| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Fredric L. Rice" |
| Date: |
02 Oct 2005 02:10:35 PM |
| Object: |
Christianity and the Demise of America |
Christianity and the Demise of America
By Charles Sullivan
10/01/05 "ICH" -- -- Let me state at the outset that the following
observations and criticisms do not apply to real Christians, or to all
churches. The Riverside Church in New York, for instance, has a long
history of radical activism on the side of social justice.
Unfortunately, these churches comprise, I believe, a small minority of
the whole. I have no desire to offend those of you who have taken
courageous stands against injustice and war-those of you who have
thrown your bodies onto the levers and controls of the machine and
tried to make it stop. You have my utmost respect and my sincere
gratitude. It is to the make believe Christians and the vast majority
of churches that I address the following comments.
As a child I was forced to regularly attend church and Sunday school.
This represents my parent's early attempts to Christianize me to and
make me respectable to the mainstream of society. Even then I resisted
being forced to accept something that I did not believe in. I behaved
so badly that my Sunday school teacher told my parents not to bring me
back. My efforts to get myself exiled from the church paid handsome
dividends. Thus ended my brief encounter with Christianity in
particular and with organized religion in general. The rest of my
family has remained regular church goers. I have gone in another
direction. The result is that we share radically different political
ideologies. Thus we find ourselves in radically different places.
During the journey from childhood to manhood, I have often
contemplated the role of Christianity in the path that America was
taking. Let me state clearly that in my humble opinion organized
religion has nothing to do with real Christianity-I mean the actual
teachings of Christ. Through a spectacular failure of courage and a
will to be accepted into the mainstream of corporate America, the
example of Jesus Christ has been trivialized and blasphemed by its
chief practioneers. The church has allowed itself to become so
prostituted that it bears little resemblance to the radical teachings
of Christ of Nazareth. It has allowed itself not only to be
marginalized by corporate America-it has become an apologist, an
enabler, for the corporate state and all it represents.
One would think that any Christian would willingly concede the point
that Jesus Christ did not devote any energy to advancing the corrupt
agenda of the rich and powerful. Indeed, Christ devoted his life to
serving the poor, the oppressed, and the disenfranchised. Christ
despised the obscene accumulation and unequal distribution of wealth.
This of course put him in opposition to those in power, which
eventually led to his crucifixion. It is the very same forces that put
Dr. Martin Luther King in formal opposition to more contemporary power
brokers, with the result that he was killed by an assassin's bullet.
It takes more than bullets to kill a man. It takes more than nails and
bullets to bury truth. In both cases, those in power killed the
messenger; but the message continues to resonate loud and clear; and
it is more relevant than ever in these most dangerous of times.
Had the church not abdicated its moral responsibility of enacting the
philosophy of Christ, the history of America would be very different;
and our place in the world would also be changed. If the church
believed in and taught the factual doctrines of Christ it would be a
very radical institution, a far cry from the bastion of conservatism
that we see today. It would actively organize against war. It would
fill the streets with passionate people who demonstrate against the
evils of war. It would take a strong stand against overt aggression,
materialism, obscene wealth, imperialism, corporate crime,
colonialism, and the unequal distribution of wealth. It would minister
its massive resources to end poverty. It would denounce presidents who
espouse Christian values; but who act like the anti-Christ. Rather
than prop up false idols like George Bush and the so called 'Christian
Right,' it would denounce them as the blasphemers they are. It would
demand truth and accountability. It would require both moral and
physical effort from its members. It would require opposition to the
power brokers in government. It would demand of them that they fight
tyranny, as Dr. King did, and put themselves in harm's way. It might
even require that some of them be crucified or assassinated. That is
demanding a lot of them. But we all know what happened to Christ; and
many of us witnessed the assassination of Dr. King. Thus it seems to
me that being a Christian-a real Christian-would mean giving up one's
comfort and confronting injustice wherever you find it. It requires
taking a moral stand and doing something about injustice.
