Thats all any religions are.
Not really. Having faith and following the Word is not especially convenient at first. We are brought up with a very much non-biblical world view. A faith of convenience may get you to church on sunday and the bar on Monday, but following Him, stops all that.
All religions are fear based including yours. That statement could easily be replaced by "if you die for your god you will go to heaven and 72 virgins will await you".
Do I fear hell. Sure. Any sane person would. Is that what motivates me, no. I don't consider religion fear based at all. Glorify the name of God, strive to become like him, know that when He is on your side, you are undefeatable. You are loved and accepted, warts and all. A true belief removes all fear and doubt.
They are all mainly based on collective thinking and fear based manipulation. No different than the Koran.
What's the manipulation in reading the Bible and following it's principles? People loving one another, helping one another, shunning sin, staying true to one another, honoring one another and respecting one another. Manipulation is required to accept all that? I doubt it. If you need to be manipulated to quit behaviours that are not Godlike, then you will most definitely feel pressured but manipulated, nope.
As you study the Bible and start learning verses, you also learn that certain things you do are not pleasing to your creator. Further lots of these actions will keep you from knowing Him and spending eternity with Him. These are what need to be changed. But the wish to change, the pressure, the manipulation, to use your term, comes from within you. It is not external.
You must first acknowledge a belief and acceptance of Christ before any of this matters. Otherwise, you're rolling the dice on eternity. I'd very much like to chang eyour opinion here, but as I said, I'm new at this and am not capable of the words to convey why you should believe. |
