All of this attitude right after we cross into Texas.
And now a hurricane hits Texas.
The white, Repulican, bible belt state that it is.
What was god thinking this time?
If you left ME on my roof for 7 days, flew by in a helicopter "just to look" and take some pictures, I'd try to shoot your ass down too.
My thoughts do go out to Sharon and her family. I've been thinking about you all and hope you all are ok and that your house is ok. Your blog is quiet, since July. I hope you are all ok. I did get your email, but it was before Ike hit.
I've been reading "The Dark Side of Christian History" by Helen Ellerbe. I've gone through the history of Orthodox Christianity/Catholicism from 100 - 400, 200 -500 when Christianity was introduced to the Romans, 300 - 500 when force started being used, 500 - 1000 The Dark Ages,
1000 - 1500 The Middle Ages, 1280 - 1800 The Inquisition, 1500 to 1700 The Reformation, and right now I'm at 1450 to 1750 The Witch Hunts. It may seen common knowledge to most people - these dates and names of times in history - but not to me. I never learned any of it.
As I was reading,
about all the massacres and torture and mind control and the destruction of so much art and literature and philosophy, and more brutal slayings and raping and horror, all of the money and lands stolen and acquired by the church, all in the name of god. All "justified" and allowed, not even hidden but bragged about and rewarded, In the name of God, for so long, realizing that this history is the foundation of the Catholic and Christians belief system today,
this history is the basis of all christian belief today, all denominations, but particularly Catholic,
I started to realize why maybe we weren't ever taught World History at Thunderbird Academy.
Are the actions of the fathers of Christianity any different than those of Hitler? Murder and torture because one is different? For material gain? Because someone's looks and beliefs are threatening to you? And they killed way more people than Hitler. There is no difference. The neo-Nazis of today are considered freakish and evil for following in his footsteps. How is the Church any different? Any church?
How can one base their belief system of something that came out of something so very very evil? This is a question that would have been asked. That couldn't be asked because we didn't know about it. (Sounds alot like the tactics used in history).
How can one base their belief system on text that was openly rewritten, proudly rewritten to say what they wanted it to say? How can you believe in a text or book that was admittedly altered and rewritten?
And I can hear the Adventists, or any other denomination, reply.
That the sacred scriptures were protected by divine intervention throughout history.
Well then, where was that divine intervention and protection when people were being slaughtered? Which takes me back to my quote a few days ago. If god is ominpotent, why doesn't he prevent evil?
The whole idea, the more I learn, just does not make any sense to me.
Think I found out why they didn't teach it at Academy though.
I respect everyone's RIGHT to believe any religion they choose, however I am completely disgusted with anyone who claims to be or identifies with being Catholic. I am disgusted. That you either don't care enough to research your foundation of beliefs, or you just don't care what they did. Either way, to me you are disgusting. Utterly. And its MY RIGHT to feel that way.
No Wiccan every killed anyone who didn't believe in the moon or the goddess or magick. We don't even worship Jesus and we act more like him.
Did you know that the Catholic Church didn't revoke its condemnation of Galileo until 1965?Thats 5 years before I was born, they still were condemning one of our greatest scientists.
And that torture remained a legal option for the Church until 1917? 1917 !!!!!!!
Fascinating stuff.
After this book I'm reading the "Malleus Maleficarum". I've had it for awhile.
In the words of John Lennon...................................
2 Comments:
Hey gal!!!
Its great to hear the passion in your voice!
I agree with you that religion is a horror! I find it repugnant and so does Jesus:
Jesus said: I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders." (Matthew 9:12 The Message)
Jesus said: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30 The Message)
Have you ever noticed how a LOT of the Old Testament is God slamming the religious? (plus Abraham is repeatedly shown to be a liar, Moses a murderer who actually admits it in his writing, David an adulterer and murderer it goes on and on). Plus in the New Testament the Church is continually hammered by God. For example the Church in Corinth was awash in sin but it was still the Church….
