Why are the religious among us obcessed with this need for forgivness?

Question

Forgiven for what? It's like we're all serial killers or something. Many religions go so far as to invent 'original sin' making people guilty of something that happened before they were even born.

Is this need to feel imperfect some minor form of OCD or an over active sense of contamination or something perhaps?

Answer 1

sort of a paradox, seeing that so many religious-right support capitol punishment

Answer 2

Because forgiveness brings freedom!  

Answer 3

I think its a way to strike fear in people, i don't know. the church wanted power over people,, as you can plainly see from history. Make people feel "sinful" and they'll do anything for "forgiveness" which before meant paying money and **** to get "forgiven". idk if ya get that, but thats just my opinion..

i think its all so stupid. whose to say whats sinful. i've never met someone who was truly a saint. theres just so much hypocracy in religion now...

mehh.

i don't need psychos getting pissed at my answer either :D

^^  

Answer 4

I am not religious. I love Jesus. I love Him and I am so thankful for all He has done for me. All forgiven people go to heaven, and that is why it is better to get real with your sin problems. He forgives when you ask forgiveness. If you act like you have done nothing wrong, then there is no forgiveness for you

Answer 5

Disobedience to God is sin.  Do you obey God?

Do you even know what it takes to obey God?

Answer 6

We are wicked and sinful worms, and we are lost forever without God's grace.

Answer 7

It says in the Bible that God forgives you as you have forgiven others. Most people want to be forgiven so they learn to forgive.

Answer 8

We are sinful by our very nature. Purely because we are human we are sinful, the Pope is sinful. We all need to be forgiven or we will go to h**l. Luckilly, Jesus has already paved the way for forgiveness.  

Answer 9

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

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Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Answer 10

I do agree with you  

Answer 11

It is religion's way to control their followers most religions have some sort of guilt trip going on.  

Answer 12

Because sin is a guilt trip.  It makes no sense at all that the rest of humanity pay for the blunderings of two.

God: "I'm going to punish all of you for what those two did."

Nonsense, and proof alone its a myth.

Answer 13

Because all are born in sin, and in sin did our mothers conceive us, and forgiveness is needed to be allowed to enter heaven and to live in blessing in this life as well.

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0001...

Answer 14

"All have sinned, and come short of God's standard." Romans 3:23

We all need forgiveness, and it is only through repentance and faith in the only Saviour from sin, Jesus.

Answer 15

Through the law (such as Ten Commandments- Laws of God) we become conscious of sin- to break any law is sin. We are in fact born with the sin of Adam and Eve who broke the first law of not eating of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. They could have eaten from the tree of life and we could have had eternal life right from the start. It may not make sense that we are born with sin, but that's the way it is.

The penalty of sin is death. Eternal death. The only way to not be guilty of our sins, which is punishable by death, is to receive forgiveness for our sins.

The good news is that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins if we accept him into our lives.

Yay Jesus.

Answer 16

So you think you are perfect??!!

Answer 17

if you dont believe in it, why do you care so much about it?

Answer 18

Hello,

And not just ourselves but one another. Forgiveness a fundamental requirement for salvation they believe.

Christ warns them about that a number of times saying we must even forgive our enemies. This is one parable that shows his position is clear and therefore believers heed it:

Mat. 18:21-35)

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; 25 and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, `Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, `Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, `Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, `You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; 33 and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

All in all, I can see forgiveness can be a toughpill to swallow but hence the obsession!

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 19

We're only concerned about your salvation.  Can you blame us?

All religions have one thing in common: they encourage their members to work as hard as they can to gain everlasting life, the celestial kingdom, nirvana, or whatever else they want to call it.

Biblical Christianity, however, is different. Instead of earning our goal as a reward, it is offered to us freely as a gift through Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice, whose offering of Himself was complete to earn our way to everlasting life with God the Father.

As Jesus Christ was dying, he said “It is finished” because from that point on, all anyone had to do was to trust His sacrifice to cover their sins. Everyone needs this sacrifice because the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we are all sinners.

