In Reply to: On faith posted by Believer on July 17, 2004 at 00:24:43:
What an outdated terminology--murmur?? Give me a break! What exactly is the point? "Oh you murmuring child, quit your murmuring--you get a demerit for that, actually, a swat as well!"
Yeah, decrease in faith, yeah, for sure. A lost faith in a God who couldn't stand up and protect innocent children who had been told that "when my father and mother forsake me then the Lord will take me up"? A God who for some unknown reason turned his great almighty, all-knowing, all-loving eye against children who had never committed a true sin, when their 'fathers' and 'uncles' and 'the great grandpa Mo' had their fingers up inside them, beat them with an abuse greater than they deserved, when we had to go begging on the streets for donations before breakfast to pay for a bowl of hot cereal in mid-winter in Sweden with a mom who was 8 months pregnant and a daughter not yet 5?
How about a God who did nothing to defend the 'Victors', or my sister who tried to commit suicide after being severely molested and beaten by her maniac 'shepherd'? How about my sister-in-law who never realised until she was 20 and out of the Family that regular molestation by adult men was NOT the norm and was NOT her fault. What about the students in my charge who were molested under my nose by the very 'leaders' or men who were there to lead them in paths of righteousness? Or the 'shepherdesses' who corrected me for being SR when I stood up in angry defense?
And why should I place my faith in God when God has not protected as He was supposed to?
Yeah, sure, the 'Family" clearly is not a true 'Chrisian' movement, as definted by secular Christianity, and we all agree that God may not have been in that movement, BUT--I ask you this--
Did I or my siblings, or my peers know that during our tender years? Did we have the wisdom to separate God from the Family? And of course you have probably come to the conclusion that I have--No, we were NOT able to make that distinction, to see that the lies and perversities woven in with the Bible were two separate issues. In fact, many of my parent's generation were unable to do the same, otherwise they wouldn't have joined, or remained as long as they did.
So, my challenge to God is that He must prove Himself to me without doubt or question. No more of this "He's in the rain, He's in the grass, He's protected you this far, He's kept you safe and sound---" baloney. Those are the same blessings that my next-door neighbors enjoy, minus the belief in God. And does this mean that children and innocent people born into slavery and poverty are low on God's list of importance? It's easier for me to believe in Kharma and recompense for past lives and past deeds than to believe that God has a purpose in it all and to leave our faith in Him.
I want something solid, something that leaves absolutely no doubt that God is what He says He is. Otherwise God is just another god who belongs to just another religion that people may or may not believe in if they choose or have been brought up that way.
And no, it's not a sign of the ET.