I love my Hindu neighbour as myself, but he's going to hell

[Thinktank]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKTxr30h8CE&feature=related[/youtube]

Go to 3:45 on the video - it's funny.
This 'Untouchable' kid says he doesn't eat lunch with
the other kids, because the other kids will get 'polluted' by him.

That caste system the Hindus invented as a way to keep themselves
above the Dalits is evil.

I will remember to avoid Hindus the same way they avoid the untouchables.

[fluffy]

Look - if you want to believe in the good book.....However, you can't pick and choose just the bits you agree with and throw out the rest.

I was taught to "Take what you need and leave the rest". I think if there are words worth living by in any book that you should by all means keep them for future reference, but I also think that to adhere to tenets that your instincts tell you are not right just because they appear in the same book is wrong. Likewise, just because a few good points are mixed in with a bunch of bad ones doesn't mean the good points have to be ignored. I've managed to cobble together a workable set of guideposts from multiple sources, and it's always under revision as new ideas come to light. It's working fine for me, and I have no problem picking and choosing, in fact it makes a lot more sense than being forced to consider the bad and the good as a package take-it-or-leave-it deal.

[eMeM]

There is no hell in the Bible. "Christians" who are in love with the idea of hell should be reading Dante or Plato instead.

Indeed. Unfortunately, instead of READING the bible people would rather take a passage or two, mix it up with opinions and ideas of fellow men and then discuss it ad nauseum, rationalizing everything to try and fit it all together into their own views of how everything works.

[Mr. Personality]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKTxr30h8CE&feature=related[/youtube]

Go to 3:45 on the video - it's funny.
This 'Untouchable' kid says he doesn't eat lunch with
the other kids, because the other kids will get 'polluted' by him.

That caste system the Hindus invented as a way to keep themselves
above the Dalits is evil.

I will remember to avoid Hindus the same way they avoid the untouchables.

2 things.

1 - What exactly is your point?
2 - Why focusing on the Hindus?

[eMeM]

I believe Thinktank is trying to prove to us that "Christianity" is hypocritical by claiming to love everyone while condemning to hell all of those who disagree. He's right. It is ridiculous that so many teach that. It is unbiblical - nowhere in the bible does it say that we're all going to burn in firey torment for eternity - NOWHERE and I would challenge anyone to PROVE otherwise.
The unfortunate thing about so many false teachings is that it gives people like Thinktank the opportunity to accuse the whole of Christianity of being hypocritical, ignorant fools. While the vast majority do fit that description, there are a few out there that know better. However, those of us that do understand some of God's truth are often ridiculed by the same "Christians" that condemn Hindu's, etc to hell.

[36Drew]

Look - if you want to believe in the good book.....However, you can't pick and choose just the bits you agree with and throw out the rest.

I was taught to "Take what you need and leave the rest". I think if there are words worth living by in any book that you should by all means keep them for future reference, but I also think that to adhere to tenets that your instincts tell you are not right just because they appear in the same book is wrong. Likewise, just because a few good points are mixed in with a bunch of bad ones doesn't mean the good points have to be ignored. I've managed to cobble together a workable set of guideposts from multiple sources, and it's always under revision as new ideas come to light. It's working fine for me, and I have no problem picking and choosing, in fact it makes a lot more sense than being forced to consider the bad and the good as a package take-it-or-leave-it deal.

The problem with simply picking and choosing is that fundamental christianity requires biblical inerrancy. If the arguments for being anti-gay, anti-muslim (or anti-anything-else), anti-evolution, young-earth-theory, creationism all center around "It's true because it's in the bible and is the word of god".... then that requires that everything in the bible is true and is the word of god. If you feel that the texts that speak of killing your wife or selling your daughter into slavery are errant, then you must accept that the biblical text is therefore errant (contains errors). If it contains those errors, then what other errors does it contain?

If you're able to cobble together "a workable set of guideposts from multiple sources" then you are not a fundamental christian. You may share some "christian values", which really aren't exclusively owned by christians.

[Thinktank]

Here's my point:

I'm not judging all Hindus. I'm just saying the entire Hindu
religion is fraudulent for having the nerve to claim 'everyone is unequal'
and for pulling a fast one over God, by trying to persuade 20% of India's
population they are 'polluted' and must do the dirty work in India, like shoveling manure,
while only Brahmins are allowed to preach in the temple. And I'm saying those
Hindus who believe in the caste system, if there is a hell, will probably
be shoveling coal themselves, when they kick the bucket, while a devil jabs
them with a pitchfork day and night.

But there's more:

Christians do a little of their own 'caste system' themselves. And I'll elaborate later.
Right now - back to work - on the farm - doing manual labour - like the 'untouchables' do.



.

[fluffy]

If you're able to cobble together "a workable set of guideposts from multiple sources" then you are not a fundamental christian. You may share some "christian values", which really aren't exclusively owned by christians.

Bingo. I don't think for a second that the Christian religions have got a solid grip on morality based mostly on their desire to impose a particular set of values on everyone without any allowance for individual differences. What's right for me might not necessarily be right for you, and while neither of us may be essentially "wrong" we could not co-exist under fundamentalist doctrine. The Bible has some good points, but in the end it's just a book, written for humans by humans, and there are lots of good books out there. To claim a monopoly on the "one true God" is arrogance at its highest.

