obliguhl said:
@Hyperspace fool
Sure, you have the right to discuss things and to be critical if they are engaging you. I just wouldn't take the initiative. Well, i'm more the kinda guy who tries to find similaritys. I once had a talk with some jehovas witness type creationists and it was interesting because their belief seems to be rooted in the joy of nature and the firm feeling, that something so beautiful must have been god-made. I can understand that.
I don't merely discuss things with them, and I am not all that critical actually. I find plenty of truth in all religions, though I am more of a mystic, experientialist & indidividualist than a 'group faith' type.
What I do is systematically break down their belief through a keener understanding of their faith than they themselves have. Having read the Bible many times through, and studied Qabbalah and its gematria, I can quote passages with the best of them. Furthermore, I know that the Holy Spirit is real.
I show them that they are practicing something
other than the religion of Jesus. That they are promoting and proselytizing for an ethical system that has very little to do with the life & teachings of Yeshua Ben Yoseph.
When I ask them if they have seen miracles, I am not making fun of them necessarily. I myself HAVE seen miracles... many many many of them.
I don't need permission to engage anyone with my thoughts. Certainly not someone who comes
to me trying to project
their belief system onto me. If someone is making their system work, I have nothing but praise for them. It is only when people have the nerve to judge and evangelize while they themselves have never experienced the truth of what they preach, that I feel somewhat obliged to burst bubbles.
[EDIT: The same goes for the faith based aspects of the religion we call science.]
"Judge not, lest ye yourself be judged."
"Do not point to the splinter in another's eye whilst ignoring the stick in your own."
I don't try and hurt anyone, and I only treat them how I would like them to treat me. If/when I lose the plot, or act irrationally, I would be grateful to anyone who takes the time to wake me up a bit.
Personally, if you want to go in a Christian-ish pathway to truth... I prefer the
Course In Miracles to the Old & New Testament. It is more effective IMHO. But the Bible is still one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time...
hands down.