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John 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

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If the church cared as much as they act like they do, they would've tried to "help" me get away from cannabis, instead of basically condemning me from the church. [I believe using cannabis is not a sin, based on the bible and God not convicting me of it being wrong, while he convicts me of other actions I do as being wrong.]

Another point i'm trying to make is to not base your opinions on people who claim themselves to be "Christians", but are hypocrites. There are christians out there who live their life according to God. You will know who they are when you meet them.

Todays church should be focused on loving everybody, trying to help them keep from doing wrong, presenting God's love and grace, and giving them the opportunity to get saved. Not on public image, or money.

I don't know how other churches are in other areas, but I assume that most churches function the same.

Since then, I have moved away from the church, and decided to praise God in a comfortable always loving environment, nature. 

Funguy said:

I can understand where your youth director was coming from.  Not everybody is mature enough to handle any type of sacred plant.  What if one of the kids that looked up to you decided, "hey, if he does it, why can't I?"  Then they go out, get drunk, high, etc, and do something stupid and get themselves killed. 

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I understand too. He sounded sort of ignorant to me. Sounded like he had a mixture of fear and unawareness all mixed into one. If someone is going to "be pushed away from Christ" by an action of someone claiming to be Christian, well, they shouldn't be seeking Christ.

Hehe, Ped, you would love the Simpsons episode where Lisa becomes Buddhist. Mr. Burns turns the church into a complex just like Doctor J described. Lisa was outraged and set out on her own to find her own faith... they try bringing her back with Christmas. "Marge, you can save more souls with presents and Santa than with this 2,000 page sleeping pill".

Anyways, it is a great episode... really proved a point.

And I laughed outloud when you mentioned "boundary reinforcement". Damn, did it again. Myself, I have been looking for my Bible, I really want to give it a read... I knew where it was until the kid started drawing in it with a pen and I moved it... I really want to give the book of John a read.

People who are capable of understanding follow their own path... people who aren't capable of understanding are manipulated like herds of cattle. The blind leading the blind... or something. hehe

But ja, not a lot of people seem to make it out of this school named Earth.... *shrugs*
Peace.

Ped said:

Speaking personally, the greatest misgiving I have about Christianity and it's church has to do with their outright rejection of different religious and philosophical systems.

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Their apparent inability to follow their own doctrine is secondary, and thought to be a symptom of this problem.

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Do those who lend their prostration to great teachers other than Christ condemn themselves to an eternal misery? Are they, so long as they practice a non-Christian faith, excluded from the bliss of heaven? What is your opinion?

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Speaking from the heart now, it is precisely the unwillingness of the Christian church to accept differing views on spiritual issues that landed me in Buddhism.

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The verses you quote from John 8:3-7 are quite beautiful, and really emphasize the enlightened quality of Jesus Christ. Any spiritual person of any faith really cannot help but marvel at such a passage. Why should this wisdom be exclusive to those who call themselves Christians?

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The last time I attended church was per request of my mother and father, whom are very worried about my choice of path, Buddhism. The entire theme for that Sunday morning was: "Why other religions are deceptive." The preacher made his way on stage and proceeded to slam Islam, disparage Hinduism, and especially knocking Buddhism and it's "Godless" nature. The points he presented would be unworthy even of this small online forum. Should he have decided to present his case here, there is no doubt in my mind that his views would have been easily torn apart by any of posters here. But each divisive remark he made was met with cheers and applause, "Amen" and "Hallelujah". It was like some kind of celebration of segregation, or boundry reinforcement.

There was special emphasis on the "errors of Buddhism" and other eastern philosphies. A member of the church was invited on stage to share his experience of converting from Buddhism to Christianity. He told tales of Buddhists engaging in ritual sex acts and blood letting. I was absolutely stunned by the degree of lies and hatred presented here in this supposed house of God. Afterward, a swarm of the Church's senior staff gathered around me, knowing me to be a Buddhist, and proceded to attempt some kind of rapid detox, drilling such suggestions into me like "God Loves you" and "Satan has deceived you." Even going so far as to say such things as "God has told me that you are special to His plan."

It started to become evident that my attendence on this particular morning was carefully planned. This being a small church, it is not difficult to organize a theme for someone such as myself. It gradually became clear that someone had said something to the effect of "Let's show that Buddhist kid what Buddhism is really about.", assuming that I was naive and would believe whatever I heard.

I was mortified. My training in patience and compassion was screaming to take hold of this experience, but was insufficient. I felt offended, enraged, like lashing out. But then, I remembered that Jesus would not behave the way these people were behaving. Jesus would neither say, think, or do any such things. I turned my mind in this direction and found great relief. It was these men who had gone astray. And so, in great irony, I took refuge in thoughts of Christ to escape the bombardment of accusations from these men of Christ. I could not help but laugh.

I felt the need just now to share this story. It weighs heavily on my heart, the intolerant trends all throughout Christianity. Even the kindest, most sincere Christian practitioners that I have encountered still become isolated when they discover that I am a Buddhist. My wonderful parents being Christians and myself being a Buddhist has fostered quite a gap between myself and them, one that I'm not sure how to heal. Discusing these issues has been helpful.

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Frog said:

I believe that there's the possibility that other religions may just call Jesus other things that what we call Him.

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