Recently the Vatican stated that babies who die without being baptized may go to heaven. Up until now it was believed by Catholics that this was not the case. This has always bothered me. Why would the fate of one's soul be dependent on the actions of another? I also never understood how parents can make that decision for their child. Other Christian religions (like the Jehovah's Witnesses) believe that people must make this decision themselves. This makes sense to me.
My question to any readers is this: What happens to the soul of an unbaptized baby?
1. If you say the baby WILL NOT go to Heaven then how can you call your God a loving God? Why would God punish a baby due to the actions (or non-actions) of it's parents?
2. If you say the baby WILL go to Heaven then wouldn't killing your baby be the ULTIMATE sacrifice? You'd be damning your soul to guarantee the salvation of your baby's soul. If you let you baby grow up they may go down the wrong path that eventually leads them to Hell. Killing it as a baby would prevent that.
3. If you say you don't know then I appreciate you honesty. As far as I can tell the Bible doesn't have much to say on the issue.
Also...to those who pick one of the first 2 options. Please cite your source.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
you will burn in hell says Johnny Hart
Johnny Hart (creator of the comic strip "BC" and co-creator of the strip "The Wizard of Id") died on April 7th. Hart, a Christian, once stated in a 1999 interview that "Jews and Muslims who don't accept Jesus will burn in Hell". This upset many people. His often overtly Christian strips were labeled as anti-Jewish.
I don't understand why people get so upset. These religions are not compatible. Everyone believes there own to be the "right one". The Christian bible says that you must accept Christ as Son of God and your Saviour. If you do not your soul will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whether a Christian says it out loud or not, that it what they believe. Remaining silent will not change that belief. I found Muslim pages online saying that Jews and Christians will go to Hell. This is the nature of religion. If I say I believe in religion X...am an infering that religion Y and Z are wrong and they are dooming their souls. I'm all for everybody getting along but that doesn't change the fact that these beliefs are there. I am agnostic and I know my Christian friends believe there is no Heaven for me. But I don't take it personally. They believe their Book and the rules as they are stated. They never made these rules nor do I believe the want me to go to Hell. It's just the way things work according to their beliefs.
I have met these pseudo-Christians (what most people are) who say as long as you are a good person you will go to Heaven. These people have obviously never read the Bible. Besides....why would Christ have gone through all that torture and pain if it wasn't necessary.
I don't understand why people get so upset. These religions are not compatible. Everyone believes there own to be the "right one". The Christian bible says that you must accept Christ as Son of God and your Saviour. If you do not your soul will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whether a Christian says it out loud or not, that it what they believe. Remaining silent will not change that belief. I found Muslim pages online saying that Jews and Christians will go to Hell. This is the nature of religion. If I say I believe in religion X...am an infering that religion Y and Z are wrong and they are dooming their souls. I'm all for everybody getting along but that doesn't change the fact that these beliefs are there. I am agnostic and I know my Christian friends believe there is no Heaven for me. But I don't take it personally. They believe their Book and the rules as they are stated. They never made these rules nor do I believe the want me to go to Hell. It's just the way things work according to their beliefs.
I have met these pseudo-Christians (what most people are) who say as long as you are a good person you will go to Heaven. These people have obviously never read the Bible. Besides....why would Christ have gone through all that torture and pain if it wasn't necessary.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Courage/Cowardice
Some people are called "courageous" while battling a disease...like cancer. But it's not like people choose to get cancer. You get cancer...you can't choose not to have it. You are pretty much forced to face it.
The 9/11 terrorists have been called cowards. They knew they would die...that hardly seems cowardice to me. It would seem to take some sort of courage to do what they did. People don't like to say that because they don't like to use positive words like 'courageous' to describe these terrorists. However does the motivation of an act have to be "good" to be courageous? Not according to any definitions I found. (Besides...who decides if an act is "good"? And what if the person committing the act believes it's "good" even though many would think otherwise?) I was once told that the fact that their victims were unarmed civilians that makes them cowards. But even if the planes were empty and the building were filled with armed military personal....the terrorists' outcome is the same....death. Is sending a missile at an armed soldier miles away courageous?
Let's consider 2 people who walk into a burning building to pull someone out, risking their own live doing so. That sounds courageous. But what if person #1 loves life while person #2 has been considering suicide. I would think that person #1 is more courageous as they risked their life which they value much more than person #2.
The 9/11 terrorists have been called cowards. They knew they would die...that hardly seems cowardice to me. It would seem to take some sort of courage to do what they did. People don't like to say that because they don't like to use positive words like 'courageous' to describe these terrorists. However does the motivation of an act have to be "good" to be courageous? Not according to any definitions I found. (Besides...who decides if an act is "good"? And what if the person committing the act believes it's "good" even though many would think otherwise?) I was once told that the fact that their victims were unarmed civilians that makes them cowards. But even if the planes were empty and the building were filled with armed military personal....the terrorists' outcome is the same....death. Is sending a missile at an armed soldier miles away courageous?
Let's consider 2 people who walk into a burning building to pull someone out, risking their own live doing so. That sounds courageous. But what if person #1 loves life while person #2 has been considering suicide. I would think that person #1 is more courageous as they risked their life which they value much more than person #2.
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