We are in such bad condition that when we try to earn favor with God through our good works, Isaiah 64:6 tells us that our righteous deeds are like filthy rags to God. In Mark 10:27 Jesus is answering His disciples’ question, “who then can be saved?” He said, “with man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”

God realizes that man cannot possibly save himself through door-to-door preaching or ordinances of a church. That’s why God did not send an organization or a church to offer us peace with God, but He sent His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me.”  

Answer 20

If they make you feel like you have a disease or sickness (such as original sin), and they are the only ones who can give you the cure, then you have to follow them (and give them your money).

It's like drug dealers or something. Praying the Rosary is like taking a hit. And once they've got you hooked, it's hard to drop it.

BTW, did you know there is an AA-type group for ex-Christians and Fundies? My church helps with a support group up in Washington sometimes.

Answer 21

Prayer for Enemies

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst command us to love our enemies, and those who defame and injure us, and to pray for them and forgive them; Who Thyself didst pray for Thine enemies who crucified thee: grant us, we pray, the spirit of Christian reconciliation and meekness, that we may heartily forgive every injury and be reconciled with our enemies. Grant us to overcome the malevolence and offences of people with Christian meekness and true love of our neighbor. We further beseech Thee, O Lord, to grant to our enemies true peace and forgiveness of sins; and do not allow them to leave this life without true faith and sincere conversion. And help us repay evil with goodness, and to remain safe from the temptations of the devil and from all the perils which threaten us, in the form of visible and invisible enemies. Amen.

Answer 22

Well, as a Christian I feel the need to forgive is because God forgave us. We all just need to learn to forgive eachother, no matter what someone may have done to us. And besides, if people dont forgive, the feeling will eat them up, and they will always be bound with whatever someone did to make them mad. I use to do that all the time, but I learned when we forgive, God answers our prayers and we get our blessings if we forgive.

Answer 23

Where do you get this idea that you are perfect? You have never commited a sin or done anything wrong? We all need to be forgiven. Is there some sort of gray area between imperfect and perfect that I don't know about? If something is not perfect, it is imperfect. Do you really believe that you are perfect?  

Answer 24

My imperfections are my daily reprieve with my relationship with the Lord.

I'm not a serial killer. However, my mouth sometimes gets me in trouble. I can kill someones spirit out of my unkindness.

I pray my sins are purged and mercy be given. I am responsible for the truth to set me free.

It just feels right.

Answer 25

That's religion's primary control mechanism, guilt. Followed by fear of damnation. This is important for religion to be able to defeat critical thinking.

In fact there is no such thing as "sin". Sin is a man-made concept whose definition changes from time to time and place to place according to the conventions of society.

Real belief in an eternal, omnipotent Creator should make people realize that God has no list of arbitrary rules that he measures our behavior by. The Creator created Hitler AND Buddha, George Bush and Jesus Christ. In the eyes of the Creator we are all exactly equal, perfect, and loved more than we could know. Some of us are making more mistakes than others and will take longer to fulfill our journey back to the loving arms of the Creator, but nobody gets left behind. God waits with eternal patience and infinite Love for us to learn that the only thing that matters is how we treat each other.

The End.

Answer 26

I have a hard time thinking of anything I need to be forgiven for, or at least anything I've ever done rotten to someone that I'm sorry for!

Answer 27

i know i could offend some ppl with sayin this but i think belief in a religion is a mental illness, i think that alone explains why they all seek forgiveness, you have to be mental to think a fictional person will strike you down with fury coz of something that happened god knows how many years ago, its the biggest pile if shite in the world, religion i mean, they obviously think that by seeking forgiveness, and according to some ppl actually getting that forgiveness, (**** knows how that happens coz they have to be tripping), that they will be closer to god than most of us, there fore giving them a feeling of superiority to most of us non believers which gives them the room to be completely ******* ignorant about whats going on in the real world, dont forget, to most of them, us non believers are the ones goin to h**l, lmao, bring it on, atleast there will be p***y down there haha