“We should change the names of AR-15s to “Marco Rubio” because they are so easy to buy.”
Sarah Chadwick, 2018-02-23.
294K likes compared to Rubio’s 23K likes
Included in Helaine Olen’s “The Parkland kids are revealing America’s failings for all to see”.https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/03/05/the-parkland-kids-are-revealing-americas-failings-for-all-to-see/
One of the commenters (kdog_wnc) quotes the Rev. Dr. William Barber: "There are those who say so much about which the Bible says so little, and say so little about which the Bible says so much."
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Monday, March 05, 2018
Sunday, November 26, 2017
What is a real Christian?
One who
Doesn’t throw the first stone,
Doesn’t pray in public to be seen by man,
Forgives others as he or she wants to be forgiven,
Helps someone not like him or her.
I won't say who follows or doesn't follow these guidelines: judge not lest ye be judged.
Submitted as a comment to Roth Douthat's "Is There an Evangelical Crisis".
Doesn’t throw the first stone,
Doesn’t pray in public to be seen by man,
Forgives others as he or she wants to be forgiven,
Helps someone not like him or her.
I won't say who follows or doesn't follow these guidelines: judge not lest ye be judged.
Submitted as a comment to Roth Douthat's "Is There an Evangelical Crisis".
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Quote of the day (Misuse of the Bible)
“When Christians cite the Bible to defend child molestation, Jesus should sue for defamation.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/roy-moore-sexual-assault.html
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, 2017-11-10
See also "Real Christians exist, they just rarely make the news".
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/opinion/roy-moore-sexual-assault.html
Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, 2017-11-10
See also "Real Christians exist, they just rarely make the news".
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Wouldn't true Christians be soft-hearted rather than hard-nosed?
The title of this entry is what came to my mind on reading David Brooks "The Next Culture War", New York Times, 2015-06-30, http://nyti.ms/1JmVd1w.
"Social conservatives are poised to heal broken pieces of society: they should do so rather than continuing to fight battles that are already over."
Rather than give emphasis to the tribal mentality of the Old Testament, wouldn't true Christians follow the "second greatest commandment", to love thy neighbor?
"Social conservatives are poised to heal broken pieces of society: they should do so rather than continuing to fight battles that are already over."
Rather than give emphasis to the tribal mentality of the Old Testament, wouldn't true Christians follow the "second greatest commandment", to love thy neighbor?
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Saints to emulate
“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones”, Mark Antony, “Julius Caesar”, by William Shakespeare.
Last week I wrote “Criminals hiding behind religion”, those who use religion to justify violence against others, whether physical or mental.
As an antidote I would like to write about a few people who have a view of religion as a way to help others.
What is a saint? Many individuals and institutions have their definitions, exemplary behavior, martyrdom, and performing miracles. I define a saint as one who strives to help others, whether spiritually or physically. It is these saints whose good is not interred with their bones, but lives after them.
Let’s start with the good about Islam in conflict with the bad in “Islam”.
Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head on a school bus by a Talib who didn’t like her promotion of education for girls above the age of 15. She survived the attack and is still promoting education to a much wider audience. Her parents support her. Her view is that Islam is a religion of “peace, humanity and brotherhood.” To her, the Taliban are “misusing the name of Islam” and are afraid of education.
Going back over a thousand years, there is the legendary Rabia. She supposedly ran through town with a torch and a pitcher of water. She wanted to set fire to heaven and quench the fires of hell. She thought people should love Allah without the promise of heaven or the fear of hell.
The Red Crescent Societies in various Muslim countries are part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Among recent activities are aid for Syrian refugees.
Jesus may have been a zealot as described by Reza Aslan or the gentle soul of the Beatitudes or some mixture. But we would do well to heed his words about getting along with others instead of harshly judging those who differ with us. He did warn about false religiosity, such as praying in the public square to be seen by others. What would he think of government meetings being opened by prayer? Is that “rendering unto Caesar”?
Erasmus was a sixteenth century cleric and scholar. Although he stayed within the Catholic Church, he was critical of many of its abuses. He was later accused of hatching the Reformation and his books were banned. However, his view was much wider than mere doctrine. For example, “That you are patriotic will be praised by many and easily forgiven by everyone; but in my opinion it is wiser to treat men and things as though we held this world the common fatherland of all.” See Wikipedia for more.
