Comments on: Religion: Can You “Hate Religion, But Love Jesus?”

By: Coffey0072

Coffey0072 — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:55:00 +0000

Simply put: I’m from the school of thought that you either believe in/love Jesus (with all of the “fixings” that come with that relationship) or you’ve suspended all belief; this includes in Jesus and everything else that (and religion in general) encompasses. While I respect people’s journey, saying “I love Jesus but hate religion” seems somewhat contradictory… like having your cake, and eating it too or sort of like the person who prays/or goes to church every Sunday but engages in tawdry behavior every other day of the week with reckless abandon, for lack of better analogies. For myself, it’s all or nothing for me… and I choose “nothing.”
For a while though, I spent much of my early twenties explaining that I am a “spiritual” person who believes in the possibility of Jesus, but didn’t believe in “organized religion” when I knew (and have known since my TWEEN years) that wasn’t the case, just to placate people’s discomfort about Atheism/Apatheism,

By: inthenameoftruth

inthenameoftruth — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:12:00 +0000

What’s up, Rippa?…Hope all is well.

In order to have a more fruitful discussion, I think the term “religion” must be defined. According to Merriam-Webster, Religion can be defined as: ”
a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices” or ”
a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.”Merriam-Webster defines a Christian as ”
one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ” and Christianity is defined as “the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies.”Jesus is an person–a real person–with a real personality. If you read through the Gospels, you will find that there were many people following Jesus. Physically, walking behind him and watching his actions. Intellectually, listening to his teachings and seeking for answers. But Jesus was not out to win any popularity contests. Jesus came to display before men the character of God, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, and to both provide and lead the way to God.
You are correct in saying, “you either accept it all or reject it.” “Christianity” as a term can be subjective. Jesus Christ is mutually exclusive. Jesus did not come to start a religion. He came to fulfill the law of God. That is, he came to earth in humble obedience. He lived a sinless life, in complete obedience to the law of God, given to Moses in the Old Testament. He offered himself as a perfect sacrifice for sins of the world, that those that would believe in him would have eternal life. That is love. Not religion.

Check Matthew 12:9-14:
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Perfect example of Jesus v.s. Religion!

The Pharisees represented religion. They professed that healing on the Sabbath was unlawful. The Pharisees’ interpretation of the law was wrong. Jesus defied there interpretation of correctness. Jesus upheld the law. . Be clear: Jesus did not break the law of God! He broke the Pharisees’ interpretation of the law. He violated the Pharisee’s sense of religion.

That said, “Christianity” can be wrong. Sometimes we can misinterpret Jesus. That is why we must always go back to the icon. Jesus is the trademark. He is who he is. Jesus is not open to interpretation. Christianity is a mirror. Jesus is Jesus.

By: msladydeborah

msladydeborah — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:52:00 +0000

Religion is an establishment of order that was constructed by human beings. It’s not difficult for me to understand what point this young man is making. There is nothing in the scriptures that indicates the different religious denominations exist. Jesus said to go forth and preach the gospel into all the lands.

Look at all the different manners of practice just among Christians. There are people who use their religious beliefs to do some very inhumane acts in God’s name. Would this trend be the same without religion? It is difficult to determine that because it would take time to remove the rituals and systems of belief that religion denotes is correct.

My relationship with God is not dependent on a church setting. It is personal and I am actively engaged in that relationship on a daily basis. Attending church has a place in that relationship but it serves as a place where people of alike minds gather.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:35:00 +0000

People are so afraid to say, “you know, no offense to your religious beliefs or whatever, but that’s for the birds. I’m still a good person and I can be that without all the superstition.” I even found myself wanting to keep the safety net of religion and spirituality as a safety net. It’s all very silly to me.

By: Don1228

Don1228 — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:36:00 +0000

As I have posted before, Rip, if one is looking for the “religion” in my”relationship” with Jesus, they are looking in the wrong place. All the rituals and “practices” won’t bring us any closer to Heaven. The things that people do and do not do in the name of religion are the trap. God does not need those things now that He sent Jesus to atone for our sins. Before, sacrifices, etc. were needed because The Law was everything. I feel what you are saying but folks of Faith understand totally what the young man was saying.

Donny

By: Ada Ibe

Ada Ibe — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:31:00 +0000

I think it is possible, especially given the way different religions have changed over time based on the agendas the leaders wanted to push. You can love the original ideas of the religion, love Jesus, love God, and not love the buildings that currently spout their ideas and push to raise money for themselves and not to do help. You can not love when you walk in to a church and all you hear are far right ideas and preachers telling you who to vote for and what you should be doing with your body, mind, spirit that are really all a political agenda.