such religions because it really is witchcraft and that fear is (IMO) a lack of faith. “Smiley” and I used to talk all the time and I found him honest and considerate of what I shared. Fact is, we both caught grief from other “Christians”, me for being Catholic that they rejected and he for his faith. Maybe that gave us a common ground, but I liked the dude and we talked a lot. He borrowed Catholic literature from me and once told me that if he ever became a Christian that it would be Catholic “because it just makes better sense”, which I thought was cool, since that is my own opinion as well. 😃

Why do we have to be right? Because EVERYONE wants to be right, don’t they? :rolleyes:

BTW, I had to smile at your reference to St. Thomas (“doubting Thomas”) as I have read that particular passage many times and to me it’s not about his doubt as much as his confession of faith, which a great many Catholics today use as their prayer and confession of faith during the height of the consecration during our Mass. I bring this up because that is my signature below from the Latin Vulgate. It means “My Lord and my God”.
Pax tecum my friend,
 
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