I think Elliot makes a good point about how Jesus responds.
and on God and America--That church is the Westboro Baptist from Kansas. A few years ago, they were protesting here at a funeral in Greenhill.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
"God Hates America"
The other night I caught the tail end of a 20/20 episode about this church (cult in my opinion) in Kansas that went around the world protesting at the funerals of a war victims. How heartless and soulless can a person be to lead a protest at a funeral. I mean thier protest is ridiculous no matter where they do it but a funeral. Aperently they have never actually read the Bible or any other religious book if they think they are doing this for God or on God's behalf. They are claiming that God hates America, and that we are all going to hell because of homosexuality. They are teaching their children to sing songs that go ""Thank God for dead soldiers" "God hates fags." "God is your enemy," "God hates fag enablers." "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America." " (Where's DHR when you really need them.)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21566280/ &
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=3802376
Have more info. on the story. During the part of the program the son and daughter of the preacher were being interviewed and they were so angry at the questions and the logical points that were being made by the person doing the interview. I do not understand people. Nor the thoughts that go through their head. It also angers me that people who claim to be followers of God are so ignorant, agressive, and arrogant. How can anyone claim to know the mind of God. For anyone to say that they know for sure that a certain person or groups of person are going to hell is blashphmous. All I have to say to these people is if I am going to hell I will meet them there. Sorry this episode really angered me. I had gotten over my anger until I had to go back and look for the info. on it. Writing this really set me off. Our converstation at the end of class reminded me of it.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21566280/ &
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=3802376
Have more info. on the story. During the part of the program the son and daughter of the preacher were being interviewed and they were so angry at the questions and the logical points that were being made by the person doing the interview. I do not understand people. Nor the thoughts that go through their head. It also angers me that people who claim to be followers of God are so ignorant, agressive, and arrogant. How can anyone claim to know the mind of God. For anyone to say that they know for sure that a certain person or groups of person are going to hell is blashphmous. All I have to say to these people is if I am going to hell I will meet them there. Sorry this episode really angered me. I had gotten over my anger until I had to go back and look for the info. on it. Writing this really set me off. Our converstation at the end of class reminded me of it.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Miracles In John
When reading John, I noticed that there seemed to be somewhat of a contradiction. At first, it seems as if Jesus is performing miracles to gain followers. He tells Nathanael that he will see "greater things than that." This came across to me like he was trying to prove his divinity to the people by the miracles he was performing. However, after the officer asks him to heal his son, he acts as if it is rude of him to do so. He says:
"Will none of you ever believe without seeing signs and portents?" (John 4:48)
It seemed to be somewhat of a contrast to the earlier instances.
"Will none of you ever believe without seeing signs and portents?" (John 4:48)
It seemed to be somewhat of a contrast to the earlier instances.
Friday, November 2, 2007
The cosmic battle for heaven
I've always wanted to comment about this topic because of my affinity for George Lucas and a few of his cohorts. After watching the new 'Star Wars' films for the first time since beginning this class, I began to notice the relation between the cult classic and religious stories. These similarities have been addressed before (by people much more educated on the subject than I), but I seem to be missing something....does Jesus play Luke Skywalker, or Anakin Skywalker? In the new movies, Anakin has no father...immaculate conception. However, during the original trio, Luke is always dressed in white--while he battles Darth Vader, a.k.a. Anakin Skywalker. I'm curious if the story writers neglected to pay attention to the fact Anakin would become the diabolical leader of the EVIL Empire or if Luke never 'manned-up' on his part of "The Chosen One"...My point in this little blab session is to prove people's poor attention span. If we as a species are supposedly 10 times more accomplished than the times that Jesus actually lived, then why are we overlooking simple details. Consider this....if a writer can lose the complete direction of a piece, then what could lead us to believe people in Biblical times were more aware???? Me confused.....
Even more on Matthew
Jennifer- I understand your frustration about Matthew 5:27-30 (lustful eye, tear it out, fling it away). The next two verses scared the hell out of me when I was a little kid-
"They were told, 'A man who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of dismissal.' But what I tell you is this: If a man divorces his wife for any cause other than unchastity he involves her in adultery; and whoever marries her commits adultery."
My parents had each been divorced before they met each other and that verse made my 7-year-old-self hysterical.
Beginning in verse 21 of chapter 5, the author sets up a pattern in which Jesus reminds his audience of a particular Judaic law, then counters the old law with a newer one that seems more strict. I think, and again this is just my interpretation, that the second half of this chapter is really more about debunking the Pharisees than imparting new commandments. It emphasizes that the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law, and encourages the Jews to internalize the laws, which would make the Pharisees' role as spiritual law-enforcement less necessary.
