Is Being 'Born Again' A Cop Out?

In Christianity, the term born again or regenerated is synonymous with spiritual rebirth—salvation. The term is most frequently used by the Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Pentecostal, and some Mainline branches of Protestant Christianity. It is sometimes associated with non-denominational groups and/or churches.<1>

The term is sometimes applied by extension to other phenomena outside Christianity; for example, a transcendent personal experience



I feel it is a cop out....how many times can you be born? :shrug:

What, the first time you were born, you couldnt handle it?

... is if you're a member of another.

I recently took a religious course where teacher said she viewed people very skepticly when they used the term 'Born Again'. She also mocked people that say they "Found God" as if God is Waldo from where's Waldo.

yes INDEED

an effort to make amends to people they may have treated badly before, makes restitution for anything that may require it (and that includes financial restitution), and most importantly, TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHATEVER CRAP THEY MAY HAVE DONE BEFORE THEY WERE "BORN AGAIN".

I do think people can have a kind of re-birth, be that spiritually, mentally, or whatever. I also think that it is not necessarily a religious experience, nor do I think you have to define yourself as a Christian to have that experience.

Some people have lived a life that was not only less than stellar (well, guess that would be most of us), but where they have done things that are illegal, mean, hateful, spiteful, irresponsible, etc. And some of those people grow out of it, or have an epiphany one day where they clearly SEE that what they have been doing is wrong, bad, etc., and they realize they need to knock it off, and straighten up and fly right.

But that's not enough, and if it ends there, yeah, it's a cop-out. Again, you have to take responsibility for what you've done in your life, especially if you hope to live a better one. If you can't take responsibility for crap you've done before, then how can I believe you will do so from now on?

I think the biggest example, the most egregious example, of the born-again cop-out is George W. Bush. The man was a fuck up big time before he was "born again", but because it is just a cop-out so he did not have to take responsibility, nor did he suffer the consequences, he continues to be a bigger and bigger fuck-up, and we are all paying the price for that.

Somebody can say they are "born again" or "spiritually renewed" or however the hell they want to phrase it, but if they don't take responsibility for the wrong they have done, and if they continue to hide behind the born-again shield without learning to take responsibility for what the do in the future, it's nothing but a sham, and I have no use for people like that.

Also, as far as my religious affiliation goes, my infant baptism is plenty good enough also, and I do not need to repeat the experience.

they are born again, and then say they know that a certain thing is what God wants them to do....and they will cheat you blind, stab you in the back, be unkind to the poor and helpless, etc. then tell you to have a blessed day.

They really are not listening to God, are they?

All my Baptist and Church of Christ friends back in my growing up years were quite skeptical of the Methodists because we put very little emphasis on the born again, and the conversion experience, and because of the infant baptisms.

Still a Methodist and glad of it.

"It's easier to be born again than to grow up"

If people consider that they've had a transforming spiritual experience, that's fine with me. Just don't tell me about it unless I ask, okay? Particularly not in parking lots when I'm carrying two full bags of groceries. And don't knock on my door to share the news. And BTW, please return the Tibetan prayer flags that you ripped down the last time I politely shut the door in your beaming faces.