Christ-Like

[keltic63]

a friend sent me a link to another forum in which he has been posting. He directed me to their own version of the gay marriage debate, and his posts in particular. I want to share his post with you all because he, being non-christian, actually gets the teachings of Christ, better than those who claim the name, Christian.

Originally Posted by my friend gary

go back and re-read the posts or any other where the word christianity or christian is used.

substitute -like Christ or Christ-like- for christian.

check to see if it works.

"i am christian." THAT i hear that all the time.

THIS i don't hear so much..... "i am like Christ"

"i have friends that are gay but i don't agree due to my christian values." i read that here on the local forums.

check to see if it works.

"i have friends that are gay but i don't agree due to my Christ-like values."

check to see if it works.

..the leader of the evangelical christian movement who stands on a pedestal ...and spouts off a bunch of bunk ...."

"..the leader of the evangelical Christ-like movement..."

check to see.

it rarely works.

around the homosexual issue, i find most 'christians' are actually oldtestamentarians.



blessed be.

Try that some time; Make the substitution in those fundies' posts. See how it translates.....

[scott snedeker]

This thread touched on a sore spot for me. I have a very negative threatening feeling attached to the word christian.

I believe this stems from multiple experiences I have had in childhood and with sanctimonious predators.

At age 6 I was traumatized when overheard that I was likely to die of a congenital heart defect. Then at the same time I was introduced to the Methodist Church where I was told Jesus was going to take my soul. So naturally I was mortally frightened of Christ whom I then believed to be my killer.

Fortunately I had a successful surgey. But the threat never went away. I believe it may have been just short of a genuine phobia. Only 2 months ago (42 years old) did I make the connection between the feeling of being threatened by Christ and my childhood experience.

Combine that early formative experience, with "christian" condemnation of gays (again the killer threatening me) and you have a hell of a reinforced negative feeling.

Christ was a genius of universal love. He was so intimatety connected with the human capacity to love that millions believe him to be God incarnate. And perhaps he is by some definition.

The power of his name however is irresistible to those who would use the condemnation of others to compensate for low selfesteem or just simply to make money or gain power. No universal love there. I sense the word christian has been stigmatized for many as it has for myself.

I like the wwjd approach. Makes one stop and consider. And the Key lesson I learned is that my own interpretation of Christ's teaching --Universal love-- has the most meaning to me. Any teaching of love that is less than universal has no meaning at all.

To give my spirituality a Pro-Gay affirmation I think of Pan. He was paternal, playful and had sex with men as well as women. A face of God that loves me just as I am, A playful fella with the spirit of a satyr. His sigil is the symbol on my posts and a tattoo on me.

By Identifying and defining the cause of negative emotion It becomes less powerful. And we become free.

life is supposed to be fun. Our entitlement to joy is a given..When you come to know this, All that remains is the exploration of the many different ways to let it in!

Scotty

[Vanessa White]

This thread is intriquing to me, because I have felt pride in telling others that I believe in Christ, and I love Jesus Christ, and I admire what a tremendous person he was and is. However, it gets me thinking that it really doesn't make me "Christian", in the way in which Christian should be known, which would mean like Christ. It seems like another way for mortal men and women to put their own personal spin on it.