[Mr. Personality]

Here's my point:

I'm not judging all Hindus. I'm just saying the entire Hindu
religion is fraudulent for having the nerve to claim 'everyone is unequal'
and for pulling a fast one over God, by trying to persuade 20% of India's
population they are 'polluted' and must do the dirty work in India, like shoveling manure,
while only Brahmins are allowed to preach in the temple. And I'm saying those
Hindus who believe in the caste system, if there is a hell, will probably
be shoveling coal themselves, when they kick the bucket, while a devil jabs
them with a pitchfork day and night.

But there's more:

Christians do a little of their own 'caste system' themselves. And I'll elaborate later.
Right now - back to work - on the farm - doing manual labour - like the 'untouchables' do.



.

Hell is never mentioned in the Bible. A lake of fire is, but the wicked are destroyed in it, not tortured for eternity.

Are you a Christian or not?

[Thinktank]

Christians have their own little 'caste system' going on too.
For example, Christians in one church will hang out only with people in their own church,
and they consider people of other churches to be 'untouchable' to a certain degree, because
they think they are the only ones who have 'the truth.' All Christians
tend to hang out with their own kind, week after week after week, month after month
year after year, and they avoid other castes (denominations) like the plague.

And in every church there is a little thing happening called 'favouritism.'
Favouritism is a method used by people, to keep their own families and friends
above other people. It's similar to the way Hindus won't let untouchables to even enter their house,

Why is it that Billy Graham's son takes over the preaching, from his father,
and Oral Robert's son takes over the preaching from his father? Isn't that
a bit like the Brahmins of India, where the only way you can teach is if your father was
a teacher in the Hindus religion? Is it favouritism, where family members get the good
priveleges in a church? It's similar to the Hindus caste system, just not so extreme.

[eMeM]

Christians have their own little 'caste system' going on too.
For example, Christians in one church will hang out only with people in their own church,
and they consider people of other churches to be 'untouchable' to a certain degree, because
they think they are the only ones who have 'the truth.' All Christians
tend to hang out with their own kind, week after week after week, month after month
year after year, and they avoid other castes (denominations) like the plague.

As do doctors hang with doctors and lawyers with lawyers. This isn't a "Christian" thing, it's a societal thing. Perhaps not necessarily a "job description" thing but a "caste system" none the less, demographically. After all, how can two walk together, lest they be agreed?

And in every church there is a little thing happening called 'favouritism.'
Favouritism is a method used by people, to keep their own families and friends
above other people. It's similar to the way Hindus won't let untouchables to even enter their house,

Why is it that Billy Graham's son takes over the preaching, from his father,
and Oral Robert's son takes over the preaching from his father? Isn't that
a bit like the Brahmins of India, where the only way you can teach is if your father was
a teacher in the Hindus religion?
Is it not like our own system of not too long ago? If your father was a carpenter, odds were you would be one as well. After all, who better to learn the ropes than from your own father?
Is it favouritism, where family members get the good priveleges in a church? What about the instances where the immediate family (heirs if you will) are excommunicated because their ideas are errant from the teachings of the Church? I can think of one example. It's similar to the Hindus caste system, just not so extreme.

[forum]

All your points are invalid eMeM.

I hang out with doctors, nurses, plumbers,electricians, IT personnel, gardeners, drunks, potheads, Christians, Lesbians, gays, Atheists, By-law Officers, Police Officers etc etc.

If your father was a poor and unsuccessful carpenter, why would you want to learn from him?

[fluffy]

All your points are invalid eMeM.

I hang out with doctors, nurses, plumbers,electricians, IT personnel, gardeners, drunks, potheads, Christians, Lesbians, gays, Atheists, By-law Officers, Police Officers etc etc.

That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen outside your circle of friends forum. I see truth in eMeM's comments on a number of levels, from people who just tend to have a lot of overlap in their social life and work life to those who actually see themselves as above the social station of others. It may not be intentional in most, but there is a definite social hierarchy at play here.

[forum]

All your points are invalid eMeM.

I hang out with doctors, nurses, plumbers,electricians, IT personnel, gardeners, drunks, potheads, Christians, Lesbians, gays, Atheists, By-law Officers, Police Officers etc etc.

That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen outside your circle of friends forum. I see truth in eMeM's comments on a number of levels, from people who just tend to have a lot of overlap in their social life and work life to those who actually see themselves as above the social station of others. It may not be intentional in most, but there is a definite social hierarchy at play here.

Religion promotes profit through association. This goes directly against what we are striving for as a society. It attacks equality.

[Mr. Personality]

All your points are invalid eMeM.

I hang out with doctors, nurses, plumbers,electricians, IT personnel, gardeners, drunks, potheads, Christians, Lesbians, gays, Atheists, By-law Officers, Police Officers etc etc.

That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen outside your circle of friends forum. I see truth in eMeM's comments on a number of levels, from people who just tend to have a lot of overlap in their social life and work life to those who actually see themselves as above the social station of others. It may not be intentional in most, but there is a definite social hierarchy at play here.

Religion promotes profit through association. This goes directly against what we are striving for as a society. It attacks equality.

All businesses do. It's what drives capitalism.