Robert91
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Who I am
Now that I’ve gotten to know you all a little I thought I’d share an important part of who I am. I am a born again evangelical Christian who supports topfreedom. That might seem like a bit of an oxymoron, but there it is. Unfortunately a lot of damage has been done in the World by missionaries who tried to spread their own social customs and styles of dress rather than spread the message of Jesus Christ.
In the Bible, when Adam and Eve lived in paradise they were nude until they discovered evil (by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and only then did they made garments to cover themselves. In the Song of Songs Solomon describes a woman’s breasts as part of what makes her beautiful but does not talk about her private parts: “Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; your mouth is lovely. Your temples behind your veil are like the halves of a pomegranate. Your neck is like the tower of David . . . Your two breast are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies.” Song of Songs 4:3 – 5 “Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love with your delights! Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts are like clusters of fruit. I said ‘I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.’ May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine.” Song of Songs 7:7 – 9
Jesus told people not to worry about what they would wear “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.”
Christian art is full of depictions of nudity, Mary the mother of Jesus is frequently portrayed with a bare breast see http://artbiblique.hautetfort.com/archive/2007/05/21/marie-allaite.html for example. The Sistine Chapel is full of nudes and topfree women. Here’s a link to picture of it: http://www.cedcc.psu.edu/khanjan/europe_images/025_sistine%20chapel.jpg
If any of you are feeling oppressed or downtrodden come to Jesus and He will set you free. If you’re not sure where to start, start reading the Bible in the New Testament. Pray to Jesus and He will accept you wherever you are.
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8/29/2007, 7:00 am
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redheadelizabeth
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Re: Who I am
Welcome  ... there are many who see no contradiction in topfreedom and social nudity with Christian beliefs and live their lives practicing both. Such lives, I think, are excellent examples to encourage more societal acceptance of topfreedom and social nudity.
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8/29/2007, 2:47 pm
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Robert91
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Re: Who I am
Thank you for being supportive. If anyone has any prayer requests let me know, I'll be happy to pray for you.
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9/7/2007, 10:03 am
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whatshisname
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Re: Who I am
Am I correct in thinking that, in addition to quite a few practicing christians there are several members of the clergy and/or spouses in this forum as well? I find that really interesting and gratifying.
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9/7/2007, 5:42 pm
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Robert91
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Re: Who I am
I find ironic that no one had anything negative to say when I first posted about my personal beliefs or when I posted about pornography with a link to xxxchurch.com
But when I mentioned that Christmas was about Jesus in the Merry Christmas post, I received a couple of negative replies.
From another blog where I was asked if I could prove the existence of God:
First let me introduce myself. I am an evangelical Christian who believes in the Bible. I also believe strongly in logic and truth. I was raised atheist, but converted to Christianity.
Now on to the original question: Can you prove the existence of God without using the Bible?
That depends on what you consider proof. In mathematics and pure logic and is not possible to prove anything without first accepting some fundamental axioms and seeing what happens from those. In science it is impossible to prove anything, you can only present theories as the most likely explanation for observed phenomena. In philosophy many have tried to prove the existence of God, but none have done so to the satisfaction of all their readers. I like DesCartes' work in Le Discours sur la Methode. He starts by eliminating everything, then he goes on to state "Je pense, donc je suis" (I think, therefore I am). And continues by saying that he isn't smart enough to have thought up everything of which he is aware, therefore something more intelligent than he must exist. He then calls this more intelligent thing God.
So what made me believe in the existence of God? Not fundamentalists bashing me with their literal interpretation of the Bible, that's for sure. Rather it was my observations of nature and my studying of randomness in math and computer classes. The world simply does not seem to be a randomly designed place. So I figured that possibly there was something to religion, and maybe one of the religions had it right (or at least close). I studied many different religions, I talked with people of different faith traditions. I prayed to different Gods. In the end I found that Christianity as preached by Jesus of Nazareth made the most sense to me. I gave my life to Jesus and have been Christian ever since. I still believe in logic, truth, and science. I believe that evolution is an excellent scientific explanation of our past. I believe that the Bible was written by many people over thousands of years, and that it contains as many factual errors and contradictions as any similar such compilation of documents would. But the key points and the essential truths remain consisent: Love the Lord your God and Love your neighbor as yourself.
Anyone is welcome to engage in further discussion with me.
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12/31/2007, 10:12 am
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sun fun
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Re: Who I am
Robert
You are very articulate. Thank you.
For me proving the existence of God -- what difference does that make? Philosophers have proved and disproved the existence of God. Having proof does not ultimately cause one to love God or neighbor. For me the critical issue is the necessity and reality of mystery in life. I am willing to embrace the mystery God has revealed, and I believe I am better off for doing so. I also can demonstrate that I have a more constructive life for opening myself up to the mysterious incarnation of God in flesh as given birth on Christmas.
 
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12/31/2007, 9:17 pm
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ManaUser
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Re: Who I am
As long as you're not one of those "fundamentalists bashing people with their literal interpretation of the Bible" (LOL) I'm sure we can all get along fine. Unfortunately many people get defensive when someone says they're Christian after having too many encounters when the type of people mentioned above. Of course there also exist "fundie atheists" who can be just as abrasive and narrow-minded as any religious fundamentalist.
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1/1/2008, 1:45 am
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Robert91
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Re: Who I am
quote:
sun fun wrote:
For me proving the existence of God -- what difference does that make?
None really, The other blog where I posted that asked "Can you prove the existence of God?" (Sorry I can't reveal the address of that blog without revealing more of my identity than I want to on here) but after I wrote it I felt it would work well on the "Who I am" topic here as well.
Also in the last post I forgot to mention that what made it ironic that a couple people posted things about me in the "Merry Christmas" blog was that I started out by thanking everyone here for being so accepting of people of different backgrounds.
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1/1/2008, 4:41 pm
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Robert91
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Re: Who I am
Now that I'm a moderator I thought I'd move this post up so people can see where I'm coming from if they want.
I'd like to keep this Off-Topic section of the board as a place where we can all share things to help to get to know each other better even if it has nothing to do with topfreedom
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6/11/2008, 4:46 am
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richnh
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Re: Who I am
A converted atheist, now a Christian, who plays a tuba. We are in good hands... :-)
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6/11/2008, 7:09 pm
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