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Dear Christians: Do Stop Believin’
National Review ^ | 03/15/2013 | David French

Posted on 03/15/2013 10:51:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

I may be a Reformed Protestant, but I still care a great deal about the new pope. He is, after all, only the world’s most prominent advocate for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and Christians everywhere should be grateful that the new pope is by all credible accounts a humble, devout man with a heart for the “least of these.” In fact, for millions of our more secular citizens, the Catholic Church is essentially a stand-in for all (orthodox) Christendom, and critiques of Catholics are often critiques of all Christianity.

I was reminded of this fact when I read Frances Kissling’s recent piece in The Nation – highlighted again today in response to the selection of the new pope. Kissling, some may recall, is the past president of a group called “Catholics for Choice.” Kissling contends that the new pope (no matter who he is) will change nothing, and nothing will ever change until, well, Catholics stop being Christian. Feast your eyes on this critique:

As long as Catholics are expected to accept rigid, sexist and blatantly illogical doctrine, there can be no real change in the church. From the Vatican down to the local parish priest, the early narratives—stories, really—that sought to explain who we are, why we are here, and the meaning of life are still taught, despite the fact that they are even less credible explanations of who we are than they ever were. 

And which narratives does Kissling dislike?

The insistence that Jesus Christ was born of virgin is among the most destructive. It suggests that women—married or single—are forever tainted by sexual activity. It reflects the early Christian distaste for all sexuality. It clings to the notion that there would have been something unseemly about God coming into the world through a birth canal through which semen had passed. Holding to the virgin birth is not a benign teaching. It undermines the idea that pleasure is sacred, that sexual intercourse is normal and healthy. It certainly does nothing to undermine the idiots who think that the woman’s body will reject the sperm of a rapist.

Silly me. I thought one of the main points of the virgin birth was that Jesus was God’s son, not Joseph’s. But Kissling is just getting warmed up:

The virgin birth is only the start of it. Heaven and hell, the turning of bread and wine into the body of Christ (a core teaching that polls tell us most Catholics reject), the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven (how could her body have gone to heaven when we are now clear it is not a real physical place?), the infallibility of the pope telling these untruths and insisting that Catholics must believe them to be Catholic—this all leads directly to corrupt popes and priests who lack compassion. Lying or just fudging it demoralizes those who teach in the name of the church. 

Now that is a comprehensive critique. To be clear, as a Presbyterian, I don’t believe that communion bread and wine turn into the literal body and blood of Christ, but I didn’t arrive at that belief through poll-testing (what a curious method for discerning theological truth). I am, however, very eager to hear how “we are now clear” that heaven is not a real physical place.  

While not all progressive Christians scorn actual faith so openly, the column is a prime example as to why it’s so very difficult to take progressive spiritualists seriously. It’s as if the label “Catholic” or “Christian” or “Evangelical” is adopted by the progressive not as a statement of actual belief but instead as an identity marker granting standing to mock and destroy.

I know a few self-described progressive Christians who believe every word of the Bible was inspired by God, but far more common are the progressives who believe that the church would be a great force for good — if only it shed its actual religious faith. Funny how they rarely make similar arguments to Muslims.



TOPICS: Current Events; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: christianity; culture; davidfrench; french; morality
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To: raygunfan
Twelve times he said he was the bread that came down from heaven;

Then Jesus was made out of bread dough, not muscle and bone.

After all, we must take the words of Jesus literally, mustn't we?

41 posted on 03/15/2013 3:54:54 PM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)
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To: redgolum

Genesis is an allegory... A remarkably accurate allegory considering the state of science 5000 years ago... But never presented to generations of Jews as historical fact.

The gospels are different... They are eye witness accounts of the Son of God. No eye witnesses for Genesis.


42 posted on 03/15/2013 6:42:56 PM PDT by rwilson99 (Please tell me how the words "shall not perish and have everlasting life" would NOT apply to Mary.)
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To: rwilson99

And you keep sawing on the branch you are standing on.


43 posted on 03/15/2013 7:03:14 PM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Hello!


44 posted on 03/15/2013 7:06:05 PM PDT by ATriedSoul (These times.)
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To: Dutchboy88

I love FReepers and there’s only one thing I dislike about it & that’s the Catholic-haters; I’ve been called non-Christian Romish Mary-worshipper so many times over the years by Bible thumpers that it’s truly pathetic.

Don’t like Catholic ritual? Then go to a brush arbor and handle serpents by torchlight.

Long live Pope Francis I!


45 posted on 03/15/2013 7:20:09 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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To: Dutchboy88

got snakes?


46 posted on 03/15/2013 7:24:30 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: Dutchboy88; posterchild; ColdOne; navymom1; Pat4ever; RIghtwardHo; Reaganite Republican; ...
Dutchboy88 wrote:

The “pope” is not an advocate for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He advocates a self-made religion full of tradition and rituals. If the writer is “reformed”, he ought to know the distance between those who advocate the Gospel from the Scriptures and that promulgated by Rome. This “pope” is just as errant as all of the rest of them have been and implicitly teaching just as much error.

