Post by reynaud on Sept 10, 2006 9:35:53 GMT -5
Religion and Polittics
I thought that I would start a column on religion in America board and act as a moderator, or facilitator.
First I don’t have a hidden adgenda. I am not going to push my views on anyone. Although I have spent most of my time involved in one way or another with the Roman Catholic Church, I’ll admit that Roman Catholicism like most religious traditions have problems.
I don’t know if Jesus was God or if the Church was forced by Constantine the Great (that is the title that he was given as emperor of Rome). The Holy Roman Empire as it was called was a nation that was conferred on the empire by a church that wasn’t aware of the harm that could be caused in the name of the one called Christ.
To begin with, I’m 56 years ole. I grew up in the church when Latin was the language used for all liturgical functions. It was also used by the church in meating, much like French was the official diplomatic language. Some Catholics like Latin because it sounds Mystical and official not aware of two facts, the church was required to use Latin, the official language of the empire so that no one would be able to say anything that the governmental monitors would have to decode, and the Kyrie was not Latin, but was Greek, the only part of the liturgy that was allowed.
I was a seminarian for the first three of high school, I played guitar and sang in church ministries where ever I lived, until about 1980. Then I turned over the leadership to a professional and got involved in the catholic peace movement, Pax Christi. I was also a facilitarot the Renew movement until I took a vow of nonviolence based on the Gospel of Matthew and learned that I was not welcome by my church. I haven’t given up on the church because there is a lot of richness in it, but I do separate myself from the hierarchy.
Although my experience is based in a Christian Tradition, I have respect for people any religious position, even those who profess no belief in any kind of a god.
I have come to see Christianity in general has having spun off of the ancient churches of the East (Greece) and the West (Rome). Both churches were under the “protection” of Constantine, who protected Christians and steered them from taking the teachings of Jesus too seriously by making Jesus’ death conform with traditional forms of sacrifices to all gods.
I will say that I don’t believe that Jesus was God any more than you or I am. I believe that God created all people and desired them to work together peacefully. I believe that when the Churches accepted the idea that Jesus was God, they had to justify his death in a way that would not cast Rome in a bad light, since Rome was involved in the conspiracy of executing Jesus so that his teachings would not spread.
It is easier for people to believe that Jesus was God and that he died to atone for their sins rather than believe that God would allow him to have to prove his faith by allowing his enemies to torture him to death, as Christians through the centuries have done with others by giving the authority to governments that God would not have given to Jesus in order to defend himself with supernatural powers (like a hurricane) or the angels of death picking off just those who persecuted him.
It is safer for Christians to allow a friendly government protect them with powers that Jesus did not support rather than following Jesus’ example and committing acts of civil disobedience as Jesus did.
I realize that my interpretation of the life of Jesus does not conform with the traditional teachings of the Church at large. Our bishops are prone to protect their dioceses much as a CEO of a corporation and the Pope is the CEO of the larger Multi-national Diocese of Earth.
Many of my fellow Catholics are not aware of the documents of the Second Vatican Council or the U.S. Catholic Bishops. In 1983 the U.S. Catholic Bishops released the third and final draft of the “Peace Pastoral” titled The Challenge of Peace: God’s promise and our Response. In 1986 the sequel to this pastoral, the pastoral on economic justice appropriately titled Economic Justice for All. In this pastoral the bishops spoke about the need to respect all people for Christ’s sake admitting that the Church was guilty of not living up to its own scholarly work.
The U.S. Catholic bishops decided to tackle a pastoral on Women in the Church. This pastoral is still unfinished. I have gotten a lot of information from some people who are very concerned with the role of Women in the church and will be writing about.
As I see the Gospels, Jesus was teaching his followers to live nonviolently. If Jesus was God, he probably could not have done a better of showing faith in his beliefs and teachings as a man because Jesus would not have had faith since he would have known everything.
I believe that Jesus accepted his torture and death because he had no other way to expect his followers to believe him if he had resorted to violence which would have gone against his teachings.
Christians have not taken the position that Jesus was treated in a way that went against his teachings. Jesus should not have been killed,, and his death should not be viewed as God’s desire for any of his people to be treated..
My point is that a follower of Jesus should first believe that Jesus loved all people, even his enemies, and that Jesus would not raise use violence to defend himself.
Christians have replaced the martyrs of the church with Patriots who believe that violence is justified and that their deaths are for this loving God and country.
Whether Jesus was the second person of God incarnated is not as important as believing that Jesus was teaching what he believed God wanted.
My view on politics is that politics needs to be based on morality that accepts everyone’s views
Feel free to post your thoughts and questions and I will do my best to address them as I can..
