I've been surfing around a little, checking some of the more "liberal" church bloggers out there.
Something that stands out to me about both ends of the spectrum is that religion has a certain addictive quality when you begin to get to the extremes.
The addiction for "liberals" seems to center around "How far can I take this to make things more new and comfortable for me?" Wherease the addiciton for "conservatives" seems to be all about "How can I maintain my comfort zone and make this comfortable by not going outside the hedge I've so beautifully planted and trimmed?"
Both ends are terrible, cloistering places to be religiously.
The funny thing is, both are doing the same thing! They isolate people and cause discord. Is there a way to repair this breach? What are we doing about it?
16 comments:
One problem I see (like in the site about religious tolerance for homosexuals) is that liberals don't accept the Bible as infallible and accurate. Many say that Paul or whatever "author" had prejudices that seep into the writing. If you think there are mistakes in the Bible, why keep it as a holy book at all? The whole thing is useless if you can't trust parts of it. Who is to say which parts are correct and which are wrong? Your own human conscience? That could lead to a lot of problems.
Yeah, it's one of the major fallacies in the "postmodern" movement, too.
If the Bible is inspired of God or "God-breathed", then it must be infallible. If not, then we're denying the very nature of God and Christ and Christ's sacrifice means nothing.
The conservative problem is different, but just as bad. Like Jamison's said, people make up sins sometimes. Then, they bind their own made up stuff on people and drive them off!
It's bad both ways.
I agree Sip... on the "lib" side, half the people carry around some book written by some man and try everythign they can to get you to read it becasue it "sheds new light" on the Bible... you rarely see these same guys carry a bible around and try to get people to read it...
on the other end, youve got "conservs" who carry the bible around, rarely tell anyone to open it, and may refer a sinner to the nice arrangement of ridiculous pamphlets and tracs that offer nothing more than a "stop doing it or you are going to hell" approach... and if you are lucky, there is some scripture in them...
so in that respect, the 2 sides are almost identical.
I really don't like it when someone gives me a tract. It should be common curtosy to ask someone if they're Christian. If they're not, then give them something. Otherwise, you're just assuming everyone in the world is going to Hell.
That's probably a little exteme. I apologize. I haven't had a good week. :)
me either.... ive got a head cold, last night was the worst... got to bed at 2am... woke up before 7 today... ugh
I think it's all about setting up a dialog and making friends. People talk and are curious.
As Christians, we're not expected to be perfect, but we're to be examples and be joyful, content, and good people.
If you live this way, people will notice and ask you questions about your life as a Christian. It's then that you have the perfect opportunity to let that light shine and tell them the "good news"!
Huh? Why did you stay up so late silly?
Hope you feel better soon!
runny nose and cough kept me up...
luckily an old movie "north by northwest" was on... curious film, didnt get to see how it ended... loads of sexual undertones in it. Surprising maybe for 1958. then again, it was hitchcock
Oh man! That sux.
Try to get some rest, man.
Take some of that sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever, so-you-can-rest, medicine...or something.
FYI allegra sux, dont waste your time... it is supposed to dry you up, but didnt do jack for me
Practically all I ever take is asprin. I'll occasionally take some sudafed-type thing, too.
The Cold-EEZ thing work, though! If you want the cold to pass quickly, take those things.
email me more info, never heard of cold eez
Back to the topic at hand, Sip is right. There are extremes to both sides and they can both be as harmful and damaging. Traditionalism can be just as spiritually harmful as liberalism.
Will email, Jamison!
Thanks, Ryan. I think a lot of this hit me after that stupid sign thing.
I just hope Christians can strike a better balance. But, there's a big challenge in trying to do so since both sides are pretty stuck and immovable.
Guess the best we can do is live well and be good examples.
North by Northwest is classic. The airplane chase is fantastic.
It ends in one of the alltime ennuendos in screen history. Cary Grant and the girl are kissing on a train, about to get with it, when the camera cuts to a long, slender train rushing into a deep dark tunnel.
I think the church for the most part does a lousy part of teaching us. We talk about the infalliability of the bible but don't really prove it. I've never had a single class, sermond or even mention of why/how the Bible is the direct word of God.
We talk about it as fact all the time.
As far as libs and conservs, everybody agrees that the best place to be is the middle, but nobody can tell me where that is.
I've had somepretty conservative people tell me that they are in the middle, and then liberal folks tell me the same. Unless you are an absolute extreme then you can find someone to the left and right of you.
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