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Monday, August 06, 2012

No God, No Bible, No Problem?

Why are we so shocked and dismayed when we read or hear of a crime like the Colorado theater massacre, or the 27-29 other mass murders that have occurred in America? In a couple of cultures that immediately come to mind, the Colorado shooter could have been deemed a hero!

The reason we are stunned to hear about people like him (and Josef Stalin, responsible for an estimated 40 million deaths; Mao Zedong, who caused the deaths of some 45 million in China; Goering, Goebbels and Hitler, who are collectively responsible for an estimated 46 million Europeans deaths; Japanese treatment of allied troops in World War II, which was called “uncivilized” and “barbaric”) is because their actions all violate our sense of rightness, decency and order. “That is not how civilized people are supposed to act!”

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I had the pleasure a number of years ago to have a conversation with William Murray (son of Madalyn Murray O'Hara) about atheism. He stated that the atheist were no seeking to be Godless, but rather, sinless. The only way to be sinless was to remove the lawgiver and judge of sin, hence, their vehement desires to remove God. Since William was the son that his mother used to remove school prayer in Baltimore, I'm fairly certain he knows a little more about the subject then I. And using his thought, I preached a message several years ago that stated, "Based on this understanding that their goal was to be sinless, hence removing God as lawgiver and judge, then by and large, most religions today (including most rank and file churches) have become atheistic. Their doctrinal stance has been constantly moving towards the left in order to gain members and money. The doctrine stances once noted by most Protestant churches thirty years ago, are no longer found, taught, or enforced. We have come to the decision that the opposite of law is grace. I firmly believe that the opposite of law is lawlessness. We refuse to name sin in the name of love and because we say we can’t judge another. The Bible is clear that “By your fruits are you known.” I have every right to judge the fruit of people. In fact, what most people misinterpret about Biblical judgement is that it contains two separate, distinct facets. The first is to weigh an wrongful action/conduct/speech against a known set of laws of right and wrong, the second, is once that has been determined, pass a sentence to atone for such wrongful action/conduct/speech. Each and every person who claims to be a Christian has the responsibility to do the former but only God can perform the latter. Even the Disciples wrote of those who were once part of us and but have departed from the faith. How did they know? They judged their fruit. I have come to the conclusion, that while people are concerned about the book entitled “Fifty Shades of Grey”, the church has been writing this book for years, only they call it their “Doctrines and Bylaws.”