Hello!
I'm JP. I live in rural Upstate New York, USA with fiancée and to-be-stepson. Stepson does not believe in a god and neither do I. On the other hand, my fiancée is a Christian, a daughter of a Baptist pastor.
How does my family get along? Excellently.
When I met my fiancée, we were both open about our religious or nonreligious stances. She and I agreed not to try to convert or deconvert each other. We talk about religion and God, as well as spirits and spirituality, and it is always a fruitful, amiable, and enriching conversation. We do not argue about whether there is a god, we talk about reasons we believe what we believe, or whether we think that spirits exist (we both do-- there is evidence that something is left when people die). We talk about anything, and we always keep love at the forefront of our conversations, never getting heated over religion.
I encourage all of you: you can get along with anyone, no matter their belief or disbelief, as long as you both try to be compassionate and understanding. Of course, this is not always the case; sometimes the other person decides to be unkind, in which type of case we probably need to simply move on. But many times, both participants in the conversation can agree to act civilly, and then they can have a great discourse.
My fiancée and I are all for compassionate discourse, wherever in the world we are.
Peace,
JP Bradt
Note:
This post used to be titled "Teaching Belief in Hell" and was about how I thought that was a bad idea. I deleted it and replaced it with this post because I thought it was more friendly.
The Bible clearly teaches that hell exists for the ungodly.
(Luke 16:19-31 NIV) "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. {20} At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores {21} and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. {22} "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. {23} In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. {24} So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' {25} "But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. {26} And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' {27} "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, {28} for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' {29} "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' {30} "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' {31} "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
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Okay.
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I do not get scared of fiction books.
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