Americans switching or losing faith

[Lori_7]

What makes God, as Christians view him, anymore believable than the existence of Buddha, Allah, Krishna, any other deity from any other religion?

well, i can only speak from my own experience, and i haven't ever practiced a religion other than christianity. a long time ago, i did something that i had an unreconciled feeling about, and because of that, i decided for the first time in my life that i really wanted to know the truth about god. so i told him that if he was real, then i wanted him to show me. in the meantime, i got a book on the world's major religions. it gave a very good general overview of what the religion was all about and how it was practiced and by whom. after i read it i concluded that they were all pretty much the same. not in circumstance but in behavioral outcome. i mean the truth is the truth, and in a lot of ways it's really obvious, so any particular religion can't stray too far from it and remain credible. the only one that stood out to me was christianity, because it was the only one that claimed a messiah. so it seemed to me that truth could be found within all major religions, but a saviour could only be found in one. so i thought that christianity may not be the only word, but could be the final word.

since then i've had many spiritual experiences that have confirmed that idea.

 

[Lori_7]

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M*W: Well, finally, there is something we agree on. I've had lunch/dinner with friends of different religions (Muslims, Christians, Hindis, Sikhs, etc.), but the only ones who prayed before a meal were certain specific Christians.

Now let me tell you about a very close friend who is Christian. She doesn't go to church. She curses like a sailor, but she preaches to me for the sake of my soul. Had lunch with her one day, and although she's very self-conscious about herself in public, she made such a scene in the restaurant about praying over her food. Now, this girl is no Twiggy, so she's hard to miss. She rears back, raises her arms as if over her food (fatty fried stuff), and she prayed for what seemed like hours! Then when she was apparently finished with her ritual, she looked around to see if anybody was looking at her. I had already blessed my food by eating it. I just wonder what was up with her obvious praying at the table. It seemed so insincere.

I think if people want to pray over their food, fine, I don't care, but do it discreetly. I don't think it's meant to be a dramatic occurance. Any comments?

how typical...

that food didn't come from god, that food came from a money machine that's driven by greed and capitalizes on addiction, while poisoning it's customers. i used to work as a waitress for applebee's so i know how it goes and it makes me sick. what kind of god would bless that crap? your friend should pray for him to heal her of her addiction to junk food, forgive her for her gluttony, and to do it in private, and stop taking his name in vain, and being a false witness.

 

[Lori_7]

Well Jesus did say that prayer should be done in secret.

yes he did. he said it should be done in private. the term closet was used. and you're not supposed to pray to appease others. that is turning it into a meaningless ritual. it's supposed to be done as a way to commune with god.