Only this once will I answer this.

You asked:

Hi Denyse.. hope you are fine. Just want to ask, do you think other religions and peoples are lesser than you if they are not Christian?How do think peace will be achieved without tolerance and dialogue?Don't you think that any fundamentalism is dodgy either way and self positioning? Look forward to your answer! Lyn.

Here is my answer:

Hi lamb - I thought you did not want to talk about religion!
Then again Christianity is not a religion although some people try to turn it into one - its a relationship bought by sacrifice and blood.

Everyone as a person is equal. No religion makes a person better than another person. Sun shines on the 'good and bad' alike, and God loves everyone. The bible is full of the teachings by Christ about not setting the rich above the poor, or those who attend church above those who do not. As he said at one time 'If you want to become great - become a servant'. He demonstrated a servants heart, he even sat with the prostitutes and other no-go citizens in the then Roman world, but he never slept with them. He pounded discrimination into the ground, and attacked religious leaders of the day with 'Let you who is without sin throw the first stone', later calling them 'white washed tombs with rotting bones inside'.

But having said that - this is the Messiah we are talking about. Hundreds of prophecies in the old testament coming to fulfillment in the new, not skipping a heartbeat. This man said, 'if you have seen me you have seen God, the Father and I are one'. The Word also says, 'you who have the Son have life' - and its not talking about living. Jesus also made this statement - 'No man comes to the Father but by me'. You see its not Christians that are fundamental - it was Jesus. He set the ground rules and then put his 'money where his mouth is' by dying to fulfill the requirements of the Law for all who would become his followers.

We can be tolerant of everyone - Jesus was, but he also said, 'go to all the world and make people my disciples, teaching them all I have taught you, and baptising them'. This does not mean simply believers - think about it even Lucifer the fallen angel - believes! I don't know about you - but if we accept Christ and become a child of the living God, his Spirit joins to our spirits and we are 'reborn' so to speak - then it would be a very sad day if we did not follow up what the person we are following has told us to do - to tell others that God, loves them and has a plan for their lives. That the separation between him and them has been paid for by the blood sacrificial offering of the lamb of God, and that to be adopted into his family - is as simple as acknowleging we can never save ourselves, or do enough good deeds to earn our way into his presence - its a gift.

Sure there are a lot of religious people out there - even within the so called Christian churches, that may never see God in eternity because they miss the point, but at the same time - the God who created heaven and earth, who hung the stars in their places, who loves mankind with an everlasting love - is not looking for angels, or robots but for people who will accept His answer to the problems of sin that separate us from him. He does not offer any other way, no matter how noble the religion may seem. Only through Christ are we brought into a relationship with God. We do not have any grave for our God like other religions do - its empty.
We can talk, we can discuss, we can have dialog and tolerance but at the end of the day when we stand before an almighty God he will turn to us and say, 'what profit it a man, to gain the whole world - and loose his soul' - "what did you do about my offer of redemption?- did you accept it or reject it?"

I don't want to have anyone I know standing at the 'white throne judgment' just because I did not care enough to point them to an alternative to religion - a relationship with Jesus Christ. What they do with what I share - is up to them. I am not God, not Christ and not the Spirit. I am not there to persuade them or to drag them kicking and screaming into the Kingdom - I am called to be a 'seed-planter' - 'I am just a voice crying in the wilderness - prepare a way for the Lord'.

That's it - "life is a choice" and personally I feel really sorry for all these religious people because they are so sincere, and they do make a difference in others lives, but if being kind and humble and tolerant is all that is needed, why bother to die a humiliating, painful death on a tree to prove you love us and you are willing to take our punishment, just take the 'good ones up'. Blessings D'