Yet I need look no further than myself, depraved sinner that I am….and I am the Church….a Jesus follower…
I am so fortunate that grace slays karma….
Great article thanks….
Fallen Angel,
I came across your blog through a post by you in Vera's blog, which I read from time to time. This particular subject caught my attention, so I wanted to respond to it.
>I just have to mention how interesting and ironic I find it that 3 years ago when we went down to Lousiana to help out with Katrina... I remember some comments I encountered. How Katrina was an effect of god removing his protection from a city of blatant sin, comparing it to Sodom and Gomorrah. How the city of New Orleans somehow deserved it and brought it on itself for being so "godless."
I think that is great that you went down to help. You gave of your time and energy and resources to help others in need. You were being a Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37), a good sheep (see Matthew 25:31-40). Believe it or not, what you did reflected the teachings of Jesus and Christianity.
>And how the people somehow were unworthy of our time and effort because they were poor black "niggers".
Catch what Jesus says about the good sheep in Matthew 25:40 - "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the LEAST of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
That quote alone, tells me that anybody worthy of help as far as Christ is concerned.
Also, God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11). God did not teach racism, and there is no room for it in the life of a Christian.
>I've been reading "The Dark Side of Christian History" by Helen Ellerbe....
>As I was reading,about all the massacres and torture and mind control and the destruction of so much art and literature and philosophy, and more brutal slayings and raping and horror, all of the money and lands stolen and acquired by the church, all in the name of god. All "justified" and allowed, not even hidden but bragged about and rewarded, In the name of God,
Jesus, speaking to his disciples, says (in John 16:2-3): "They will put you out of the synagogue (i.e. church); in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN THE FATHER OR ME." Jesus is talking about religious people who think they are doing God's work when in fact they are not.
See also Matthew 7:21-23. Here Jesus is saying that people will do things in His name, but He will tell them that He doesn't KNOW them, because they do not have a relationship with Jesus, so they did not KNOW and thus did not DO what God wanted.
>for so long, realizing that this history is the foundation of the Catholic and Christians belief system today, this history is the basis of all christian belief today, all denominations, but particularly Catholic,
What exactly do you mean by this? What is this basis you are talking about? Do you think the Bible teaches us to rape, steal, destroy and kill? If you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, it is absolutely clear that the basis of God's law and the basis of Christianity, is LOVE. Check out the following brief list on the importance of Love recorded in the Bible:
Matthew 7:12 - The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Matthew 22:36-40 - Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment. Jesus responded: 1) Love God, and 2) Love your neighbor. God's laws hang on these two commandments.
1 Corinthians 13 - the "Love" chapter, another good read.
1 John 4:7-21 (esp. 8) - Love comes from God, in fact God IS Love
Matthew 5:44-48 - want to be perfect? Then love everyone, including your enemies.
These are good teachings - I think you would agree that the world would certainly be a better place if everyone practiced them.
Unfortunately what you described above were people who carried out NOT God's work, but the Devil's work, but using God's name. Christians are supposed to represent Christ, but here they MISrepresented Him big-time. This behavior isn't just limited to Catholics or Christians, but to humanity in general. Anybody can use (their) God's name to further their own agenda.
Jesus issued a very harsh rebuke to the Pharisees and other religious leaders of his day who misrepresented God (read Matthew 23, especially verse 15).
>I started to realize why maybe we weren't ever taught World History at Thunderbird Academy.
Why? Do you think they wanted you to be ignorant of history? Perhaps they had nobody willing or able to teach it, because Adventism has no reason to not teach it. It is a fundamental requirement for HS graduation in some states.
>Are the actions of the fathers of Christianity any different than those of Hitler? ...There is no difference... How is the Church any different? Any church?
I agree, they are no different. It is particularly bad when a church, any church, participates in such behavior, as they give God and Christianity a bad name. This is most unfortunate, because this is not what the Bible teaches.
