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From: purtell@reed.UUCP (Lady Godiva)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Invasive religions
Message-ID: <1731@reed.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 26-Jul-85 15:13:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: reed.1731
Posted: Fri Jul 26 15:13:20 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 09:15:23 EDT
References: <517@oliveb.UUCP>
Reply-To: purtell@reed.UUCP (Lady Godiva)
Distribution: net
Organization: Reed College, Portland, Oregon
Lines: 49

In article <517@oliveb.UUCP> gnome@oliveb.UUCP (Gary Traveis) writes:
>Is it my imagination or do most people need a religion
>or other organization to tell them what to do with their
>lives?

 [Some things about marriages, etc.]

>I've also noticed that the more an individual get into an invasive
>religion, the less they can interact with other non-believers.
>Hardly five minutes can go by without them quoting passage&verse
>in relation to the weather, sports, politics, TV, color of hair,
>and shoe size.  It's one thing to have a deep conviction to your
>religion, but when it turns a person into a biblical mynah bird
>I feel that there is something wrong.

   Ok - Here's what I think.
   I'm a Christian. I'm "born again" (a phrase that I dislike using
greatly) in that I believe in Jesus Christ and I believe in the power of
the Holy Spirit, although I must confess that I'm not a trinitarian (sp?)
and believe that the Holy Spirit is the same thing as God, in essence. 
I'm protestant (as opposed to being Catholic) but I'm not any denomination.
   Furthermore, I completely agree with you. I've known many many people
like this. And I've gotten a lot of flack from people like this because
I spent so much time with non-believers just having fun with them and
being their friend rather than trying to convert them. When I'm getting
to know someone new I almost always ask them if they believe in God,
because it is a part of what a person is and what their philosophy is
and I find that interesting, and I'm always willing to tell them my
religious beliefs if they ask. To me part of  being a Christian is being 
a good friend, loving my friends, and showing it. And I think that most 
of the time I do this. I certainly try to. I don't think that being a
Christian means that you have to, or even should, hound people with your
beliefs. In fact, I think that it's outright wrong.
     Now - in defense of these people. They really do mean well. They
believe that they have found eternal life and they want to share that
with others. What's more, they are very in love with their God and they
want to do what they believe he wants, and unfortunately they happen to
think that that is it. 
     Anyway - that's what I think.

     cheers -

     elizabeth g. purtell

     (Lady Godiva)