What is your religion? Why do you choose to be this religion?

Also do you think the anti-conversion law should be changed in Nepal?

Ironic .. it's oh so ironic. Every religion tells you to do good to others .. to love each other .. But, when there is a discussion on religion, why do followers of different religions go for each others' throats?

I call myself a Christian. I know I am good with the Lord. However, many other Christians don't like to call me a Christian probably because I don't look down upon other religions. I don't claim Christianity to be the greatest religion in the world. All I know is that for ME, Christianity is the greatest religion and Christ is my Lord. If others beg to differ, I don't start fighting with the person.

On top of that, I still celebrate Hindu festivals .. not because I have faith in Hinduism but I am a Nepali. I celebrate Dashain, I celebrate Bhaitika. But when I pray, I pray to my Lord.

That's the way I go about. Now, I am sure many Christians do not agree with me but that's the way I am. And ah yes, I do like to spread the gospel. But with love. Not with arguments and discussions. I don't think my reasoning prowess is that strong.

I was born and raised a HIndu. But I still have a couple of questions that are unanswered. Hindu scholars .. please help.

1. Hinduism maintains that one has to be born a Hindu. One cannot convert into Hinduism. Why? However, if that is so, an orphan who is adopted by a Hindu couple ..how can you tell if he was born of a Hindu mom and a Hindu dad. How can you tell?

2. At Pashupatinath, only Hindus are allowed to enter. How can you tell whether someone is Hindu or not by looking at the person. I have entered the premises many times without anyone stopping me. If a Nepali Christian walks into the temple, how can you tell if he is not a Hindu?

Well, those questions have haunted me for long but never got round to asking anyone. This string reminded me of those questions. And I am sure someone has the answers.

Andrew, the number of Christians in Nepal is not 500, its more than 500,000 now.

We have more than 1500 in our Church.

I am a Christian. This is why I am a Christian: I was born into a Christian family but when I got older I started to question it and why would I just follow my parents. I had to make my faith its own. I questioned my faith so much in my teenaged years and even denied it a few times. But I kept comming back to it. The reason is all other religions seem to think that to get to "heaven" or "enlightenment" you have to do works. You have to read the vidas etc, the magavahdgita you should practice yoga and never eat meat. You have to constantly worship the gods and goddesses and meditate with them. There is no forgivness you have to please the gods. If you dont please them you dont get anything. With muslims you have to read the Koran and pray 5 times a day. you have soooo much works to do. You have to constantly be good and try your best to bne perfect.
Also with catholics you have to be good and do works to get saved and then when you die you STILL end up in purgatory and have to work your way to perfection.

In reality no on is perfect and we are all sinners. We all do bad things. Even if we have done ONE bad thing we are in no way like any god. There is basically no perfection in humanity, only corruption. No matter how hard I try to be good I cant. I always end up sinning. There are so many rules and laws to follow in all religions its impossible for ANYONE to keep them!! If anyone is honest with themselves they will admit they dont do everything their religion asks of them and they also do sinful things. In Christianity Jesus Christ is God who came down in the form of a man and died for our sins. He took all of the crimes against God we did for all generations of people who accept Christ all throughout history and even future!! He took them all so when God looked down He saw perfect people and only 1 imperfect person which is Jesus Christ. Christ took our punishment, He was perfect. His punishment was brutal. There is no way to repay Him for what He has done. He was risen from the dead and is alive in Heaven. Now we are considered pure and perfect if we believe and ask for forgivness. Christ will never leave us and we can go to heaven.

God demands absolute holiness because He is Holy. We in no way can be this. So He made for a way for us to get saved. Sin has to be punished with bloodshed so Christ took the punishment. God loves us and did us a favor. It is our fualt we sinned.

One of the things people cant accept is the fact Christians believe in absolute truth. We believe in right and wrong. We have discerning spirits that can tell the differences. Since we have such strong convictions about morality and God other people who do not believe get angry. It is not our fualt that God commands us to love Him and ONLY Him. If people could just learn to accept that fact we believe in an absolute truth for ourselves and just let it go then there would be a better world.

I think the anti-conversion law shold be changed. Nepal needs a society that has free thought. People should be allowed to choose their own beliefs and be able to speak their minds. If people are converted then its their choice! Leave them alone! Stop trying to control religion and the way people think.

