How Far Should You Take Religion?

[Lickitung]

Most religious people would do almost anything for God if they truly believed He had told them to do so; they will often ignore laws (such as regulations on missions, restrictions of religious practice, etc) in order to fulfill God's will. This makes sense, because the word of God is far greater than any human institution: if God wants it done, don't hesitate, right?

But what if it isn't the voice of God?


On July 24, 1984, two Fundamentalist Mormon brothers murdered their sister in law and her 15 month old daughter, believing it was the will of God that they be removed. They would have also removed two other people, but due to a number of circumstances their deaths were thankfully prevented. Today, extremist Muslims are terrorizing the Western World in what they believe to be a holy war. Christians of the past murdered countless Muslims in the crusades and many of their own in the Inquisition.
Most of these people genuinely believed that what they were doing was the will of God, while the rest of the world looked on and thought the opposite.

So, how can you tell if you're really listening to the voice of God?


Every one of the groups/people mentioned above were extremists or fundamentalists to a degree; they claim that average, "mediocre" religious people are just faking it and don't really know God. So how do we know? We should always listen to the voice of God, but how can we be sure that it isn't Satan, a demon, or even our own prejudices coming through? Any helpful scripture on the subject?  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

Test everything. Hold on to the good. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:21

I actually had a discussion about this in my religion class about two weeks ago; I had to write an essay on it. The way you can tell is by going back to God's Word, back to the Bible. Does what God is telling you match up with what He tells you in the Bible? Does it step outside of God's character? When it comes to God telling people to kill others- He only did that to Abraham, and it turned out he didn't even require Isaac; God was just testing Abraham's faith. God wouldn't tell a person to kill another, because it goes against His own commandments.

You can basically do that with anything the Spirit tells you. Test it to be sure.  

[Lickitung]

Fushigi na Butterfly

Test everything. Hold on to the good. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:21

I actually had a discussion about this in my religion class about two weeks ago; I had to write an essay on it. The way you can tell is by going back to God's Word, back to the Bible. Does what God is telling you match up with what He tells you in the Bible? Does it step outside of God's character? When it comes to God telling people to kill others- He only did that to Abraham, and it turned out he didn't even require Isaac; God was just testing Abraham's faith. God wouldn't tell a person to kill another, because it goes against His own commandments.

You can basically do that with anything the Spirit tells you. Test it to be sure.

Thanks for the verse :3.

The issue then comes down to how people interpret scripture... it's come up a lot even the guild that people twist the Bible to say what they want: like, parents will use the verse "children respect your parents" but ignore "parents, do not provoke your children to anger", and children do the same vice versa; if people become deadset on something, they'll almost always find a verse that "supports it". May we all keep open minds )= .  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

Even if a person is using a particular verse to support their cause, they can't just throw out what the rest of the Bible says because of that one verse. If that one verse seems to go against what God teaches, then that person obviously is interpreting it the wrong way. Using the Scripture you provided- obviously God doesn't want relationships to be one-sided, otherwise He would require nothing of us for our salvation. If a person does take the one verse while forgetting the other, their interpretation is off. You have to take the Bible as a whole, not just verse by verse.  

[TheDiabolicalShenanigan]

an example i have is Hitler, he wanted to kill the Jews, i think one of the reasons was because they killed Jesus... but he was a Christian, he always went to his moms grave, he went to Church, also, people steryotype the German soldiers too much, i try adn tell people what the German soldiers really was doing... (since im German lol) the Germans was just trying to protecvt their country, or, "Fatherland" most of them were Christian, and Hitler tried banning out smoking and alot of stuff... it makes you think...
confused  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

A genuine Christian shouldn't try to justify the mass and multiple murder of any ethnic group, Jewish or otherwise. Jesus taught forgiveness, not revenge. If Hitler was a Christian, truly, he would not have used Christianity as a reason for his genocide.  

[TheDiabolicalShenanigan]

Fushigi na Butterfly

A genuine Christian shouldn't try to justify the mass and multiple murder of any ethnic group, Jewish or otherwise. Jesus taught forgiveness, not revenge. If Hitler was a Christian, truly, he would not have used Christianity as a reason for his genocide.

i know, its just he got a crazy image in his head i think... he would of turned into a good man if Satan didnt get that image in him...  

