So, the Christians and the Muslims and the Jews worship their
respective Gods, which may actually be the same God, Abraham's God. But never
mind.
Whatever they worship, it's fine with me, as long as they keep it between themselves. But, they don't, and that's where the trouble starts. Some places in the scriptures there are verses that refer to all or everybody, for instance Corinthians 15:22:
Whatever they worship, it's fine with me, as long as they keep it between themselves. But, they don't, and that's where the trouble starts. Some places in the scriptures there are verses that refer to all or everybody, for instance Corinthians 15:22:
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."And there is Matthew 28:18-19, the verses we learnt by heart in school:
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
So the Christians sent their Knights Templars to conquer the Holy Land,
and missionaries to baptize the heathens.
Islam is apparently more pluralistic or relativistic, for instance Sure 18:29:
“… let those who wish to believe in it do so, and let those who wish to reject it do so.”
But in practice we know that most Islamic regimes are far from
tolerant when it comes to criticism of Islam, which is often equivalent to blasphemy,
which is heavily punished by Sharia.
There are traditions, views and rules that cannot be disputed, not
matter what. They are valid for
everybody and everywhere. This is referred to as universalism (as compared to
relativism).
How about us, in the secular part of the world? We have our own twist
on it. We have replaced God by other “holy” principles; freedom of speech,
human rights, democracy. We sometimes call them our values. That’s what we
worship. That’s our universal indisputable truth.
So, what happens when we encounter cultures where the top values
are religion, honor and traditions, where freedom of speech and democracy don’t
even make it to top-ten?
Then it’s time for war.
Let me close it with this little W-poem:
Worship
Whatever
Weird
Witchcraft you
Wish but
Wrangle in
War
With
Words >:)
Worship
Whatever
Weird
Witchcraft you
Wish but
Wrangle in
War
With
Words >:)
Cool w poem!
ReplyDeleteThanks >:)
DeleteYou are right to point out that everyone worships something, CA. As for your request that Christians keep their faith to themselves, that is something we cannot do. You seem to know your Bible, so you must remember the commission in Mark 16:15. And as atheist/agnostic Penn Jillette so eloquently states in a video you can readily find on youtube (Penn Jillette gets a Bible), how much do you have to hate someone *not* to share the truth with them? Especially when you believe that without that truth, this person is destined to an eternal and very real hell. You'd have to hate them a lot. As you also no doubt know, Christians are to love not just people who are like themselves, but their enemies (Matthew 5:44). Anyone who kills others in the name of God does not represent Him. That is all.
ReplyDeleteYou speak of a universal truth. When it comes to religion, I think we need to live with relative truth. There's one truth for Christians, another for Muslims and atheists. None of them can be proved nor disproved.
DeleteUniversal truth exist only when it can be indisputably proven, such as a theorem in matemathics
with all due respect Susan, what you believe pertains to your life only. you may believe in your god and Jesus and the whole kit and kaboodle but it is real and true in your mind only and in the minds of other believers. those of us who do not believe find it very disrespectful for believers to insist in their truth for everyone. how would you like it if non-believers were constantly trying to spread the word to you and telling you how deceived you are in order to save your soul? the 'truth' you speak of is your truth, not 'the' truth. unless, of course, you can prove it without resorting to biblical scripture.
DeleteI'm thankful to CA and everyone else here that the discussion has been respectful. We certainly all have the freedom to choose, and I totally respect that. The world would be quite a different place if we were all the same!
DeleteI agree, Susan. I appreciate it too
DeleteFor the record, I don't believe in shoving anything down anyone's throat. We have all been given freedom to choose, or not. And I don't like seeing the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses coming to my door anymore than anyone else does, but you have to respect them, even though salvation does not come through 'good works,' but through faith in Christ alone.
ReplyDeleteThe Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are convinced about their (relative) truth, just like the Christians >:)
DeleteI respectfully disagree. there is no salvation for a person who professes faith in Jesus and then lives a life hatred, anger, lack of compassion, intolerance, etc. good works are the proof of good faith. your god wants you to act, not just give lip service.
DeleteI agree with you, Ellen, though I can see how my statement suggested otherwise. Good works alone do not save, but good works come out of a life that is truly surrendered.
DeleteYes, let's keep arguing with words instead of weapons.
ReplyDeleteAgreed >:)
DeleteTotally agree.
DeleteI think relativism is a major cause of all societies problems, but there's no time to get into that now. I watched an episode of Star Trek original series last night in which a primitive tribe, on a distant planet, had come to worship freedom. Their holy book turned out to be the American Declaration of Independence. The episode was a very interesting and imperialistic piece of writing. Sadly this tribe had perverted the true intent of the words they read. Captain Kirk sorted them out.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting view. Maybe you can write a blogpost about it on some occasion?
DeleteMaybe it's a question of scale. I can see situations where relativism is a problem on the local scale. However, I think universalism is a bigger problem on the global scale, in the sense that we try to push our values on other cultures, e.g. pushing secular values on Muslim, like the western countries tried to do in Afghanistan. And maybe local problems of relativism is created by the large migration of people in the modern world? I just ask. I don't know the answer.
I think relativism is a major cause of all societies problems, but there's no time to get into that now. I watched an episode of Star Trek original series last night in which a primitive tribe, on a distant planet, had come to worship freedom. Their holy book turned out to be the American Declaration of Independence. The episode was a very interesting and imperialistic piece of writing. Sadly this tribe had perverted the true intent of the words they read. Captain Kirk sorted them out.
ReplyDelete