Yesterday I posted about a mess that my friend Lance is involved in.
At the time, I didn't want to post my own opinions. This is actually for a couple of reasons that I think I'll save for a later post.
However, I am now ready to state my mind.
1) Lance would not pressure anyone to attend the Bible study. He's not that kind of guy. Believe me when I say that he's a very kind man and would not use any RA "authority" (if such a thing exists) to force anyone to attend the meeting.
2) Lance didn't lead the Bible study on the clock. If he had, I would have totally agreed with their decision. However, this is not the case. If he's not on the clock, I don't see the problem.
3) There seems to be a larger issue here. That issue is one that I have long since come to hate. Political Correctness. The concept is avoid any speech or actions that may offend anyone, most often in regards to race and religion. This is what truly upsets me. Why do I have to feel somehow guilty every time I describe a coworker of mine?
"I work with this guy named Billy. He's really intimidating. He's this big black guy and he's just under 7 feet tall."
I can't say that for some reason, because someone might be offended.
The larger issue is that people tend to be offended when religion is forced down their throats. However, this seems to be the case more often when it comes to Christianity.
Part of that is the Church's fault. The Crusades, the Inquisitions, and a number of other heinous crimes have been rooted in the Church. For that, I apologize.
But I will not be silent about Jesus. While their may have been humans who screwed things up for the rest of us, my God is not that kind of guy!
Jesus, whether you believe in Him or not, came to do nothing more and nothing less than show His love for us. It was never His intent to murder millions of people.
On the contrary, that's the reason that I am so afraid of a mix of religion and politics. I will admit that they influence each other. But I will never condone actions like the Crusades, they DO NOT and WILL NOT accurately depict my Savior. And using the Bible to back some misguided cause is atrocious.
I went a bit off topic. I believe Lance is right. I think that the school is making decisions based entirely off fear of public perseption. That's weak and spineless. And if you don't agree with me about my beliefs, that's fine. I won't force you to read or listen to it. But Lance has done nothing wrong.
This is just plain stupid.
(How's that for expressing my opinion?)
-------------
Daily Ditty:
Dance Floor Prophets - Wreckoning Ball
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
13 comments:
I agree with you on the whole political correctness issue. At my job every month it seems we are celebrating Hispanic month, African American month, Asian History month, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender Awareness, etc. And I get kind of sick of it. It's not that I have a problem with anybody butj ust let me do my job and quit giving me all these little quizzes to help enlighten me. We had to undergo sensitivity training where we learned if a Muslim wanted to keep some kind of religious effigy at their desk then it would be wrong for anyone to complain but then one of my friends got in trouble for having a tiny manger scene up at Christmas. I personally think you shouldn't have any kind of religious anything up at your desk.
Sorry, I went off on a tangent there.
Fine job expressing your opinion.
Damn good job expressing your opinion. It felt good, didn't it?
And, yeah, I do agree with a lot of what you've just said.
Why do these Christians think Jesus is so great? He lived long ago in a country about the size of Delaware. Except for a trip to Egypt when he was very young, he never left that little country. Probably lived with his mother until he was close to 30. He never really owned anything, never built anything, never wrote anything, never accomplished anything. Wasn't even very well accepted in his own country. His own brothers thought he was a bit off. The people in the town he grew up in thought he was way off. His own people wanted him executed ... and made fun of him while he dying. When he was executed, there were only a handful of people who would even claim to know him. He died lonely, naked, broke, and publicly humiliated. So what's to recommend him? Even his so-called "12 disciples" were nobodies. So what's the big deal about Jesus?
Jesus' life can't be measured by the mind's concept of worth, that's why so many people have trouble understanding true Christianity. We have been taught to see success at the skin-deep level. Our human tendency is to overlook the effect others have on our lives and focus on what position they hold in the community, how much they make, and if they've had enough plastic surgery to make them attractive. Jesus has changed the lives of millions of people. He didn't even have to leave his own country to do it.
p.s.
i agree with anne that you need to post more often. i count on you for part of my daily blog fix.
There are and have been, many good people, Jesus was one. In my opinion, not the only one. In my opinion, also, he was not a supernatural being sent here by another supernatural being for purposes beyond our understanding. I think he was probably a good man trying to do good things.
