thread: 2006-09-08 : Salvation, damnation, justification, a la Sydney
On 2006-09-09, Clinton R. Nixon wrote:
Raven:
4. The caveat: You don't have to be a Christian—but it helps....
If nothing else works for you, well, the long way round could get you there eventually, but it's still longer and harder than it has to be. It really helps to share a belief system with more than one person, so there's at least someone else around to help you out, and with more than one generation, so you have some history to learn from, if only about what not to do. No one should be surprised when I say that it particularly helps to be a Christian.
Sydney's answered your particular question. No one will be surprised that I think he's omitted a particular idea: No one should be surprised when I [Sydney] say that it particularly helps me to be a Christian.
My grandmother-in-law is Vietnamese, and follows a form of Buddhism I can't comprehend. There's all sorts of laws, and they seem capricious. Apparently, you can't have sex on Chinese New Year, for example. She knows the Face of God, though, or whatever your tradition calls it. For her, it would not particularly help to be a Christian; and for me, it would not particularly help to be her type of Buddhist.
I grew up in a very Christian home. Some of the dogma did not agree with me, but the tradition was marked on my brain. Even though I can't call myself a member of any mainline Christian religion, I still feel the tradition in my heart, and attend a Unitarian fellowship where I can follow my tradition. Christianity particularly helps me because of my background.
Sydney's point about having others to help you out along your spiritual road is really awesome, though.
Sydney: I wish I had a question for you, but as someone who grew up Baptist and then attended an Episcopalian church for many years, I understand what you are saying, and also how brave you are to say all this publicly. Thank you for sharing your faith with us.
