Scratch a Christian and see the Intolerance under the Skin

by fulltimestudent 40 Replies latest social current

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  fulltimestudent

  A Bishop of the Apostolic church (grandiose title, isn't it?) in the Cook Islands, wants to ban local Indians who are Hindu's from celebrating their Diwali festival.

  He claims its blasphemy against the Christian god, and that because the Cooks Islands is a Christian country, no other form of worship should be permitted.

  Gotta love your average Christian, don't you? If they are banned or persecuted, they scream their heads off, but as soon as they control things they want to ban any alternative worship.

  Cooks Bishop condemns Diwali celebration as blasphemy

  Updated 15 November 2013, 14:52 AEST

  A Cook Islands church leader says holding a public celebration of the Hindu festival of Diwali on Rarotonga is a blasphemy against the Christian god.

  Tutai Pere, Bishop of the Apostolic Church of the Cook Islands, strongly opposed the Diwali ceremony last week on the grounds that Cook Islands is a christian country.

  He says that Cook Islanders desecrated their old idols with the arrival of Christianity in 1821, and what he sees as idol worship should not be allowed to take place in the country today.

  Reference: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/cooks-bishop-condemns-diwali-celebration-as-blasphemy/1220374
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  tec

  I am pretty certain that Christ said His kingdom was from another place.

  So how could there be a 'christian country' other than the one He is coming to establish?

  (the religion of christianity has plenty of its own false idols to worry about, before it starts pointing to others who don't even claim to worship God, the Father of Christ)

  Peace,

  tammy
• 

  Seraphim23

  I agree speaking as a Christian. It’s a long way from what Paul says:

  Hebrews 12

  2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

  4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

  “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

  and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

  6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

  and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
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  unstopableravens

  ohh boy, just because the sign on the door says christian does not mean christians are inside. just like if there were lets say a group of athiest who were racist, that does not speak for all atheist. same with those who claim to be christ followers
• 

  Band on the Run

  Tammy,

  The classic formulation of Christianity is not Christ, son of God. The understanding is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. It makes all the difference in the world. The Witnesses are not Christian b/c they deny that Christ is God. Jesus, son of God the Father, is too weak. Jewish Christians believed that formula. Paul and what became mainstream Christianity proclaimed the deity of Christ.

  Why bother with Christ at all, otherwise? The same is true of the Holy Spirit. There are minor strands in Christianity that do not assert the Godhead. Christians believe in Christ,not YHWH or Jehovah.Is it Biblical? I checked carefully as have scholars since Jesus' death. The Bible is not express one way or the other. Tradition played a role. Gentile Christians, led by Paul, formed a starkedly different view from the Jewish one. The JW one was rejected. Reading especially Paul, with as much detachment as possible, the Trinitarian view is stronger.

  It makes all the difference in the world. Paul constantly refers to Christ, not Jehovah. Some of us can't leave the Witnesses. Christianity jumped the tracks. I suppose pre-Nicene creed. It is confusing. Personally, I find it remarkable that Jesus Himself (not Jesus himself), Paul, and the evangelists could have addressed this point directly.
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  fulltimestudent

  Its a matter of record, that as soon as 'Christians' got a measure of control, back in the time of early Christianity, they started to smash up other people's religious property. Are you suggesting they were not 'real Christians?'
• 

  tec

  ohh boy, just because the sign on the door says christian does not mean christians are inside. just like if there were lets say a group of athiest who were racist, that does not speak for all atheist. same with those who claim to be christ followers

  Absolutely, Unstop.

  Band, I do not know why you addressed that post to me. I don't know what it has to do with anything I said, or the OP?

  Peace,

  tammy
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  Band on the Run

  The problem wth quoting Hebrews is that there is solid consensus that while attributed to Paul, Paul never wrote Hebrews. Paul did not write most of the odious books attributed to him. If you read the books that everyone agrees Paul wrote, (Romans, Corinthinans, I forget the others) and then read Hebrews, you can tell immediately that a different author is writing. Also, there are major theological differences between the books Paul wrote and the others. What those differences are I forget but they are there. Wikipedia probably has the details.

  I only noticed when I checked myself. Hopefully, some others with deeper scholarship can explain it. Paul did not write the Timothys. When you consider whether Paul hated women, omiting the nonPauline books makes a big impact on your analysis. Let me put it this way. The Witnesses always have their favorite quotes. One of them has to do with Timothy drinking a little bit of wine. Not very important but OMG I wanted to vomit heard it so much over the years. The blatantly antifemale quotes moved me to state that I wanted to live for the resurrection so I could spit in Paul's face. Well, access other than Witness or literal fundie thinking and Paul never wrote these things. I retract my spit. He is much misunderstood. Paul did write that there is neither male nor female in Christ. Paul's companions were women. They held important positions in churches he founded.

  It is unfortunate that Paul was not more precise in his writing. Madeleine L'Engle quipped if Paul knew he was writing holy scripture rather than immediate letters to specific people, he certainly would have been more careful with language.
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  Watkins

  "average Christian"? Uhh, no. People with highest levels of intolerance also happen to be people with the biggest mouths. Those few loud-mouths make whatever group they're aligned with look bad. Should we judge them all to be the same? I hope not.

  There are some absolutely horrible people who like to call attention to themselves with the title 'Christian'. And there are Christians who don't call themselves anything 'special' but are absolutely wonderful people.

  Duuuuuh.

  Band on the Run - I agree!

  ~W
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  unstopableravens

  i dont know if they are or not, i dont know enough about them,jesus helps us to figure out who are true christains matthew 7:14-23