Dorothy Day was many things, a journalist, a socialist, a communist, a labor activist, and a convert to Catholicism. Above all else, she believed in justice and serving others. She was a founding editor of The Catholic Worker from which came a “house of hospitality”, a shelter for the poor where they could also receive clothing and food. These spread into many cities, and many of us know about the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul.
Mother Theresa is well-known for her “helping the poorest of poor”, but I once read that her hospices had a high death rate. But then I read elsewhere that she was taking in the dying dumped in the street and allowing them to die in dignity.
Quakers and other church groups gave support to the Underground Railroad, a network to move escaped slaves north. What a contrast; slaveowners used the Bible to justify slavery and others used the Bible to justify freeing slaves.
Nelson Mandela, baptized a Methodist, became an activist against apartheid. He was sentenced to life in prison by the apartheid government and served 27 years. Much of his early time was in solitary confinement or at hard labor. Despite this treatment, when he was released and eventually became president of South Africa he didn’t seek revenge but sought reconciliation.
The current Dalai Lama is a man who is easy to like. He is well-known for his wide-ranging generosity on many subjects and his sense of humor. He considers himself a communist and the Chinese Communists as capitalists. That is, he puts workers before profits and would like to see the benefits of enterprises shared and the poor better cared for. On the other hand, he gets along well with all sorts of “capitalists”.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born into a Hindu family. In his resistance to British rule in South Africa and India, he practiced non-violence and encouraged others to do likewise. He sought more equity for all – women’s rights, easing poverty, and religious and ethnic tolerance. He helped achieve independence for India, but he could not prevent religious intolerance from splitting his country in two. Sadly, he was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist.
I thought that the Rabbi Hillel gave a two-part statement of basic belief, but I can only find one of these in a quick search. Jesus is quoted as saying the first law is “To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. He was quoting from Deuteronomy. Then “And love thy neighbor as thyself.” Hillel said, “That which is hateful to you do not do to others. All the rest is commentary. Now go and learn.”
Anything in “religious writings” contrary to this last quote is political.
The above was also published in the Reader Weekly of Duluth at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/05/22/3416_saints_to_emulate.
Last week I wrote “Criminals hiding behind religion”, those who use religion to justify violence against others, whether physical or mental.
As an antidote I would like to write about a few people who have a view of religion as a way to help others.
What is a saint? Many individuals and institutions have their definitions, exemplary behavior, martyrdom, and performing miracles. I define a saint as one who strives to help others, whether spiritually or physically. It is these saints whose good is not interred with their bones, but lives after them.
Let’s start with the good about Islam in conflict with the bad in “Islam”.
Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head on a school bus by a Talib who didn’t like her promotion of education for girls above the age of 15. She survived the attack and is still promoting education to a much wider audience. Her parents support her. Her view is that Islam is a religion of “peace, humanity and brotherhood.” To her, the Taliban are “misusing the name of Islam” and are afraid of education.
Going back over a thousand years, there is the legendary Rabia. She supposedly ran through town with a torch and a pitcher of water. She wanted to set fire to heaven and quench the fires of hell. She thought people should love Allah without the promise of heaven or the fear of hell.
The Red Crescent Societies in various Muslim countries are part of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Among recent activities are aid for Syrian refugees.
Jesus may have been a zealot as described by Reza Aslan or the gentle soul of the Beatitudes or some mixture. But we would do well to heed his words about getting along with others instead of harshly judging those who differ with us. He did warn about false religiosity, such as praying in the public square to be seen by others. What would he think of government meetings being opened by prayer? Is that “rendering unto Caesar”?
Erasmus was a sixteenth century cleric and scholar. Although he stayed within the Catholic Church, he was critical of many of its abuses. He was later accused of hatching the Reformation and his books were banned. However, his view was much wider than mere doctrine. For example, “That you are patriotic will be praised by many and easily forgiven by everyone; but in my opinion it is wiser to treat men and things as though we held this world the common fatherland of all.” See Wikipedia for more.
