Did you answer my question yesterday??? To those who did or anyone else-?

Question

Here is the question-

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AjvO_kyUqFiF4tfKAcfEMnXsy6IX?qid=20060718134753AAPp2tx
Not sure if anyone who answered my question will read this but nevertheless-

First of all, when I say back in the day I am not referring to slavery, the Salem witch trials, killing of Indians, etc. My parents and other older people that I hear say this weren’t alive during that time; therefore, their back in the day would not be referencing those things.

I understand that there haven’t been any new sins created, but in the past, immoral behavior wasn’t as widely accepted and flaunted. But it seems that now it is. I believe that it has to do with the American people straying away from Christian morals and values.

And about the statistics related to criminals. True Christians are those that accept, believe, and obey God’s Word, not those that are “Christians” by tradition or association.
The last time I checked, murder, rape, stealing, lying, etc. where not commandments in the Bible.

I don’t know where you all live, but in my city, our violent crime rate is up, and most of the offenders are children and young adults. I believe that it has a lot to do with how immoral our society has become, and how people have disregarded God’s teachings regarding proper behavior. If the crime rate where you stay is low-Go You!! But that just isn’t my story.

I by no means believe that anyone should be forced to love God and obey his commandments; I just feel that our society as a whole would benefit much by following His principles.

Answer 1

Okay... Let's talk about how "immoral" our society has become. Whose morals are we talking about? The Catholic Church, Southern Baptist, your mother's?

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Main Entry: 1mor·al
Pronunciation: 'mor-&l, 'mär-
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin moralis, from mor-, mos custom
1 a : of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior : ETHICAL b : expressing or teaching a conception of right behavior c : conforming to a standard of right behavior d : sanctioned by or operative on one's conscience or ethical judgment
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Who defines right and wrong behavior? The Government has its laws, the Church has its rules as INTERPRETED from the Ten Commandments and the Bible, other religions have their sets of rules based on the cultures they came from and their Holy doctrines.

There are rules within rules as well. You have rules at work, at school, at home that go further to define what is right and what is wrong. Not everyone has the same set of rules, and most definitely not the same set of moral values.

For instance, there are many who believe that if a unmarried girl became pregnant, it would be the father's MORAL obligation to marry the girl. Others believe that this practice is archaic and wrong - in other words, immoral. Marriage should be a choice, not a duty.

You're basing your argument entirely on your personal, familial, and religious morals, and while you believe that you are entirely right, not everyone has those same morals. Whether religion and God, or any other diety, will help or hinder the innate evil of the human race will always be ongoing argument. It's good for everyone to say their piece of the argument, but when the argument is based on ethics and morals, no one is going to win.

As for what you said about being a "True Christian," that is also up for debate. There are so many different Christian sects, all of them believing in different practices and principles, interpreting God's word differently. Unfortunately God has not come down personally to tell us which of these are right and which are wrong.

We have the books of the Bible - and other than the books that were taken from the Tanakh (which is similar, but not identical to the Old Testament) - most of them were written hundreds of years after the death of Christ. The Christian belief is that these books are accurate in context and are the Word of God through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. For the first few hundred years, the Word as told by Jesus was passed by word of mouth and through the few documents that survived the persecution of the early Christians. The establishment of the Christianity in Rome went further to define Christianity. Many practices of Christianity have been taken from "Pagan" religions, as was the practice of the Church to make it easier for non-beleivers to conform to the new religion.

Christianity is in fact a bastard religion, bits and pieces of it taken from it's precurser Judaism and the early pagan religions. There is a new trend in the US, and perhaps elsewhere in the world, for Christians to borrow practices and beliefs from other religions in the world that fit what they believe. Who is to say that they are wrong to do this? Perhaps it's time for Christianity (this includes Catholicism and Orthodox churches) to also conform or die. Religions have risen and fallen since the time of man. The only one that has withstood the test of time and persecution is Judaism.

I believe that the "True Christians" were the ones who lived during and the few hundred years after the time of Christ, before the establishment of the Roman church and subsequent bastardization. Christians today may make of themselves what they wish - no one is wrong when it comes to what they believe. You may desire to call me a blasphemer, and I say let those who believe that they are without sin cast the first stone.

Answer 2

Gee, did you put enough amendments in your question? So what you're saying is that we should all be like the good, true Christians, not that bad ones? This is where you people drive me nuts...RELIGION and MORALITY are not the same thing! We can have a moral society without religion...if you want to argue that morality (overall) has decreased...fine...you have your opinion...but you'd better be willing to talk about the Crusades and all of the other religious wars waged by Christians (not to mention Jews, Muslims etc.) when you talk about how great religion is...and you have to talk about the past, because to claim that we've made progress since those events undermines your point- we've made progress, and religion is dying....is there a connection there? Get a better position before asking questions like this...

Answer 3

i do not know what your question was but what you have said here is true. i believe in God and try to follow his commandments everyday. i stopped asking questions on here because of the hateful answers i get to them and the lack of understanding. a lot of people on here are young kids or teens who have not learned how to be tactful.

Answer 4

why do people write books instead of ask questions?