In Reply to: Re: on moral relativism posted by Zither on March 14, 2006 at 15:17:09:
"So do you believe that all that don't believe in Christ as the son of God will go to hell? Or do you hold a more universalist view"
I think I hold a more universalist view. Lydia may bop me over the head with scriptures, but I depend on one scripture - "man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart."
I trust my instincts first since so much scripture can be mistrued and twisted. I believe in a just God, I don't believe he would "send" people to hell just because they didn't believe in him. It says that the heavens declare the glory of God and if you read about other cultures, even Native American cultures, they always worshipped some sort of deity, they just didn't know what to call it - because God put it in them to know - and that could very well be enough. I think a lot is going to depend on how one lived one's life.
I do believe there has to be due recompense for abominable acts, such as raping and killing small children and such. I believe they deserve some sort of recompense, whatever a just God would decide it to be - even if that means they spend eternity apart from a loving God - that could be hell. Yet the robber was given a last minute reprieve on the cross, so that shows a pretty compassionate God I think. Who knows - but I know I am not the one to judge and I don't like it when people use that to try and scare people into believing in Christianity.
The difference between the Islamic view of Hell and the bible discussion is that Christians are to bring non-believers to a loving God for salvation, the Islamists (or so they are told) believe the non-believers - or infidels if you will - will never enter into paradise with true Muslims so it's just fine to blow them up and be done with them. They don't even try and convert them.
I'm not sure now, but there is some sort of class thing that if they aren't Arabic Muslims they have some lesser place, even if they are converts. I don't know, but it really depends on what the particular Inman is saying. You really should read Terror and Liberalism by Berman, he goes into great detail as to the writings of these respected Inmans where bin Laden gets his inspiration from. Look up Wahhabism, that's an eye opener. Wahhabism is what is being taught in Saudi Arabia - where bin Laden is from. It's exported to the U.S. through Saudi money. That should be a concern to everyone.
And yes, mainstream Mormons are quite pleasant and progressive, but the problem is the ones that cling to the old and there are quite a few of them in Utah - some 30,000 or so practice polygamy due to the church's unclear position. I lived next door to a Mormon lady who had 3 children. She was the nicest person, but her husband, supposedly her ex - though I think she was lying - lived in S.F. and would visit the children or they would visit him on alternate weekends. So, I think they still practice it, just on the sly.
Yes, this is an interesting discussion, thanks for your thoughts. Thank God we can freely discuss things and exchange viewpoints without fear of reprisal from some leaders!!!!