Really, we can't ever know what Jesus or Mohammed or Buddha really thought because we are viewing them through the smoky veil of history. That necessitates a lot of human interpretation and interference and whilst I think the above mentioned souls had our best interests at heart, there are many many people who don't. Those people, uncannily (not!), seem to find their way into positions of power. It doesn't ever take them long to figure out that the best way to manipulate trusting good people is through their beliefs.
So we have many complicated belief systems handed down through the ages. Systems full of erroneous reasoning, cultural baggage, wilful alterations and bad advice.
I don't think Jesus, or Mohammed, or Buddha ever intended for this to happen. I think each of these people hoped they could make the world a better place. Unfortunately for us, they didn't include in their equations the capacity for humans to muck up pretty much anything of value by being greedy, selfish, intolerant and short-sighted.
Political Correctness is a nuisance, but you have to understand the reasons that have fostered it. Joe, you say "I work with this guy named Billy. He's really intimidating. He's this big black guy and he's just under 7 feet tall."
What's the problem with this? It's that you've tied in the fact that Billy is black with the fact that he's intimidating. Let me put it another way "I work with this guy named Billy. He's really intimidating. He's this big Jewish guy and he's just under 7 feet tall." Does that bother you? It would certainly bother me if someone was described to me like that.
In the case of Billy, unfortunately, the word 'black' is not so much a description as a race definition. That's not very good, but that's the way it has become.
Political Correctness is just a term that's arisen to describe ways in which we try to define, very inefficiently perhaps, these kinds of problems. It's irritating, but it wouldn't be necessary if every one of us was tolerant and helpful and insightful and forgiving. Which we aren't.
Why is Jesus "good people"? The man was a nut! Who do you know that has claimed to be equal with God? That has claimed to have the authority to forgive sins against God? That has claimed, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." That has claimed, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me." That has claimed, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." "In my Father's house are many mansions . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me . . ."
Give me a break! Neither Buddha nor Mohamed nor Gandhi nor Confuscious nor Lincoln nor Kennedy nor Pope John Paul nor Santa Claus nor the Easter Bunny ever made such wild claims. Let's get off the Political Correctness and call the man what he is: A Lunatic!
You know why I think Jesus is so great, anonymous? Yeah, He was constantly broke, a mama's boy, despised by most of his family and almost everyone in his hometown, was probably unattractive, definitely hard to understand, and died naked, alone, and humiliated. But in spite of all that, he changed the landscape of human culture and history. Money, power and fame might have made the job easier, but he didn't need any of them. Why don't you try making an impact like that?
Wow, Joe! Your first troll!
A bit of advice from someone who's dealt with many: The way to deal with these guys is to ignore them completely. Go ahead and remove their comments. With a little experience you'll be able to spot trolls a mile off. They're all alike.
And they're always anonymous.
Joe, here's a reminder for you.
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." I Corinthians 1:18
One thing I've noticed, is that people feel free to mock and insult Christianity, but mock, say, Hinduism or Islam, and the Politically-Correct Patrol will be all over you. Yet somehow, it's perfectly alright to insult and hurt Christians.
To anonymous:
Why is Jesus special? Even if he does seem kind of nuts to non-Christians, let's consider this question.
Firstly, he gave up all he had for what he believed in. Remember, he was around for at least 30 years before he started preaching. He gave up anything he got during that time to share a message that he honestly believed needed to be shared.
Two: He had a great deal of courage. Despite beign hated by many he was corageous enough to stand by what he believed, and even when he was tortured he did his best to stay strong.
Three: He provided a moral guidance system that in many ways kinder and more humane than any other present at the time.
Four: He profoundly touched many people's lives.
Five: He has made an impression on the lives of millions of people and continues to do so TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER. How many other people in history have managed to do this? Very few. That's a pretty big accomplishment, if you ask me.
There's other reasons, but personally I think tohse should be enough. And really, anonymous, don't you think someone should be able to express their opinions without people insulting them? It is perfectly fine to say, "personally I feel that Jesus wasn't quite sane, and do not believe that he was the Messiah," because that is a polite expression of opinion. Ranting and jeering and people because they have an opinion that you do not share simply proves that you aren't capable of really considering the matter with the benefit of intelligence.
--I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I am ready to accept Jesus as the great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.--
Post a Comment