i do not believe in organized religion or "the Church" i believe they are inventions of men to control other men !
On Oct 16, 8:12 am, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > 3 Reasons Why You Can’t Trust a Christian or a Jewby Allan Stevo"Whoever > comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers > and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple." > Where’s this quote come from? A jihadist manual on terror? One of the Surahs > of the Koran? Maybe Mao’s little red book? Was it spoken by the terrorist > prophet himself, Mohammed? No, it comes from the Gospel of Luke. > It was read to millions of Christians a few Sundays ago in churches around > the world. I wonder how many people in the pews heard it and thought "Wow, > that really wouldn’t sound too good as a sound-bite in the media of the > Muslim world" (or in atheist media, or even secular media for that matter). > In the same way that lines from the Quran are taken out of context, lines > from the Bible can also be taken out of context.Do Christians hate > life?Christians that I know personally do not behave as if they hate life. As > an industrialized country with such a high level of church attendance, the > U.S. is a statistical anomaly. Many Americans identify themselves as > Christian, 78% according tothis Gallup poll.We are by multiple measures a > Christian country. > This Christian country of ours has a very high illegal murder rate, > especially when compared to other industrialized countries. Preventing those > murders is an issue of much contention. This Christian country of ours also > has a very high rate of "legal" extraterritorial murder in undeclared war > zones all over the world. Those murders are not so difficult to avoid. For > example, if an American soldier is not outside of the U.S., that American > soldier will not be able to shoot or be shot by anyone outside of the U.S. In > reality, despite my loved ones showing no outward signs of hating life, the > argument can be made that Christian Americans do hate life based on the > behavior of the society in which we live. We Americans tacitly agree to > extraterritorial "legal" murders. > Murder is the ending of life. Surely a case can be made for Christians, at > least American Christians, not realizing the gravity of life. I’m unable to > argue that life is "hated" as opposed to "disliked" or even worse, simply not > appreciated. Or maybe it’s just the value of other people’s lives that is the > problem. I suspect an American does tend to recognize the importance of his > or her own life. > I know quite a few people who call themselves Christians and quite a few who > aren’t Christians and I don’t see a clear hatred of life among the one group > more than the other. At its surface, those people I know don’t seem to have > very effectively followed Jesus’ command to "hate…life itself." > It’s a strongly worded statement written in the Bible that doesn’t look good > as a sound-bite taken out of context, away from the centuries of schools of > Biblical scholarship that exists and that many of us now read the Bible > through. Perhaps it’s intellectually lazy of a person to try to do the same > thing with the Quran and to speak like some kind of Quranic scholar because > he knows a few ideas from the Quran that he read inUSA Today. I supposed in > general we all know better than to trust self-proclaimed authorities. > However, the fact that a single person watches the network news or buys a > major newspaper indicates that there are many people who are comfortable with > putting faith in those self-proclaimed authorities. > On Sept 19, again Christians heard another confusing verse. It can quite > effectively be taken out of context when one imagines the corporatist > American government, like a greedy octopus, slithering around the world > taking things by force."And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means > of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the > eternal homes."~ Luke 16:9 > Christians agree that Jesus actually said that. > This upcoming Sunday, the many Christian churches that use the Revised Common > Lectionary will hear a reading from the book of Genesis where the patriarch > Jacob wrestles with God. During this reading, God changes the unfortunately > named Jacob’s name to "Israel." Jacob, one of the patriarchs to which Judaism > and Christianity trace their faith, literally means "he who grasps the heal." > Figuratively, this name has an even worse meaning: "He who deceives." Israel, > his new and improved name, means: "he struggles with God." > To me, there can be a beauty in a faith that lets you struggle with God. At > the same time, it’s easy to take this out of context. To struggle with God is > to be opposed to God, to challenge the Almighty and His ways. This presents a > rather unflattering talking point about Israel. The word Israel, the name of > the most problematic state in the Middle East, was chosen by leaders of that > country