shropshire 0 #1 December 24, 2007 Hi All, We read a lot on here about the "Christian Right [wing]". Now, when I was a kid and attended RE lessons at school, politics was never mentioned directly but if anything Jesus was portrayed very much as a genial, giving person, unfettered by commercialism and property collection - Quite the opposite, I would say to anyone on (what we call) the Right. The roots of Christianity would therefore lie to the left of the political centre not the right. Is this the case? or can all religions be simply bent to the shape that suits you purpose? Who is manipulating who? Merry Christmas, Seasons compliments (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawain 0 #2 December 24, 2007 Quote Is this the case? or can all religions be simply bent to the shape that suits you purpose? Who is manipulating who? Merry Christmas, Seasons compliments You answered your own question. Look at everything from radical Islam to fundamental Christianity and the Phelps Church. Christianity as a whole, I would say has not been hijacked. Neither has any religion as far as I can see. I do understand your point though. Those that seem to "know" God's plan and the feelings of their respective prophets. So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright 'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life Make light! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #3 December 24, 2007 Hi Max, Over the years, I s'pose that I have formed an opinion and thus answered my question, but still like to hear what others think (as we know, sometimes, even here, it can be educational). All the very best, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,151 #4 December 24, 2007 Christianity was hijacked in 325AD when it became an instrument of policy and power in the Roman Empire.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #5 December 24, 2007 I was thinking of slightly more recent events. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #6 December 24, 2007 QuoteChristianity was hijacked in 325AD 2001AD when it became an instrument of policy and power in the Roman Imperious Repubican Empire. There fixed it for you Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #7 December 24, 2007 Took y'time Where've you been? (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #8 December 24, 2007 You just have to refer to the Crusader in Chief( Well from as far to the rear as he can get) in the runnup to this war. The most disturbing thing is his apparent lack of anything resembling true christian values. http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance44.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWFlyer 2 #9 December 24, 2007 I just read Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn't by Stephen Prothero ... interesting book. NB: the negative reviews are dead on - the subtitle really isn't accurate - he does spend a lot more time building his case about why we are religious illiterates than he does explaining the basics of what we need to know. At any rate, as a non-believer who follows religion from an outsider's view on a social/political level, I find his arguments compelling ... essentially we've gone from a place where religious teaching was part of a general education, and a general education meant that you learned history, and facts, and how to think ... to the other extreme, where we've tried so hard to secularize public schools that we ignore the role that religion has played in history (and thus we don't educate our children how to think about the role religion should or shouldn't play in public and private discourse, we just say "don't think about it at all"). Meanwhile, education in houses of worship has become anti-intellectual and fully based on "faith" and on a church-interpreted version of Jesus. He throws out some pretty appalling statistics about the knowledge that self-identified Christians have about their own religion. It's pretty abysmal what they know about their own "holy book," yet they believe it to be the true word of God (but they can't tell you what it actually says). They don't even know their own religion and can't even begin to tell you about other religions*. One of his underlying arguments, then, is that Christianity has been hijacked by the "values police" who are able to hijack in such a way because their "believers" have such ignorance of the underlying history, tradition, and written documents of their own religion. *Note that yes, I am making broad generalizations based on the statistics presented in Prothero's book ... there are, of course, many people of many faiths who are quite literate in their own and/or other faiths as well."There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,151 #10 December 24, 2007 QuoteQuoteChristianity was hijacked YET AGAIN in 2001AD when it became an instrument of policy and power in the Imperious Repubican Empire. There fixed it for you I was not in error. You just added the most recent layer of corruption. You could also have added the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire, the Russian (Tsarist) Empire, among others.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,151 #11 December 24, 2007 Quote He throws out some pretty appalling statistics about the knowledge that self-identified Christians have about their own religion. It's pretty abysmal what they know about their own "holy book," yet they believe it to be the true word of God (but they can't tell you what it actually says). . We see evidence on here from time to time that many right wing "Christians" have never read Matthew 5 - 7.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #12 December 24, 2007 Every person alive is on a path. Each path is unique to the individual. We all have a yearning to know truth. Due to that, we seek to find what we can most identify with. This leads to either religious beliefs, belief in no religion at all, fanatacism of any type (this happens on the left as much as the right, if you're going to politicize it.). When you are speaking about a segment of population, it is a mistake to use generalizations as no two people are the same. Has Christianity been hijacked? I don't believe so, as I know it has not been hijacked from me; therefore I feel comfortable in believing it has not been hijacked from others. Throughout the centuries, all religions have been politicized which I believe to be a testament to mankinds imperfection. Faith or lack thereof in its purest form has nothing to do with politics. But once again mankinds imperfections mess it all up with the pc police, the fanatics in every extreme, power hungry, the ego hungry, the 'you name it' hungry. All of this is just noise pollution or whatever you want to call it. It is extremely enticing. It also leads to paranoia which IMO was demonstrated by a couple of posters in this very thread. It is my belief, that each individual, unique in their own way has a deep desire to be on the path that they feel most comfortable on. To do this, we need to filter out all the pollution and go inside ourselves, open our hearts, take advantage of opportunities and find that 'truth' that is inside us. _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #13 December 24, 2007 Hi Chris, It's very interesting (for me at least) how people's perspectives are different. What I find hard to reconcile is what I perceive as the difference between what some 'religious' groups 'preach' (for want of a better word) as compared to life and lessons that we undestand JC lived. This thread isn't designed to be about religion versus secularism. I wanted it to investigate the range of values (left .vs. right maybe) followed by the various groups. All the very best, Tony (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Muenkel 0 #14 December 24, 2007 QuoteWhat I find hard to reconcile is what I perceive as the difference between what some 'religious' groups 'preach' (for want of a better word) as compared to life and lessons that we undestand JC lived. That's kind of what I was referring to when I talked about everyone being unique and trying to find their own path in life. I don't personally buy into a finite left vs. right. There's just too many gray areas and too many issues. _________________________________________ Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #15 December 24, 2007 Absolutely, it's a complex issue. I hope that this will be enlightening and not a 'slag-fest'. (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Royd 0 #16 December 24, 2007 There's a huge difference between Jesus and Hillary saying, "Give up all that you own, and follow me." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #17 December 25, 2007 Quote There's a huge difference between Jesus and Hillary saying, "Give up all that you own, and follow me." Yall have some strange assed hallucinations down there in the Bible Belt Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
