Posted on 11/28/2001 10:12:40 AM PST by electron1
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:35 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
In his mind's eye, the image of what Jose Antonio Serra saw in a burned patch of jungle on the Amazon's edge is still chillingly fresh -- not because the murder happened just seven weeks ago, but because there are some things a father can never forget.
What he found, a short walk from his family's mud hut, were the remains of his 13-year-old son: a figure on its knees, head buried in the dirt, genitals and middle figure removed with cuts that looked almost surgical. In shock, Serra noticed an odd detail: The mutilated body looked diminished, even shrunken. Then he noticed the gash in the boy's jugular vein, and realized that his blood had been drained.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Not at all.
I see the moderator has removed Mr. Vega's post, which is unfortunate. Ironically even though the tone was nasty and yes, offensive to Christians, nothing Vega said was necessarily untrue.
That being said, I do indeed understand that we are in a spiritual battle. That, in fact, is one of the reasons why I think the "Harry Potter is the Devil" hysteria is more damaging to the cause of Christ than the actual book or movie ever will be.
Take a look at the feeding frenzy that any post about Harry Potter starts on FR (do a search, you'll find thousands of posts in the last few days). What is that distracting us from?
For me the biggest problem I have is with Christians who expect spiritual laws and values to always apply to secular situations. In one sense they do, but the use of certain buzz words or phrases just don't play well with those not familiar with spiritual things (the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness).
I just get really cheesed when I see Christians do or say things that damage the cause of Christ. I think in this context, and perhaps in any context, your statement about Mr. Vega being the son of Satan did just that. Instead of softening his heart to the gospel instead it probably made him say "the hell with that, I'm going home to Papa."
I know you didn't mean that and I sense that you are sincere. But we have to think about how our actions and words look to others.
Which of these scenarios do you think is more likely?
A. A decent upstanding citizen happens to come across a book, reads it, and decides that murdering children might not be such a bad idea after all.
B. A demented individual enjoys committing barbaric acts, and also enjoys reading about them.
I've also heard of Christian priests abusing children. That does not make Christianity an evil institution.
This is different from a medical procedure like amputation because the end of the act in this case is to restore or maintain health.
If I say that Pyril Masadonomon can utilize the powers of Whasacalmaiamana It will not change the fact that Pyril is a made up name, and that Whasacalmaiamana is literal gobledegook. Niether contain anything, the only magic the magic of the mind, the imagination of the reader.
Some might consider the act of throwing a rod down on the floor and it turning into a snake to be a work of magic. Should the book that came from be banned? Tell me, was the person who did that devine, or demonic?
In other words... religion. By your own given definition, prayer fits rather nicely.
And I would kindly refer you to my post #121.
And "Fizzies" killed Mikey from the Life cereal commerical too...
Thanks for adding that. And God was willing to sacrifice His Son for us; and His Son was obedient to His Father.
Out of curiosity would that also apply to my vasectomy?
My wife and youngest son who almost died with her last pregnancy would like to know.
As long as something is not "intrinsically evil" you can not go to hell for doing it. Reading Harry Potter is not, so youll be fine. The Catholic Church(great article in This Rock Magazine about this) does not speak either way on the Harry Potter issue.
Parents who do not allow their kid to watch or read the book may have a good point, being that they have a primary responsibility in properly raising their kids, but it is not "bad in itself" to read the book or watch the film. It just might bring down walls that would have prevented you from otherwise doing something bad...That is all the rocus is about...And with some kids, more walls are necessary.
I don't remember any character severing his own arm and casting it into a cauldron to render a spell efficacious in Cinderella.
Perhaps you don't see a difference between Harry Potter and Cinderella, but I do.
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