OK, i need help answering this question "You dont need to go to church to be a good christian" it is part of my RE Coursework (I go to Catholic School) and i am really stuck on it.
I thought i would ask the great "philosophical" LFS Community to help me out

If you could write your oppinions regarding this question on "Agree" and "Disagree" it would be very nice, it would give me ideas and help to type up the damn 1000 words

Thanks guys

HI. You should watch the documentary zeitgeist http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
Its very interesting

Disagree

I'm not religious, but here's my theory on the whole thing.

God, whoever or whatever you interpret that to be, is everywhere. If you're a good person and live a good life, not harming anyone and doing your best to be as nice a person as possible, that's pretty much all any deity can ask for.

As an aside, if you spend your life actively devoting your life to worship, if you find out post-mortem that you were wrong, you've an entire life to make up for. If you base your life around benig a decent human being, you only have that single decision to make up for. No merciful God in the universe is going to punish you eternally for being a good person and making one little mistake

Quote from Dajmin :

I'm not religious,

so you cant agree or disagree...and that's what he wants

Not that I particularly care about people choosing to believe stuff written in an old book instead of doing research and actually knowing things, but Zeitgeist is probably the biggest BS anti-religion propaganda movie ever made.

Back to the topic, I'm not religious but was raised Christian, and if you have the slightest clue what Christianity is about, then the answer can only be "Agree." Sitting in church, praying and getting preached to does nothing to make you a "good" Christian, assuming that good means living by the principles of Christianity, not being a sheep that doesn't ask questions.

chanoman315 why do you Disagree? I need a explanation if possible

Dajmin << Thanks

What the hell is a good Christian? Do they even exist?

Apparently I disagree:
If you are religious, the point mostly is to have emotional support for yourself and an "excuse" to behave well mannered. If you think you need to be with God and worship him for some reason, why would that have to be in a church, everyone can do it on their own way. If you're driving your car and you think: ah, God is great. You're worshiping him right there on the spot, no need to go to some fancy house to do it.
They always say we need to be humble and stuff, but why the hell would we then go worship God in a (in some cases) golden castle? It almost seems Christians worship the wealth of the church instead of God..

And what dajmin said

Quote from DevilDare :

chanoman315 why do you Disagree? I need a explanation if possible

I think that you should dedicate at least 1 hour.. of (how many hours on the week?) ### hours of the week... and that's by going to church to visit him.. IMO..

Quote from chanoman315 :

I think that you should dedicate at least 1 hour.. of (how many hours on the week?) ### hours of the week... and that's by going to church to visit him.. IMO..

But God is everywhere. It's kinda moronic to go to a specific place (which usually just is the center of a village) to worship him..

My grandfather was a devout Christian. But he never went to Church, as he didn't agree with organised religion, which is more about having power over a congregation than anything else (the earliest forms of government and all that).

Religion, if one truly believes, should be practiced without the need to do it in a group.

Before you can answer the question, you need to define what a "good Christian" is. As soon as you have your definition of a "good Christian," you will have your answer.

For the record, the best and most humanitarian people I've ever met have all been atheists or agnostic. For some reason religion seems to make people worse, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Surely the opposite should be true.

I'm under the impression that if I was a good christian I shouldn't go to church with you.. (=I'm lutheran). Would it make me less of a christian?

If you wrote that idea in your essay, I don't think your teacher would approve. Which brings up a point: Is a catholic school teacher really the ultimate person to review an essay about good christianity?

Quote from Dajmin :

If you're a good person and live a good life, not harming anyone and doing your best to be as nice a person as possible, that's pretty much all any deity can ask for.

I agree
(and yes, I consider myself christian)

Quote from tiagolapa :

HI. You should watch the documentary zeitgeist http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/
Its very interesting

Do not listen to this man.

Quote from DevilDare :

OK, i need help answering this question "You dont need to go to church to be a good christian"

That's not a question :/

A good Christian goes to church because s/he is intent on worshipping as effectively as possible. Churches are special place, a holy place, where the effect of one's worship is amplified. Even if a specific denomination does not _require_ going to church, a good Christian does so nonetheless in order to maximise the "strength" of the worship.

