Comments at TheWriteJerry
OK - off topic I know. I'm your current Battle of the Blog mate - and I have to say I'm honored to be going up against a great blog! You're writing style is really good. Mind if I add you to my blog roll?
Jerry, you have a knack for finding the stories that get me good and P!$$3D OFF. You know, I'm sure, that that's not a knock on you. It's a knock on the people you posted about. This stuff makes me SICK!
Yes, it is VERY difficult to stir up the good ol' Christian love for these hypocrites. And yet we're supposed to! We're commanded to! Sometimes I think it would be easier just to start practicing another religion; one where I'm not commanded by the Savior to love my enemies. Sometimes I think it'd be a lot easier to go out on that new-age limb with Shirley MacLean and just believe whatever nutball notion that strikes my fancy.
Only one problem with that. I know better. DOH!
As frustrating as these things are, I try to get some kind of satisfaction when I see it happen. Christians and Christianity have been persecuted since the beginning. Jesus warned in the Gospel of John, "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you . . ." (John 15:20, KJV)
It kind of reminds me that things are the way He said they would be. Therefore, I (we) must be on the right track.
Besides, the 9th Circuit is the most liberal of all the federal courts. I don't bandy about the term, "liberal" too much, either - being that I am liberal on many issues.
All I can think of is quoting a bumper sticker I saw today...
"Don't pray in my school and I won't think in your church."
Unfortunately, Anne, they don't let people think in their schools. The teachers tell the kids what to think and the system tells them it's okay as long as it's not the prevailing thinking of the majority.
Church, on the other hand, is built on thinking, on questioning: "where did I come from?" "what is my relationship to God?" "How did He show His love for me?" "Is there such a thing as 'right' and 'wrong'?"
But schools don't want to include those questions in their course work. The ACLU tells you what to ask and how to answer.
That is an excellent point...I don't necessarily agree with the sticker, just thought it was clever. Teachers are having a harder time than ever with teaching children just enough to pass the standardized test, and there's not enough time to get beyond that. And if there was, the teacher might get into touble for it. Where do you think we would be if Christian prayer, or all prayer, was allowed? Would it get too complicated? How would we decide how and when to do so? I think it would be positive as long as we didn't force it upon anyone...but there's a thin line between force and influence.
Nice. That really, really stinks. But it is true. It is the voting majority that wins out...so maybe if we could get more folks who believe to vote, we might be able to swing it back to that side. So many people are willing to complain but unwilling to take the time to fight for what they want.
"...Church, on the other hand, is built on thinking, on questioning: "where did I come from?" "what is my relationship to God?" "How did He show His love for me?" "Is there such a thing as 'right' and 'wrong'?"
But schools don't want to include those questions in their course work..."
I hate for my first comment on your wonderfully written blog to be of a dissenting opinion but I had to jump in. With all due respect, I think it is the responsibility of the family and the church to encourage those kinds of questions. Like Anne said, schools, especially urban ones, have their hands full just teaching the three Rs.
Does the Christian faith get an unfair shake in our country? Yes, sometimes, but I don't think this would be a good example of persecution. Persecution, in my mind, is being imprisoned or worse for expressing your faith. If not being able to pray or teach creationisn in school is the type of persecution Jesus referred to then I'll take it.
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