Devil’s Advocate… or Not?
One. Why do people celebrate Christmas? I remember that the one event written in the Bible where Jesus says “Do this in remembrance of me,” was the Passover. Is there written anywhere in the Bible that says “Take a pagan holiday and go out and purchase unnecessary items for everyone around you who already has everything they need and forget about the people who are truly in need- do this in remembrance of me”?
One point one. To further this argument, by taking just any day of the year and pretending it is Jesus’ birthday, are Christians really doing what they should be? How different is that from Christians looking down upon other religions by saying those religions are just made up by human fancy? Are Christians reducing their God to just human fancy? Because, no one knows the real date Jesus was born. (And, to reiterate the above- are we even supposed to be celebrating this day? At least Easter – the recorded day of the resurrection- falls on almost the same date on all calendars)
One point one point one. Sure for Christians this day brought mankind hope and salvation. And it is definitely worth celebrating. But shouldn’t Christians be more concerned with being thankful and being a good person ALL year instead of during a very short period of each year?
Two. Why do we see so many Christians look down on homosexuals? If you are to believe in the Bible stating homosexuality being a sin (this, I have not yet taken sides on) you are also to believe Jesus loves sinners. Therefore this does NOT allow Christians to slander, look down upon, and persecute homosexuals in ANY way. So why does it happen? I want an answer.
Two point one. AND (now I’m just being an ass and picking out groups,) the Christians in America (and there are Christians in the same situation in other places too, but for the sake of my argument bear with me,) if they are SO supportive of their government banning gay marriage (which I see is a form of persecution,) and their government supporting anti-abortion laws because they are upholding the values of the Bible, then what about the part in the Bible (at the very beginning too mind you,) where it says Adam and Eve were given the responsibility of all that God has created (in more or less words- if you want to debate this msg me separately.) So where does that leave all the nuclear weapons the US government stockpiles? Shouldn’t Christians be spending more energy lobbying for the destruction (safe destruction) of all nuclear weapons that could potentially destroy all of their God’s creation? Why aren’t Christians concerned about that huh? Why do they still support this part of the government? Why are they more concerned with persecuting people that they SHOULDN’T be? I want an answer to this as well.
Two point two. Why do some Christians still support war? Sure you can argue that the Bible records wars that were led by God. Fine, I will not argue with that. However, as I have previously mentioned, Christians should remember that God has given humans the responsibility of his entire creation. The wars we have today are immensely destructive to not just people but the environment. If Christians are to agree that war should be supported- then they should only fight wars the way they were fought in the Bible- without all the destructive and polluting weapons they have today.
Two point two point one. Christians who support wars will then argue that my point is remarkably ignorant and that whichever side abandons modern weapons will indefinitely be destroyed. Well, my question to you would be, if you SO strongly believe in a war that you believe God is leading you into, then wouldn’t your faith be enough? And if you die, well then you died doing something you believed in- like the Jesus and the disciples who died doing what they believed in. It’s a package- all or nothing. Take it or leave it.
End Note. (I guess this is it for now. I must sound like a really angry atheist or something but I’m not. Most of you know that I don’t believe in labels/categorization/denominations of faith but I believe there is a God.
Whether or not you want to label God as a Protestant God, or a Catholic God or God of something else… really, that is up to you.
God to me is not part of any religion.
God just exists. The existence of God is already larger than anything I can comprehend- ie. the Alpha and the Omega. Some people choose to believe there is a Higher Force, a Higher Law, a Higher Being- I choose God. Not the God that most people associate with some type of methodical religion that has been used/twisted/manipulated over the years resulting in something far from God-like; but a real universal God that is uncategorized. To me, God is Love- transcending everything that we know. Just as Love is universal, God is as well.)
Merry Christmas Everyone
December 22nd, 2005 at 8:47 am
Hey, remember me? You met me once!
“Do this in remembrance of me” is actually taking communion and is done weekly. Passover was when Moses was trying to free the Jews from the Pharaoh and God’s holy rolling spirit was coming down the Nile to kill all babies not demarcated as “good Jewish baby” by goat’s (or sheep’s?) blood smeared over the front door. The profitability of the meat industry skyrocketed that week. Jesus was just a twinkle in the proverbial Jewish eye at the time of the passover.
Jesus birthday was actually, I believe, pegged as sometime around the fall, but it was pushed back to December when Julius and Augustus got their own months. So now it just corresponds to pagan holidays. In Japan, this means you get to eat a delicious cake topped with ruby red cherries, but you don’t actually have to ever once look at a picture of Jesus.
As for Christians supporting and not supporting different things, one must remember that there are approximately six gazillion different brands of christianity, each one with its own particular interpretative quirks and angles (e.g. “Now with extra forgiveness!” “I can’t believe it’s not Catholicism! ” “Because only you know what’s right for you.” ), so it’s not all that fair to say ALL christians are out against homosexuals or ALL christians are for war. You just have a particularly vocal set of stupid people who happen to identify with a brand of christianity (”For God and Country!”) that is a bit on the — how you say — intolerant side. Unfortunately, their vocalness is actually being heeded by people who have power and influence. And what do you get when you mix power, influence, and particulary stupid brands of Christianity?
Usually just booze, but this time we also got some extra doozies in the grab bag!
Did you ever make it out to LA?
December 22nd, 2005 at 8:48 am
Agh! Ruby red strawberries, not cherries.