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Ethereal male: The obvious glitch in your thought pattern is that rather than ask me what I believe one should judge themselves by, you assume I mean themselves as if they are Gods.
I did not say that. And I still stand by the fact that if you require a religion and "abusive father figure" such as Christianity to keep you in line, then you are a weak person.
For the better's father has logic to judge his actions by. Logically, will his words aid or destruct his daughter. Logically, will the overall happiness of his household increase by saying the words he did.
There are a thousand reasons why saying something like that is wrong, not to mention that for the better is likely not a waste of a person because she has the need to come to forums like these to express her thoughts and share in discussion.
It is weak to adopt the beliefs of a 3rd influence unless you desperately need to for temporary levity. It is strength to determine the ways of the universe by observation, interpretation, and logic.
And yes, you will come to one difinitive conclusion in doing so. And trust me my brother, you will not feel guilty when that happens.
It is the programming of fals Christian beliefs that demeans you into believing that without Christianity you, as a sinner, will resume being sinful. You should give yourself more credit than that. You, as a human, have the capacity to live a righteous life without the eyes of the Bible glaring down at you.
It's called choice and intelligence.
Lets use this exact example:
For the better hears her father call her worthless. Her immediate reaction is to apply this perception to herself, because it is obviously her father, who is one of the most influencial people that will likely be in her life.
As a Christian, she forgives him for his words and understands that he may be troubled and knows that although she is a sinner in God's eyes, being a devoted Christian, she is not worthless because she has achieved much in her attempt to be sin-free. This provides her with peace and confidence in her consumption of her father's words.
As a non-christian, she most definitely is less protected. She could believe his words, go and drink or cut her wrists. Or, she could sit down and "meditate" (or pray) to analyze the situation. She will logically make connections between her father's words and the infinite number of reasons (unrelated to her) that may have spawned such negativies. This, in itself, will levitate almost all the negative reactions she may suffer. But an added bonus is that she will know more about her father and herself, and be more prepared for such assaults in the future. Most importantly, she will be relying on nothing but herself, and will be stronger in doing so. If her dad is at all correct in his words, then she will, during meditation, make conclusions about her own personality that needs to be remedied. This will entice her to formulate a solution to fix the impurities that may contribute to her being worthless.
Both paths lead to a peaceful person, but one is far more achieved and evolutionary and permanent, whereas the other is more like having a friend sitting besides you petting you because you do good things. Doing good things doesn't actually increase your worth... understanding the nature of things does.
Being independant in your beliefs leads to facing reality in a much more realistic manner, which leads one directly to the "truth", confidence, strength, peace, and knowledge.
"Hating everyone protects me from elitism."
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