Conversation with a Christian co-worker...

Lorien · 05-11-2009, 01:18 AM

I manage a restaurant and one of my newly hired assistant managers is quite a devout Christian. In fact his father is a pastor. Over the past two months we have had multiple conversations about the fact that according to scriptures we are nearing the end of days.

Out of curiosity, I asked him today if his father or any of his fellow men of God have discussed this in their sermons. Apparently they have discussed this at length among themselves and with their parishioners. According to him it is accepted among them that the end times is nearing in the next 10 years.

I just thought it was interesting to get a point of view from that angle.

mntruthseeker · 05-11-2009, 02:07 AM

all my life they have said the end of world was near.......we needed to worried that we had to be "ready" and "free from sin" at all times.

Now, I don't attend mass but I bet tons of money its worse lately. LOL

sorry to laugh but it's funny now because I am no longer afraid. What a sad life I had under their scared tactics

orthodoxymoron · 05-11-2009, 02:58 AM

I grew up attending a church which pointed to the immanent second coming of Christ...and the end of the world...with only a select few being 'saved'. I don't believe this...and I don't go to church. However, I do think eschatological events are occurring and will continue to occur. I think we may go through hell in the next few years. Things may get a lot worse before they get better. I see the world undergoing a global exorcism. I see the transition from a haunted planet...to a free planet. We are not going anywhere. The devils and demons(malevolent non-humans) will be leaving...and they are not going to go without a huge fight. We will all make it...I believe...but some of us may have some very deep and ugly scars.

The biblical end time scenarios may be more of a script than absolute foreknowledge. I am suspicious of everything in the Bible except the words of Jesus. Lucifer may have a monopoly on monotheism. It is good to be ready for anything...not just the end of the world. And it is good to purge evil from one's life...and try to be a better and better person...every day and in every way. But this shouldn't be done because of being afraid of falling into the hands of a God with an anger management problem.

Pastors and priests have to jump through a lot of hoops and say a lot of things which they know are not true...to keep the numbers up...keep their members from jumping ship or committing suicide...and to remain employed in their positions of power and honor. When one part of a theological system crumbles...the rest often follows like a house of cards. The results can be devastating. Some people lose their faith in a horrible and hopeless graveyard spiral. This is a very volatile subject. This forum is probably a good place to talk about this stuff candidly...but use extreme caution when talking to people in other settings. There is something I really like about church and religion...and there is something I utterly despise about it. There is no easy way to do business on Earth. Pain is the cost of doing business in the universe.

It's good to learn to see through the bs...but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater...and be nice to everyone...especially the ones you don't agree with.

Humble Janitor · 05-11-2009, 08:22 AM

A friend of mine tried to lure me into joining a church he had joined years ago. They believed in the rapture and the salvation of only 144,000 people. They tended to model their structure after the "Left Behind" movies and to me, that was a very dangerous path to take and nearly cult-like.

Anyway, this friend no longer attends church. He no longer mentions what he learned there. It's almost as if he came to find out in time that he was going about it the wrong way. We are friends again. I have forgiven what he tried to do.

That church and their beliefs did not resonate with me. I was not comfortable around those folks, some of who I knew only on the surface. Again, time heals everything and I feel as if those folks will eventually wake up enough to move away from organized religion.

I don't mean to judge them but I just feel that organized religion is the wrong way to go. When people use religion as an excuse to exclude others in their lives, they are making a mistake, but it is a mistake that they will eventually learn from and hopefully they will correct themselves.

Ultimately, there is no bad or good.

addalight · 05-11-2009, 09:17 AM

I was raised in a fundamentalist religion and I can tell you they all thought we were in the end times in the 50's. If you talked to my siblings, now in their 80's, they would say they heard the same thing growing up. This is not new stuff. My gut reaction to the religious that want to save me is the fight or flight response, but I usually try to find some some common ground and be respectful. It was kind of you to treat your employee in this respectful manner. I don't believe in being saved, I don't believe in death; just transition. I believe that is what we are in now.

Lorien · 05-11-2009, 09:28 PM

Very interesting. I have never set foot inside a church other than for a wedding or two, and so I was never aware that this was a constant fear that they fed to people in church. However I think it's odd that he said his father and others actually pegged it to within the next ten years. Unless he is lying to his 40 year old son as well, which would be a tad strange. Just a tad though

I agree with you Humble that organized religion is a problem, which is why I was happy when I saw the other thread about church attendance being down in the current generation. I just hate how they all teach people to have faith in the fact that god will do things for you, and if it doesn't happen, it's part of his plan. People need to have faith in themselves and that they are the ones in control of their lives.

Which reminds me, I always love how people use the excuse that "god has a plan" when something bad happens. I thought the one thing that separated us from the angels when he made us was that he gave us free will?? How can we have free will, and at the same time have everything laid out in his plan??

RedeZra · 05-12-2009, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorien

...I just hate how they all teach people to have faith in the fact that god will do things for you, and if it doesn't happen, it's part of his plan. People need to have faith in themselves and that they are the ones in control of their lives.

Which reminds me, I always love how people use the excuse that "god has a plan" when something bad happens. I thought the one thing that separated us from the angels when he made us was that he gave us free will?? How can we have free will, and at the same time have everything laid out in his plan??

Are we living in a Creation of Divine Design
And is it infused with Intelligence

Are we on our own now
Are we free to do what we want as long as we want

Does the leaf in the water
feel its free to roam

We know the direction of the river

There is a Way a Flow
And sooner or later we will all follow

Its not an excuse but a comfort

...