[kairiluvxxx]

Lt.Psycho

Fushigi na Butterfly

A genuine Christian shouldn't try to justify the mass and multiple murder of any ethnic group, Jewish or otherwise. Jesus taught forgiveness, not revenge. If Hitler was a Christian, truly, he would not have used Christianity as a reason for his genocide.

i know, its just he got a crazy image in his head i think... he would of turned into a good man if Satan didnt get that image in him...

I feel really bad for those people who think they actually know Everything about God and claim that they are doing what God wants them to do when in truth, they are doing what they want to do. These people are especially hard to change.. I really feel sorry for them.. Do you think that it is okay feeling sorry for these people and wanting to change them?  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

Absolutely it's okay to feel sorry for them. But more than feeling sorry for them, we should also be praying for them, that the Holy Spirit will reveal His truth to them instead of letting them go on in their delusions.

@Lt.Psycho: Yeah, I agree. At the same time, God uses certain people in history to get across His plans and display His awesome power. Pharaoh, Judas, Hitler ... it's unfortunate, but there is always a plan and a purpose behind everything.  

[freelance lover]

See, that kind of stuff just baffles me. I don't think God, anyone's God, anyone's religion, want you killing people. I don't think God would ever will someone to kill someone else to remove them from the world.

The way I see it, your relationship with God is personal, so it shouldn't involve anyone else. Nor should you be involved in anyone elses relationship with God.

Yes, there are certain circumstances when you do things that some may consider "taking religion too far" but that's things like people interfereing with your relationship with God. Like forbidding people to meet to worship, or forcing them to worship something they don't believe.

I believe, above all else, God wants us to love people. When we love people, we are truely fulfilling what God wants us to do.  

[ioioouiouiouio]

Lt.Psycho

an example i have is Hitler, he wanted to kill the Jews, i think one of the reasons was because they killed Jesus... but he was a Christian, he always went to his moms grave, he went to Church, also, people steryotype the German soldiers too much, i try adn tell people what the German soldiers really was doing... (since im German lol) the Germans was just trying to protecvt their country, or, "Fatherland" most of them were Christian, and Hitler tried banning out smoking and alot of stuff... it makes you think...
confused

Just to clear up this misconception...
Hitler was not Christian.

Hitler simply held respect for the sway that the Church held over people.

Joseph Goebbels

The Führer is deeply religious, but deeply anti-Christian. He regards Christianity as a symptom of decay.

 

[Imotoku]

Lt.Psycho

an example i have is Hitler, he wanted to kill the Jews, i think one of the reasons was because they killed Jesus... but he was a Christian, he always went to his moms grave, he went to Church, also, people steryotype the German soldiers too much, i try adn tell people what the German soldiers really was doing... (since im German lol) the Germans was just trying to protecvt their country, or, "Fatherland" most of them were Christian, and Hitler tried banning out smoking and alot of stuff... it makes you think...
confused

The jews didn't kill Jesus. They ordered him to be crucified and the Roman soldiers killed him.  

[Fushigi na Butterfly]

I think what he was getting at was that Hitler felt the Jews had killed Jesus.  

[OnoBoei]

All I could say is...do what Jesus would do. he kept on emphasizing love... and i remember somewhere in the Bible that said something like 'if someone slaps you on the cheek, turn your other cheek too to be slapped' or smething... the thing i could get out of this verse thingy is that Jesus' teachings were like the total opposite of any form of oppression.  

[Shien no Ryuu]

OnoBoei

All I could say is...do what Jesus would do. he kept on emphasizing love... and i remember somewhere in the Bible that said something like 'if someone slaps you on the cheek, turn your other cheek too to be slapped' or smething... the thing i could get out of this verse thingy is that Jesus' teachings were like the total opposite of any form of oppression.

I agree completely. As far as I'm concerned, "killing in the name of God/Allah/etc" is not justified. Sure, war and death are inevitable among human beings, but you shold never use God as a basis for it. Jesus taught forgiveness and acceptance, even for your enemies.
If you're gonna kill people don't say "God told me to do it" cause that's a lie. Every life God creates is sacred and he doesn't want them "removed" by any means other than his own.
When in doubt, consult the Bible, like y'all said.
I mean, for pity's sake, it's even in the Ten Commandments. "Thou shalt not Kill." Why the heck would he make a commandment like that and then turn around and tell us to kill people? Durrrr....