47 posted on 03/15/2013 7:28:57 PM PDT by narses
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To: Revolting cat!

Very naughty and very funny!


48 posted on 03/15/2013 7:30:40 PM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: SeekAndFind
“the Catholic Church is essentially a stand-in for all (orthodox) Christendom, and critiques of Catholics are often critiques of all Christianity”

A false statement not based on fact at all! I am a former Catholic who became a Bible-based born again Christian by the will of God and not man. There is a profound difference between religion and true spirituality. The Word of God is “inspired”, meaning ‘God breathed’ or ‘exhaled’: Genesis 2:7; Psalm 33:6; Hebrews 4:12;2Tim.3:16; 2Peter 1:20-21. A true seeker of Truth would start in Genesis and read through Revelations to find Jesus, The Word of God, John 1:1 to become transformed. ats

49 posted on 03/15/2013 8:42:46 PM PDT by ATriedSoul (These times.)
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To: rwilson99
I find it fascinating that Protestants see Genesis as indelible fact... While Jesus’ words in John, specifically chapter 6 are a metaphor.

And yet you believe much of Genesis is a metaphor but pick a couple of verses out of the book of John and will bet your life that those couple of verses are literal...So why are you fascinated???

50 posted on 03/16/2013 5:08:15 AM PDT by Iscool (uee)
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To: Iscool

You do realize the ‘days’ in Genesis pre-date the ‘days’ represented by the rising of the sun, right?

Since there is no earthly way to define the day, before God creates the sun, moon & stars on the 4th ‘day’ of creation.

Just as His ways are not our ways... His days are not our days.


51 posted on 03/16/2013 5:36:50 AM PDT by rwilson99 (Please tell me how the words "shall not perish and have everlasting life" would NOT apply to Mary.)
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To: Dutchboy88

You have nailed the vast difference between Christians and Catholics in a nutshell.


52 posted on 03/16/2013 6:25:27 AM PDT by bonfire
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To: narses

“The “pope” is not an advocate for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He advocates a self-made religion full of tradition and rituals. This “pope” is just as errant as all of the rest of them have been and implicitly teaching just as much error.”

The funny thing here is that Frances Kissling would agree with all of this 100%.

Freegards, thanks for all the pings


53 posted on 03/16/2013 6:32:37 AM PDT by Ransomed
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To: bonfire; Dutchboy88; posterchild; ColdOne; navymom1; Pat4ever; RIghtwardHo; Reaganite Republican; ..
bonfire wrote to Dutchboy88:
You have nailed the vast difference between Christians and Catholics in a nutshell.
No, what Dutchboy88 "nailed" and what you applaud is ignorant bigotry, adhered to by the splintered fragments of heretics unschooled in faith and ignorant of history.
54 posted on 03/16/2013 8:39:36 AM PDT by narses
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To: Ransomed

Indeed. Heretics often agree with each other in their hatred of Truth, if nothing else.


55 posted on 03/16/2013 8:40:09 AM PDT by narses
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To: narses
"...splintered fragments of heretics unschooled in faith and ignorant of history."

I draw your attention to the "splintered fragments" of the so-called RCC, my FRiend. There are as many flavors of the Roman cult as there are of other groups.

And, the "heretics" to whom I assume you refer were among (and are among) those who point to the real message of the Scriptures. They do not revere the man in Prada shoes, but they revere the Savior, Jesus the Messiah of Israel, alone. They do not slavishly adore a man in a white bathrobe, but they lift up the Lamb provided by God. They do not adhere to silly man-made traditions, rituals, ceremonies and idolatry, "...which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence."

56 posted on 03/16/2013 9:19:59 AM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: Dutchboy88

57 posted on 03/16/2013 9:29:43 AM PDT by narses
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To: narses

While you may find it comforting to attempt to discredit the truth with pictures, facts are a troubling reality.


58 posted on 03/16/2013 10:16:12 AM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: bonfire
"You have nailed the vast difference between Christians and Catholics in a nutshell."

And, your word "vast" is appropriate here. To hold hands across the ocean and make nicey with their new fellow is to miss the enormous difference between the two world views, or rather the two understandings of the message of the Bible. We certainly do not think ourselves above them, but we do see them as ensnared in this errant view and we owe them the warning. Thanks for the feedback.

59 posted on 03/16/2013 10:22:13 AM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: Dutchboy88
If you speak out about Obama’s lying policies, you are a racist. If you speak out about the Roman Cult called Catholic, you are a “hater”. This keeps coming to my mind: There are none so blind as those who cannot see.
60 posted on 03/16/2013 10:59:47 AM PDT by fish hawk (no tyrant can remain in power without the consent and cooperation of his victims.)
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