This post I don't have anything to say about, but "Do your homework!!!" Hey, Lalaith is right. Even if you're looking into Christianity - do your homework. Always count the cost.
This post. . . . There is a lot I could say about this post. . . . Mormonism is freaky stuff. Really, devoted Mormonism is downright cultish. I found a book in an airplane on one of my trips back home called "The God-Makers" about Mormonism, written by two guys who had been in it and talked to a lot of people who had been in it. It was pretty nuts. I knew Mormonism was freaky - I didn't know it was THAT freaky. The super-undies are funny and ridiculous, but a lot of what Mormons believe and practice is not funny - it's harmful.
It's extremely controlling and demeaning, especially to women. The depression amongst Mormon females is horrible and rampant and covered up. It's a terribly repressive, hurtful thing, and in Utah, they don't even bother hiding some of the stuff, like polygamy. (Had a very recent report of this. One of my husband's co-workers went to Utah because the company was opening a store there. There was a guy who came in who talked about doing all the grocery shopping for his wives and then two sisters who came in talking about their ONE husband.) Why are they so open there? Because the Mormon Church has SO MUCH MONEY, that it basically runs the state.
And then there's this post. To be honest, none of these are much about Christianity or what Christians believe. These are social/political issues that Christians ought to compare to Biblical principles, spend a lot of time studying and praying (and discussing with a wide variety of folks) and then come a conclusion.
First, there's a problem with the way people understand the phrase "Separation of Church and State." It doesn't mean that religion is to have no place in politics. That's way off. What it means is that the STATE is not to interfere with the internal working of the Church (so long as it's not harming people), and the Church is not to try to run the government (like in Utah). It means that there isn't supposed to be a national church - like there was (is?) in England. We have freedom to believe what we want to believe. It doesn't mean that the morality of the Church isn't supposed to effect the government. The Church is not supposed to pass laws for the country and the government is not supposed to pass laws for the Church. We're not ancient Egypt where Pharaoh is god.
As for the equality thing, there seems to be something that most people skip over. And that is that the government has been pushing Christianity out for a long time. Yes, I would be against posting passages of the Koran up in our official buildings and I wouldn't be upset about the 10 Commandments - but please understand that what you're talking about is not putting up both or not allowing both. What's happened is they've taken the Christian ones down and people want to put something else up. It's not equality. It's replacement. That's far more offensive. Like when someone just breaks up with you because it's not working and when someone breaks up with you because there's someone else. You're being replaced. Emotionally, it's more upsetting.
Logistically, it's just not possible to equally represent every religion. Because every religion is not equal in size and voice. There's not a lot of Hinduism here in the States. Do we need to put up something about cows being holy if we have the 10 Commandments up? What about Toaism? What about Jedi-ism (it's a real thing, folks; probably has a different name, but I didn't feel like looking it up)?
Or do we display things based on popularity? Top three get a place on the wall of City Hall? You know what, I think most Christians would prefer no showing of the 10 Commandments to having that AND something from a different religion up. But don't be unfeeling enough to ask that we joyfully hold our tongues when something we hold dear is being removed from a place of prominence and honor or being banned from schools. We were there already. We had it for over 200 years; it was simply the way it was. It's not an excuse for bad behavior on our part, but it should be understandable and expected that such a loss would be upsetting.
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