Jesus Christ who is God DOES say that everyone HAS to follow Him and only Him to get true salvation, but HE DOES NOTY FORCE IT! Nor does He ask Christians to force people to convert! He says to go into all the world and tell everyone about His name so they can hear the good news. Its up to the individual to accept that. It is not up to the Christian to force anyone. People come to Christ willingly and THAT IS ALL CHRIST WANTS! WIlling people!! Not force!!!

Also Christianity is a belief of TRUTH and ONE WAY. People keep trying to eprvert the name of God all the time. All I know is if a Christian does not read the bible and follow the way of life it commands and believe it is the absolute infallible word of God then in reality they are not Christians at all and simply just a cult from it. Im not trying to be offensive im just stating fact. Its their choice to do this but its not Christianity.

One of the bad things in this world is the popular trend of moral relativism where people think morality and faith is up to the individual. "Whats right for me is not whats right for you" etc...this is a terrible thing that mainly America is brainwashing everyone with. Not that America is a bad country its just many foreigners who go there get corrupted by their immorality and illogical thinking.

As for greedy corrupt pastors stealing money from everyone those people are NOT CHRISTIASN! They are perverting the name of Christ for their own personal material gain. These people are evil and not of God. They claim to be able to heal and have magic powers but its a lie. DOnt believe everything you see on TV. According to the Bible they will be burning in Hell when they die.

Christianity is the only logical choice for me. It has been proven in history, archeology and in personal peoples lives. If you go by the Bible our belief is actually older then Hinduism. But thats only if you believe the Bible to be true.

Well if you feel strongly for something, it is only natural that you debate for it. If i feel good about my religion and feel that it is great and experience it every day, then i will talk about it too, there is nothing bad about it. I think we are a free country and are open to voice our opinion. In fact thanks for Sajha and Andrew for this thread. If people do not like to read about religion or learn about it then they can skip this thread, there is no compulsion.

But then if people call this foring into others, let them i am least bothered but from my personal point of view i would say that for me my religion is the best and i enjoy it every day. i really do not care if people stereotype me for that. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and i will proclaim from the roof because i love every bit if it. It is like being in love.

And yes i am a Nepali, and love my country and everything that comes with it. I pray for my country every day and seriously and one day would love to do something for the people there.

Sometimes it is funny how people label us. If you are in a office or school and if you have to do puja then nobody cares but then the same people will shout from the top of their voice if christian schools asks their students to pray. That is the sheer hypocricy of people. Maybe people do not realize that we have the freedom to practice our religion and i really do not understand how one person can convert another.

Changing or converting into another religion is the toughest thing and i feel it cannot be done just like that, there need to be the inteference of spiritual power for it. ONe person cannot convert the faith of another person and all this cry about conversion into christianity through people is meanighless because unless God himself interferes, one cannot experience the joy and peace of religion.

I have respect of all other religion and religious values. I like people who are religious because i feel that it prevents them from doing bad and living a life of integrity. I am not trying to argue also, but just sharing my thoughts.

I've read most of this thread, I don't have the time to read through it all, but time and time again I read the same beginning,"To me religion is...", "To me Hinduism is..." To me Buddism is "etc. Everyone has a unique way or unique interpretation of a religion particularly in the Hindu/Buddist world hence why over the years you've got Sri Lankan monks, Tibetean monks, Hindu Brahmins etc all living in peace. And why do you think that is? because like everyone in this thread has stated that ,"To me religion is...", "To me Hinduism is..." To me Buddism is "etc. It's this understanding of religion that is something unique to one person and one person only and that you shouldn't really care too much how the next person inteprets your religion. Look at Nepal, a country that is so diverse and yet still manages to live in peace. It's nation like Nepal that be set as an example to more troubled nations were religion is the root of war or destruction.

I think if your a true follower of a religion you will read the texts and follow the rules. You cannot make up your own religion because its obvious its false.

There is a God and HE makes the rules not you.

Moral reletivism is such a bad way of thinking. If your a true hindu you will follow what the texts say and do the rituals. The thing about hinduism is its to open and make sno sense to me. There is no real truth because everything goes. Where is the order? I dont get it.

What a crap statement by Christians>>>>

"Christ took all of the crimes against God we did for all generations of people who accept Christ all throughout history and even future!! "

....We as human beings keep on sinning in the name of CHRIST................

never thought of such hippocratic things.........

hey andrew watch what you're speaking..there are Goddeses too and its not only HE..mind you...you sound like a redneck MCP..so unless you know about aour religion don't start blaberring about a handful of dictationaries that you own..we defintely don't want that crap..

as again..you keep your opinions to yourself and we keep our culture intact....

