webolog's posterous

webolog's posterous

Ian Ballinger  //  Hi there, and thank you for visiting Ebo's blog.
This blog is for sporadic, general musings I would like share with the world.
If you like what you read, why not check out my more frequent postings on my Twitter feed @Ebo_tweet
If you're partial to some sports discussion - by sports I mean cricket - check out my sister blog on Posterous - sportsmonkey.

All comments will be replied to on blogs and Twitter.

Oct 12 / 7:48am

Does Religion Ever Define a Person? - Response

As a daily Twitter user, I try to catch up on the blogs written by the people that I follow wherever I can. One such person Sarah C Robinson writes great sports blogs, with a witty and inciteful take on a vast variety of sports, that I very much enjoy reading.

Last month I came across a blog written by Sarah entitled - Does Religion Ever Define a Person?  which was not the usual musing I'd been used to from Sarah, yet as a Christian it certainly grabbed my attention.

So much so, after a few weeks of procrastination about 'should I, shouldn't I?', I am now here writing my response to the questions posed.

The first point I'd like to make is a distinction between the religious and the faithful. Many people say they are Christians but their lives are no different in anyway to a devout atheist. Nothing of what I am about to say is talking about those people. I am referring to Christians, who love Jesus and live their life in a way that shows they are what they say they are.

The second point is that this is not a preach. I took the blog questions as genuine, so I am replying in the same way.

 

Let's start with the big question of the blog - What defines a person?

I define myself by my faith and belief in God. I believe that we are all eternal beings and our temporary existence here is not to be the focus of my life. Therefore I put all earthly definitions after what I believe is my ultimate purpose - though my family and sports do get a mention in my profile as well.

Sarah says I feel like I have no right to discuss religion as she doesn't have a faith in one. I think everyone has the right to discuss what they're doing here, where they came from and where they're going.

On faith I would say that believers and non believers have it in equal measure. It takes a pretty big faith to say "when I die my life is just over".

 

Does displaying a world view on a Twitter make a difference?

I believe it does. Not to say anyone defining themselves as anything makes them someone to follow or not, but it does give an insight to what you might expect.

As a Christian, I love to be encouraged by the bible. If someone is a believer then you may or may not get outwardly Christian posts, but what I hope you could be sure of, is an assurance that the content is suitable for other Christians.

Like with anyone on Twitter not advertising a world view on the profile, it doesn't mean you will enjoy their posts anymore than anyone else's ramblings.

 

We all define ourselves by our goals and the things we focus our time and energy on. It may get us Twitter followers and it may offend people. That's all I've got to say about that.

 

Any thoughts or comments will be replied to. Thanks for reading.