Have we not heard this very statement on FR recently?
I dont think the real God is pleased right now eithor..
Yes you are right it has been said that fundamental Chrisitanity is the flip side of the fundamental Islam that terrorized this Nation
On one hand we have the faith desendants of the men that built this Nation compared to the desendants of a mad man... people are set on destroying what the followers of Christ have built.
The comparison is being made by men that do not know God.
I think you could make a case that all this mindless flag-waving
is a strong sign of the kind of nihilism Nietzsche talked about.
"....And yet, in the well-intentioned "interfaith prayer services," a more disturbing note was sounded. Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus were all worshipping together, praying, it was said, "to the same God."
This has bothered me quiet a bit, but then again we didn't get to this point over night, this is something that has creep up on the U.S. over many decades. I imagine unless God intervenes in a very major way it would take us decades to get this nation back on course. On the other hand this worshipping seems to be on a nation government level. If the American Christian Culture, which seems to like the Jerry Falwell types more then it would want to admit, ever got it act to together it probably would change this situation. I pray that this is what will happen before I die and doesn't ever get worse. Even though this bothers me I try to keep a perspective that for every non Christian Religion that has a building out there that has it’s members praying there is thousands of Christian Churches which are also praying, but would never think of putting an amen to the end of the non-Christian prays and they would rather die instead, so I guess when you look at it in that perspective maybe there hope on the nation government level.
The Bible strictly forbids syncretistic worship, the mingling of biblical and pagan religions, a violation of the First Commandment.
Praying together is not necessarily an act of syncretism.
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I'm not as pessimistic as the author. I believe that this chastisement has awakened America's sleeping moral sensibility. But I agree that we have a lot of reforming to do, especially regarding the abortion holocaust.
You have to keep in mind that secular liberal-socialists are not exactly the most educated, cultivated, and civilized people on the planet. And frequently you will find that they don't exactly know very much about what they are talking about. To not understand the VAST difference between Western Christianity and Middle Eastern Islam is a classic case. They're pretty stupid actually when you get right down to it. There are, unfortunately, enough loony dysfunctional examples of pathological religiosity which lend some apparent credence to the anti-Christian agenda. Suffice it to say, people need to do their homework on this topic. Reality involves many different trajectories of analysis and interpretation for its structural, psychological, and philosophical complexity than are supplied by scriptural texts alone. Self-professing "Christians" would do well to take notice of this and not set up the straw-man targets for their aggressive and maniacly hostile opponents. The intellectual analysis of the current international situation, for instance, requires a great deal more than citing Bible passages.
Gene Edward Veith is "one of our own" here in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Dr. Veith is a professor at Concordia University-Wisconsin (in Mequon, near Milwaukee).
Perhaps more dangerous in the post-postmodernist era is what may happen to religion. Suddenly the cultural hostility to faith went up in smoke, when Americans faced real pain and real spiritual need. This was a good sign. And yet, in the well-intentioned "interfaith prayer services," a more disturbing note was sounded. Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus were all worshipping together, praying, it was said, "to the same God."
The Bible strictly forbids syncretistic worship, the mingling of biblical and pagan religions, a violation of the First Commandment. When the Israelites brought idols of Baal into the Temple, presumably because they thought they and the Canaanites worshipped "the same god," the real God was not pleased.
Yes, this is very true. And in fact, we are having a major "discussion" in the LCMS right now, regarding participation in these syncretistic "interfaith prayer services." The LCMS Constitution, following the teaching of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, rightly requires, as a condition of membership in the Synod, "Renunciation of unionism and syncretism of every description."
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
My guess would be a "Dark and Stormy night..."
I wanted to share with you some thoughts I've had about the problems we have in this country, the war, but what kind of war is it? There's no place to go, nothing that you can think to do that would be right, even though justice is necessary.
I'd like to talk to you tonight about other terrorists.
Let's take social terrorists - in our country. The kind of terrorists that go into schools and spread drugs. The kind of terrorists that kidnap little children and make them prostitutes and what was always known as white slavery. The kind of terrorists in the entertainment world that put out on television in public, in Europe and all over the world, the worst, worst kind of movies, the most immoral movies. Those are social terrorists. You say, oh no Mother, they, oh yea....look what they have done to this country, look what they have done to our youth. And what is a terrorist, I don't know what a definition is... someone who wants to destroy.
We've had two beautiful buildings destroyed on our land. And many innocent people. People who were blown to bits - just like the first 10, 20 years of abortion. Cut to pieces, thrown in garbage cans and eaten by rats. Same as now. Those are terrorists. I think they're the worst because they destroy innocence and life and populations. Our population is nothing what it should have been. Millions that belonged to us are gone and to me, and, I might be way off beam, I just want to share my heart with you - all those millions and millions that are gone, they can't fight for us because they aren't there. Isn't that a terrorist thing? Isn't it terrorism to have Satan's music for our little ones to absorb and to begin to murder and kill. Isn't it terrorist to spread drugs everywhere, to push prostitution and immorality among our youth, weaken their hearts, their souls, their minds? Isn't that terror?
