Hi Nail,
My definition -

They believe in the devil:

To be fair, they are brainwashed into believing that stuff in the bible. No, very few follow the readings if it means putting themselves out a bit. They are 100% Christian at church but that's as far as it goes, by the time they get home they're just like all the rest of us, unless a church person should call, then they revert back to the 'holier than thou' image.

I can imagine longy at church, a fine example of the perfect Christian man, loving, caring, forgiving and joyful, then he comes on here all week calling everyone an idiot and a liar.

Christians should have to be tattooed on their forehead so we can keep an eye on them, just to make sure they're good all the time.

its hard to understand religious beliefs or indeed, anyones "vision of reality"
without understanding their "security operations"


what are security operations.

harry stack sullivan , the famous behavioural psychologist, defined them as a set of beliefs which help us make sense of the world and which prevent our minds descending into chaos.

now the truth is, if you have no beliefs at all, and your mind is chaotic, this is a frightening experience, almost a panic of the mind.

so from a very young age , most people will develop a fixed idea about many, most or all things.
they then become quite inflexible in their thinking.

why??

because if they give up their vision or "security operation' , they will experience , for some period of time, chaos.

you could liken this to crossing a raging river by jumping between each stone.  whilst on each stone there is no movement (stagnation) but their is security.
to move forward and experience CHANGE has to cause a brief period of stress, chaos, danger.
many people will not make this step.

this includes both christians who refuse to let in any new information and are therefore trapped in a limited world vision

and aetheists who refuse to let in any information and are so trapped ina limited world vision.

but make no mistake , EVERYONE has a world vision whether it be

the world is do eat dog  or
make as much money as you can or
people should be trusted or
dont trust anyone or
try to experience a beautiful forrest
or a forrest is just a pile of timber to cut down.

and these visions come from our parents, peers and educators froma very early age.

so what of christianity.??

is it a "healthy world vision"
forget those who practice the 'heresy" that has become prosperity christianity or judgemntal chritianity.

what did christ say and would belief in his world vison be worthwhile in terms of creating"peace and happiness"

its probably quite a healthy vision in many respects.

john paul getty when asked to write his autobiography.
wrote the following

john paul getty became a billionaire.
that was it. he refused for anything more to be published

a good world vison??

jesus through his actions

loved the poor
helped the beaten up on the side of the road.
said to forgive others
blessed the peacemakers
went to the lepers when others wouldnt
associated with prostitutes
drove out the money lenders
suffered greatly and bore his cross without complaint
when dying , was still concerned for the thief next to him
said 'greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends"

not a bad world vision.
i quite like it and combine it with buddhism which i consider very similar but not as damaged by evil things done in its name.

is there a god, is there a lheaven,
probably not

doesnt mean that discounting the christian world vision is a sensible thing to do.

it may be a better source of happiness and peace than foxtel . certainly worth experiencing a bit of chaos to have a think about.

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jan 5^th, 2013 at 5:59am:


For the sake of what?

SOB

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jan 5^th, 2013 at 8:07am:


But thats the topic

SOB

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Jan 5^th, 2013 at 8:37am:


You'll have to ask Nail.

To me it's more an anti-religious topic.
Many of us believe that such dark age beliefs could destroy our world if left unchecked.

forgiven
namaste

I can't see much point in identifying as a "christian" these days.  Your christian principles have been sold out and bastardised so they are barely recognisable from those of the church of liberalism - yet they still draw relentless criticism from those same liberals who they are basically carbon copies of.