A rhetorical question here folks...

If someone is genuinely "religious" and by definition that would include having "faith" in the intangible, the unprovable, the unquantifiable. I am speaking inclusively about all religious systems here - those with deities, gods, supernatural beings, aliens, natural phenomenon, etc. All these belief systems have codes of behaviors, guides to ways of living with other humans, etc. which are to be followed by the truly "faithful".

Therefore, how can any aspect at all of "the practicing" of your life be considered "unrelated to my faith"? For example:

a) I am a born-again Christian, but "unrelated to my faith" I"m drunk nightly & sleep with random whores.

b) I am a devout Muslim, but "unrelated to my faith" I smoke crack and shag the sheep in the field.

c) I am a Hassidic Jew, but "unrelated to my faith" I shoot heroin & have threesomes with gentiles.

Anyway, you get the idea...

A rhetorical question. So that means I don't have to answer.......whewwwww.

Glad you got that off your chest though buddy.

LOL! You're running with this, good to see.

The point I was making when I made this comment was "whether or not I drink alcohol, and the degree to which I drink it, is not defined by my faith", or, "I drink very little alcohol, but not as a direct result of my Christian beliefs". Actually my low consumption is more related to an abusive alcoholic father, and an intimate awareness of my own propensity for very great violence as a result.

I've said it before - if you see me living something opposed to what I profess (not how you define my faith, but what I profess) then call me on it, loudly and publicly if you feel the need.

Hugh Briss wrote:A rhetorical question. So that means I don't have to answer.......whewwwww.

Glad you got that off your chest though buddy.

StroppyChops wrote:LOL! You're running with this, good to see.

The point I was making when I made this comment was "whether or not I drink alcohol, and the degree to which I drink it, is not defined by my faith", or, "I drink very little alcohol, but not as a direct result of my Christian beliefs". Actually my low consumption is more related to an abusive alcoholic father, and an intimate awareness of my own propensity for very great violence as a result.

I've said it before - if you see me living something opposed to what I profess (not how you define my faith, but what I profess) then call me on it, loudly and publicly if you feel the need.

OK, fair enough - on a related note...so can a so-called freestylin' Christian read the good book and determine that 24 beers a night is his interpretation of the scriptures? There are, in fact, no non-negotiable lifestyle guidelines?

dagenham wrote:OK, fair enough - on a related note...so can a so-called freestylin' Christian read the good book and determine that 24 beers a night is his interpretation of the scriptures? There are, in fact, no non-negotiable lifestyle guidelines?

Beer doesn't rate a mention in the Good Book, but wine does. Some modern translations use 'beer' but the original translates as 'strong drink', what we know as spirits.

The Old Testament has many references to not being a slave to alcohol, and fire-and-brimstone preachers spend a lot of time on these. However the New Testament (that is, from the time of JC onwards) takes a different view. Proverbs(OT) tells us to give strong drink to the dying, and wine to him who's life is bitter.

We're told to "take a little wine" (1 Timothy 5:23) to settle the stomach and for it's health giving properties. At the wedding in Cana (Galilee) JC turned water into "choice" wine (John 2:10) as his first miracle. The significance of this is that it seems to go against the Judaic Law, of which Christ was a high scholar (bearing in mind he was a Jew, not a Christian). The Good Book differentiates between drinking alcohol and drunkenness (1 Timothy 3:3, Ephesians 5:18) as it "carries men into other evils". I'm not prepared to find out who I become without inhibitions, although I know some guys that are more pleasant when they're tanked.

However I suspect you're not really asking about what the Book says about drinking x number of beers, you're more interested in whether there's a liberal interpretation of the Scriptures. I wouldn't call myself a freestyling Christian by any means, there are absolutes that I live by, the most significant of which is to treat you how I'd like you to treat me (my wife, my family, my friends) - even if you're not treating me that way.

I have a short fuse with idiots, so I'm still working on this.

Username Taken wrote:A born-again Christian once told me that it's ok to sin, because 'G' knows that we are only human and He will forgive us unconditionally.

This obviously didn't sound right to you... ?

Incidentally, have you mob noticed you go all religious on Saturday nights?!

This is for all you beautiful people out celebrating life in the Kingdom:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1z10h ... _lifestyle