Saltmeister
The Dangerous Dinner
I would like to begin by putting this thread in context:
http://www.interfaith.org/forum/burn-the-quran-day-13093.html
As Christians we enjoy vilifying and demonising others and telling ourselves that other people are the villains and demons of this world. When will a time come when we start vilifying and demonising ourselves and actually repent of our own sins?
Our arrogance and self-righteousness has led to a lot of oppression, persecution and injustice around the world. We have burnt witches and killed Jews. We have told people that if they aren't Christians and haven't accepted Jesus as saviour, that they're going to burn in hell. We are right. Everybody else is wrong. Our behaviour and attitude is contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.
If the sacred text of another religion contains verses that speak of war and the conduct of war, we automatically label that religion as a violent and hateful religion. It does not matter that it has its own factions, that there is debate among them on what behaviour is commanded and prescribed and that its adherents try to be civil. When it comes to other religions, we are pessimists. We always choose the worst-case scenario. But regarding our own faith, we are optimists. Christians are always the good guys, even when they stuff up. When everyone else stuffs up, they're the bad guys.
If that religion is the fastest growing religion in the world, we become jealous. No other religion but Christianity can be the most popular in the world. We are supremacists and we like to maintain our hegemony in the world.
We always have to win. We hate it when other people get the advantage over us in our debates with Jews, Muslims, atheists and Buddhists. Christianity has to beat everyone and everything else. It always has to win. It always has to come out on top. We promote pride and arrogance among our collective and frown upon humility.
Enough is enough!!!! It is time for us to face the truth, that in our efforts to dominate the world, to think of ourselves as better than others, closer to God because of the creed we follow, that this arrogance that we carry is the greatest sin of all, greater than that of everyone else.
Pastor Terry Jones is one example of this paradigm that has spread around the world like a virus: that of Christian exceptionalism and supremacism. There are many more like him. He, among others, is the kind of person who treats homosexuals with contempt and commands members of their congregation to kill the doctors working in abortion clinics.
The rest of us Christians sit in silence and allow these power mongers to preach their evil. They do the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and have defiled and desecrated the same sacred text they use to justify their behaviour and attitude. Jesus was friendly to all classes and demographies. He preached against fundamentalism and legalism within his own religion, but never made it his agenda to vilify and demonise entire religions.
Enough sins have been committed in the name of Christianity, to the point that I think it is time for us all to repent for the injustices it has caused.
Repentance is not true repentace without humility. I believe the best way to express our humility and sincerity in how much damage our faith has caused and that we will do our best to correct this, is to burn bibles every year.
The burning of a bible will be like a sacrifice to God, atoning of the sins Christians have committed in the last 2,000 years in their lust and greed for power, domination and hegemony. It will be a declaration to really try to do what the book says, rather than vilifying and demonising other groups of people.
That is what I want to discuss -- should Christians have an annual "Burn a Bible" day as a way of repenting of their 2,000 year old sins?
http://www.interfaith.org/forum/burn-the-quran-day-13093.html
As Christians we enjoy vilifying and demonising others and telling ourselves that other people are the villains and demons of this world. When will a time come when we start vilifying and demonising ourselves and actually repent of our own sins?
Our arrogance and self-righteousness has led to a lot of oppression, persecution and injustice around the world. We have burnt witches and killed Jews. We have told people that if they aren't Christians and haven't accepted Jesus as saviour, that they're going to burn in hell. We are right. Everybody else is wrong. Our behaviour and attitude is contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles.
If the sacred text of another religion contains verses that speak of war and the conduct of war, we automatically label that religion as a violent and hateful religion. It does not matter that it has its own factions, that there is debate among them on what behaviour is commanded and prescribed and that its adherents try to be civil. When it comes to other religions, we are pessimists. We always choose the worst-case scenario. But regarding our own faith, we are optimists. Christians are always the good guys, even when they stuff up. When everyone else stuffs up, they're the bad guys.
If that religion is the fastest growing religion in the world, we become jealous. No other religion but Christianity can be the most popular in the world. We are supremacists and we like to maintain our hegemony in the world.
We always have to win. We hate it when other people get the advantage over us in our debates with Jews, Muslims, atheists and Buddhists. Christianity has to beat everyone and everything else. It always has to win. It always has to come out on top. We promote pride and arrogance among our collective and frown upon humility.
Enough is enough!!!! It is time for us to face the truth, that in our efforts to dominate the world, to think of ourselves as better than others, closer to God because of the creed we follow, that this arrogance that we carry is the greatest sin of all, greater than that of everyone else.
Pastor Terry Jones is one example of this paradigm that has spread around the world like a virus: that of Christian exceptionalism and supremacism. There are many more like him. He, among others, is the kind of person who treats homosexuals with contempt and commands members of their congregation to kill the doctors working in abortion clinics.
The rest of us Christians sit in silence and allow these power mongers to preach their evil. They do the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and have defiled and desecrated the same sacred text they use to justify their behaviour and attitude. Jesus was friendly to all classes and demographies. He preached against fundamentalism and legalism within his own religion, but never made it his agenda to vilify and demonise entire religions.
Enough sins have been committed in the name of Christianity, to the point that I think it is time for us all to repent for the injustices it has caused.
Repentance is not true repentace without humility. I believe the best way to express our humility and sincerity in how much damage our faith has caused and that we will do our best to correct this, is to burn bibles every year.
The burning of a bible will be like a sacrifice to God, atoning of the sins Christians have committed in the last 2,000 years in their lust and greed for power, domination and hegemony. It will be a declaration to really try to do what the book says, rather than vilifying and demonising other groups of people.
That is what I want to discuss -- should Christians have an annual "Burn a Bible" day as a way of repenting of their 2,000 year old sins?
