I am writing this note in the response of "Dautari" and "Dalli Resham". I have no idea bout the christain in Boston or Dallas but i have some thing very sepcial to say if you are Christain Student. if so call me at 719-406-4759 or write me e-mail at samuelshrestha@gmail.com
My name is Samuel Shrestha.
Thanks.

I agree with you kaobadii....the creation of world also applies the same thing in every religion.......except buddhism i mean they don't say buddha created the world...

A question to Christians : can you believe in the certain aspects of teaching such as help the helpless, do not hurt others,be good etc. and not believe the part that says Jesus resurrected after he died? I simply don't believe that part of the story. The
first part I mentioned I think agrees with every religion on earth. By putting too much emphasis on the latter part of christianity is mainly what has brought the rift among various believers and Christians.
I have been approached by various christians both while in Nepal and in US. Experience has ranged from being puzzling to offending to downright funny. One thing they all managed to convince me of is that all they care about is increasing the number of Christians population . At least that's the impression they gave me. Not just an impression, in fact a direct statement they made to me.
They all put the believing in resurrection above all the other teachings. In essence, no matter how good of a person you are, if you don't believe in that portion of bible, you are still a sinner. You won't be saved (whatever the hell that means) . Corollary to that, no matter how evil your deeds may be , if you believe in Jesus, you are still better off than that first person.
I, for one, believe what happens on earth is real. I will be living by abiding the laws and rules of the country, rules of humanity. Heaven ? Hell ? Life after death ? Who knows?
If there is such a thing as life after death, I will deal with that after death as well. Living and preparing for life after death is not my philosophy of living. Be good to yourself and do good for those who are around you , the REAL PEOPLE. The result you
get out of that will be REAL too. I am quite happy in doing that and that's the most important thing in the life for me - finding a happy life.
C

I can also make a claim. Christ, Allah and some other gods did why cant I..right ?

You know what, all the people out there in this world if you dont believe in me you will not be saved form this this world. I'm the god of the religion of my own (which I just created). I created this world and this universe. Just like Christ, Allah and some other gods wants you to believe in them BLINDLY , all you people cannot question my claims.

Because I have claimed myself to be a god you gotta believe what I say or else you'll not be saved and burn in this hell forever.

FORGIVEN STATES, " How can you have that relationship? By believing in Him, living a holy and sanctified life, well not all 'Christians' are a good example of Christ either, not all men are perfect , we are all sinners, thats why we needed a Saviour, and Jesus came down as a humble human, a perfect and ultimate sacrifice, no greater love than he who died for all men."

Build a relationship by believingin him ? huh !! Living a holy santified life ? Not all Christians are good example of Christ ? huh ! We know that we are not perfect but could not agree with sine sinners part. It would all depend upon what is considered a sin ? We need a saviour ? huh for what ? Has he ever reappeared since the time Bible times ? Are there any scientific proof of any of his so called miracle ? Jesus was a human being FACT. What sacrifice did he make that is sooo great. Hundreds and thousands of people were crucified at that time. He died for all men ? he he NOT FOR ME, Jesus had not done Jack for me.

Biggest difference between Christianity and other religions is that, other religions is an attempt to go to Heaven, by doing good works, worship, and etc but Christianity is an attempt from above to let you into heaven and have eternal life, Christians too do good work but not to get saved, or please anyone, good work comes to your heart when you have Jesus in you.

Man you logic is all messed up. So other people work to goto heaven where as Christians have a free pass ? C'mon now !! he he You mean to tell me GaNdhi is not going to make it to heaven cause he did not accept Christ or his christians ? Good work comes from heart when you have Jesus in you ? he he So people who don't have capability to be good ? Even though ALL OF OUR HEARTS ARE MADE FROM THE SAME MATERIAL YOU MEAN TO TELL ME CHRISTIANS HAVE BETTER HEART THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD ? C'mon now.

Dude the truth is out there !!!! Not in some 1000 year old book . Look carefully before you accept anything .

Ok, here is another thread on a similar topic, which is exactly a year old. Enjoy!
- http://sajha.com/sajha/html/openthreadall.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=20624

what the hell.somebody merely started the thread to get in touch with felllow christians and the thread turned into a debate over the religion itself. everything is susceptible for beating up in sajha.

arguments made by some of you guys are very strong. i am not much of a believer myself but hey let the believers have the opportunity for interactions with each other. i don't believe in anything. I either know things or don't know things. when it comes to trusting things I trust science which is most of the time true.

it's crazy the above thread is around the same time as this one last year

Unless there is good discussions going, we don't know what is on the other side. So, thanks to Sambhai who created this thread.

