Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Take a look... (Beware! My views included!)



Anybody got any thoughts on that?

I do...

This woman is the kind of nut that makes all Christians look bad... I mean, I've always been a believe what you want kind of guy. If this woman has these views, I guess they're hers...

But...

I pose some questions:

-Why is it bad if our President's name is "Obama"? I still didn't catch the real reason for that being bad...

-A mother that's atheist? Why should that bother her? Is Obama's mother on the cabinet? What if she is?

-A father that's Muslim? That should bother everybody? Why? Extremist groups of ALL faiths take it too far... Does anyone argue that? Can anyone really argue that?

-What is "the kind of Christianity that's in the bible"? Did you know that Christian means "little Christ"? Would our beloved Jesus condemn a Muslim? An atheist? Anyone? If you think he would, go read some more...



Yeah, I'm afraid that my view is that people like this woman is what causes us Christians to be looked down upon in certain intellectual circles...

My point (and why this has gotten me so riled up) is this: Am I a Christian? Yes, yes, YES!!! Am I some kind of closed-minded, xenophobic, racist, totalitarian asshole? I'd really like to think not... Are my friends of strong Christian faith, my relatives of strong Christian faith, the people who taught me to love no matter what like this woman? NO! Are we sometimes viewed this way as soon as the word is uttered that we're Christians (before we EVEN SAY OR DO ANYTHING ELSE)? YES!

Ultimate point: Not all Christians are this way... Some of us (most of us, I'd like to think) are loving, compassionate, worldly people who don't tolerate this woman's kind of propaganda...

And signing off, I want to say two things:

-Feel free to hit me with ANY kind of reply to this post

-And listen, really listen to the word I often sign off with... Ready?

PEACE!


Thanks to Warren Ellis' site for giving me something to rant on...

P.S. To give props to where I found this bit of info, Warren Ellis (a British writer of pure brilliance) said that his American fans need to vote this time around because you either want the kind of country that this woman does, or you don't... I don't vote (for other reasons that I don't care to get into), but if you do: There ya go...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why has Christianity become synonymous with a lack of thought? I'm Christian and I think all of the time. And here's the thing: I think about the legitimacy of Christianity. I keep coming back around to the principles of love, acceptance, and basic goodness. That's why I call myself a Christian.

That is one of the worst things that W. has done. He's cast all democrats as agnostic bleeding hearts. CRAP! Complete and total crap. I'm a proud liberal - proud, not stupid. I have never and loathe people that vote straight ticket.

Anyway, as for Obama. The only question worth asking is "Can this man lead our country?". So many people want to say that he's not a Christian. Other people say that he's too Christian because of his past associations with extreme Christians. People say he won't wear a US flag on his sleeve (i.e. a military uniform) yet he wears a flag pin on his lapel at most if not all appearances. One person even said that he would take the oath of office on a Koran! The man is not Muslim!

It's all fear. Christians have come under fire for their beliefs and are afraid that they'll be proven wrong. They're afraid to think beyond the fact that mommy and daddy said that God is real. Think, people...THINK! You will find that God is very real and won't have to feel bad about it.

Sorry for the rant, LD. Good post. My only piece of advice: vote, vote, vote. You're a smart, conscientious individual. The nation needs more people like to voice your opinion.

Love ya, man. PEACE!!!

lloydduvalljr said...

Hey Jeff,

No apologies needed for the rant... It a worthy, heart-felt, and wise one... One that I knew would come from you whenever you tuned into this post...

I don't know if I've seen Christianity grouped with lack of thought per se, I just have read certain rants by writers and artists of all kinds (some of whom I really admire) that kind of have an innate derision of Christianity. I can't help but think that it's probably been because they've come into contact with too many nuts like this lady...

It's like none of the free-thinking Christians are ever heard...

I think some people think that, as soon as you say you're a Christian, you automatically stand strong and immovable on issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and other controversies. I mean, we're Christians, BUT WE THINK FOR OURSELVES... We're not a numb, brainwashed cult!!!

I think a lot of Muslim people are cast in a negative light, too and that bothers me. The majority of Muslim people I've come into contact with are kind, devout and pure-hearted, peaceful people... Yet most American people get all nervous around ALL of them because of one day in our history that most Muslims had nothing to do with...

It's all unfair...

Most of us devout people, if we're really true to our faith and hear the voice of God from time to time are open-minded, non-judgemental people. It's these nuts like the lady above who stand out and give us all a bad name...

Much love back at you, man, and peace, as well...

It's been a good discussion...

Anonymous said...

You're absolutely right in that Muslims are getting a bad wrap in our country right now. Unfortunately, their faith inhabits an area of the world that is known for fighting. Americans tend to forget that our great country was founded by people who felt discriminated against for their religious beliefs...a country founded on religious freedom...a country that should welcome Muslims (and any other religion) with open arms.

Now I do believe that there are certain citizenship things that a person should do when immigrating to our country, but that's a different blog on a different day.

Several years ago, when Lori and I got together, we would often go to church together. The preacher was known for going to different churches to worship with a variety of faiths - something that I really admired of him. Later in his tenure, though, as his health began to fail, he became very negative toward certain segments of the population, namely homosexuals. To me, it's not important whether or not you think homosexuality is right or wrong. It's about respecting your fellow man. This former preacher became very exclusive, which is contrary to the Christian message of love and acceptance. Christians MUST be influential leaders. By that, I mean that Christians should be willing to discuss ANYTHING with ANYONE. Stand fast by your beliefs, but listen to facts and be willing to employ your faith to amend your beliefs. Anyone can learn from anyone and too often Christians forget this.

Wow, this is a blog that has taken many turns. Good discussion, LD...I'll be anxiously awaiting your next volley. Hopefully someone will be reading this and it will speak to them.

lloydduvalljr said...

Hey Jeff,

What can I cover in this volley that we haven't touched upon?..

Basically, I'll agree with and paraphrase your comments by saying the yes, we do all need to be more open-minded. As Christians, as a country, as the human race, we could all stand to do a bit more of this...

We need to understand that people's beliefs who may differ from our own are as real to them as our religion, our sexual orientation, our stances on everything are real to us...

Until we TRULY enact what is the gist of the "Golden Rule" by putting ourselves into EVERYONE'S shoes that we meet, can we REALLY call ourselves Christians?

Until we care before judging, love before hating, find out before fearing, can we really consider ourselves "enlightned"? By Christ or by anything?

This is a question that we all need to ask ourselves...