Originally posted by Lloyd E Adkins Our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ tell us in The Bible that we should be Grateful and Have Gratitude for what we get...
"Thank you Father, who hypothetically art in Heaven. Thank you for presiding over a world of misery, mayhem, murder, and dead kittens. You're just the best."
Originally posted by Lloyd E Adkins Our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ tell us in The Bible that we should be Grateful and Have Gratitude for what we get...
“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude
is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven.”
—Johannes A. Gaertner🙂🙂
I have gratitude for what I am able to give, not for what I get. My gratitude is to my parents, my siblings, my offspring, my teachers and mentors, to the people who have shared their lives with me, and to all benevolent persons of this world. (Does this sound like a Miss Universe answer?)
I don't presume to tell anyone they should be grateful.
I'm getting pretty tired of all this garbage about how theists are greedy, arrogant, they're only out for what they can get, etc., etc. I think maybe the ones spewing this tripe are the ones usually told this by theists and they figure to strike first and trump them at their own game. Someone should tell you guys that this isn't really the way you should play the game if you want to be thought of as the 'good guys'. I mean yeah, I see how you could think if it's not true then maybe we're stupid for limiting our behaviors so, if we're not even doing it for what we can get in return, but that's flawed thinking. You cannot appreciate how a person of faith can elevate above the 'me, me, me' simply because of their faith. I'd say "get a clue", but that's probably not gonna happen either. 😞
Originally posted by Suzianne I'm getting pretty tired of all this garbage about how theists are greedy, arrogant, they're only out for what they can get, etc., etc. I think maybe the ones spewing this tripe are the ones usually told this by theists and they figure to strike first and trump them at their own game. Someone should tell you guys that this isn't really the way you should ...[text shortened]... ause[/i] of their faith. I'd say "get a clue", but that's probably not gonna happen either. 😞
You are right, this criticism should be and is properly limited to those theists who actually do tell people to think about what they get by being Christians. My reply was to Lloyd, who did just that. I concede that other Christians may read it and conclude that it is about them.
Originally posted by JS357 You are right, this criticism should be and is properly limited to those theists who actually do tell people to think about what they get by being Christians. My reply was to Lloyd, who did just that. I concede that other Christians may read it and conclude that it is about them.
I read it as "be grateful for what you get" and not "hey, come be a Christian so you can get stuff!" Nothing wrong with being grateful for what you get or what you have.
Originally posted by SwissGambit I read it as "be grateful for what you get" and not "hey, come be a Christian so you can get stuff!" Nothing wrong with being grateful for what you get or what you have.
Properly directed gratitude for genuine benefits is fine. If you google on the benefits of being a Christian (without quotation marks) you will get a raft of things you "get" including, of course, the big one, eternal salvation.
Originally posted by JS357 Properly directed gratitude for genuine benefits is fine. If you google on the benefits of being a Christian (without quotation marks) you will get a raft of things you "get" including, of course, the big one, eternal salvation.
It comes down to motivation. If you believe that there is a god and hell to avoid, then you would naturally be grateful that you had a way to avoid it. But if you are thinking, "it would be pretty cool to live forever so I'll follow this religion in case it's true" then you're doing it for the wrong reason.
Originally posted by SwissGambit It comes down to motivation. If you believe that there is a god and hell to avoid, then you would naturally be grateful that you had a way to avoid it. But if you are thinking, "it would be pretty cool to live forever so I'll follow this religion in case it's true" then you're doing it for the wrong reason.
Most Christian doctrines (there certainly are many) hold that good works are not enough for Salvation. Usually this is the Christian poop sheet:
1) Believe in the One True Boss.
2) Suck up to the Boss.
3) Get goodies forever.
A couple addenda:
4) Even if you're a complete and utter mothereffer toward people all your life (including maybe buggering a children's choir or waging genocide), if you do items 1 and 2 at the very last minute then item 3 can still be cashed at the bank.
5) It's not supposed to bother you that, whilst you're sipping piña coladas in Heaven, everyone you ever loved may be burning in Hell for eternity on account of guessing wrong at which one is the "right" religion among thousands to choose from. Pull up the ladder, 'cause you got yours!
Originally posted by Lloyd E Adkins Our Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ tell us in The Bible that we should be Grateful and Have Gratitude for what we get...
“To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude
is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch heaven.”
—Johannes A. Gaertner🙂🙂
It is hard for some to understand the goodness of God. They confuse what they see as God's doing and forget mankind's hands are involved. The travisty of Africa and Asia minor. The horrific acts of mankinds greed and desire for all kinds of power.
We who live in America have no idea how bad it really is. Just look at Haiti. Still, years after the devistation. It is just a mess.
Originally posted by SwissGambit It comes down to motivation. If you believe that there is a god and hell to avoid, then you would naturally be grateful that you had a way to avoid it. But if you are thinking, "it would be pretty cool to live forever so I'll follow this religion in case it's true" then you're doing it for the wrong reason.
Doesn't that depend on the religion, it could be the one true one, whose god rewards that pragmatic approach and it is right to be thankful you chose it.🙂
Originally posted by Suzianne I'm getting pretty tired of all this garbage about how theists are greedy, arrogant, they're only out for what they can get, etc., etc. I think maybe the ones spewing this tripe are the ones usually told this by theists and they figure to strike first and trump them at their own game. Someone should tell you guys that this isn't really the way you should ...[text shortened]... ause[/i] of their faith. I'd say "get a clue", but that's probably not gonna happen either. 😞
Both sides of the fence are guilty of viewing all the others as extremists.
We are all guilty.
Originally posted by Soothfast Most Christian doctrines (there certainly are many) hold that good works are not enough for Salvation. Usually this is the Christian poop sheet:
1) Believe in the One True Boss.
2) Suck up to the Boss.
3) Get goodies forever.
A couple addenda:
4) Even if you're a complete and utter mothereffer toward people all your life (including maybe bugger ...[text shortened]... the "right" religion among thousands to choose from. Pull up the ladder, 'cause you got yours!
I am defiantly against 2) & 3). As is their God whom they think they worship. Believing in Him and doing His desires during your lifetime is excellent. Believing in Him, and sce-wing the world will get you nothing.
Not knowing Him, and having compassion for your fellow man. Guess what, you know Him, even if you don't think so.
17 Jan '14 00:30
Are you grateful... Do you think we should be?
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