Any culture that do not have a place for women is no religion for me...

Hushpuppy....Hinduism will always have a place for women-- at the feet of their man.

i know where your mom stands now

Silence Wench!! Hold thy tongue...and while you're at it, go bake me some brownies..

BTW, I was just kidding bout the feet thing..I love when girls lash out to compensate for feelings of inferiority..

ajsab: "....We as human beings keep on sinning in the name of CHRIST................

never thought of such hippocratic things......... "

Way to twist my words around!!! of course I should expect this.
Anyway Christians dont sin in the name of Christ! the fact is no human being is capable of being perfect! You are a liar if you think you are perfect because you know your not!! Christians are not suppossed to sin, but its impossible. That is why we ask forgivness. We dont do it on purpose, but there are some people who sin all the time with no regrets and no guilt because they dont have a conscience! Those people are not Christians, they are liars!
At least Christians arnt as arrogant as to claim we are perfect. I am pretty sure you hindus sin as well.



Hushpuppy: "ey andrew watch what you're speaking..there are Goddeses too and its not only HE..mind you...you sound like a redneck MCP..so unless you know about aour religion don't start blaberring about a handful of dictationaries that you own..we defintely don't want that crap..

as again..you keep your opinions to yourself and we keep our culture intact....

Any culture that do not have a place for women is no religion for me... "

I say HE because in my beliefs there is one God. So get over it. According to you there are also goddesses. My point was whatever your beliefs are for your gods that if you dont actually follow the religious texts and the rituals and work towards what the rules say you yourself arnt a true follower of that religion. Its a simple fact. You cant just say Ohhh im a hindu even though i dont do puja or read vidas or worship the gods and goddesses! I love to eat cows here in America as well! I also have lots of sex and go to parties and get wasted!! I AM A TRUE HINDU AND KRISHNA SMILES UPON ME AND I WILL ESCAPE REINCARNATION!!! WOOO!!

Haha! Its not going to happen for you if Hinduism is true if that is your attitude. Do you see my point?

As for Women Christianity has a LOT of places for women. Just because God is male does not mean woman have no value! God created women and they are to be respected and held in high regards.
As for hinduism? What is their place? Only now is a more modern way of thinking being put in your religion. In the past WOMEN WERE BURNT WITH THEIR DEAD HUSBANDS BODIES!!! At least Christianity has ALWAYs been consitent and unchanging.

Andrew ji;

Who told you that God is male?

Who wrote the first bible? God or Man?

Okay..... i thought i would never be writing any threads,,,,, but u guys have such heated discussions on this board taht i am compelled to write ;)

Well..... RELIGION.... ?..... I was born and raised as hindu but converted to Islam. For me, religion is a code of life.

STOP preaching about Christianity here in Sajha. Go to souther SUDAn and help those poor christian rather than converting educated Nepalese here in Sajha.

YOU CAN FOOL US anymore.

"ndrew ji;

Who told you that God is male?

Who wrote the first bible? God or Man? "

What are you talking about? Do you not know how to read correctly? if you read my post you would understand that according to my faith my God is a male. The Christian God.

Who wrote the Bible? God inspired men to write the Bible. Men wrote it through inspiration of God.

Who wrote the hindu bible? gods or men?

Ey path bhrastha bhayeka manusya haru ho, timi haru le kahile wastawik dharma ko bare ma bujhne ho?

Aru ko bhalo gare saki halyo ni, kina bible ra bed ma kun purano bhanera baad bibaad garnu paryo, bekuf haru.

I was once a teacher some 10 years back. Once the principal asked me go and teach so-called 'Moral Science' to 5th grade students. It was not my regular subject, but I thought I had enough 'moral' in me to teach those fifth graders. Most of the chapters in teh bloody moral science book dealt with issues like 'God gives us food', 'god makes us happy' and what not. Even the students had ready-made answers when I asked them who provided them food and clothes and shelter: god. I told the principal later that I could not teach such crap to the young minds and quit the job within in teh second week that I had started.

Heck! where was I?

dannnnnggg there is a Hindu bible... what about a muslim bible? wat other religions have recently published bible's... mann I need to catch up with the world so bad!

"What religion do you call yourself?" ---- wouldn't that be rather too arrogant of me... I cant call myself a religion... OR :D CAN I?

oops, for everyone's bloody info, i was 18 when i was a teacher

(feri jagaltay jee ta dherai budho po hunuhudo rahicha bhanera janta haru dasain ma tika thapna aulan bhanne dar)