Saul felt, in his heart of hearts, that the new cult that were followers of a man named Jesus (Yeshua) were heretical and dangerous. As his Faith told him, he was doing the right thing, and rejoiced when Stephen the Deacon was stoned to death.
Well, we all know the rest of the story, (including those of us who don't memorize). The lesson here: Saul, later Paul, was a great man, however misguided his original intent. It did take an act of God for him to realize, however, that (pardon the bold print, apparently it is considered by some to be gauche) all that hate in the name of his beliefs was wrong.
What will it take here?
I've known people of all kinds of faiths in my life (yes, I do have a life, thank you!): I've even had some friends who were agnostic, along with an atheist or two. The kind of upbringing I had taught me respect for people, and that respect was, and continues to be, returned. The people I knew were not militant: we lived side-by-side.
Not so with cyberspace!
There are times when things become so ridiculous and so crude, it's more like the Jerry Springer show than a religion forum. (And, no, I do not make a practice of watching asinine TV. Tell me one of you out there does not know who he is!)
I know, when I enter a forum such as this one that I will be bombarded with insults, both to myself, my fellow Catholics and to my Faith; answering of questions with other, rhetorical questions (which more often than not, have nothing whatsoever to do with anything I personally have said); requests to account for everyone else's behavior, including people who have been dead for centuries! When all else fails, my style and choice of font are criticized, in the light of credibility in this forum. What nonsense!
I'm Roman Catholic; my Faith, Catholicism, is hated here. What credibility would I possibly obtain? Why would I want it? It would mean compromising what I believe. No one, least of all anonymous strangers on the other end of a computer server, is worth that to me.
Reading and memorizing the Bible and living what It says are two different things. Sharing one's faith and cramming Bible verses out of context (yes, Catholics are taught to study Scripture in context) down people's throats is another.
If this is truly about saving souls, prayer is the greatest help. Kindness; a sense of humor that does not need to be at another's expense; gentleness, not pressure; guidance, not pushing can help a soul to find the God we were each created to know, love, and serve.
Instead of Jerry Springer, how about "Family Feud" instead? We are all family, you know...
As always, God bless you, and may we all meet one day in Heaven!
Families don't allow family members to continue down a path that will lead to annihilation. Check out what Christ said to the seven churches in Revelation. Those that were in error were rather harshly warned.
I'd have more respect for your diatribe if I read you saying the same thing on the Roman Catholic Religion Forum threads that bash Protestants and any Christian who isn't a Roman Catholic.