Peace,
Rey Hinckley
I thought that I would start a column on religion in America board and act as a moderator, or facilitator.
First I don’t have a hidden adgenda. I am not going to push my views on anyone. Although I have spent most of my time involved in one way or another with the Roman Catholic Church, I’ll admit that Roman Catholicism like most religious traditions have problems.
I don’t know if Jesus was God or if the Church was forced by Constantine the Great (that is the title that he was given as emperor of Rome). The Holy Roman Empire as it was called was a nation that was conferred on the empire by a church that wasn’t aware of the harm that could be caused in the name of the one called Christ.
To begin with, I’m 56 years ole. I grew up in the church when Latin was the language used for all liturgical functions. It was also used by the church in meating, much like French was the official diplomatic language. Some Catholics like Latin because it sounds Mystical and official not aware of two facts, the church was required to use Latin, the official language of the empire so that no one would be able to say anything that the governmental monitors would have to decode, and the Kyrie was not Latin, but was Greek, the only part of the liturgy that was allowed.
I was a seminarian for the first three of high school, I played guitar and sang in church ministries where ever I lived, until about 1980. Then I turned over the leadership to a professional and got involved in the catholic peace movement, Pax Christi. I was also a facilitarot the Renew movement until I took a vow of nonviolence based on the Gospel of Matthew and learned that I was not welcome by my church. I haven’t given up on the church because there is a lot of richness in it, but I do separate myself from the hierarchy.
Although my experience is based in a Christian Tradition, I have respect for people any religious position, even those who profess no belief in any kind of a god.
I have come to see Christianity in general has having spun off of the ancient churches of the East (Greece) and the West (Rome). Both churches were under the “protection” of Constantine, who protected Christians and steered them from taking the teachings of Jesus too seriously by making Jesus’ death conform with traditional forms of sacrifices to all gods.
I will say that I don’t believe that Jesus was God any more than you or I am. I believe that God created all people and desired them to work together peacefully. I believe that when the Churches accepted the idea that Jesus was God, they had to justify his death in a way that would not cast Rome in a bad light, since Rome was involved in the conspiracy of executing Jesus so that his teachings would not spread.
It is easier for people to believe that Jesus was God and that he died to atone for their sins rather than believe that God would allow him to have to prove his faith by allowing his enemies to torture him to death, as Christians through the centuries have done with others by giving the authority to governments that God would not have given to Jesus in order to defend himself with supernatural powers (like a hurricane) or the angels of death picking off just those who persecuted him.
It is safer for Christians to allow a friendly government protect them with powers that Jesus did not support rather than following Jesus’ example and committing acts of civil disobedience as Jesus did.
I realize that my interpretation of the life of Jesus does not conform with the traditional teachings of the Church at large. Our bishops are prone to protect their dioceses much as a CEO of a corporation and the Pope is the CEO of the larger Multi-national Diocese of Earth.
Many of my fellow Catholics are not aware of the documents of the Second Vatican Council or the U.S. Catholic Bishops. In 1983 the U.S. Catholic Bishops released the third and final draft of the “Peace Pastoral” titled The Challenge of Peace: God’s promise and our Response. In 1986 the sequel to this pastoral, the pastoral on economic justice appropriately titled Economic Justice for All. In this pastoral the bishops spoke about the need to respect all people for Christ’s sake admitting that the Church was guilty of not living up to its own scholarly work.
The U.S. Catholic bishops decided to tackle a pastoral on Women in the Church. This pastoral is still unfinished. I have gotten a lot of information from some people who are very concerned with the role of Women in the church and will be writing about.
As I see the Gospels, Jesus was teaching his followers to live nonviolently. If Jesus was God, he probably could not have done a better of showing faith in his beliefs and teachings as a man because Jesus would not have had faith since he would have known everything.
I believe that Jesus accepted his torture and death because he had no other way to expect his followers to believe him if he had resorted to violence which would have gone against his teachings.
Christians have not taken the position that Jesus was treated in a way that went against his teachings. Jesus should not have been killed,, and his death should not be viewed as God’s desire for any of his people to be treated..
My point is that a follower of Jesus should first believe that Jesus loved all people, even his enemies, and that Jesus would not raise use violence to defend himself.
Christians have replaced the martyrs of the church with Patriots who believe that violence is justified and that their deaths are for this loving God and country.
Whether Jesus was the second person of God incarnated is not as important as believing that Jesus was teaching what he believed God wanted.
My view on politics is that politics needs to be based on morality that accepts everyone’s views
Feel free to post your thoughts and questions and I will do my best to address them as I can..
Peace,
Rey Hinckley