I respect all believers including Christians for their faith upon their Gods. But, I don't understand one thing in Christianity: if Jesus is God, how come a a God dies? If any God created this universe, he should not die even for a fraction of second. He should keep watching what's going on and rescue those who is in difficult situation.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Jesus was God clothed in flesh meaning it was only the flesh that died and not the spirit, so God did not die not even for a fraction of a second.

For Christians there are two deaths. The flesh death which means the body that you or I occupy stops working and the spirit it contains leaves the body so the body returns to dust or back to the earth. The second death is the destruction of the spirit by God when those whose name is not found in the book of life have their existence blotted out.

Because of Jesus being God death has no power over him because in the end death will also be destroyed.

Dautari ji.
i am sorry that nobody answered your questions in a thread that was a year long. i am trying to answer those questions

1.Hinduism maintains that one has to be born a Hindu. One cannot convert into Hinduism. Why? However, if that is so, an orphan who is adopted by a Hindu couple ..how can you tell if he was born of a Hindu mom and a Hindu dad. How can you tell?

the way you put your question is wrong. you cannot convert into hinduism (sanatan dharma) because no one can NOT be a hindu. in other words you cannot convert into something you already are. this is because vedic philosophy is so broad and beyond time and space that no one can say okay this is hinduism and that is not.

2. At Pashupatinath, only Hindus are allowed to enter. How can you tell whether someone is Hindu or not by looking at the person. I have entered the premises many times without anyone stopping me. If a Nepali Christian walks into the temple, how can you tell if he is not a Hindu?

you are right! entering pashupati premises is soloely based upon race so it is more of a racism thing. i personally think everyone should be allowed to enter the temple but the reason for them not allowing people of other faith is that they only go there for curiosity and not for prayers ie mere spectacle and who would want that. imagine nepali people in there going for prayers and khaires and others standing by taking pictures. so why did you go in there for prayers ? i thought you were christian. if you went there for spectacle thanks for making a circus out of nepali culture.

on the question of christianity and islam boy don't even get me started.

thanks Dally for what a Christian's belief about death. So, Christian think this life of flesh is nothing?

I have two friends, one from Japan and other from Singapore, both unmarried yet, both women of their 28th, both rich, both medical doctors and both currently PhD students, both converted to Christianity recently (about 4 years ago). They are so smart and very friendly too, I don't know what attracted them to believe in Christianity so deeply.

Both have invited me numerous times for their prayers, they made their pastors contacted me personally, they tried to manage everything for me so that I could attend their services. However, everytime I was unable to make it not because I tried to avoid it but because of some other reasons.

Something ridiculous that I find on them on their language: They usually say to me, "Thaha, this life is nothing" as Dally described it as a life of flesh. "...I have so many lives after this. I love God. My God is waiting for me. I want something peaceful." and something like this.

I ask them, "why don't you let your patients die peacefully? Why do you try to save their lifes so hardly?" Their response are something like this: "Chup". I have heard some cases of nurses or doctors (they are Christian by faith, not heard of other faith though there might also be such cases) killing their patients becasue he or she can not she him/her in enormous pain. Is is becasue some believe too much that death of flesh is "nothing" and there is another life after this?

It is so ironic that despite by views I attended Christian schools from grade one to University. I went to a Cathloic school in Nepal and I went to a hardcore Protestant University in the US.

