Don't you think that having "contempt" towards Christians gives you a tendency of bias and prejudice? I have faced a lot of contempt from people for being a Christian and airing my opinions on what "I" believe.

I try not to have contempt for belief systems that are different to my own and try to respect all ways of life, but a big stumbling block for me in that is the oppression of women in some other cultures. There's no choice involved when there is no knowledge of an alternative. I believe, and actively support, eduating women in third world countries to help them break the cycle of male domination and exploitation. Ironically, for non-Christians, the help to do this comes from Christianity, which some see as suppressive itself. A lot of charities in the world have Christian foundations.

I am a Christian, but Christians have hurt me, as much as non-Christians at times. I try not to fall into the trap of judging God by the nastiness in the world. I do see a lot of nastiness and exploitation in this world, and I am very saddened, and sometimes maddened, by Christians who break the rules of faith.

I wouldn't like to presume to judge who is a "true" Christian or not, that's not my place, but I can tell you there are an awful lot of Christians out there who are in the faith mainly out of a desire for salvation (i.e. not to go to hell). They use Christ like a ticket into heaven. This disgusts me, but if I tackle them about it, I am accused of judging etc.

One of the biggest indicators of whether someone is this kind of Christian is whether they will have sex out of marriage or not. This is the "biggie", especially in today's society where it is the norm to be sexually active. This is the topic that brings me into clash with those who claim to be Christians but don't live by Biblical morality.

For what it's worth, I do <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I have always waited for marriage, and I understand the reasons God tells us too and I fully see the wisdom of that. Some Christians will try to justify their activities and don't care at all for what the Bible says on this. They live by the idea that so long as they believe they can basically do what they like. I don't go to church, but I try to live by the rules of my faith as best as I can. And, I don't do it out of a sense of going to hell, because I'm a "liberal" Christian and believe that hell is eternal damnation (i.e. not exist anymore) rather than eternal torture.

I really am quite an odd person to the world, lol - Christian, vegetarian, pro-life but feminist. It's not easy to fit in, believing what I do, but there are those who accept me, and I try to offer the same acceptance.

I won't say that I am the strongest Christian in the world. There are times I doubt. But I only have to look around and see how bad this world is to see the need for moral standards. Atheists have nothing but subjective ideas on what is moral - and that is very dangerous. Who is to set the standards? Who is to say what is right and wrong?

I also believe that Christian teachings have better foundation in science and practise than atheism - for example:

Atheism - have sex with whoever you want, when you want it. No right or wrong. Live together before marriage if you want. Have multiples partners. Practise safe sex.

Christianity - God advises us to save sex for marriage.

Results of Atheism - sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, abortion, single parenthood, emotional hurt, prostitution trade, pornography. Scientifically, no such thing as "safe sex" only "safer sex". People dying of AIDS because of this false message i.e. HIV can pass through condoms (if they have not been kept in certain conditions etc). Living together actually decreases chance of marital happiness, according to recent surveys.

Results of Christianity - solid building up of relationship before marriage, children born into marriage. And if the couple love each other as the Bible says they should (and not all do this, hence why divorce even in Christian circles) should be very happy marriage, both loving each other.

Humanity:

Atheists - moral to abort any imperfect baby or unwanted baby. Therefore, human life has no intrinsic value, only applied value. How much we are worth as people depends only on what we have to offer and how much we are valued by others.

Christianity - abortion is wrong as all human life is precious. Therefore human life has intrinsic, not applied value, regardless of state of development and what person can offer to the world.

Scientific basis to Christianity:

1. Universe had a beginning - nothing contrary to scripture there, which says universe had a beginning.

2. God says he is the beginning and the end - alpha and omega, that he is, was, and always will be. Nothing contrary to science here as we know, according to theories of physics, that beyond the universe different temporal laws might apply. If, beyond the universe, there is no "time" as we know it, the eternal existence of God is scientifically possible.

3. Jesus born to a virgin - nothing scientifically impossible here. It's possible to impregnate virgins with IVF.

4. Life after death. According to science, energy never dies, it merely changes form. Supernatural events been reported for centuries.

5. Evolution - not contrary to scripture i.e. first man (Adam, if you take Genesis literally, I'm a Christian who doesn't) was both male and female. The idea of Eve coming from a rib has somehow been added into scripture, but in the original texts she came from a "side", not a bone.

Some people say that so much bad things happening in the world has to mean there is no God, but God gave humans free will. With that comes responsibility, both to other people and the world. If people choose to do wrong things, other people with suffer the consequences. There are almost always consequences to abandoning the path God sets out for us. When you have a million people doing wrong things, that is millions more who will suffer.

So many people in this world as sick, but is it God's fault or us, as peoples fault? No point a person complaining to God that they got cancer if they smoke. The environment is in bad way but still people excessively use cars - no surprise asthma etc are problems.

People wonder why their lives are in such a mess, why they are divorced etc - because either they or the people in their lives have abandoned God's ways.

How can evil exist in a world created by a good God? Without knowledge of what is wrong, we could not choose to do good. But once there is knowledge of right and wrong, some people will inevitably choose what is wrong. And as doing what is wrong can bring more temporary pleasure than doing what is right, more people do what is wrong than do what is right. This has consequences for all of us.