Friday, May 25, 2007
The Failure of Christianity
Big words, I admit. But clearly possible in the foreseeable future. And not just the failure of the principles of Christianity, but the failure of the the religion as a whole. Why? Having nothing else pressing for the next few minutes on this Friday of Memorial Day weekend, I'll tell you. The United States.
Yes this great Christian nation is going to be the downfall of Christianity itself.
But how is that possible?
Hypocrisy.
The United States, according to fundamentalists was founded on "Christian Principles" and we should therefore continue follow such principles today. Well, what are the results of Christian Prinicples?
The United States, has become the largest purveyor of death in the world. Both within and without the borders of our country.
Good Christians in the government continue to blindly support the 2nd Amendment, inpite of the fact that gun violence is responsible for 30,000 deaths a year.
These are the same good Christians that have systematically taken US foreign policy and stomped all over it, using the 'my way or the highway approach' to our fellow earthlings killing hundreds of thousands, destroying the lives and displacing hundreds of thousands more, led by a self proclaimed born again Christian. Someone who 'found Christ', someone who believes in the Christian 'Sanctity of life.'
Supported by other "Christians" this administration has risen to the heights of other great administrations like it, a couple that come to mind are the Khmer Rouge and Josef Stalin's fine work in Russia in the 20's and 30's.
But I digress. Christianity's downfall is the topic here, not politics.
We as Christians have strayed from the message, it began at the end of the 19th Century and the begining of the 20th with the development of Rapture theology (John Hagee actually spent countless hours recently on Kenneth Copeland discussing the rapture as biblical, when there is absolutely no reference to the Rapture or even the use of the word Rature in the entire bible)
It is the envelopement of Rapture theology, of neo-conservative fundamentalism and the wandering away from Jesus' true message that is separating Christians from the real world. Gradually the core of Christianity, led by a false, absolute belief in the infallabilty of the bible as the word of God, will begin to shrink. Pulling itself away from the rest of the world, until, like others before: Jim Jones, The Branch Davidians, Warren Jeffs etc. Christians in all of their eccentricities will simply disappear to the caves and hills.
The problem is that Fundamentalists are fine with that. They would rather sacrifice the whole religion for the sake of allowing that the four texts of the Gospels are not the "actual" words of Jesus. They would rather close the doors and shutter the windows than allow that the Gospels are approximations of Jesus' teachings and that the bible, both old and new testaments have been manipulated by men in order to grow two different and not so different religions from the ground up.
Which is fine with them, Fundamentalists would rather take the whole thing down, Christianity, our country, the world. And Why Not? According to them, this world and the people on it are only temporary. And they are treating our planet and the rest of us in that manner.
Hence, not being satisfied with God's timetable, the Fundamentalist Christians of this country are taking things into their own hands by creating the Rapture themselves, using the tools of fear, ignorance, violence and government.
Christianity as it is known now will have to die, in order to be reborn, in peace, truth and the light that Jesus knew it could be.
Looking about at what Christians are doing to the world, it's no wonder Jesus is staying away.
Peace,
RW
Big words, I admit. But clearly possible in the foreseeable future. And not just the failure of the principles of Christianity, but the failure of the the religion as a whole. Why? Having nothing else pressing for the next few minutes on this Friday of Memorial Day weekend, I'll tell you. The United States.
Yes this great Christian nation is going to be the downfall of Christianity itself.
But how is that possible?
Hypocrisy.
The United States, according to fundamentalists was founded on "Christian Principles" and we should therefore continue follow such principles today. Well, what are the results of Christian Prinicples?
The United States, has become the largest purveyor of death in the world. Both within and without the borders of our country.
Good Christians in the government continue to blindly support the 2nd Amendment, inpite of the fact that gun violence is responsible for 30,000 deaths a year.
These are the same good Christians that have systematically taken US foreign policy and stomped all over it, using the 'my way or the highway approach' to our fellow earthlings killing hundreds of thousands, destroying the lives and displacing hundreds of thousands more, led by a self proclaimed born again Christian. Someone who 'found Christ', someone who believes in the Christian 'Sanctity of life.'
