I disagree completely
I can be a cultural relativist and still be a member of my religion and believer of my creed
It isn’t my fault you can’t wrap your head around that
That beats the hell out of the fishes and loaves and ranks right up there with the wedding at Cana.
I believe the SDMB has a new patron saint.
This. Anything not obviously for Him is against Him, no matter how benign. As a matter of fact, the seemingly more innocuous it is only makes that much more insidious.
Well, I never heard of the twerp in question and, going by comments posted in this thread, I’m convinced. I’m convinced I’m quite lucky that I’ve never heard of the twerp before now. I’m certainly not reading his inanities. You see, the way I see it, Christian behavior in response to a tragedy like the Boston bombing is to comfort the distressed and provide succor to those in need. I’d think bitching at good people for doing good things doesn’t qualify comfort and succor.
So, here’s a query or few for the OP:
What drove you to read that stupidity?
Why care what that moron has to say?
Does that particular cretin actually have any influence?
My favorite(?) example of this attitude was a criticism I read of the “Firebird” segment of Fantasia 2000*. The writer complained that by not ascribing the landscape’s renewal specifically to Jesus, the filmmakers were seducing the unwary into believing in Nature — the next stop apparently being the toils of Satan.
Like Monty, I’d never heard of the lifeform who is the subject of this thread; and I’d like to express my appreciation to pythonzzz for bringing it to my attention so I can avoid it like the plague.
*For those not familiar with the segment, it involves the devastation wrought by a volcano on a pristine landscape, and its regeneration thanks to the efforts of a “sprite” who is seems to be responsible for its care.
And you don’t see the irony in you telling them that they’re doing Christianity wrong.
The dude was the chaplain for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. I hope they were all Christians marching in Christian lock-step for their Christianism (oops, he doesn’t like those “ism” religions).
No one said they were doing it wrong. You’re so obsessed with supporting these fuckfaces (why?) that you aren’t even reading the posts.
I don’t support fundamentalists. I wish they would all drop dead. But I do recognize that they at least have an actual belief system and are usually honest about it. Trying to be a liberal, rational religious person is a losing battle of contradictions, most humorously expressed in the “well, MY reading of the Bible says Jesus was a Democrat so you are a HERETIC” talking point that liberals love to wave around as some sort of masterstroke.
They’re “honest” about it? They are the most cherry picking bunch I’ve ever seen. They can’t explain why, though they believe in wholesale eternal biblical literalism, that slavery was once supported, but is now not. They decide which tenets of the old testament to follow, yet will completely disregard admonishments to eschew shellfish, mixing patterns or, for men, not cutting the corners off their beards. They don’t have much of a problem against divorce or any other damn thing they want to do, just stuff they do NOT want anyone else to. If that’s “honest,” I think I’ll pass.
Do you have some examples?
I have a sort of fascination with early Christian history, at least partly born of frustration with finding anything to rely upon as “fact”. Until the Nicene Creed established orthodox Christianity for all time …or about ten minutes, depending… there was no “Christianity”, or more to the point, there were at least fifty. Some adopted the Gospel of Mark as definitive, others Matthew, others Luke. Still another regarded Thomas as the supreme disciple, another Mary Magdalene.
With some trepidation, I encourage the curious to the works of Pagel, Armstrong and Crossan. Still, I am of the opinion that all of these works should be kept in academic libraries behind locked and gated doors, to discourage the unwary and youthful, with a sign above reading “This Way Madness Lies”.
Okay, how about I believe in Lutheranism but instead of tolerating other religions, and other Lutherans, I just ignore them?
(note: just asked God, and s/he said that I should’ve started doing that years ago)
TL,DR version
‘Shit happens because you’re bad’
I’ll take your silence on the question as a no, CR.
Had I told anyone that, I probably would be able to see some irony in it (especially now that you’ve brought the notion up). As matters stand, I am pretty much indifferent on the question of whether anyone in particular is “doing” Christianity “right” or “wrong.”
Seeing as I consider myself a “liberal, rational religious person”* I find your opinion intriguing. Your contention is that I don’t have an actual belief system and/or I am not honest about it? Please tell me more, because I find it difficult to believe you have ever had a conversation with one.
Your belief system is that there is an esoteric reading of scripture which reveals the hidden meaning of Jesus: his total support for everything the Democratic Party happens to believe at this exact moment. It’s “I don’t really want to follow a religion, but I really like eating pastries on Sunday morning with like-minded people.”
So, cake or death?
more like “everlasting cake after death”