Monday, September 8, 2014

Lies that Western Christians Believe (Not a complete list)

1. God wants me to be happy
2. (re: Item 1) God's blessings are always pleasurable, fun, exciting & "good"
3. (re: Items 1-2) Events and circumstances that are boring,"bad" are curses from God
4. (re: Items 1-3) We should only thank God for things we enjoy
5. Jesus was theologically and politically conservative
6. God helps people who help themselves
7. God expects me to defend my stuff
8. God expects me to defend myself
9. The bible is the Word of God
10. Knowledge is power (knowledge of scripture)
11. Bible debates and arguments are good.
12. Thinking about useless things is okay.
13. Life is short.
14. People should insure ourselves and our property against acts of God.
15. We should take care of things, ourselves, and pray if we find ourselves "in too deep"
16. We shouldn't bother God with small details that we can handle on our own.
17. God needs us.
 18. God can use me only when I'm strong.
19. Death is "bad"
20. Worry and fear is okay.
21. It's ok to be greedy.
22. Self-interest is a pure motivation.
23. Complaining is good if the problem is "real".
24. Scary movies/stories are innocent fun.
 25. God wants us to be moral.
26. God wants Christians to make the world moral.
27. Religion makes men godly.
28. People in the world are happy
29. Persecution is bad
30. The Church should be run like a business
 31. The Church should legally incorporate, so that members can get tax benefits.
32. It's okay to critique
33. God expects Christians "to use common sense"
34. God expects Christians "to be logical or reasonable"