>How can one base their belief system of something that came out of something so very very evil? This is a question that would have been asked. That couldn't be asked because we didn't know about it. (Sounds alot like the tactics used in history).
The belief system of Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Bible, which teaches love (as I mentioned above). But sometimes weeds (which are planted by the devil) are found growing with the wheat (which are planted by God, see Matthew 13:24-30).
>How can one base their belief system on text that was openly rewritten, proudly rewritten to say what they wanted it to say? How can you believe in a text or book that was admittedly altered and rewritten?
Which parts of the Bible were rewritten? Certainly NOT the Old Testament, the Dead Sea scrolls testify to that. Remember, the Jews preserved the Old Testament long before Christianity even existed, and they treated it with such care and reverence that if they made a mistake in copying a manuscript, they started all over. And the New Testament is considered one of the most faithfully preserved historical documents in history.
But for the sake of argument let's say you were correct, that the Bible was modified or rewritten. What purpose did that ultimately serve? Look at the Bible now, in it's current form. Have you read it? How many Christians actually live by it? So few people actually follow what the Bible actually says now that it would have been convenient for them to have changed it before so that they would not have to follow what it says now. If you are going to change it, why not change it to make it more convenient for yourself?
Also, the Bible in its current form does very little to glorify man. The Bible says that all mankind are sinners - who wants to hear that? The Bible teaches that salvation is a gift of God through accepting Jesus, but many people would prefer to earn their way to salvation. Why not change that? In fact, the Catholic Church teaches salvation by works, and teach a multitude of other things that are incompatible with the Bible - in nearly 2000 years they should have made those changes by now! The fact is, the Catholic Church doesn't even follow the Bible (I know, I went to a Catholic school for part of my childhood, before I became an SDA), what they follow is their catechism and their own traditions. Read Matthew 15:1-9 to find out what Jesus said about man-made traditions. If the Catholic Church had rewritten the Bible, they should definitely have rewritten this verse or blotted it out!
If you read the Bible carefully, I think you will find that the basis for Christianity is good, noble and sound. The problem is, that most people find the principles inconvenient to live by, so they claim the name but do not play the game! They do what they want to do, to further their own agenda, not living to honor God or better their fellow human.
>Well then, where was that divine intervention and protection when people were being slaughtered? Which takes me back to my quote a few days ago. If god is ominpotent, why doesn't he prevent evil?
God has given us free will, the ability for us to make our own choices. Apparently it was more important to God to create free will beings than pre-programmed robots. Perhaps it is more interesting, more genuine, more rewarding, to have a relationship with a free will being than with a robot.
The bad side is that it allows for the possibility of evil, and we humans often choose evil rather than doing what is right. However, God will eventually put an end to evil, as described in Revelation 21.
>The whole idea, the more I learn, just does not make any sense to me.
>Think I found out why they didn't teach it at Academy though.
>I respect everyone's RIGHT to believe any religion they choose, however I am completely disgusted with anyone who claims to be or identifies with being Catholic...
There are many faithful Christians in the Catholic Church who love God and honor Him with their lives. Many do not condone the past actions of the Church. But they are also indoctrinated that salvation is through their church, so I think many stay there out of fear. It is not easy to change when you have been raised to believe a certain way all of your life, especially if you feel threatened that you might lose your family, friends and salvation by leaving the Church. When did you leave the Church?
While it is true that much evil has come from the Christian Church through the actions of some evildoers, a great deal of good has also come from Christianity. There are countless Christian organizations out there that are dedicated to helping the poor and needy, providing food, water, medicine, clothing, education, disaster relief, etc. to others all over the world. Doesn't sound that bad to me. I wish it was only the good and not any of the bad, but the fact is that the Church consists of weeds and wheat, bad apples and good apples.
If you want to know what true Christianity is all about, read about what Jesus did and taught in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).
I hope that this helps clear things up. I also responded on your recent post in Vera's blog on this issue.
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