Ok, so I like the poem, but I don't love it. It seemed a bit lacking, and confusing at times. For instance when you make references to Avatar and Nararo. I assume that you are not indicating that such shows and fan fictions are sinful, but that allowing trivial things such as they to monopolize your time you are making them your God and that a Christian should put God first. You should be more clear in the future. Misinterpeting something can lead to alot of offense and hurt feelings.

And to Mr. Awesomeness and the like, yes, there are absurd non-Christian characters in the Bible section. Please note that the writers of Fanfiction are not professional writers, they don't have editors, (aside from maybe a little sister)they are human and therefore prone to exaggeration and unrealistic characters. I have read many fanfictions, and even published books portraying the stereotypical, simpleton Christian. I know what it's like being stereotyped and judged for what you believe and I know that feeling isn't exclusive to Christians. I have many friends, including my best friend, that are atheists and non-believers. They are still my friends, I love them and respect their beliefs and would hate for them to ever feel hurt or stereotyped by someone's lack of tact or thoughtlessness I'm truely sorry if I have said something that was offensive to anyone.

Im also sorry I have droned on for so long, I have a tendency to ramble as by now I'm sure you've noticed.

Very nice. I like how you express how Christianity fulfills all aspects of your life.

As another reviewer put it:
The way of finding fullness of life is not in any fleeting and ill-qualified feelings of the self... whatever they may be. The only way of finding fullness of life is in the one true God of all... and He has revealed Himself as the Holy Trinity. Only Christianity worships Him as He has revealed Himself. Only in this is the fullness of life.
And another reviewer:
God is the eternal reality... and any life that does not recognize this eternal reality is quite empty... by very definition. It does not matter whether or not it is perceived (by that person) to be empty at the moment. Our human egos are very adept of convincing us of many things... but human rationalization is not reality and it cannot last forever.
God, in His great love, gave us a Revelation to enlighten us. This, too, is reality. This is knowable to us... by dint of reason and good will. It is knowable. We are obliged to seek it. This is reality.
No amount of personal "belief" or "opinion" to the contrary, of any mere creature (human being) will change this reality.
Truth is Truth.
And another reviewer:
"Love" does not cater to someone right where they are... if they are in a bad place. That is the opposite of love. That is apathy regarding their true well-being.
Love always presents Truth... because only by seeking and embracing Truth can we know fullness of life.

You have some great reviewers!

On the other hand... to the handful of frenetic reviewers (or perhaps only one psycho reviewer) apparently obsessed with being nasty to this author:
It's a poem! Get it?
It contains a flow of emotional expression... and that is why it is called "poetry" and not a "thesis".
'Kay?

God bless all.

Um... Not to be rude or anything, but why does being a Christian prevent you from writing Naruto and Avatar fanfics?

Honestly? This just makes you look bad. It is not fanfic in any sense of the word. And because the only thing you're identifying yourself as is "Christian," you make Christianity look bad by association. Do you honestly think that reading this poem will make all the heathens repent and become good, bible-waving, evolution-bashing sheep of the Lord?

Please. Grow up or GTFO of my religion. Some of us are trying to do something a bit more noble than insulting depressed people and goths.

I lol'd. Then, I talked to my goddess, Tiamat. She says your god is a nancy-boy and challenges him to a yard fight behind the toilet block.

Not only is this against the TOS of being that it is not fanfiction of any kind, it's assumptive, and offensive to both Christians and non-Christians. When reading this, one comes away with the idea that 'real' Christians can't write fanfic, or watch anime. And being that the basis of your faith, the Bible is full to the brim of gore and violence...you're on iffy ground there too. Also, mental illness such as depression, which can lead to self harming behaviour like cutting does not discriminate between faith. I have known many Christians who are also mentally ill. Please don't dismiss their issues, victories and struggles by saying it's all taken care of by having belief. That sort of attitude is dangerous.

The offensive part of this poem from a non-Christian's point of view is clear, so I shan't point them out.

And as a poet, I'd like to point out that your rhythm is a little off, and not every thing has to rhyme. And repeating words is a powerful literary tool, but when you do it too often, it looks like lazy writing.

You should remove this poem from this site, think about what you've written, and it's implications, and then if you want to repost it, post it on a site for ORIGINAL work, because this is not fanfic.

Ah, yes, the infamous anonymous reviews. Delete if you feel so inclined.

First of all, before I launch into my ramble; if christianity has truly brought you happiness, hey! Cool on you! :] Whatever makes somebody the happiest with themselves. ... but it doesn't excuse the generalizations and negative assumptions made.

Yes, my life is certainly easy as a follower of my own atheistic beliefs, with a moral code borrowing from many eastern philosophies and Satanism; plus other aspects of my identity, in the middle of an extremely christian-conservative area. Indeed, it is truly an easy task to be in a vast minority.
I've been a christian before; frankly, I felt much more fufilled and satisfied with myself when I left the religion behind to choose the way my life went without living by a book. Many christian classmates in my school are what you said; they swear fluently, they pursue violent hobbies and watch gory movies. It's not like being a christian means you cease to do so; it all depends on the person, not what they believe. It just comes down to the individual
The poem comes across as if christianity is the only way to be happy. I have to disagree.

By the way-- I'm, as I said, an athiest, and I don't cut myself, watch gory movies, et cetera. So much for that argument.

Born just fine the first time,
Spiky K.

Uh...huh?