Real Christians would not tolerate presidents who make war on
defenseless people based upon lies and innuendo. Bush and his
imperialist polices should be openly and powerfully denounced from
every pulpit in every church in the United States, every day. But they
are not. In fact, just the opposite occurs. Bush and his minions are
cheered on by the apostates, the dogs of war and poverty. Rather than
acting as a counter friction to the machine, the church acts like a
cheer leader for grotesque acts of atrocity against the world. By
allying itself with fraudulent ideologues like the 'Christian Right,'
the church has itself become the anti-Christ. Being Christian, it
seems to me, requires asking of oneself in times of crises, 'What
would Christ do?' But this is a question that makes those who call
themselves Christians uncomfortable. It is the kind of question that
demands everything of them. It is the kind of question that makes it
hard to look at oneself in the mirror.
I am not advocating that those who call themselves Christians go forth
and get themselves killed. But I do want them to stop aiding and
abetting the enemy. What I am advocating is that they examine their
professed faith and compare it to the radical actions of Christ. They
must force themselves to see the blatant disconnect between what they
say and what they do. All of us are hypocrites to various degrees.
Certainly, I am painfully aware of my own shortcomings. But it is hard
to imagine that America could have become the depraved, violent cancer
that it is today had the church done a better job promoting the
teachings of its professed spiritual leader. For so many to call
themselves Christian, while advocating violence, is laughable. It is
certainly absurd. To be a Christian requires enormous self sacrifice
in service to the poor. It requires commitment to non violent
solutions. And so it necessarily demands fierce opposition to the vast
majority of U.S. policies. Like anyone with a sense of social justice,
Christians would find themselves constantly swimming against the
current of popular American culture. It is not easy. It is wearisome
work. It demands everything of you. The current is as swift and
dangerous as it is deep. It requires courage to take the leap.
Because of Christianity's stunning failure to take a strong and
controversial stance against war, millions of innocent people have
been terrorized by the government of the United States. Poverty
flourishes around the globe while the church cozies up to the rich and
powerful; and often accumulates obscene wealth, tax free. How would
Christ react to this?
The situation has so degenerated that pompous asses posing as
Christians like Pat Robertson can openly call for the assassination of
popular, democratically elected leaders such as Hugo Chavez in
Venezuela, and Aristeed in Haiti-men who have acted on behalf of their
people with compassion and charity. Their loyalty is to the poor, not
to the multi-national corporations who would ravage and pillage the
world and divide the profits among themselves. Isn't it a strange
irony that Chavez and Aristeed is more Christ like than most who call
themselves Christian? Jerry Falwell is another name that comes readily
to mind in this connection. When these fools speak and spew words of
hatred and death, they should be immediately and powerfully denounced
from every pulpit in the land. They should be held accountable and
exposed as the dangerous frauds they are. They should be
excommunicated and denounced as heretics. But we do not see this
happening. Another absurdity, another mediocrity, is allowed to stand
until it becomes a part of the culture.
---
http://www.ElmerFudd.US/ http://www.notserver.com/
http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/otiii-gif.html
http://www.rightard.org/ http://www.thedarkwind.org/
Bush is a Christian. Get over it!
"You don't have my permission to take my picture!" - Santa Claus
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| User: "Desertphile" |
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| Title: Re: Christianity and the Demise of America |
03 Oct 2005 09:36:35 PM |
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"Real Christians?" There is only one: Steve Winter. All the rest are
false Christian scum.
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| User: "Uncle Buck" |
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| Title: Re: Christianity and the Demise of America |
02 Oct 2005 02:30:25 PM |
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On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 19:10:35 GMT, (Fredric L.
Rice) wrote:
By Charles Sullivan
10/01/05 "ICH" -- -- Let me state at the outset that the following
observations and criticisms do not apply to [...]
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
real Christians,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
He blew it on the very first sentence.
--
L8r,
Uncle Buck
_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=
Those first to step up and say,
"Now is not the time for placing blame"
...
...are quite often to blame....