Then there's spiritual terror, the kind that makes you afraid to say a prayer in public, the kind that makes you hide your crucifixes and anything religious in your office. The kind that says you can't have a crib in public. That's a terrorist because, in your heart you want to love God. You want to praise God. You want to say thank you Jesus for coming to save us as a little child. Thank you Lord. I think that's a terrorism that's acceptable... but I don't think it is.
Mr. President, I'm an old lady with a minor little stroke, or whatever it is and only one eye, but I can see - that this nation, great, mighty, a sleeping giant, that could bring the whole world to holiness, goodness, compassion, strength and hope, but I don't think, unless we tackle the terrorists in OUR country, we can expect God to protect and guide us.
Mr. President, would you consider putting prayer back in the schools and letting us pray at social functions? I understand that you prayed at a football game or baseball game. Could we pray in restaurants and could we have reminders of the Lord God? Can we put a crib back on our lawns and not be afraid of being ridiculed? Mr. President, would you consider having prayer back in the schools? Would you consider taking that horrible law with permission to kill, to terrorize the innocent? I know some of you are mad at me right now. I figure in my condition I have nothing to lose. But would you consider, saying no more abortion is allowed in this country? Would you consider?
Mr. President, I thought your speech was wonderful. I don't play Democrat or Rebublican. I don't play anything in politics. I think, in general, politics stinks, but, you gotta vote for somebody. I was proud of you the other day. You were strong and you did put God in. But you see, you can't have two opposite things. You can't allow such terrorists in our country.
I know, I know what some of you're out there are thinking "Well you have your nerve, you're trying to tell us what to do". No, I don't care what you do. If you don't want to pray, don't pray. I believe in freeedom of religion. I also believe in God and this country is no longer free. See, if you're not free Mr. President, you can't make others free. You can't give what we don't possess.
If we offend God by pornography and allowing pornography, by drugs, by not enough care and supervision, by television that's absolutely rotten, disgraceful, immoral, and allowing innocent children, they feel, those kids feel whatever it is. In the old days they used to have salt saline abortion. They'd burn the little children. As long as that's a law, it cannot be pleasing to God.
We can't keep offending God here, then ask for his blessing here. It's not going to work. Most of you might say, mind your own business and talk spiritual things. I think I am, talking about deeply spiritual things.
And all of you that have been so hidden and hurt because of the way these over 6,000 people died, cruel, without love, without anything. What about those little kids. They had no place to run. They had no place to go. You see, I don't want to be depressing tonight. I love you. I love you Mr. President. You may never hear this talk. I hope the spirit, in one of your prayer groups, whispers in your ear because I think some drastic anti-terrorism has to be done in this country - to make us free - to make us filled with trust in God. Then, then you can do the work that you have been given to do. And then the almighty God from on high will be with you, and with this country, and with the world.
I love our president and our congress, because they've gotten together and they done everything America should do. They rose to the occasion. Just as with Pearl Harbour, the Japanese said they woke a sleeping giant, they did again (now). This time, we have a few hindrances.
I'm only saying that if we're going to clear out or try to bring to justice terrorists we had better first look at home.... We must be brave and we must accept our penance. We must also change. We must pray, not only for those who died in those terrible, terrible attacks, but have we ever prayed for the children who were murdered, every day? Have we ever said Lord, I can't stop it but I pray they have a high degree of glory in your kingdom... Let us become a repenting nation and change.
I think the route is fairly clearly laid out. . . Islam insanity . . . perhaps the much predicted rise of Christian wealth and much increased quality and intensity of spirituality with incredibly dramatic signs and wonders accordingly . . . dead being raised and other more dramatic things un-thought of as yet . . .
The enemy gets increasingly outraged at the above and his darkness grows as well as his own counterfeit demonstrations of power. . . at some point the Christians increased wealth and the increased natural catastrophes and man made disasters also increasing will likely result in the kind of blame on "those fundamentalist Christians and Zionist Jews" much as Hitler blamed the troubles of Germany and the world on the Jews and their money holdings.
At some point in the assorted mayhem, the evil man of pseudo peace will step up and offer in a plausible but incredibly deceptive proposal to bring peace and harmony under a new world religion syncretizing and outlawing all others at the same time. And the weary stubborn, rebellious of the world will go yippie kai yai yea all the way to the black hot hole, cursing God in the midst of reaping what they've sown.
But that rough scenario--whatever degree it turns out to be accurate is too easy. . . the Manual says as much in so many words, to my understanding anyway. I'd be interested if others have come up with different or similar scenarios from their reading of The Bible and the newspaper.
The fatwa against Rushdie was withdrawn years ago.
Spare us this lurid Hollywood history, please. When the Western empire ceased to function, Catholic Christianity had been its official religion for 100 years.
I've seen attempts to explain the attacks from this direction. But an explanation and an excuse are two different things.
This much is true, as attempts are made to flip the dislectic into that of faith vs. "progress".