I am being very honest, and you are RIGHT! If choosing between worshiping a crucifix or choosing the useful practical benefits that tech provide....I CHOOSE TECH! Worshiping a crucifix goes against God's command to "worship the Lord your God and serve Him ONLY!!!"
Worshipping God, I'm sure we were created to be slaves, but rather than slaves to God, the mind tricked the slaves, they now worship the bible written by men and church dogma created by men.
I always like to bring things back to trading, as it has genuine life lessons for me. When we are noobs, we supposedly should read a lot. I've read probably by far the majority of all trading classic books. So we read, study, learn, contemplate, then put into practice what we know. We trade, lose money, maybe go broke, start again and again until it clicks. After probably many years we know what works for us individually, a unique trading method which suits our temperament and environment. All those books, gurus, seminars we leave behind, no longer required as we more and more trade and refine our system which is personal to each person. Not so christianity, year after year they read the bible trying to understand. Year after year attempting to be someone they are not. Year after year trying to mould themselves to something outside of themselves to replicate to an image of what someone else wants of them. Forever learning but never learning, forever sucking on the teat of what the church is trying to shape them, forever listening to gurus instead of themselves. As if adult brains can't work things out for themselves.
We see it here on ET, noobs ask for instructions, and we get this huge pile on of other ET members saying, "you should do this or that". Really, for noobs, they can ask, but ultimately they need to do some reading and learn for themselves. Giving advice rarely works. We may be able to relate our own experience, but mostly our experience wont relate to the noobs. But the church and the bible are forever trying to tell us how to live our lives, even into adulthood.
Take all instruction with a pinch of salt. Not so christians, they believe 100% everything taught by church and bible.
You can't really be 'very honest' when the very thing you categorically believe in is fundamentally dishonest. Luke 33 "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." oops as you always say (for no good reason at all..) "The Bible is True" Rubbish. Using themickey's trading metaphor, you try to curve-fit christian religion into everything you want it to be at every turn. It's what most if not all christians do. Another reason why it's disengenuous of you to claim being 'very honest'. Christian In Name Only It was more than 500 years after the supposed crucifixtion of fiction Bible Jesus before crucifixes started being installed in churches. Only then were they glorified by Christians. Not a part of Jesus's teachings, never a thing Bible disciples were doing nor said to use, pray to or at, nor was there any kind of cross in a church AT LEAST until a half century later. Using physical objects and images of Gods to represent them, is what idolatry is. Of course Christians idolize and worship a crucifix... This IS idolatry... This too.. and this... Religion generally is just not a "very honest" thing at all ..all it's fit for.
Exactly, nearly EVERY church building will have a cross on it somewhere. Most bibles will have a cross on or near the front cover. Lots of christian leadglass windows will have a cross in there somewhere. If you asked a christian to tear in half a bible, they probably wouldnt (idol bible). As if the paper in a bible is holy.
OK, I admit that the pope does appear to be worshiping the cross. But I agree with you that worshiping the crucifix is idolatry. Using a symbol to remind you of something is not worshiping the symbol. I have never worshiped a crucifix or cross. I know it is nothing more than wood or plastic or whatever. It has no spiritual value except that it represents what Jesus did. There's nothing in the Bible that recommends using a cross symbol or placing any significance on it, although the Bible does give many warnings against idolatry. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3 NIV I never thought much about what being poor in the spirit meant until I heard another Christian use the verse to describe the condition needed to obtain salvation. The greek word for poor that is used apparently means destitute or a beggar. This is how we receive the Lord Jesus as our Savior. We call upon Him acknowledging our lack of righteousness, that we are bankrupt when it comes to being as holy as God is and as He requires of us. It is when one can face this truth and call upon Jesus as the only One who can meet this need we have for righteousness, that we can obtain right standing with God based on Jesus' righteousness and no longer our own...since we have none. That is what is meant by being poor in spirit. I think the concept might be similar to renouncing all that we have, as in Luke 14:33. To be Jesus' disciple, first and foremost one has to have the sin problem dealt with and only turning to Jesus can solve that. When one comes to the realization that they are guilty before God and will be judged for everything they have done that God views as not completely and entirely good, then one realizes that they have nothing. There will be no possessions after death and even their own well-being they will not possess. So, to renounce our sin when turning to God for salvation, seems to me to be renouncing all that we have in the sense that we recognize that we have no rights to anything, before God. HOWEVER, God is not the evil monster you make Him out to be, and He is very good and very kind to those who are in a right standing with Him through Jesus. So, He gives us His righteousness, and He also gives us whatever material possessions He decides to give us. We can freely enjoy them as possessions that we that we understand we have no rights to demand, but we know that as a good Father He will give us what is best for us. Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy. 1 Timothy 6:17
The problem with christians, they are downright dishonest to themselves, they just dont get it. Here is Scott Morrison on Sunday, after election defeat talking in church... Quote: “I’m very pleased that the last thing I say as PM is here. So I’m not going to rely on my own words,” he said, again choking back tears as he read off his phone from the Bible verse Habakkuk 3:17. “Even if the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, if the yield of the olive fails and if the fields produce no food, even if the flock disappears from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls, yet I will triumph in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation,” Morrison read. ........... end of quote. Just the usual bs! Here is the truth! When you are on the bones of your ass, broke, poor, hungry, homeless, sick, miserable, in stress, you are not singing praises!!! You might in church, for 5 minutes, in a group showing face, but you leave that church crying and feeling horrible. So easy in church, when owning a shit load of money in bank, owning superannuation and a owning large house with larder full of food crowing about praising God. Christians are liars to themselves and others.