Dear Not_Now.Soon,

It is my true belief that for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, the Hindu and Christian faiths and theologies, as well as all true religions, despite using different terminology and languages, converge.

This is easier to see when looking at the practical side that requires less translation, how, regardless of philosophy, we arrive at the same place regarding what behaviour is virtuous versus what behaviour is foolish.

Yet when one reads their scripture unguided, one can be tempted into wrongful ideas. You said for example, "God being in you is not something you do. It's something God does, something He chooses.". Well that nice idea of God separating His sheep from the goats, could be [ab]used by the lazy to excuse their laziness: "Why should I do anything? Either God chose me or He didn't, so it doesn't matter...".

In the above example, the reason scripture could be twisted that way, begins with the loss of accuracy when attempting to translate experience into words (even before further errors are introduced by translation into other languages). Words cannot be absolutely accurate, information does not amount to knowledge!
The verbs "does" and "chooses" are good-enough everyday approximations for the actions of man, but are they also appropriate to describe "actions of God"? I say not: there is no reason to think that "actions of God" are anything like the limited actions of man or even within our imaginative capacity.

One might then ask, "So why have any scripture at all?".
The shortest answer is that it is better than nothing.
Scripture can teach and inspire people to seek and follow God, to become more virtuous and less sinful. A skilful teacher whose personal experiences match the experiences of the authors of scripture, seeing where their student(s) are at, can expound the original sense of scripture in light of their own experience and the student's ability to absorb.

Dear Not_Now.Soon,

The rest of your posts I mostly agree with, but there is more depth to it, deeper layers of truth which make both what you say and what I say true. To explain this, I would need more time than I currently have available.

And yes, we should all use our different gifts, superficially different, but within we ought all to become Christ-like in purity, wisdom, love and knowledge of God.

To Yuyutsu.

Do you know the deceitfulness in your own words? I imagine, that you don't. Part of it all is there when I've seen others like Pogi or myself confront you on testing the truths you believe against what is real and what isn't, more when OzSpen and I have tried to explain the differences between a Christian worldview and your own.

I imagine that these struggles while discussing issues to you are looked at as if we are struggling to grasp what you are saying, and that you are bringing truths for us to hear. Like a patient teacher or a wise mentor to a batch of reluctant to students. But this is wrong.

Take a moment and listen, not as a teacher trying to teach but as someone who might have something to learn. After all, there are times when what you say are good, or are inspiring. But they are stained by a logic that is either accidentally, or purposefully deceitful. It harms what you say greatly. Let me explain.

•In your last two posts the first paragraph, talks about how all true religions converging. This is an approach to bring us all on the same side, we are all the same kind of reasoning. For me this approach would mean more if it wasn't also combined with a message to foster your viewpoints through Hinduism, while shuffling both Christian and atheistic views under the rug.

(continued)

(Continued)

I think that there is hope on agreements and common ground in most religions. It's a hope based on a few things I was raised with. And that topic might be worth exploring to see where that is true or where it isn't. But I can safely say that Hinduism and Christianity are very different in many of the core beliefs. Therefore when a counter view is presented and you correct it based on your world view, (as if all religions and atheism are the same) this shows that they are not the same at all. Try to understand this. By ignoring this, you do no favors of showing the similarities between different faiths, but instead seem to try to trick other religions to being Hindu instead of their own faith.

•The next thing done is try to correct Christianity by the rationale of mistranslation. But the error being corrected isn't about mis-translating but about cherry picking one idea and using it as an excuse to be lazy. Mis-translating and correct translation won't help this issue. Instead the issue with translation shows itself as a way to circumvent what is actually said in the bible, and to down play anything else that can come from that source as accurate or worth while. If that was not your intent, then you should listen to this criticism even more so. Because that is what you did. Regardless if it was accidental or not. Even to the point of removing something easy to explain. "God does," and circumvent it with saying that we can never know what God does. The bible is full of descriptions of what God has done. It's no mystery to give Him credit, but is deceitful to say Hindu and Christianity converge when Christianity acknowledges what God does, and your world view shuffles that under the rug.

(Continued)

(Continued)

As for the criticism of cherry picking the idea of God choosing us and turning it to being a means of laziness. My response is the same as what I said before about our responsibilities. If we apply what we understand to our lives, then that is good enough. There are so many other very easy aspects to read and understand that are difficult to accomplish. By this approach it will not turn out in laziness. Love your neighbor, love your enemy. Forgive those who wrong you if you want forgives from God. If you swear by anything instead of a simple yes or no, something is wrong. So many more that are practice and easy to understand yet hard to do in the mist of the world as it is.

In your second post you said:

<<The rest of your posts I mostly agree with, but there is more depth to it, deeper layers of truth which make both what you say and what I say true. To explain this, I would need more time than I currently have available.>>

If you ever want to, or have the time to, I would like to talk about the depths of our perspectives and look at the deeper layers. But don't be deceptive in those discussions. If you think something is wrong or in error based on what I say or based on it being Christian instead of Hinduism, then be honest about it. I might not agree or receive that comment well, but at least it's honest. Try not to correct the deeper layers I (or anyone else) has to share by claiming your world views as if they are the authority. Christianity and Hinduism are not the same, and Hindu perspectives do not supersede Christian perspectives. What can benefit from these conversations is understanding each other's view better. It probably won't make you think of Christian views as more authority over Hindu views, any more then it will make me think that Hindu worldviews are better then Christian ones.