Divinity is One
Man are many

No distinction in Divinity
Diversity in Man

God the Ocean of Consciousness
Harborer of the totality of thoughts
Powerhouse of Imagination
Wills the World with a Word

05-11-2009, 01:18 AM	#1
Lorien Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Beyond the rim.... Posts: 412	Conversation with a Christian co-worker... I manage a restaurant and one of my newly hired assistant managers is quite a devout Christian. In fact his father is a pastor. Over the past two months we have had multiple conversations about the fact that according to scriptures we are nearing the end of days. Out of curiosity, I asked him today if his father or any of his fellow men of God have discussed this in their sermons. Apparently they have discussed this at length among themselves and with their parishioners. According to him it is accepted among them that the end times is nearing in the next 10 years. I just thought it was interesting to get a point of view from that angle.

05-11-2009, 02:07 AM	#2
mntruthseeker Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,482	Re: Conversation with a Christian co-worker... all my life they have said the end of world was near.......we needed to worried that we had to be "ready" and "free from sin" at all times. Now, I don't attend mass but I bet tons of money its worse lately. LOL sorry to laugh but it's funny now because I am no longer afraid. What a sad life I had under their scared tactics

05-11-2009, 02:58 AM	#3
orthodoxymoron Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Lunar Base II Posts: 3,093	Re: Conversation with a Christian co-worker... I grew up attending a church which pointed to the immanent second coming of Christ...and the end of the world...with only a select few being 'saved'. I don't believe this...and I don't go to church. However, I do think eschatological events are occurring and will continue to occur. I think we may go through hell in the next few years. Things may get a lot worse before they get better. I see the world undergoing a global exorcism. I see the transition from a haunted planet...to a free planet. We are not going anywhere. The devils and demons(malevolent non-humans) will be leaving...and they are not going to go without a huge fight. We will all make it...I believe...but some of us may have some very deep and ugly scars. The biblical end time scenarios may be more of a script than absolute foreknowledge. I am suspicious of everything in the Bible except the words of Jesus. Lucifer may have a monopoly on monotheism. It is good to be ready for anything...not just the end of the world. And it is good to purge evil from one's life...and try to be a better and better person...every day and in every way. But this shouldn't be done because of being afraid of falling into the hands of a God with an anger management problem. Pastors and priests have to jump through a lot of hoops and say a lot of things which they know are not true...to keep the numbers up...keep their members from jumping ship or committing suicide...and to remain employed in their positions of power and honor. When one part of a theological system crumbles...the rest often follows like a house of cards. The results can be devastating. Some people lose their faith in a horrible and hopeless graveyard spiral. This is a very volatile subject. This forum is probably a good place to talk about this stuff candidly...but use extreme caution when talking to people in other settings. There is something I really like about church and religion...and there is something I utterly despise about it. There is no easy way to do business on Earth. Pain is the cost of doing business in the universe. It's good to learn to see through the bs...but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater...and be nice to everyone...especially the ones you don't agree with. Last edited by orthodoxymoron; 05-11-2009 at 03:19 AM.

05-11-2009, 08:22 AM	#4
Humble Janitor Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 3,201	Re: Conversation with a Christian co-worker... A friend of mine tried to lure me into joining a church he had joined years ago. They believed in the rapture and the salvation of only 144,000 people. They tended to model their structure after the "Left Behind" movies and to me, that was a very dangerous path to take and nearly cult-like. Anyway, this friend no longer attends church. He no longer mentions what he learned there. It's almost as if he came to find out in time that he was going about it the wrong way. We are friends again. I have forgiven what he tried to do. That church and their beliefs did not resonate with me. I was not comfortable around those folks, some of who I knew only on the surface. Again, time heals everything and I feel as if those folks will eventually wake up enough to move away from organized religion. I don't mean to judge them but I just feel that organized religion is the wrong way to go. When people use religion as an excuse to exclude others in their lives, they are making a mistake, but it is a mistake that they will eventually learn from and hopefully they will correct themselves. Ultimately, there is no bad or good.

05-11-2009, 09:17 AM	#5
addalight Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 80	Re: Conversation with a Christian co-worker... I was raised in a fundamentalist religion and I can tell you they all thought we were in the end times in the 50's. If you talked to my siblings, now in their 80's, they would say they heard the same thing growing up. This is not new stuff. My gut reaction to the religious that want to save me is the fight or flight response, but I usually try to find some some common ground and be respectful. It was kind of you to treat your employee in this respectful manner. I don't believe in being saved, I don't believe in death; just transition. I believe that is what we are in now.

05-11-2009, 09:28 PM	#6
Lorien Avalon Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Beyond the rim.... Posts: 412	Re: Conversation with a Christian co-worker... Very interesting. I have never set foot inside a church other than for a wedding or two, and so I was never aware that this was a constant fear that they fed to people in church. However I think it's odd that he said his father and others actually pegged it to within the next ten years. Unless he is lying to his 40 year old son as well, which would be a tad strange. Just a tad though I agree with you Humble that organized religion is a problem, which is why I was happy when I saw the other thread about church attendance being down in the current generation. I just hate how they all teach people to have faith in the fact that god will do things for you, and if it doesn't happen, it's part of his plan. People need to have faith in themselves and that they are the ones in control of their lives. Which reminds me, I always love how people use the excuse that "god has a plan" when something bad happens. I thought the one thing that separated us from the angels when he made us was that he gave us free will?? How can we have free will, and at the same time have everything laid out in his plan??