In addition both of my ex-girlfriends were hardcore Christians

When I was in Nepal few months ago, two newly converted nepali christians came to my house... As soon as they entered, they saw my grandmom in the corridor so they started explaining her about how great christianity was.... Being an old woman that she is, she didn't understand a bit of what they were saying so she called me for help...
One of the two fools showed a picture of the earth to me and asked with an intention to make mockery out of Hinduism, "so tell me where do you see a fish holding the Earth?" I said what??? and then he gave me this 'I know what i'm talking about' look and further said, "Hinduism believes that the Earth has been held by a fish. Miss show me the fish here." I asked what his point was. He then raised his hairy chest to the air and said, "Hinduism is everything, but truth. Science doesn't believe that the Earth has been held by fish.. This is simply absurd. you need to follow the religion that is more real."
Honestly, I don't know if that's what Hinduism says, but I have a mind of my own. I don't have to blindfoldedly follow every wrong thing that my religion or people of my religion would teach me. I know the boundary between religion and science. I know the thin line between true piety and religious hypocrisy.
I had never been rude to any person on the basis of religion only, but seeing that person't arrogance and ignorance at the same time, I thought of putting his words in his own mouth and asked him back, "Where have you seen a virgin give birth to a baby. Earth is still too big of a mystery to be questioning someone's faith only based on that ground. But how big is a woman's body and how much brain do you need to know that a woman can't have a baby on her own. Now you tell me, why you believe in a religion whose creator's origin itself is based on such a stupid lie?" He stayed quiet for a while and then both the narcissists got out of my house before my angry dog attacked them.
After hearing the new convertee act that smart and be Mr. Know it all, my blood just boiled. I would have surely listened to his opinion if only he talked about my religion with a bit of respect. Those who think that they will become great just by putting someone different than them down are sure going to hell no matter whose hand they hold. if all the sinful christians went to heaven and every good person of other religions went to hell, then there too will be hunger-strikes and killings and that place will also be no different than the present day Earth.

Not everyone is called to minister to others. We all have talents or abilities we are good at. Those Christian converts were obviously not good at ministering and should not have been ministering being so newly converted.

I've lived as a Christian for most of my life and when I attempt to answer questions about my faith I still get a little uneasy inside hoping I do not mis-lead someone with the way I explain a Christian concept or leave out information.

Christianity uses metaphors and Jesus even used parables to teach different concepts. What is a metaphor/symbollic, the multi-meanings of different passages or other story telling device in the bible is open to debate.

The fish is obviously a metaphor or symbol just like when it was Christian dogma that the earth was flat and that the sun revolved around it.

Jesus sucks elephant penis..

Thank you, Birbhadra ji, for answering my questions after one year :) I appreciate it very much.

Like you said, this thread was actually started by a Nepali Christian to get in touch with other Nepali Christians. I don't think Sambhai wanted a debate.

Religion is a very touchy issue. I am a Christian but I am also a liberal. Meaning, I don't claim that only Christians go to heaven. I believe there is one God - omnipresent and omniscient - on Supreme Being. Different religions in the world are only mere attempts to be closer to the Supreme Being and unite with Him (no gender bias intended). There are flaws in every religion. And, every single person on the earth should have total freedom to choose whatever religion he or she feels comfortable with. I chose Christianity because I felt comfortable with it more than any other relgiions or faiths in the world. That does not mean, I think all other religious or even agnostic people in the world are wrong. Even atheism is a relgion - sort of. And that is where the most of my christian brethren don't agree with me. I am just stating my opinion. I don't want to get into debate. I don't want to prove myself right or others wrong. Because right and wrong are very subjective.

There is one more thing I don't approve of: that is forced or coaxed conversion. I believe a lot of Nepali people especially those is dire needs are coaxed into conversion to Christianity in return of material assistance. That is wrong. What I want to say is that the missionaries should assist people in need even if they don't convert. I say don't even tell them to convert. Just spread the love and spread the gospel. Conversion will follow automatically when the Lord shines his light on those people.

The Minister in Minnesota who spoke of Buddha as evil spirit must belong to some right wing group. Such extreme groups are present in all religions. There is Shiv Sena for instance. There are many Muslim radical groups that we hear so much about, overshadowing much more peaceful Muslims in the world.

Well, that's my opinion. I don't know if I am right or wrong but all I know is that it is what I strongly believe.

What is faith ? Is it something tangible ? I find Christian faith is blind just like Islam. Cause it asks you to have faith when things cannot be explained in logical terms. But how do Christians go on a belif that asks you to have faith even though it is logically irrelevannt ?

Do Nepali Christians if they feel persecuted in Nepal as most of Christian right newsletters portray ?

No I don't feel persecuted as such but yes, we do come under attacks (verbal and symbolic) within our Nepali community. An example is this thread which was NOT created to start a debate.

Bathroomcoffee:
See i told you just for these reasons not to start a debate. You see faith is something you would not understand because it is not logical.

In our religion we call our god 'father', he is our father and we believe he treats us like his children. So even when we do wrong, and bad if we just go to him and confess our wrongdoing, he forgives us like any father would do. That is the difference compared to other religions i am talking about.