as a way to present itself to the world – "struggle with God." For > the billions of people out there who believe in a God that’s about the worst > name you can come up with for a country. > Let me just restate all that in a nine-second talking point about > Judeo-Christian culture:Jacob means "he who deceives"; Israel means > "struggles with God"; Jesus commands his followers to be dishonest and to > hate life. Are these the professed values of a good people? What more does > one need to know distrust Christians and Jews?Do these facts make me not want > to go to church? No, they just make me realize how important it is to never > trust the media about anything. Nine-second sound-bites are alluring and > deceptive. Just like my religious proclivities seem very strange to others > when taken out of context, the religious, political, athletic, emotional, and > physical proclivities of nearly any person seem strange when taken out of > context. For shock value, the hate mongers of American society love taking > religion out of context, as long as Christianity’s not that religion.Filter > the MediaOnalltopics there is an agenda. Base your understanding of > situations on your relationship with people. Use the media to try to > challenge yourself and to seek out differing perspectives.Never let your own > experience be overshadowed by the words you read from some unknown > journalist.I’ve sat down with enough respected journalists to realize that > they are not as critically questioning and decent as their readers seem to > believe.Slovak-Hungarian Hatred?In Slovakia Hungarians are said to be hated. > There’s a long history in which Hungarians (Magyars) controlled the land > known today as Slovakia. That history spanned a good thousand years and had > some very ugly moments, akin to a soft genocide, that sought to snuff out the > existence of Slovaks. > It is said that Slovaks hate Hungarians. I can attest that some do. > However, when I am invited to visit a Slovak family that has Hungarian > neighbors, I recognize that relations between Slovak and Hungarian neighbors > tend to be quite hospitable. Just as hospitable as with any other neighbor. > The media and the whispers of popular culture, especially around election > time, are quick to tell ugly stories about how bad those ethnic relations > are. This no doubt actually influences some relationships. However, > experience in the intimate relationships of a handful of diverse people tells > me that the media is likely incorrect in this matter. I choose only to speak > from my own experience on this topic, which also has its shortcomings, but is > far more honest than pretending myself an expert just because I’ve read lots > of work from some far-off journalists. > When it comes to neighbors, my Slovak acquaintances tend to be quite > welcoming to the Hungarian minority that still live in Slovakia. Forced > language is a sign of oppression. The Hungarian authorities used to force > Hungarian language on Slovaks and understandably that period in history still > impassions many Slovaks today. Freely spoken language, on the other hand, is > a way to build a bridge into a friendship. I often hear Slovaks throw around > a few Hungarian phrases with their Hungarian neighbors. Such relationships > are in the best interest of neighbors.Good relations are not in the best > interest of those who 1. want to sell papers, 2. are filled with hate, and/or > 3. have no other issues on which to win an election.The nationalist parties > of Slovakia and Hungary don’t like these amicable relationships among Slovaks > and Hungarians. They like to poke at the very real wounds of the past. The > more they can get people to foremost remember those wounds, the more they can > get their audience to forget that these are living breathing people they are > asking them to hate and to mistreat, the more votes, the more media time, the > more influence, the more money there is for those nationalist parties. They > have a formula and they wield it effectively. > A political consultant by the name of Mike Rothfeld,linked to here, gives a > great speech on political participation that I saw at the Leadership > Institute in Arlington, VA. In his speech, Rothfeld makes a request of his > audience:Whenever you listen to a speech, whenever you read a newspaper, > whenever you are watching TV, or even just talking face-to-face and see > someone trying to get you to believe something, you’ve got to ask yourself > ‘How does it benefit this person if I believe what he’s saying?’Cui bono? In > whose interest? Is the old concept that he restates. We all know that people > don’t often exert great effort just for the heck of it. Receiving > communication through the media, from some person you don’t know intimately, > let alone have never met face to face, makes the answering of that question > considerably harder.The Effective Stereotype of the MuslimAre all Muslims > secretly terrorist time-bombs waiting to go off? I don’t know, I