Saved or Not

Question:

there’s this girl at school who tells eveyone if they are saved or not.  If you dont believe just like she does

 she says your going to hell.   what do you think?

Phyllis replied:

It’s strange, you know.  If someone said they didn’t believe in gravity, for example, you could throw a ball up in the air and prove it comes down, and if they still didn’t believe, you’d probably smile and shrug and walk away.  But when it comes to religion, where some things can’t be proven scientifically, then people have been tortured and put to death because they believe one way or another–as though the people doing the torturing are so insecure that they have to force people to believe as they do to convince themselves it’s true.  Everyone has to discover their own beliefs for themselves.  Some people simply accept what their church or their parents pass down to them.  Others explore different religions and come back to the one they were brought up with.  Others change religions or continually study and explore spiritual and religious questions.  For myself, I don’t give much credit to symbols–such as having to wear a flag pin to show you are patriotic or attend church every Sunday to prove you are religious.  I put a great deal of weight on the way a person lives his life, treats others, respects others and their different points of view.  If I were face to face with the girl in your school, and she were after me because she felt I believed differently than she did, I would simply say, “I’m sorry that it bothers you so much,” and let it go.