*pokes her collection of Tarot Cafe mangas*

Does this make me... not a christian?

*pokes her rather large collection of gothy novels*

o.o

What church do you go to, dearie? You should be reading this there, not on All in all, its nice to see people who trust in their faith, but keep in mind, a lot of Christians LIKE what you pointed out. And continue to like it.

"Please become a Christian?" No thanks. I'm happily Pagan.

Firstly, this isn't fanfic. As much as people seem to think it is, the Bible section is NOT a dumping ground for Christian themed stories and poetry. It's for stories based directly on the Bible. Move it to fictionpress, since you seem to have such disdain for us fanficcers, as shown in this poem. And it's that, along with your utterly ignorant ideas about non-Christians, that really gets my goat.

Christians can write fanfic (gasp!), be goth, read manga (why is manga sinful, anyway?), watch Hellsing and other gory movies, and so on, and not be bathing in sin, you know. Christians can also (horror of horrors!) be depressed and cut themselves. Heck, some get away from the depression by converting from Christanity, whether it be to another religion to atheism. No one's life is going to be all sunshine and roses, regardless of one's faith...

Also, Avatar isn't an anime.

Personally, it's not my style... but at the same time, I totally get what you are saying. It's great that you express your faith so devotedly.
Mr. Awesomeness (do you really live up to that name? lol ), the poem is not addressed to non-believers. It is a personal expression... and out of that expression comes a strong desire for all others to know the joy and peace that this author knows because of her faith. This flows naturally from the first part of the poem...
It is a POEM after all... so it needs to be interpreted as such... not as a narrative or an essay or anything else...

As for "ignorant misconceptions"... nothing could fit this decription more than the act of denigrating all Christians as a group based on the alleged failing of one Christian or a handful of Christians... as you so very clearly did in your review.
You seem to be quite sensitive to perceived "offense", yet you blithely give offense to others quite easily it would seem.
Be careful.
Try to be honorable and just in your criticisms... or you will quickly lose all credibility. There may be some unbelievable non-christian characters in some of these stories. In fact, I'm sure there are.. since this is fan fiction and unbelievable characters are the norm. :)
However, there are absolutely no characters so absurdly unbelievable as the Christian characters that are written (usually quite maniacally and even viciously) by non-christian writers.
So consider more than your own perspective, and see the whole picture. It is very different from that which you try to portray. Okay? Take care and good luck.

Great poem! Though some unbelievers will find this offensive. It's your poem though and it's very good! God bless!

This review is anonymous. Delete it if you'd like.

The previous reviewer fails to notice that this whole poem is addressed to non-believers. Why else would the end say "please become a Christian" over and over again? So yes, I do take offense at this sort of writing spreading and validating the ignorant misconceptions Christians have about those who doubt what they believe.

I love reading the Bible section here. The non-Christian characters are so absurdly unbelievable. So I've got a challenge for you and every other Christian who reads this. Go and evangelize using these "arguments." Put your faith against a whetstone and see if it's sharpened or dulled. If nonbelievers are the way you think, this shouldn't be a problem. But I think you'll be unpleasantly surprised to find that, like Christians, non-Christians are a mix of good and bad, polite and impolite, Goth and non-Goth.

As some other reviewer said, I like it as a song... rather than a straight poem. I think it could be really nice set to music.
With just the words... it's still pretty good.
To the reviewers who are determined to take offense to this... the poem is called, "If I were not a Christian"... it is not called, "This is what all non-christians are like".
This meant as a personal story, not a generalized accusation of others.
Truth is Truth. God is the eternal reality... and any life that does not recognize this eternal reality is quite empty... by very definition. It does not matter whether or not it is perceived (by that person) to be empty at the moment. Our human egos are very adept of convincing us of many things... but human rationalization is not reality and it cannot last forever.
God, in His great love, gave us a Revelation to enlighten us. This, too, is reality. This is knowable to us... by dint of reason and good will. It is knowable. We are obliged to seek it. This is reality.
No amount of personal "belief" or "opinion" to the contrary, of any mere creature (human being) will change this reality.
Truth is Truth.
On an amusing note, congratulations to those reviewers who chose to demonstrate that "not all non-Christians are like that" by using obsenity, vicious insults and/or utterly false accusations and insinuations. Well done. That sure makes your point well. :)
Once again: This is meant as a personal story, not a generalized accusation of others.
All human beings are children of God. All have infinite worth. All should be loved...
... but love does not cater to someone right where they are... if they are in a bad place. That is the opposite of love. That is apathy regarding their true well-being.
Love always presents Truth... because only by seeking and embracing Truth can we know fullness of life.
Continue embracing Truth and continue sharing it with all the world. (But maybe next time make your position and intent just a little bit more clear? It might help. Just a thought.)
Good work. God bless you.

...direction. exactly.
though my take on things is a bit different from yours. My believe is that faith, of whatever kind, is an invention of us humans to give us direction in a world that we dont really understand. Because it is to damn scary to face a world without clear rules.
you say the life of people without (christian) faith is empty. I say you are to afraid to face life without something to hold on to...
maybe we should diss all the judgements? I wont try to convince you that the church is all smokescreens and fabrication and you wont try to convince me that without Christianity Im a worthless person.
thanx

Wow, that's really cool. =D
It kind of reminds me of ZoeGirl's... I forgot the name of the song. Uh oh. But it deals with God waiting for us to turn to Him... Yeah.
Anyway. Really good poem. ^-^