WHERE is the bible verse GuessWho that described Jesus crucifying Satan. I though that Satan is destined to be "cast into the abyss(bottomless pit)"; well that's what it says in the book of Revelation. But tell me GuessWho....WHY is it that angels have swans wings whereas demons have bat wings? Hence the idiom "like a bat out of hell". If hell is in the interior of the earth than there certainly WILL come a time when hell will freeze over!
People in our society would rather have sex, indulge themselves and ignore the "higher truths" than chew themselves to bits at night and engage in daily acts of self-flagellation regarding their so-called moral transgressions. The prospect of a new, tolerant church is pure pie-in-the-sky. The church, existing as it does, as a power structure and hierarchy has to represent what it deems the views of the world and there by maintain control over it. And the world hates and detests gay people. I make no understatements. In the vast majority of the world outside of North America and Western Europe, homosexuality is illegal and will land you with, at worst, a year in jail, at worst, death. Nowhere is this Christian attitude more apparant than in Africa and Central America from which bishops are being brought into the UK to meet the demand for conservative priests.
Do you or the Reverend Shelby Spong honestly believe that we are living in the same context as the feudalism in which the Lutheran Reformation took place? Where most of the world had not yet been raped by missionaries and colonists? That a shift in attitudes will be sparked by the pipe-dreams of a group of mild-mannered, intellectually amateur caucasians in a world we understand to be tainted with shameful economic inequality? In the eyes of most Catholics, resentful of their squalid lives (the characteristically bitter Christian), the Pope is closer to a populist, socialist hero, going against the tide of the decadent priviledged than the monster he really is.
The world is not going to get bored or sick of religion any time soon. Gone is the sexual revolution or optimism of the 60's, now in our world of uncertainty, it's all or nothing. Adherence to a rigid idealistic doctrine of thought bearing no relevance to the world, either necessary or contingent, outside of its scriptures, thereby providing the average Joe with the feel-good factor his humdrum existence needs in order to maintain the will to live while conveniently offering an indirect outlet for his innermost resentments or risk descending into the kind of nihilism Nietzsche would have been proud of. And every alpha male resents a threat to his carefully crafted, narcissistic self-image of machismo and hubris. This is where my understanding of reforming a religion in the name of egalitarianism and the brotherhood men ends. Christianity has, since the time it as able to gain a foothold in civilization, been the most effective apparatus for offering mediocre men positions of immense power and nurtured among its followers, mind-boggling levels of self-deception... and you want to rescue it?
It's a blessing to have been born with the same amount of genetics from mom and dad. And my born ability to be open with both adult genders is a gift that keeps on giving... Respecting myself and others is also a priceless gift!
B"H
Guess Who,
Sometime you can PM a rationale for your belief that the Nazarene fulfilled Hebrew Biblical Prophecy about being the Messiah. I do not wish to discuss it on-Forum. However, I'd like to hear your take on that.
I understand that there is a philosophical difference between Judaism and Christianity on the question of the nature of the Messiah. It is often cast simplistically as being a political versus a spiritual difference, but even there it is complicated. And, it be sure, there are differences within Christianity between Pre-Millenialists, Post-Millenialists, and spiritualizing A-Millenialists. Let me also say that the question of the Lost Tribes interests me, since some Gentiles claim to be the Lost Tribes. The questions relate in a funny way.
For me, I too believe that my focus should be spiritual. Every time I get involved in the politics of it all, people think I am on one side or the other. My next Torah post, should G-d will that I get to it, will be on the Fifth Commandment and how I deal lovingly with my NT parents who sometimes don't get it.
And, to be fair, I sometimes don't get it! OK, so let us do this via PM if you are interested, since the Forum is probably not the best place.
All the best,
Hi guys interesting reading the previous comments. I am "fundamentalist" christian. And I beleive that my God is a great big God and he thinks that anyone reading this is worth dying for. John 3:16 irrespective of anything they may or may not be or have done.
There was a programme I think on BBC TV in the week where a lady read lesbian porn, went to lesbian bars and tried to condition herself to be a lesbian using CBT techniques. This has made me think about the part in which conditioning whether in part or deliberate plays in who we eventually become as an individual.
Riiiiiight... because I was raised Catholic, fed Catholicism from a young age... and I'm an atheist.
Conditioning yourself to be gay is as ludicrious as conditioning an Aspie not to be NT. You can take away all the behaviours 'associated' with AS, however the individual will still have AS. A straight woman 'playing gay' will more than likely only perhaps discover that she isn't averse to lesbianism, or that she has no lesbian tendencies. You cannot 'become' gay, any more than anyone can 'become' straight.
Thats nice for you that you have your 'fundamental' Christianity - however, I don't tell 'your lot' that I think religion is outdated, patriachal and useless. However 'my lot' quite regularly get asked what makes us like the same gender and a whole load of other, quite frankly, dipsh*t questions, and its usually by 'your lot'.
Ocampo sorry didn't mean to P*** you off just wondered what was the consenses of opinion on this, I thought it was an interesting programme thats all and I have an interest in conditioning and how the mind works. I am glad that you don't tell 'my lot' that you think religion is outdated, patriachal and useless. I think I get what you are saying that the lady may discover either
(A) She is not averse to LB
(B) She is averse to LB
© She is averse to Hetro (she was trying to utilise CBT to change her).
Anyway I am interested in your thoughts & I really didn't mean to annoy.
My view is dont cast a stone from a glass house, in other words I as a sinner can't say anything about anyone else sinning.
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