Posted on 08/04/2002 8:00:41 AM PDT by Commie Basher
I know a lot of New Agers and I find them just as intolerant as every other religion can tend to be. Their dislike of Chrisitans by the New Age movement is visceral. Of course if I had Christians telling me I was going to hell all the time it would tend to get my back up too. They go on and on about how Christians wiped out the "old religion". That is true they did but they overlook the the good things that Judeo-Christian thought brought to the modern world. Things like hospitals,public education, the end of slavery in the west, the sufferage of women etc. All these ideas had their start within the church. The Christian belief that everyone is equal in the eyes of God is something the New Age borrows from freely but rarely gives credit to the original source for. Although I do not agree with those who say the US is a Chrisitan country I will say that without it we would not have our wonderful constitution The contributions of Judeao-Christianity are mind boggling in their scope. If one weighs the contributions of the New Age to it there is no contest about who has been of greater benefit to humanity.Chrisitan ideals are the underpinning of so much of our modern day beliefs we take it for granted and just assume the world was always that way.
Althugh there are some common ideas betweeen Judism, Christianity and Islam, Islam has taken a different turn in the road totally. They have failed to "grow up" like the Jews and Chistians have. They still practice slavery, treat women like dirt and kill heretics. They have a world view that is totally incompatable with most everything we hold dear. If they stayed home and practiced that crap nooe would have a problem with it. It's when export it in that oh so special way they have that we a forced to do something. Given time they will probably get over it since there is a small active element within their faith that can see these ideas are wrong. The problem for us is we may have to kill a lot of them before they settle down.
I wish I heard that Art Bell interview. I usually tape his show ever night on my Versa-Corder but I must have missed that one Like you sometimes I wonder if I just have a problem with humanity in general. Let's face it they can sure be pretty darn grating at times :) Please forgive all the typos, spelling errors and oversights in grammer. I'm mostly a lurker and hardly ever post.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Got Salvation? see John 3:16
But ironically, in practice, it seems to mean only Judaism (i.e., only the parts that both agree on).
An online dictionary (Websters, as I remember) says that "Judeao-Christianity" was only coined in 1899. So I assume it was coined in response to Jewish immgrantion. The newly arrived immigrants no doubt felt unnerved by the term "Christian America," because Jews have long associated Christianity with anti-Semitism.
If you think about it, "Judeao-Christian" is really an early PC term meaning "Christianity without anti-Semitism."
You're right about New Agers hating Christians, but it's especially true of neo-pagans (since there are people who consider themselves "New Age Christians" or "New Age Jews").
I have never seen ANY evidence of obnoxious behaviour by lost tribe. He seems unusually patient and tolerant of other peoples views IMHO. But it's the idiots (like you) who deliberately misrepresent his ideas and attack him personally who get the backside of his hand. Pull that #%$# with me and you would learn a new definition of obnoxious!
I hate it when people drag theology into politics. Makes me wish for more "separation of church and state."
I don't know, CB, I didn't take it that way at all. It's just a personal expression of support for Israel. I think it does seem like American and Israel against the world right now, religion completely aside. Don't you? Of course we have other allies, but their support can be shaky at times.
As far as the facing "the tribulation if we turn our backs on Israel"...that's just a personal belief, don't let it bug you.
The so-called "seperation of church and state" is about making sure American's are free to make the above statement without fear of government retribution. In other words, it is about protecting the Church FROM the State. The government should not endorse religion, but that's not the same as individuals in government having and expressing their own religion.
I guess I am saying I fear the oppression and persecution of religion far more than I fear an adoption of any state religion.
I gather from your previous posts that you are eager to play the teacher and can be dismissive of others who do not share your theological views so I will simply state that while we have some disagreements over scriptural meanings, the Left Behind books, while not destructive, are somewhat misleading - but as you say, if they get the unsaved to at least consider the future and eventually go to scripture and even come to the Lord, that's fine. I don't really endorse them but I wouldn't stop someone from reading them, either, however I would certainly urge an unsaved 'fan' of the books to then go to scripture for the true story.
The problem is that the new Christian is totally unprepared to deal with Revelation and other deep scriptures. They need milk before they are ready for meat. When you take the unsaved or the simply curious into scriptural areas that even lifelong Christians with years of study still contend over the result is often confusion and eventually, a rejection of the whole Bible as 'a story'. I've seen this happen.