_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=~_o-O=
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| User: "Meteorite Debris" |
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| Title: The Continuing Search for "Unreal Christians" (was: Re: Christianity and the Demise of America) |
02 Oct 2005 08:52:16 PM |
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On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 15:30:25 -0400 the ET form known as Uncle
Buck<UncleBuck@SpamMeNot.com> sent a radio signal across the vast
expanse of deep space -._.--._.--._.--._.--._.--._.
On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 19:10:35 GMT, (Fredric L.
Rice) wrote:
By Charles Sullivan
10/01/05 "ICH" -- -- Let me state at the outset that the following
observations and criticisms do not apply to [...]
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
real Christians,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wanted: Dead or alive. A Xian who calls him/herself, and believes
him/herself to be, an unreal Xian. A self proclaimed unreal
Xian in the same way the "real" Xians or self proclaimed. Perhaps a
definition is the best place to start. Real Xians don't eat humble
pie.
The continuing search for the unreal Xian is like the search for the
unjust war proclaimed as such by the participants because only "just"
wars as proclaimed by the warring parties are justified. I've always
wanted to see the provocative party to a war who proclaimed it to be
an "unjust" war. So the search for the unreal Xian who believes
her/himself to be "unreal" continues.
A handsome bounty is offered for this elusive species. And a reminder
that the reward for the honest politician is still unclaimed.
--
Remove YOUR_SHOES before replying
apatriot #1, atheist #1417,
Chief EAC prophet
Jason Gastrich is praying for me on 8 January 2009
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~pk1956/
Apatriotism Yahoo Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/apatriotism
Sunday: A day given over by Americans to wishing that they themselves
were dead and in Heaven, and that their neighbors were dead and in
Hell.
-Mencken
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| User: "Fredric L. Rice" |
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| Title: Re: The Continuing Search for "Unreal Christians" (was: Re: Christianity and the Demise of America) |
02 Oct 2005 10:21:13 PM |
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Meteorite Debris <epicurus1@YOUR_SHOESoptusnet.com.au> wrote:
On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 15:30:25 -0400 the ET form known as Uncle
Buck<UncleBuck@SpamMeNot.com> sent a radio signal across the vast
expanse of deep space -._.--._.--._.--._.--._.--._.
On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 19:10:35 GMT, (Fredric L. Rice) wrote:
By Charles Sullivan
10/01/05 "ICH" -- -- Let me state at the outset that the following
observations and criticisms do not apply to [...]
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
real Christians,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Wanted: Dead or alive. A Xian who calls him/herself, and believes
him/herself to be, an unreal Xian. A self proclaimed unreal
Xian in the same way the "real" Xians or self proclaimed. Perhaps a
definition is the best place to start. Real Xians don't eat humble pie.
There's a level of quantum mechanics behind the phenomena of real
and false Christians. Positrons can be -- and are -- expressed in
mathematics as electrons that move backward in time, but only
"backward" from our limited human perspective.
A great many Real True Christians today becomes tomorrow's false
Chrisians. Time imposes its own alpha decay to what constitutes
Christianity to the point where over the years we're left with our
history books filled with nothing but fake Christians.
George W. Bush is the latest. Adolf Hitler came before him.
---
http://www.ElmerFudd.US/ http://www.notserver.com/
http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/otiii-gif.html
http://www.rightard.org/ http://www.thedarkwind.org/
Bush is a Christian. Get over it!
"You don't have my permission to take my picture!" - Santa Claus
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| User: "stoney" |
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| Title: Re: Christianity and the Demise of America |
05 Oct 2005 02:17:43 PM |
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On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 15:30:25 -0400, Uncle Buck
<UncleBuck@SpamMeNot.com> wrote:
On Sun, 02 Oct 2005 19:10:35 GMT, (Fredric L.
Rice) wrote:
By Charles Sullivan
10/01/05 "ICH" -- -- Let me state at the outset that the following
observations and criticisms do not apply to [...]
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
real Christians,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
He blew it on the very first sentence.
I know.
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul
of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's
desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron." --- H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
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