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| Re: Not everyone's sorry for the tsunami (9920) | |||
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Re: Not everyone's sorry for the tsunami |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Thu Jan 6 01:37:27 2005, in response to Re: Not everyone's sorry for the tsunami, posted by vengence on Wed Jan 5 18:14:41 2005. It does sound as though you've received a bit of twisted indoctrination along the way, not unusual actually. If only things weren't so insanely busy here at my workplace, I'd love to take the time to go with the nuances. Instead, I'm going to need to be brief and oversimplify things. Forgive me, for I'll need to buzzword and paraphrase ... I wish Brother Elias was around to see this thread, he would have the time to expand on what I'm about to offer as a thought ..."Render unto Caesar" - God isn't interested in human institutions or government - that's man's problem. Religion is between US and GOD and nothing else needs to get in the way. I don't worry about "school prayer," there'll ALWAYS be "school prayer" whenever there's a math test. I don't think personally that government SHOULD be involved in religion, for there are Jews, Buddhists, Muslims and others who believe in the same basic tenets and the conversion of America into a "Faith Assembly" only denigrates God ... my opinion. Using God to preach NATIONALISM is the ultimate heresy. And claiming Jesus for a political party is even WORSE. "Upon this rock I shall build my church" - that ISN'T exactly what was meant, Jesus was telling Peter that the new covenant of FAITH was the rock, and the "church" was more metaphysical in meaning "spiritual values" ... rock buildings with steeples were NOT part of God's plan - Christianity and other religions are PURELY spiritual and physical entities or those who leech off those physical entities are NOT what He intended. The MESSAGE was "you are forgiven for your sins, you don't have to grovel, go and sin no more - AND "spread the love" ... And as to "wrathful avenger or cosmic muffin" this too was made very clear. The physical realm belongs to man - the SPIRITUAL realm belongs to God. God doesn't MAKE things happen, if anything, God ALLOWS things to happen, much like a parent who just can't get little Johnny NOT to touch the hot stove. Sometimes little Johnny HAS to burn his hand to learn, "don't DO that" ... "Wages of sin" and all that. Turn to God for the strength to endure, but God doesn't hurl lawn darts - people do THAT to THEMSELVES and have only THEMSELVES to blame. God is LOVE, peace, serenity, and compassion. When you encounter OTHER attitudes, then God has left the building. It's YOUR problem. :) I'll leave it there - once again, fascinating stuff - we could go on and on and I'd enjoy it if only I had the spare time. But this whole "vengeful God" thing is pandering from the fundamentalists. God lets you have free will, and if you choose poorly, it's your own fault. And things happen ... God's not going to interfere. If humankind would only live by the rules, there'd be a LOT less suffering. Still, things happen. Like earthquakes, tsunamis and twisters. Life is a gift. Enjoy it while it lasts, share it with others, and have fun. |
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