I don't know if I'm making any sense, so I'll just stop here!
"They were told, 'A man who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of dismissal.' But what I tell you is this: If a man divorces his wife for any cause other than unchastity he involves her in adultery; and whoever marries her commits adultery."
My parents had each been divorced before they met each other and that verse made my 7-year-old-self hysterical.
Beginning in verse 21 of chapter 5, the author sets up a pattern in which Jesus reminds his audience of a particular Judaic law, then counters the old law with a newer one that seems more strict. I think, and again this is just my interpretation, that the second half of this chapter is really more about debunking the Pharisees than imparting new commandments. It emphasizes that the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law, and encourages the Jews to internalize the laws, which would make the Pharisees' role as spiritual law-enforcement less necessary.
I don't know if I'm making any sense, so I'll just stop here!
More on Matthew
Amen Kellie! Especially for that last part. This was the first time I have ever read that line and I was shocked to read it. I now have ammo to use when people want to try and "parade" their version of Christianity in my face. I am all about having intellectual conversations on the subject but I really hate when people are so hell bent and determined to not listen to any argument and are constantly going "see here is what my religion has done" or "this is how much greater my interpretation of the bible is to yours." I have a big beef with Christianity because of this. I really do not believe a person should force their beliefs on anyone. I think it is a bit shameful at how far people in this world will go to force their interpretation of any religious text on another person.
I have a few other things to say about Matthew also. I am have a big problem with the section in Chapter 5 that states "If a man looks at a woman with a lustful eye, he has already committed adultry with her in his heart. If your right eye causes your downfall, tear it out and fling it away; it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for the whole of it to be thrown into hell. (Matt 5:28-29)" I do not know about anyone else but I cannot always control what I think. Hell sometimes I cannot control what comes out of my mouth let alone what pops into my head at any random moment. I find it hard to believe that I am going to be condemed for eternity for the things that I think. I cannot count the number of times I have looked over at Russell and thougth about strangling him (hahaha), or the number of times I have found some man or woman sexually attractive. I realize this is more information than most of you need about me but still they are real thoughts that pop into my head and for the most part pop back out just as quickly as they popped in, so no harm on foul. Besides just because I think about doing something does not mean I am going to go right out and do it. Now there is a good chance that if I think about saying something I say it before I can stop myself, which is why a good number of people think that I am a mean person. I also do not understand the cut out your eye or cut off your arm if it does you harm. You are in control of your body if your eye or arm does something YOU made it do it (unless you have some strange medical problem that causes you to do such things). I hope what is really meant here is if you are with people who do bad things or are in a situation where bad things are going to happen that you should get away from them or it.
To go back to the first part of that section again I noticed that in chapter 15 Jesus is claimed to have said "what comes out of the mouth has its origins in the heart. (Matt15:18)" I can kind of understand this but some of what I say and I think I really do not mean. I do not think I am as bad of a person as I it would appear by my thoughts that I am. Although I am not in the practice of coddling people therefore some of what I do think and say is true and needs to be thought and said. We lie to much these days to save other peoples feelings when we are really hurting them more, in the long run. than we are helping them. I had another two paragraphs or so here but I deleted them because I went into more of a rant than I really needed to got into. The above should be enough for anyone reading this to get where I am going with my thoughts.
I have a few other things to say about Matthew also. I am have a big problem with the section in Chapter 5 that states "If a man looks at a woman with a lustful eye, he has already committed adultry with her in his heart. If your right eye causes your downfall, tear it out and fling it away; it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for the whole of it to be thrown into hell. (Matt 5:28-29)" I do not know about anyone else but I cannot always control what I think. Hell sometimes I cannot control what comes out of my mouth let alone what pops into my head at any random moment. I find it hard to believe that I am going to be condemed for eternity for the things that I think. I cannot count the number of times I have looked over at Russell and thougth about strangling him (hahaha), or the number of times I have found some man or woman sexually attractive. I realize this is more information than most of you need about me but still they are real thoughts that pop into my head and for the most part pop back out just as quickly as they popped in, so no harm on foul. Besides just because I think about doing something does not mean I am going to go right out and do it. Now there is a good chance that if I think about saying something I say it before I can stop myself, which is why a good number of people think that I am a mean person. I also do not understand the cut out your eye or cut off your arm if it does you harm. You are in control of your body if your eye or arm does something YOU made it do it (unless you have some strange medical problem that causes you to do such things). I hope what is really meant here is if you are with people who do bad things or are in a situation where bad things are going to happen that you should get away from them or it.