A person can be a "Good Christian" without ever stepping foot in a church. The common conception of what makes somebody a Good Christian does not necessarily involve worship.
Adversely, there are a great many hypocrites out there that believe that they can break every rule in the Book as long as they go to church every Sunday and smile at the cameras and wave to the crowds...then go home and order another 15,000 men to go and get shot at in Iraq/Afghanistan.
Are you listening Messrs Bush and Brown?

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

That's not a question :/

A good Christian goes to church because s/he is intent on worshipping as effectively as possible. Churches are special place, a holy place, where the effect of one's worship is amplified. Even if a specific denomination does not _require_ going to church, a good Christian does so nonetheless in order to maximise the "strength" of the worship.

There you go, and if it's Catholic (Pope and vatican city and that stuff) , then you have to respect the church comandments (right?) and one of them states that you need to go to church at least once a year (i think, if not it's evry sunday) so that's why i disagree in the parts of going to church, but your behaviour out of it it's another business

I dont Belive in god

Quote :

For the record, the best and most humanitarian people I've ever met have all been atheists or agnostic. For some reason religion seems to make people worse, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Surely the opposite should be true.

Seems about right...a lot of religious people are zelots and/or very opinionated.

I think the whole idea behind all of it is silly. I can't grasp the idea of following something that no one has any proof that even exists. The Bible and other religious documents are nothing more than story books that teach basic morals. If you can believe that stuff than it must be just as sane for me to believe everything Nasturdamus or Myrddin Wyllt stated in their writings.

Religion causes wars, greed, arguments and a whole slew of other negative things. To me it is nothing but false hope or a false sense of security that leads to other complications. To each their own though...that's what is great about the world...we can all have our own ideas and beleifs...I'm not looking for a debate, just stating how I feel...

You can't start a topic about religion on a public forum without someone having a different opinion that thoes above...you probably opened a can of worms by posting this thread, heh...

I say go to church, you can even win guns.

Thanks guys, Made my Essay alot easier, off to type it up Thanks again

Been really reluctant to post in this thread, coz once i start on this subject i can literally go on for weeks. It seems as though i'm a bit late anyway, but i will say this.

"The repentant tax collector is the one who found favour in Gods eyes, not the arrogant self righteous man who believes he's being a good Christian" you understand that one ?

Christianity as nearly every denomination other than Catholic sees it (that I know).....

To be a Christian, you only must confess and repent your sins and accept the fact that Jesus has died on the cross for your sins.

That is all. That is Christianity. Some denominations feel that you MUST go to church, that you MUST be baptized, that you MUST confess your sins weekly, that you MUST do this and that. But the only thing that you MUST do is to accept that you are a sinner, repent your sins, and accept that Jesus suffered, died, and was resurrected to bring you salvation from your sins.

You do not need a church for this. You do not need a specific religion denomination for this. All you need is to believe it yourself and accept Jesus dying on the cross for you.

Quote from DevilDare :

OK, i need help answering this question "You dont need to go to church to be a good christian" it is part of my RE Coursework (I go to Catholic School) and i am really stuck on it.
I thought i would ask the great "philosophical" LFS Community to help me out

If you could write your oppinions regarding this question on "Agree" and "Disagree" it would be very nice, it would give me ideas and help to type up the damn 1000 words

Thanks guys

Christian here. Baptised as an Anglican but I'm not partial to any denomination.

The statement is a bit tricky, but on the whole, I say "agree" - with some reservations.

You don't NEED to got to church to be a good Christian. That much is true. Christianity is about your heart and soul, not the physical attendance at an organised congregation.

However, I say you SHOULD go to Church to maintain your faith. Meeting regularly and worshipping together with people of the same faith has an encouraging effect, and can also motivate you if you sometimes feel a bit lazy. It is also wise to gather together to discuss and listen to other believer's interpretations, opinions, and general world view, and obviously the guidance of a good priest/minister can be very valuable if you're in crisis.

It's a bit like this: you can light up a piece of wood with fire and it can burn brightly. You can also toss that piece of burning wood into a bonfire so all the fires can reinforce each other and burn even brighter.