Originally posted by Vulcan
....snip....
So for me its a bunch of people trying to force their beliefs down my throat, one way or another, forcing me to 'recognise' their god, trying to say they are better than me for their beliefs, and passing judgement on me on my lack of belief in their god alone (ie not my actions), then in the background their not really following those beliefs. Wouldn't that make you just a little iritated?
Sorry for the text wall, but the issues arent simple.
Couple points.
First. Although many offenders make it difficult, please try to separate the behavior of SOME beleivers from the practice of Christianity as Jesus taught it. For every 5 self righteous oppressive jerks, there is probably one Seagoon out there who's living the faith, not just using it -- and a couple more of us trying to approach the life the "Seagoons" live.
"Christian" means pertaining to Christ: just as "american" means pertaining to America. Anyone who makes the mistake of citing Bush and saying "Americans believe...." deserves the smackdown he's gunna get -- so why should Christianity be held responsible for what some religious activist proclaims?
Instead, look at what Jesus said and taught....
1)When he encountered the most religious, rule abiding people in his culture he called them
"whitewashed tombs." (This in a culture where even touching a dead body resulted in ceremonial uncleanness requiring extensive ritual to correct.) The imagery is powerful -- beautiful, clean on the outside, but in reality housing decay and corruption. And yep, the same is true for some "christians" today.
2)Elsewhere, he told a story of two guys praying in the Temple, and said in essence that the respectable, judgemental religious one was rejected while the outright wicked guy who approached God in honesty and humility was heard.
3)In another illustration, Jesus closed by saying that in the end there would be some who said, "Look, we've prayed to you , we've done this and that in your name, we've even done miracles for you..." -- but God replies, "Get out, I never knew you."
Second Christianity as Jesus taught it is NOT political. He treated politics, government as being maybe BESIDE the point. When opponents tried to trap him in political debate, he said -- look who's face is on the coin; give caesar what belongs to him, and give to God what belongs to God. Later, Paul didnt teach political activism against Imperial Rome. He said "submit to the authorities over you and pray for them" (He did practice what we'd call civil disobedience to secular laws that directly opposed what God expects.)
Now, in a representative republic, one could argue that the "rulers" ARE the people, and so Christians should
participate in government just like everyone else. But, theocracy by a believing minority would NOT be consistant with either democratic principles OR with Jesus' teaching. Personally, even if the majority favored rule including legislated religious practice, I would be strongly against it as inconsistant with the heart based teachings of Jesus.
That kind of theocratic rule, though, should be different from democratic rule by people who happen to be religious.
