...including this one from Ms Susie Q:
Well!! Let me ask you this yvette [another commenter -- Peony]. Are you sure that 'jesus' is really the person you think he is?? I mean (before you go crazy :)) I mean, think about it, even 2,000 years ago people where con artists, just like some people are today. I am saying that what if.. this whole religon thing was made up?? I mean, back then anyone could have come into town and said 'I am the son of god' and people would have belived him. The Jews could be right, our 'savior' could still be coming. Budist could be right, romans, there are many gods. Witches are right about thier god and goddess. I think that religon is a state of mind, not a real thing. True, it does not sound that way. I think that ALL religons are right, and what I mean is whatever you belive in, that will be true for you. For example, you belive in reincarnation, so you get reincarnated. You belive in god and heaven and hell, so if your good you go to heaven, bad you go to hell, etc. Nobodys right, noone is wrong. I think you might disagree, that again your religon is the only way to 'god' but if you take a moment and think about, how did we get all these religons in the first place? Yes, people made some up, but you cant get so many from just human imagination. People might have had just sudden enlightment and understud what had to be done. And also yvette, knowing you, you probley do no belive in magic. But did you know that there is solid proof that moses used magic to spread the waters of the great sea to free the slaves?? Or that jesus used magic to heal blind men, walk on water, and turn water into wine? If he lived and walked this earth today, people would have considerd him a witch!!
Anyone care to help Miss Q? Comment here if you do. (Please, be gentle. This is not Two Salem Mommies. ;) )
Methinks she has been duped by the Da Vinci Code, or the hype surrounding that inane book. :^\
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis should be a good starting point for this person.
Oops, I see you already suggested Lewis. lol Good suggestion... :^)
YOu might also check out the ex-pagan blog. There was also a good article somewhere from a female ex-pagan ex-wiccan - I will try to scare it up if I can.
Can anyone help her? She sounds to me like an idiot, and unfortunately that's incurable. People don't go to the stake for hoaxes.
She sounds to me like a very confused person, left in this intellectually impoverished age adrift in an open boat in mid-ocean without a paddle. I was there once myself. I left a comment there.
Help her? Sounds like she's got a good start to a sound philosophical approach to faith. For the logical mind, faith doesn't come easy. Trying to make sense of the fact that everyone devout in their faith thinks they're right and will claim to have found the one path to god is a sensible endeavor.
When you rightfully think of the world in terms of "nobody's special, especially me," you can gain a lot of hard-earned insight into where your religious views have come from and where you should be taking them. It allows you an objective look at your world and how faith fits into it.
Conversely, blind faith in the religion you were born to under the misguided pretense that "God put me here because there's something special about my role in His divine plan," is simply comforting and easy.
When it comes to faith, nothing comes easily that's worth keeping.
Elinor is right. Knocking any solid philosophy into a head like that requires an act of grace that only God can provide. Arguing with these people is maddening until you realize that you are doing nothing more than speaking to a little rabbit and that what passes as speech from the rabbit is nothing more than that adorable little nose quivering. You pet the rabbit between the ears, say "good bunny" and pray that God provides the flash of inspiration for the rabbit to find a human intellect.
For a while I "worked" in a New-Age bookstore that friends of mine ran.They did alot of book signings, discussion forums,etc. On more than one occasion, authors signed to one of the largest and most well known publishers told us that they were wrangled into signing contracts that required them to write 5 books or more, and that after the second book or so,they ran out of material and made stuff up to honor the contract requirments.These were their "Heavy Hitter" authors, the ones that were respected and trusted by readers.