A Discussion With A Bible College Student

[Moonlight]

Hi all,

 

I went to church today (Sunday) like every other Sunday even though I no longer call myself Christian. Although, I was probably not a Christian in the first place as I never truly believed that Jesus died and raised from the dead. And yes, I did the full baptism thing, so I am probably a big fat liar in front of God (if he's there watching). But anyway, all's good now as I have now called myself non-Christian, and the pastor is glad because he knows where I stand and he's happy for me to come to church. Although this church that I am attending is not the same church as when I was baptised. This church is a Chinese Congregation English Service church (in Australia). Most people who attend are mainly of Chinese background, from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc..

 

Yes, I still go to church because my wife is a Christian.

 

A young woman who attends Bible College was preaching today. Boy was she offensive. Perhaps not to the believers, but to me, who's whole life core is Buddhism. This is the second time that she mentions Thailand and Buddhist temples while implying that Buddhists are Idol worshippers and are actually satanic. She was preaching on the first few verses of Jona and she was trying to describe what Nineveh (spelling?) was like. i.e. I quote "imagine a place where it's comprised of many Kings Cross's (a place where there's lots of prostitution, drugs) and many Thai Buddhist temples."

 

I was so insulted, because I could have sworn that I never worshipped any idols. I never prayed to a statue in my life, and I certainly do not think I sided with the devil. I would think millions of people in Thailand and other countries who are Buddhists are not satanic. How proposterous. She's of Chinese/Hong Kong background, so she would have seen her own family pray to their ancestors or something like that (Chinese ancestor worship), but associated that with what Buddhism is. I could not even think of my own dad being a Satanic, Idol, and Devil Worshipper even though he is a Buddhist and loves trying to read on Buddhism and even Jiddu Krishnamurti. He doesn't even have a statue of the Buddha at home!

 

Towards the end she seemed quite passionate about trying to get everybody to go out and share their faith with friends, colleagues, and family. And she said that if you are not a Christian then you will go straight to Hell. She says, and I quote " You will go straight to Hell".

 

I left at the end of the preaching ( I didn't want to be rude or discourteous by walking out on her mid way). I said to another Bible College Student when I was walking out, "I am not a Christian. I am going to Hell" and I laughed as I patted him on the shoulder. He said "Don't be presumptous." I said "I will never be a Christian."

 

Anyway, I complained to my wife (she didn't go to church today) and she rang the pastor who rang and apologise. He said some of what the girl was preaching was not quite correct and he spoke to her, but he will arrange for me to speak to her myself and talk to her about the Buddishm bit and how it can be quite offensive and she's got a wrong understanding of it.

 

It will be interesting to have a "talk" with a Bible College Student. It will go nowhere most likely as she will refer back to the Bible, which is the final word.

 

If the talk actually happens I will post what happened.

[Loren]

Welcome, Moonlight.

 

I'm looking forward to reading the follow-up (If it happens.).

 

See you in Hell,

Loren

[★ Citsonga ★]

Greetings, Moonlight!

 

I went to church today (Sunday) like every other Sunday even though I no longer call myself Christian....

 

Yes, I still go to church because my wife is a Christian....

 

Anyway, I complained to my wife (she didn't go to church today)

 

I'm curious why you bothered going to church when your wife didn't if your wife is the reason you go to church.

[Seeking]

This is the second time that she mentions Thailand and Buddhist temples while implying that Buddhists are Idol worshippers and are actually satanic.

 

I was so insulted, because I could have sworn that I never worshipped any idols. I never prayed to a statue in my life

 

I find this interesting. I lived in northern Thailand for a year (a couple years ago), and every Thai person I got to know had multiple statues of Buddha at home, they regularly went to the temple, they made offerings (food, flowers, etc) in front of the statues of Buddha there, they prayed and bowed down to the statues, and so on. I was surprised, because I'd never before thought that Buddhists actually prayed to Buddha, but these people confirmed to me that they did. (Of course, many of these same people also revere their king as part god.)

 

My impression, therefore, is that Buddhism is practiced in different ways in different cultures/countries.

[Vomit Comet]

My impression, therefore, is that Buddhism is practiced in different ways in different cultures/countries.

 

To posit a crude reduction: there's the white people version and then there's the Asians in Asia version.

[Moonlight]

My impression, therefore, is that Buddhism is practiced in different ways in different cultures/countries.

 

To posit a crude reduction: there's the white people version and then there's the Asians in Asia version.

 

 

Hi,

 

I am originally from Laos, and yes, in many places across Asia there's a lot of praying to statues of Buddha, monks, etc..

 

My father (whose father was a Buddhist scholar/teacher and even the monks used to come and learn from), taught me that there is no place for superstition or blind faith in Buddhism. He's not sure what the others pray of (it's probably quite varied), but he says the only thing you should be "praying" for in front of those statues or monks about is no more than a sign of respect for the memory of the Buddha. After all, the statues are just concrete, and the monks are just human beings. You don't need to accord any specialness to these monks, though you treat them with respect for their role. Just like you treat your doctor with respect etc..

 

He had no issues with me reading Jiddu Krishnamurti, in fact he took my book that I was reading.

 

He had no issues with me being a Christian before because he says try to learn something from it. He says he himself just can't believe that a person died and was raised back from the dead three days later. He just can't make himself believe it.

 

I think people in all parts of world do feel a need to pray to a higher power, whether they are Buddhists, muslims, or whatever. It seems when you have no hope in the world, what else can you do, especially in South East Asia where most people are poor and don't have education. I think it is wrong of Christians to start calling that idol worship and satanic etc.. I do bet that that's one of the reasons some people converted to Christianity in South East Asia, probably due to the "carrot" of a good life and salvation from Hell. Give people another thing to worry about like "Hell" and they will ask you for a way out.

 

Even though I don't "pray" to a Buddhist statue or at a Buddhist shrine, I still respect people who do because they are the same as me - humans who want a good life. The way we go about it may be different, and that's the only difference.

 

But I am so glad that science is starting to catch up on a lot of things.

 

A few months ago I read that scientists did a test on some religious people (not sure which religion) and atheists and asked them to think of something kind or compassionate, and they measure which part of the brain it activates. Guess what? It activates the same parts in all the people.

 

 

-Seng

[YellowJacket]

if it makes you feel any better, Moonlight, my presby church would say that ENTIRE CHURCH was going to hell for allowing a female to preach if any males are in the audience. Something Paul said in the buy-bull, somewhere.

[OpheliaGinger]

if it makes you feel any better, Moonlight, my presby church would say that ENTIRE CHURCH was going to hell for allowing a female to preach if any males are in the audience. Something Paul said in the buy-bull, somewhere.

 

Yep, women are not allowed to speak, period.