The best thing about being alive…

@josephw said
The best thing, first and foremost, about being alive, unequivocally and without reservation, is knowing Jesus.

I think there are countless people, around the world, and regardless of their faith, who place their religious beliefs - and living in accordance with them - front and centre in their lives and derive great happiness and fulfilment from it.

@josephw said
There's no dodge.

Well perhaps your “knowing Jesus” will tempt you into what might be your second best thing about being alive which might be that you get the chance to choose to behave in a moral way and treat others as we would want to be treated.

Do you concur with that?

@josephw said
Personally, I doubt 2-4% of the 8 billion people on the planet are actually born again Christians.

What’s the actual living-out-their-beliefs-and-values difference between yourself, who obviously classes yourself as being a “born again” type of Christian, and billions of other Christians whom you personally don’t class as being “born again”?

@josephw said
Without Jesus there is no life.

I think your religious fervour comes at a price in terms of your humanity.

@fmf said
About six or so billion human beings are non-Christian and so we can say they don't "know" Jesus: and yet they are living their lives right now and deciding for themselves what's the best thing about being alive.

You're stating the obvious.

Are you arguing with me about what I believe is the "best thing about being alive" and suggesting I'm implying it's a universal truth applicable to the entire human race?

And if I am, does that automatically make me wrong?

I simply posted what I believe is the best thing about being alive, as you did, but apparently what I believe offends you to the degree that you feel the need to prove me wrong by stating the obvious.

It's not my prerogative to choose for another what is the best thing about being alive.

I merely stated what I believe.

But since we're on the topic, I also believe that believing the best thing about being alive is knowing the creator is universally the best thing about being alive, for everyone.

@fmf said
I think your religious fervour comes at a price in terms of your humanity.

I think you're having difficulty dealing with the shock of reading what people say they believe in this spirituality forum.

So you resort to deriding their humanity.

@josephw said
I think you're having difficulty dealing with the shock of reading what people say they believe in this spirituality forum.

Not at all. What you declared was either profoundly misanthropic or you are hijacking words and twisting their meaning in a way that renders you unable to talk to people who hold different beliefs.

@josephw said
So you resort to deriding their humanity.

If you want people to believe your humanity is undamaged by your beliefs and/or yoyr need to recite your dogma, then perhaps you need to keep dehumanizing stuff like "Without Jesus there is no life" for when you are talking to fellow Christians in a Christian echo chamber.

@josephw said
I simply posted what I believe is the best thing about being alive, as you did, but apparently what I believe offends you to the degree that you feel the need to prove me wrong by stating the obvious.

I am neither offended nor am I trying to prove you wrong on this point - but I recognize that you are trying to muddy the conversation by suggesting such things.

Like I said, I think there are countless people like you around the world who place their religious beliefs and 'walking the walk' [regardless of their religion] at the very heart of their lives and enjoy happiness and fulfilment because of it.

@josephw said
But since we're on the topic, I also believe that believing the best thing about being alive is knowing the creator is universally the best thing about being alive, for everyone.

So you actually do mean your declaration "Without Jesus there is no life" to apply to everyone? Even straight after saying "It's not my prerogative to choose for another what is the best thing about being alive"?

Do you mean that Jews, Muslims, Hindus and other non-Christians have "no life" or are you distorting the meaning of the word for ideological reasons?

@fmf said
Not at all. What you declared was either profoundly misanthropic or you are hijacking words and twisting their meaning in a way that renders you unable to talk to people who hold different beliefs.

That's projecting the very thing you do.

@josephw said
That's projecting the very thing you do.

I think you're mistaken.

@divegeester said
What’s the actual living-out-their-beliefs-and-values difference between yourself, who obviously classes yourself as being a “born again” type of Christian, and billions of other Christians whom you personally don’t class as being “born again”?

Josephw?

......Food.