What kind of self-serving God needs people to grovel on their knees and worship him? Why must *worship* be a part of faith, I'd be much more inclined to be a Christian if I didn't always have to ask for forgiveness for everything I did in life, much less be born guilty just because my mom and dad had sex. What kind of guilt must a truly devout catholic child feel if he's the offspring of a woman who was raped? Christianity doesn't force judgement of Hell down your throat, it guilts you into believing in God.
Oh, I missed this. I don't want to pick a fight, so I hope you won't take it that way. I just hate leaving this sitting here unanswered.
First off, God isn't self-serving, doesn't need worship, and certainly doesn't want groveling. As someone who does worship God, I find it difficult to recall any time when worshiping called for groveling.
Dancing and singing and praising, yes; groveling, no. Worship can really be an amazing experience... all this joy that floods through you until you've simply got to let it out.
You may be confusing worship with confession or repentance. I've been on that side, too, but let me assure you, the groveling is only what our own emotions call for at the time - and not what God requires. It's like nothing more than a child who has broken something precious, and runs crying to his mother to say he's sorry. He cries because he really is sorry - he knows he's done something bad, something that may hurt and upset her - not because she
wants him to cry. It's the same with us and God. And God's forgiveness is like a father running to greet the son who had abandoned him and squandered his inheritance - completely ignoring the attempts of the son to make up for it, and offering him a welcome home party instead.
much less be born guilty just because my mom and dad had sex
I find this quote extremely puzzling. In case anyone has missed the newsflash... sex is good.
That's what so much of the fighting over heresy has been about through the ages - regular Christians affirming loudly that God's creation is
not inherently evil. Anyone in or out of the Church who tells you that the Church says otherwise is, not to be too blunt, either a liar or historically blind.
What kind of guilt must a truly devout catholic child feel if he's the offspring of a woman who was raped?
o_O None. Oh, by the love that kept Christ on the cross,
none. The life of that child, and any child, is dear to God. What possible twisted imagination could blame the child of an innocent mother for the sin of the father? Really, the misinformation that gets out about Christianity is enough to make one believe in the devil.
