I’ve met local people who call themselves Christians, but they have strange ideas about their adopted religion. More than one person has become afraid of entering or even passing close to Buddhist/Taoist temples as a result, having gained odd superstitious beliefs about supposed evil spirits that inhabit them, which are not part of Christianity as I understand it.[/quote]
Evil spirits are indeed a part of Christianity, hence the existence of exorcism in many denominations on those who have been determined to be demonically possessed. According to three of the four gospels (Matthew 12:22-29; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:14-21), Jesus had personally cast out demons.
I’ve met local people who call themselves Christians, but they have strange ideas about their adopted religion. More than one person has become afraid of entering or even passing close to Buddhist/Taoist temples as a result, having gained odd superstitious beliefs about supposed evil spirits that inhabit them, which are not part of Christianity as I understand it.[/quote]
Evil spirits are indeed a part of Christianity, hence the existence of exorcism in many denominations on those who have been determined to be demonically possessed. According to three of the four gospels (Matthew 12:22-29; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:14-21), Jesus had personally cast out demons.[/quote]
Yes, sure, but I’ve never heard of a modern Western Christian who would not dare walk past the gate of a Buddhist temple. I’ve only encountered this among Chinese Christians.
I have a question though, what is wrong with church being filled with rejects, even if they are rightfully rejects? Isnt that the purpose of the church is to accept rejects and make them what God intended them to be? You know Jesus in his days used to hang around with all kind of social rejects at the time so why should it be any different today?
I think some American churches have more problem because they only accept those people who have a high social status.
[quote=“rahimiiii”]I have a question though, what is wrong with church being filled with rejects, even if they are rightfully rejects? Isnt that the purpose of the church is to accept rejects and make them what God intended them to be? You know Jesus in his days used to hang around with all kind of social rejects at the time so why should it be any different today?
I think some American churches have more problem because they only accept those people who have a high social status.[/quote]
and remember Jesus Himself was rejected almost universally in His time. And seemingly even by God, when He hung on the Cross.
yes, the church should accept everyone. what i’m concerned about is the Taiwan church’s tendency to foster strangeness. as long as you say the right things it doesn’t matter how truly messed up you might be. others may be dying inside.
i met a woman in the church who said it best:
“as long as we say Praise the Lord, all is well. people ask you your problems, and they talk you down with, ‘let’s pray.’ they don’t want to hear your REAL feelings.”
i do though, admire the way pentacostals, baptists, catholics, everyone is pretty much working together here.
some of you may not like my generalizations, but i think it’s important not to overlook a social dynamic i taiwan( churches being wierd). this is well known among locals. christianity has a pretty low standing here, although older people remember when the church was different.
sort of like tae kwon do is now: all kick but no whip. they lost the essence. the chi.
i think most preachers are like bad karate teachers anyway. what they say is for reference only because they’ve never worked a real job in their life and don’t know how the real world works.
the church is all kata and no application. and their “bunkai” is wrong a lot of the time.
[quote=“rahimiiii”]
I think some American churches have more problem because they only accept those people who have a high social status.[/quote]
I’ve heard about that, and its a f’d up ignorance that I still can’t believe. Really! Does this kind of church even understand the basics of being a Christian? This is the kind of “temple” that Jesus would tear down.
My opinion of churches is very low and I find the idea of any god absurd, but I have to take issue with this mantra being repeated here that many/most Taiwanese involved with the Christian religion have “adopted” it and/or don’t have a real understanding of it.
I happen to be close to a large number of Christians (through my wife who is Christian) and I can assure you they have a very good understanding of the religion and didn’t ‘adopt’ it - they were born into it (not much better, IMO, but that’s beside the point). None of them could give a rat’s ass about walking past a Buddhist (or other) temple. Their beliefs are in no way mixed or a hybrid.
It’s easy to hypothesize about these things but when you assume, well, you know…
[quote=“theposter”]rahimii hit an important point.
“as long as we say Praise the Lord, all is well. people ask you your problems, and they talk you down with, ‘let’s pray.’ they don’t want to hear your REAL feelings.”
[/quote]
I really hate it when they always say lets pray when you tell them of your problems… its almost like a cliche here or something. I go to a YWAM coffee bar nearby just so I dont go insane. I mean where else can I meet forigners that cares?
You know the normal church goers aren’t like that as much but I really hate the higher ups ALWAYS acting like this… I mean if you cant do the job then quit.
Slightly off topic…
But I always notice that people who convert later in life (to any religion) are usually stricter. Are they trying to make up for lost time? Although this point isn’t Taiwan specific per se, maybe the Christans you meet here who ask you to pray a lot are doing just that, trying to get a few extra points because they joined late
[quote=“Funk500”]Slightly off topic…
But I always notice that people who convert later in life (to any religion) are usually stricter. Are they trying to make up for lost time? Although this point isn’t Taiwan specific per se, maybe the Christans you meet here who ask you to pray a lot are doing just that, trying to get a few extra points because they joined late [/quote]
they’re just zealots, like all late converts. the only reasonable conversion is to atheism… while you have an excuse if you are born into a religion, you have none for choosing of your own free will to take one up later in life (apart from demonstrating that you are delusional).
this is just my opinion. flame me.
maybe we need a new ‘atheists vs religious types’ thread here.