Dorothy Day was many things, a journalist, a socialist, a communist, a labor activist, and a convert to Catholicism. Above all else, she believed in justice and serving others. She was a founding editor of The Catholic Worker from which came a “house of hospitality”, a shelter for the poor where they could also receive clothing and food. These spread into many cities, and many of us know about the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul.
Mother Theresa is well-known for her “helping the poorest of poor”, but I once read that her hospices had a high death rate. But then I read elsewhere that she was taking in the dying dumped in the street and allowing them to die in dignity.
Quakers and other church groups gave support to the Underground Railroad, a network to move escaped slaves north. What a contrast; slaveowners used the Bible to justify slavery and others used the Bible to justify freeing slaves.
Nelson Mandela, baptized a Methodist, became an activist against apartheid. He was sentenced to life in prison by the apartheid government and served 27 years. Much of his early time was in solitary confinement or at hard labor. Despite this treatment, when he was released and eventually became president of South Africa he didn’t seek revenge but sought reconciliation.
The current Dalai Lama is a man who is easy to like. He is well-known for his wide-ranging generosity on many subjects and his sense of humor. He considers himself a communist and the Chinese Communists as capitalists. That is, he puts workers before profits and would like to see the benefits of enterprises shared and the poor better cared for. On the other hand, he gets along well with all sorts of “capitalists”.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born into a Hindu family. In his resistance to British rule in South Africa and India, he practiced non-violence and encouraged others to do likewise. He sought more equity for all – women’s rights, easing poverty, and religious and ethnic tolerance. He helped achieve independence for India, but he could not prevent religious intolerance from splitting his country in two. Sadly, he was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist.
I thought that the Rabbi Hillel gave a two-part statement of basic belief, but I can only find one of these in a quick search. Jesus is quoted as saying the first law is “To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. He was quoting from Deuteronomy. Then “And love thy neighbor as thyself.” Hillel said, “That which is hateful to you do not do to others. All the rest is commentary. Now go and learn.”
Anything in “religious writings” contrary to this last quote is political.
The above was also published in the Reader Weekly of Duluth at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/05/22/3416_saints_to_emulate.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
There is little original thought on the Internet
This blog is a good example of much of what is available on the Internet is derivative of somebody else's ideas.
My previous entry was "Fox News sells book on Jesus by a Muslim".
I got to that by an entry by the Coffee Party on Facebook. It led me to an entry by Egberto Willies on his web site. That led me to an interview on Fox News with an author of a book on Jesus. The author answering questions about his book could still be considered derivative. That led me to look up more info about his book. Finding the Huffington Post excerpt finally got me to the author's original thoughts. Regardless of what you think about Reza Aslan's thoughts about Jesus, you must say that they are closer to unique thinking about a subject than all the other steps that got me to that excerpt.
My previous entry was "Fox News sells book on Jesus by a Muslim".
I got to that by an entry by the Coffee Party on Facebook. It led me to an entry by Egberto Willies on his web site. That led me to an interview on Fox News with an author of a book on Jesus. The author answering questions about his book could still be considered derivative. That led me to look up more info about his book. Finding the Huffington Post excerpt finally got me to the author's original thoughts. Regardless of what you think about Reza Aslan's thoughts about Jesus, you must say that they are closer to unique thinking about a subject than all the other steps that got me to that excerpt.
Fox News sells book on Jesus by a Muslim
Well, it didn't intend to sell "Zealot: The Life And Times Of Jesus Of Nazareth" by Reza Aslan, but the inept interview of him by Lauren Green led lot of people to be interested in the book. I could not finish watching the interview; it was unduly combative on Green's part. Apparently this interview has gone viral and you can find it many places. The commenters to the Egbertowillies page were mostly in favor the author.
A better contrary commentary on the book is "A (Somewhat) Muslim Perspective: Why Is Reza Aslan's Jesus So Small?" by Rob Asghar, Huffington Post, 2013-07-29.
You can judge for yourself by reading an excerpt from "Zealot" at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/zealot-reza-aslan-_n_3605667.html.
A better contrary commentary on the book is "A (Somewhat) Muslim Perspective: Why Is Reza Aslan's Jesus So Small?" by Rob Asghar, Huffington Post, 2013-07-29.
You can judge for yourself by reading an excerpt from "Zealot" at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/zealot-reza-aslan-_n_3605667.html.
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