can’t answer > that one for you, but I can tell you that it’s a pretty effective line – > repeated ad infinitum in the media. In that little idea of the Muslim > terrorist time-bomb, you are told 1. You cannot trust a Muslim, 2. It’s > worthless to get close to a Muslim, 3. the closer you are to a Muslim, the > more in danger you are, 4. Muslims are unreliable and may try to kill you at > any time, 5. Be on your guard around Muslims, 6. Muslims live to kill, and > especially to kill you, and of course 7. A Muslim sleeper cell may become > active and detonate itself and those around them at any time and without > notice. > If you buy into this, you involve yourself in some self-fulfilling > prophecies. You can’t really believe numbers one through seven above without > eliminating the possibility of a friendship with a Muslim. Muslim terrorists > do kill Americans. It’s true. But from the perspective of a non-American > Muslim in the year 2010 things must look very different than from that of an > American Christian. As far as I can tell Muslims are a very forgiving people. > After all, there are many Muslims who have, for some reason, not risen up > against the United States, despite the very aggressive action taken by out > American government seemingly randomly against Muslim civilians. > Muslims seem so forgiving that I am somehow still able to travel the world > and find a man or woman who does not think America is running a Jihad on > Islam. American behavior – 1.4 million Iraqi Muslim civilian casualties over > the last seven years according toJust Foreign Policy– is enough to leave me > thinking that our Christian nation does not value Muslim lives. Once again, > that is in Iraq alone, and in the last seven years alone. Expanding the focus > would make America’s treatment of Muslims appear much worse. > Political rhetoric might be expected to tell a different story. It might be > the way that Americans offer a soothing smile to the Muslim world on > television as the soldiers ransack the countryside roughing people up. Under > Bush, even the political rhetoric made America look like a nation that does > not value Muslim lives. George Bushin this videoaddressing the media > unscripted on Sept 16, 2001 referred to the pending war as a "crusade."Here > he isaddressing U.S. troops in February 2002 from a script again using the > same language. Those who learned something in World History know that > "crusade" is literally a battle fought under the cross of Jesus, and > effectively took place in the past to take land and treasures from the Holy > Land where Muslims, Jews, and even Christians lived. Many Christian, Jews, > and especially Muslims were killed by European invaders. Despite the > treatment, despite the language, I’m able to find decent and welcoming > Muslims. Reality doesn’t match the rhetoric of the media.Make Your Own > ChoicesDo you genuinely hate your Pakistani neighbor that you’ve gotten to > know well? Fine. I’m not going to try to talk you out of building a nice tall > wall between your family and his. At least you’re being more intellectually > honest than a person who ignores reality. > One example of a person who ignores reality might be the proverbial bleeding > heart liberal who seems to infinitely ignore the bomb being built next door. > He doesn’t seem to be in touch with the fact that people do actually do real > bad things. Another example might be the > Huntington-preaching/thumping/wielding conservative who has never spoken > with/met/known a Muslim. She may have a hard time acknowledging that human > beings are capable of behaving like individuals. Neither of such persons seem > to take the time to know or understand his or her neighbor. Both are blinded > by significant intellectual biases that the media seeks to convey. > Overwhelmingly, the mainstream media can’t be trusted to report anything to > us with authority. Which is a good realization, because in all honestyfew > sources should be trusted as authorities.A thinking person should analyze > multiple sources on every issue, trying to derive multiple perspectives > before coming to any conclusions. Grandma can be trusted as an authority on > baking delicious pies and breads, but not on immigration laws. Dad can be a > trusted authority on fixing the furnace and on whatever it is he does best, > but not on campaign finance reform. You know that the people closest to you > have certain talents in some areas and have little more than unstudied > opinions in other areas. At least that much due diligence ought to be done > before you decide to trust an unknown out there in the media. > In the year 2010, using exclusively mainstream media sources to find those > multiple perspectives is likely to leave you with a big bowl of thoughtless – > but generally appetizing and surprisingly pleasant to swallow – mush in front > of you.http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/stevo7.1.1.html -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