To go back to the first part of that section again I noticed that in chapter 15 Jesus is claimed to have said "what comes out of the mouth has its origins in the heart. (Matt15:18)" I can kind of understand this but some of what I say and I think I really do not mean. I do not think I am as bad of a person as I it would appear by my thoughts that I am. Although I am not in the practice of coddling people therefore some of what I do think and say is true and needs to be thought and said. We lie to much these days to save other peoples feelings when we are really hurting them more, in the long run. than we are helping them. I had another two paragraphs or so here but I deleted them because I went into more of a rant than I really needed to got into. The above should be enough for anyone reading this to get where I am going with my thoughts.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Before we move completely away from Matthew, I just wanted to talk about a few things that stuck out to me:
First, going back to the narrative in Exodus that explains the plagues in Egypt: In Exodus 7:5 the Lord says, "When I exert my power against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from there, then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." The Lord is saying that he is inflicting the Egyptians with these plagues just for the purpose of showing them his powers and that He is the one true God. This narrative came to mind when I read Matthew 8:23-27. It tells the narrative of Jesus and his disciples being in a boat on a lake when a great storm comes. Jesus is just sleeping and all the disciples are scared. They wake him up and he calls them all cowards and immediately stops the storm and calms the waters. It seems like Jesus performs this miraculous act just so the disciples will see his power and fully believe in him even more.
Also, In Matthew 9:27-31, Jesus heals a blind man just because the blind man had faith that he would be healed. But, when the healing was complete, Jesus sternly told him, "See that no one hears about this," like something shady has just taken place. Didn't Jesus come to heal the people and perform miracles and save the world? Why would He want one of His good deeds to be kept a secret? (By the way, the man went out anyway and told everybody he knew about Jesus healing him...)
Fianlly, I just wanted to point out one of the verses that has been very useful to me in the past. It is Matthew 6:1 - "Be careful not to parade your religion before others; if you do, no reward awaits you with your Father in heaven." Do people like Roy Moore just skip over this verse in the Bible? I used this verse in a persuasive speech I gave in the 11th grade against Roy Moore. That was about the time the whole "Ten Commandments" uproar was in full swing, and I thought the man was a fool for running around, actually saying that Christians rights were being trampled upon? Are you kidding me? I am a Christian and I never once have felt like my rights have been trampled on in this country. It was a political ploy. And whenever someone would say to me that what Roy Moore was doing was a noble thing, I'd throw Matthew 6:1 in there. (Sorry for the digression and mini-rant...)
First, going back to the narrative in Exodus that explains the plagues in Egypt: In Exodus 7:5 the Lord says, "When I exert my power against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from there, then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." The Lord is saying that he is inflicting the Egyptians with these plagues just for the purpose of showing them his powers and that He is the one true God. This narrative came to mind when I read Matthew 8:23-27. It tells the narrative of Jesus and his disciples being in a boat on a lake when a great storm comes. Jesus is just sleeping and all the disciples are scared. They wake him up and he calls them all cowards and immediately stops the storm and calms the waters. It seems like Jesus performs this miraculous act just so the disciples will see his power and fully believe in him even more.
Also, In Matthew 9:27-31, Jesus heals a blind man just because the blind man had faith that he would be healed. But, when the healing was complete, Jesus sternly told him, "See that no one hears about this," like something shady has just taken place. Didn't Jesus come to heal the people and perform miracles and save the world? Why would He want one of His good deeds to be kept a secret? (By the way, the man went out anyway and told everybody he knew about Jesus healing him...)
Fianlly, I just wanted to point out one of the verses that has been very useful to me in the past. It is Matthew 6:1 - "Be careful not to parade your religion before others; if you do, no reward awaits you with your Father in heaven." Do people like Roy Moore just skip over this verse in the Bible? I used this verse in a persuasive speech I gave in the 11th grade against Roy Moore. That was about the time the whole "Ten Commandments" uproar was in full swing, and I thought the man was a fool for running around, actually saying that Christians rights were being trampled upon? Are you kidding me? I am a Christian and I never once have felt like my rights have been trampled on in this country. It was a political ploy. And whenever someone would say to me that what Roy Moore was doing was a noble thing, I'd throw Matthew 6:1 in there. (Sorry for the digression and mini-rant...)
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