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HistoryGal
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17 Jul 2018, 8:40 am

The idea of church seems to me to be built around NT social rituals. Sometimes a competition to see who is the holiest. Since the autistic doesn't naturally get included, she or he starts to wonder if this God cares about everyone and in some cases doubts His existence.

I don't question His existence. I just don't believe He is as concerned about rituals and popularity as some think. Reading the Gospels doesn't show Jesus as a prideful arrogant man. He is the Son of God and yet He never neglected society's marginalized classes of people.



ladyelaine
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17 Jul 2018, 8:50 am

Some people seem to think they got the monopoly on God. Most churches are full of wealthy, popular people. The attitudes that many of these church people have towards poor and homeless people is terrible. They think that donating clothes threshold be thrown into the trash is helping the poor and the homeless. It's like people have completely missed the point of the four gospels and the book of James in particular.



Fnord
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17 Jul 2018, 8:55 am

HistoryGal wrote:
... I don't question His existence. I just don't believe He is as concerned about rituals and popularity as some think...
From the Book of Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 13, in which God gets to the point...
Isaiah, the Prophet wrote:
Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations -- I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

8)



Last edited by Fnord on 17 Jul 2018, 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

HistoryGal
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17 Jul 2018, 8:56 am

I call it the Middle Class God of cars, houses, jobs etc.

What if anything are people offering said deity in return?



Fnord
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17 Jul 2018, 8:57 am

HistoryGal wrote:
... What if anything are people offering said deity in return?
Nothing that He needs or doesn't already own.



HistoryGal
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17 Jul 2018, 9:03 am

Love one another......is what we can do and quit treating God like an ATM.



kraftiekortie
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17 Jul 2018, 9:05 am

I would treat God as just some entity which wants us to provide for ourselves.

Sometimes I feel that God (or something) has gotten me good and bad things--but, all in all, if there's a God, He/She/Whatever feels that interference in peoples' affairs would be harmful in the end.



HistoryGal
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17 Jul 2018, 9:10 am

Kraftie, that is how I believe. IMO, God doesn't interfere in temporal affairs.

Non believers have houses, cars and jobs too. They obviously didn't pray for them.



ladyelaine
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17 Jul 2018, 9:22 am

HistoryGal wrote:
Love one another......is what we can do and quit treating God like an ATM.


I agree. People treat God like an ATM. People think they are favored by God or that because they worked hard, they are successful. They think if you are poor or homeless that it is your fault or that you are not favored by God. I think that is a just an excuse to not help people in need.



nick007
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18 Jul 2018, 3:19 am

God seems to be an excuse that people use in order to get away with doing bad things like committing murder, people suddnelty find god when they're trying to prove they are no longer a threat to society. God is also claimed to be the reason people hate on gays & star wars. These things seem more NTish to me.


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MrMacPhisto
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18 Jul 2018, 7:15 am

First of all I am a Christian and a very active member in my Church my Dad when he was alive was a Church Pastor. Just wanted to make that clear.

Now I as a person actually agree with the original post here as well. I think the problem with the Church and Christianity is not God but Christians.

I find Christians can come across as snobs, patronising, selfish making themselves out to be better than everyone and it is completely and utterly wrong.

Truth is there is no such thing as a perfect person, we all have flaws. A lot of Christians make out they are perfect under there own merit and there own self-will. I personally would rather be a Christian and say I have flaws and be truthful than go round saying I am perfect and better than you! Sadly because of my attitude it would be harder to fit into a lot of Christian circles.

So Christians do around treating Church as one big social club and an opportunity to gossip which it isn’t suppose to be. It is suppose to be a Place of Worship.

So people treat God as one big Father Christmas trying to see what they can get out of God and treat Him as some way to get away with Murder. It all goes against the Bible.

A lot of Christians are also very selective in what they read in the Bible they like to hear the nice things but refuse to listen to the warnings.

There are however a few churches that are a lot more truthful and I think for an Autistic person they are a lot more accepting where the people would do everything they can to help each other out. They accept they have flaws and are not perfect and accept everyone for who they are. When I am not busy in my own Church I would go and pay them a visit.



ezbzbfcg2
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18 Jul 2018, 7:32 am

I think God as a concept and Church as an institution are oftentimes two different things.



EzraS
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18 Jul 2018, 7:37 am

Considering that 99% of the world's population is NT, I'd say most broad based concepts, rituals, traditions etc are primarily NT.



SaveFerris
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18 Jul 2018, 7:49 am

Are schizophrenics NT ? If so God is an NT concept , if not God is an ND concept. :twisted:


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18 Jul 2018, 10:02 am

Regarding snobbery, I don't these problems are inherently Christian or even religion-based. I think it's the nature of all majority groups to target minorities. The larger the majority (in proportion to the minority or general demographic), the more evident this will be. In a Western country, Christians will often be the oppressors because they make up the largest (most powerful) group. If you were you meet Christians in a place like Pakistan, you would find them less snobbish and divisive because of their unfortunate position. I don't think this is a NT concept but a human concept. It might seem as if autistics don't play the game because they're not often in a position to, but there are certainly minorities that we all prey upon. No exceptions. I don't understand the common tendency to act like autistics are a holy race of men who have somehow managed to avoid the follies of the rest of humanity. It's no different than Christians thinking that they've somehow risen above the depravity of sexual deviants and heretics. We're all terrible, judgemental, hypocritical creatures. We'd do a lot better as a race if we spent more time mulling over our own faults. (Can you hear my Catholic guilt?)


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18 Jul 2018, 8:38 pm

Why do some people make everything about being between AS vs. NT?