Hi Claire, I couldn’t do this in 140 characters. I’m punching this out quickly, but I thought you brought up a common concern or charge. “Intolerance” means different things in different contexts, and there is certainly no room in Christianity for HATING people because they differ in their beliefs.
I’m not intolerant of you, Claire, the person. Not even of your choice of faith (or lack of it). We should be able to be friends - enjoy each other - and live and let live in large part.
But Jesus said He was the only way to God. The ONLY way to be save3d from our sin. You may not even believe you need saving. That’s up to you to decide, and I’m not trying to hatefully pressure you in any way what-so-ever. But the bottom line is that basic Christianity teaches that everyone is born in sin, continues to sin as they live their life, and need forgiveness of that sin to escape judgment. You may think that CHRISTIANITY itself is out of bounds - or that Jesus was either an ego maniac or a fool. But His message was clear, and it was a message motivated by love.
Anyway, I think HATE and INTOLERANCE are overly strong words to slap on Christians, like me, who are trying to live out our faith in peace and with some degree of integrity and consistency (although I’m a mess, admittedly). I wish you the best - I would like to think that if we were able to talk face to face you’d come to a different opinion about the way I live out my faith. But, either way, I wish you nothing but the best. Thanks Claire.
-joshua
The lingering question… do I terrorize them at 3AM or not? The jury is still out.