[quote=“Eros”]My opinion of churches is very low and I find the idea of any god absurd, but I have to take issue with this mantra being repeated here that many/most Taiwanese involved with the Christian religion have “adopted” it and/or don’t have a real understanding of it.
I happen to be close to a large number of Christians (through my wife who is Christian) and I can assure you they have a very good understanding of the religion and didn’t ‘adopt’ it - they were born into it (not much better, IMO, but that’s beside the point). None of them could give a rat’s ass about walking past a Buddhist (or other) temple. Their beliefs are in no way mixed or a hybrid.
It’s easy to hypothesize about these things but when you assume, well, you know…[/quote]
I don’t think I’ve met any Taiwanese Christians of the Han ethnicity (aborigines are a different story) who were born into Christianity; that’s not to mean there aren’t any. I’m only speaking from my personal experience. In Taiwan, where 93% of the population are Buddhist/Taoist/Chinese Folk Religion and only 4.5% are Christian (and a significant number of those being aborigines), it seems reasonable that the vast majority of Han Christians here are converts.
i couldn’t stand church women when i was single. they’d flirt with you then when you reciprocated even the slightest, they’d let you know right away that “we’re brother and sister in Christ…only”. i had this one girl tell me how much she liked me.I went home and thought about it, prayed about it. next week, she said “i don’t want you to get the wrong idea about us…blah blah”. they NEVER take responsibility for what they start.
so i said forget 'em. became the player i am today.
strange thing about women,no matter what their religion:
you go looking for love, they run away.
you go looking for sex, they want to believe that you love them.
“Focus on the Family” doesn’t know shit about women.
[quote=“theposter”]i couldn’t stand church women when i was single. they’d flirt with you then when you reciprocated even the slightest, they’d let you know right away that “we’re brother and sister in Christ…only”. i had this one girl tell me how much she liked me.I went home and thought about it, prayed about it. next week, she said “i don’t want you to get the wrong idea about us…blah blah”. they NEVER take responsibility for what they start.
so i said forget 'em. became the player i am today.
strange thing about women,no matter what their religion:
you go looking for love, they run away.
you go looking for sex, they want to believe that you love them.
“Focus on the Family” doesn’t know shit about women.[/quote]
Thats why I am trying to find a social venue where people just socialize… and not you know, KTV places or whatever. I dont know where people in Taiwan go to socialize, it was almost as if no one socializes here. As for church ladies… I dont know whats up with them, I had some ladies act all nice to me then when I give them even the slightest idea of loving them, they act like I violated them or something. I think alot of church people just hide behind the veil of churches and act all holy even though they are just like everyone else. That makes church people a lot worse than just anyone else…
social outcasts is fine (i’m a nerd so i guess i’m one), narcissistic borderline personality disorder hiding behind religion is not . and there are lots of those in churches nowadays.
church girls know they are prime real estate. but they don’t want to be florence nighting gale to a guy. they’ve been brainwashed that relationships are:
“two people totally sufficient in Christ who do not need each other.”
therefore if you have any deficiencies that she’ll have to match with a strength, you are not the one.
you have to make a really good impression on them. you have to make them think the sky just parted and you are the one prepared by God and Walt Disney to bring them to the promised land. they want a cinderella story but they want a Jesus story, too. but He’s not sexy so they gotta have prince charming. but they feel guilty because they’re “supposed to” wanna have a holy guy. so they’re confused about what they should want.
it’ll never be you she sees fit to be with. it’ll be somebody else. always somebody else. you’ll never be good enough.
in the end, talking God is a sure way to lose a Christian girl. once she knows you think she’s the one, she’s gone in the opposite direction. and you’re doing it just the way she says she wants it (guy in the same church, common interests, means nothing. you’re not the one. you couldn’t be).
luckily, there are hookers and bad girls, as well as alcoholic beverages to take the pain away. that used to help me when they dissed me like this.
i have a poem about this subject.may i share it?[/quote]
Go ahead and share your poem… theres like too few artists these days. Taiwan is full of people pretending to be artist yet their work is full of imitation, and bad imitation at that. Im not against imitation but at least do a decent job at it…
Thats why I stopped caring about girls. I feel that girls always want that perfect someone, even if a million guys go after them they always want the one to deliver them to the promised land or something. So they complain about how they cant ever find a boyfriend or whatever but its because they keep rejecting everyone coming their way. I heard about girls already into their 40’s, not married. Its not that they dont want to marry but they always say they are looking. But I suspect its cause they want someone that is so perfect they just dont exist.
I read the gospels so many time that I dont think I need to read it anymore, cause you know its not like I dont get it the first time. But then again people back then look out for each other and is nothing like the BS they do today. Also that YWAM place I go to its got a bunch of people that says they are so God like when it comes to being close to God yet doesnt show the signs of that… so I wonder maybe they are either lying or something. Out of all the people that came and go over there I found maybe like 1 or 2 people that is any good. It only makes me want to hang out at bars or something cause at least people there are more honest about who they are.
[quote=“belgian pie”]You don’t mention Amway and other pyramid scheme vendors that use ‘churches’ as an introduction to other people …[/quote]Do you need some laundry powder?
How about I just leave some magazines here for you to read?
Maybe a couple of friends can stop over one afternoon and and chat with you about them ?