The 'Left Behind' series has merit and I'm glad it's well received but I still highly recommend the Bible, God's Word to his creation, first, before trusting secular ficton using the Bible as a vehicle to bring the unsaved to Christ.
It's true that the burning of heretics was not a Protestant practice.
Protestants killed Catholic "heretics" by hanging, drawing and quartering, or by simple beheading (if they were nobility).
However, the people involved were just as dead, weren't they, berned?
Do most people in Latin America or Africa, or even the Pacific rim, know or care about the mideast. Maybe some, but not most, I think.
There's a great short story by Ray Bradbury. An American couple travel to Mexico, when they hear a radio report of nuclear war between the US and USSR. The husband screams about "the end of the world" and the need to return to the US. After he leaves, a Mexican peasant glances around, everything looks fine, and he wonders who was this crazy gringo screaming about the "end of the world."
The story is a parable about American tendency to imagine that anything that happens to them happens to "the world," or that most of the world is even aware of them.
I'm not a traveler, have not left the US since 1977 (I'm one of the many non-rich Republicans), but I think Bradbury likely hit on something.
Israel is so over-played in the US media. True, many are dying, but I'm sure many more (even per capita) are dying daily in hot spots across the globe. But we never hear of it. We think the US and Israel are the center of the world, and imagine that the world thinks likewise. I don't think they do. So I don't think that the "world is against the US and Israel."
And since I'm a libertarian, foreign non-interventionist, I don't think the US should be so closely "allied" to any nation. I wish we returned to out pre-1898 foreign policy (yes, it can be done!).
Hey there, Jim Scott. I think you must have me confused with someone. I never offered an interpretation of 2 Thessalonians on this thread (or anywhere else)! I'm not sure what you mean when you say I'm dismissive of others' interpretations. Please, when making such accusations, show what you consider to be offensive, and we'll discuss it. I was just agreeing with Berned (on this thread) that the Left Behind books have done an overall service (in my opinion), in that they have caused Christians to think about the end times, and have caused others to think about Christianity. That's far different from arguing over Biblical interpretations (which I have NOT done here). And on the most important point, I absolutely agree with you. 'Tis far better to go to the source, the Bible, than to rely on Tim LaHaye's interpretations! Peace, brother.
You're right and I apologize. My post should have been addressed to Berned, not to you. My error. I neglected to post my reply from Berned's post to me.
Glad we do agree on going to the source for God's plan.
Have a fine day.
Smarty! It took me much longer! "I do not think there were any antisemites among the sisters I knew. We were taught that it was our obligation to convert the Jews, by example and by encouraging them to find Christ. They we never presented as enemies, all non-believers were children of God who had not yet found "
This was exactly my experience too!
"That's how people felt about Jews in those days, I remember the then-young couple who ran the delicatessen had numbers tatooed on their arms and as a seven-year old could hardly believe and little comprehend my Mother's explanation. "
Okay I am FREAKING out. That is exactly my experience too. There was a couple named Alla and Rubin who ran a nearby delicatessen and they had blue numbers tattooed on their arms and I ASKED MY MOM ABOUT IT. How about that??!!!
"There weren't many Jews in our corner of Queens. "
I grew up in Dallas Texas, grade school in the 50's - 60's. Not a lot of Jews there. But I can't say I ever ran into anti-Semitism in school. Or in my family. Or my friend families. I was trained that the Jews were special to God. that's
"In H.S. I had some theologically semi-serious brothers, who did not presume to speak for God, (and of course some who did) and were intellectually stimulating. One thing I am certain of is that it was definely not Roman Catholic doctrine that non-Christians were going to Hell regardless of what O'Reilly says."
In HS I went to Ursuline Academy and we had GOOD religion classes that got into grown up type theology. I enjoyed those classes. I always made A's and B's in religion all through grade school and high school. It was my favorite subject. And my first real qestion about God was to my Dad when I was about seven years old. I was worried about the pygmies in Africa... would they go to hell? After all it was not their fault they had not heard about Jesus. It was an important question, me and God were going to have some serious problems if pygmies went to hell for something that was not their fault. Then my dad, and later the nuns, gave the Catholic teaching. Oh boy I was happy! Good is good. And Catholic teaching is wise and true.
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