Posted on 08/15/2003 10:42:54 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
Edited on 04/29/2004 2:02:58 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Today marks the Roman Catholics' Feast of the Assumption, honoring the moment that they believe God brought the Virgin Mary into Heaven. So here's a fact appropriate for the day: Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Oh, the horror.
I'm not denigrating anyone's beliefs.
Yes you are.
...we're in the middle of another religious Great Awakening, and that while this may bring spiritual comfort to many, it will also mean a growing polarization within our society.
The last Great Awakening revitalized a civilization, Mister.
Can you believe this guy??
What more needs to be said?
America was founded as a great Christian spritual awakening...it has of late been the target of a great pagan takeover and deconstruction...
A polarization indeed...and better for it....the other choice is the death of America...for if it is
not like its foundation....it is NOT America but something else...something indecent and foreign ...and anti-Christ spritual usurption
...and theology dilettante.
I admit to being astonished.
Faith is the one word wereby human beings still permit God the possibility of doing things we don't know about. Rationalists seem to have a serious problem with that.
On the other hand, while anti-intellectualism is rampant in Evangelical and other brands of Christianity, often it is Enlightenment rationalism that feeds it in the background.
But mostly, I'm troubled by the way the great intellectual traditions of Catholic and Protestant churches alike are withering, leaving the scholarly and religious worlds increasingly antagonistic. I worry partly because of the time I've spent with self-satisfied and unquestioning mullahs and imams, for the Islamic world is in crisis today in large part because of a similar drift away from a rich intellectual tradition and toward the mystical.
Right. He's not denigrating anyone's faith. Just tying Christians to Islamists. Sheesh.
The heart is a wonderful organ, but so is the brain.
If this person would allow Christ to give him a new heart, he would then have the ability to straighten out his addled brain.
As an aside, most all Christians believe in the miraculous virgin birth of Christ to Mary. But darn few believe she was somehow assumed into heaven any differently than any other believer. She died and went to be with the Lord.
My apologies to my Catholic friends, but that's the scriptural position. As blessed as she was to have borne the honor that she did, God is still no respecter of persons.
If morality does NOT come from God, then all moral standards must be established by Man. So, when Der Leader says that the "moral" thing to do is to kill all the Jews, how can you argue against it? His opinion is just as valid as your opinion -- and he's Der Leader, right?
It is only when morality is established by a power outside of Man's control that it can be rock-solid from society to society and from century to century. Anything else is just "Might makes Right" prettied up with moral tones.
Here's that old black magic of moral equivalency again! Duh! What if; just what if one of the religions is true (Christianity) and the other false (Islam)? And what a myth -- the one about the rich intellectual tradition of Islam. Oh well, never mind that it never existed, and what did exist was insignificant -- as long as it helps the editorialist to make his point.
Today, the country is engaged in the institutional denial of God. God's Commandment is that we shall have no other gods before Him--today, we are multicultural; lots of Mosques, Bud Temples and other places. Honor the Sabbeth? Historically, the commercial world was legally closed on Sunday; today, the Sabbeth is most commonly honored in an NFL stadium.
Don't steal? Theft is widespread--try to get a police officer to report a robbery? Good Luck. Don't bear false witness? Everyone lies--even the president, even under oath; the country thought it was ok. Thou shalt not commit adultery? It is legal and widely practiced. That shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain? Turn on the TV in prime time and you can count God's name in vain a hundred times an hour.
Thou shalt not covet? Our progressive federal tax system is institutionalized coveting.
A Man shall not lie with a Man as with a Woman for it is an Abomination to the Lord? Perfectly legal--the Supreme Court says so; now illegal to suggest there is anything wrong with it.
I could go on. America is engaged in a denial of God.
When Israel did that in the seventh century BC, God withdrew the blessing of His protection and permitted Nebuchadnezar to destroy the country. We should expect the same kind of judgment on America in the near future.
I guess he would'nt want to think of a possible correlation between:
The decline churches that are nothing more than glorified social clubs where darned near anything goes; and
The growth of those churches that insist on a timeless, absolute set of instructions that challenge their flocks to actually live like they claim to believe.
The sheep will go to where they actually hear the voice of The Shepherd, and not world based blather on the social flavor of the day...
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