Supported by other "Christians" this administration has risen to the heights of other great administrations like it, a couple that come to mind are the Khmer Rouge and Josef Stalin's fine work in Russia in the 20's and 30's.
But I digress. Christianity's downfall is the topic here, not politics.
We as Christians have strayed from the message, it began at the end of the 19th Century and the begining of the 20th with the development of Rapture theology (John Hagee actually spent countless hours recently on Kenneth Copeland discussing the rapture as biblical, when there is absolutely no reference to the Rapture or even the use of the word Rature in the entire bible)
It is the envelopement of Rapture theology, of neo-conservative fundamentalism and the wandering away from Jesus' true message that is separating Christians from the real world. Gradually the core of Christianity, led by a false, absolute belief in the infallabilty of the bible as the word of God, will begin to shrink. Pulling itself away from the rest of the world, until, like others before: Jim Jones, The Branch Davidians, Warren Jeffs etc. Christians in all of their eccentricities will simply disappear to the caves and hills.
The problem is that Fundamentalists are fine with that. They would rather sacrifice the whole religion for the sake of allowing that the four texts of the Gospels are not the "actual" words of Jesus. They would rather close the doors and shutter the windows than allow that the Gospels are approximations of Jesus' teachings and that the bible, both old and new testaments have been manipulated by men in order to grow two different and not so different religions from the ground up.
Which is fine with them, Fundamentalists would rather take the whole thing down, Christianity, our country, the world. And Why Not? According to them, this world and the people on it are only temporary. And they are treating our planet and the rest of us in that manner.
Hence, not being satisfied with God's timetable, the Fundamentalist Christians of this country are taking things into their own hands by creating the Rapture themselves, using the tools of fear, ignorance, violence and government.
Christianity as it is known now will have to die, in order to be reborn, in peace, truth and the light that Jesus knew it could be.
Looking about at what Christians are doing to the world, it's no wonder Jesus is staying away.
Peace,
RW
# posted by Unknown @ 7:08 AM 
Comments:
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RW... I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed (again) in your argument - actually, lack of. Okay. Let's begin with the word "rapture". For the record, the word “rapture” comes from the Latin word "rapturo", which is a translation of the Greek verb "caught up" that’s found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Also for the record, the word "Bible" doesn't appear in the "Bible". I'm not sure what difference all this makes anyway so I'll move on. What is the "failure" of Christianity? Your point, I believe, is obscured by your mention of the "United States, hypocrisy, fundamentalists..." and so on; your premise is built upon, well, nothing. "Purveyor's of death"? C'mon. Get specific. What does the 2nd Amendment have to do with "Christian Principles"? (For the record, I don't own a gun and I'm no fan of the NRA -- also not mentioned in the Bible.) You move on to further dilute things by talking about "US foreign policy" then glibly refer to "the Khmer Rouge and Josef Stalin's fine work in Russia in the 20's and 30's." It's as though an almanac exploded in your head; you spill out names and dates yet provide no cohesion for their connection. Yes, you do "digress". And while you re-state your topic, you still don't get down to providing any kind of meaningful argument or room for debate. However, and while I appreciate you ramping up with "We as Christians have strayed from the message [of Christianity]", your almanac detonates once again with "Hagee... Copeland... Branch Davidians..." It feels as though you'd reather baffle with bull rather than engage in thoughtful dialogue. In short, perhaps I'll check back here from time to time but as a place for interesting POV's and the exchange of ideas, your site is sorely lacking. As you say, peace.
# posted by 
: 12:41 PM
: 12:41 PM
You talk about "God's timetable" and "Jesus staying away". I'm not sure on what grounds you even address God or Jesus. Your grounds? You obviously use the Bible when it suits your beliefs/belief system and dismiss it when it doesn't. You also spout a lot of unsubstantiated "facts". As such, I have to agree with the above post and therefore, I too am signing off. I wish you well and not just peace but the peace that passes all understanding. The Peace of Christ.
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# posted by : 12:46 PM
: 12:46 PM << Home
