Have you seen "Jesus Camp", American documentary film of Evangelical brain-washing summer camp for kids? - Relly horrible stuff, I can tell you! It shows how prejudices are transferred from one generation to another.
Little girl is explaining how only the worship where people are jumping, shouting and swinging is the real worship. In fact, those people are pulled out of themselves; they are manipulated by suggestions and led to mass hystery. And "speaking in tongues"? It's not different from spiritism - spirits are working indeed, but the Holy Spirit? I don't think so! Lucifer appears as a beautiful angel of light. The same crowds that shouted on Palm Sunday "Hosanna!" just a week later shouted "Crucify him!"
God works within silently and in secret. But the peace of Christ won't leave us in peace, it will always disturb us! "If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'" (The Gospel of Thomas) Active peace, peaceful activity: Through peace which is active quality comes Love which is Action. Nature of the Holy Spirit is movement. It's not static, it's constantly changing. We are moved. And then we have this movement of Religious Renewal.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mt.11:28-30) We've had a brief moment of rest for our souls and we go back to our worldly business; But this time yoke is easy and burden is light, because we're no longer carrieng it alone! Mountains are moved - the greatest obstacles in our way.
It is not the Faith of the heart to allow oneself to be overwhelmed by emotions, to take what you are told for granted, or to adopt this or that code of conduct! What has religion got to do with nationalism, war-mongering or politics?!
It seems paradoxical, that in Finland Church and state are not completely separated - even the season of the parlament is opened with the Lutheran Mass - yet religion is not such a frightening political force as it seems to be in the United States! Abortion might be a murder, I can't deny that, but still women must have a free choice! Should we give up our God-given reason to please God?
"Each tree is recognized by its own fruit" (Lk.6:44); Then fruit of fundamentalism is rotten: On one hand it's intolerance and judgementalism - fear and distress on the other.
It is often the fact that when people live by the strict rules, they become judges for their fellow men. I've been there and seen that! A minor "sin" occationally is good for you. Just as Oscar Wilde pointed out, Jesus liked sinners - not self-righteous people. You may even get the impression that those people are avoiding life itself. Man has freedom to be willingly imprisoned. If you think celibacy is a choice, then try it yourself, don't push it to others. Everybody has right to make up his own mind, and so have I a right to select my friends: 100 % of acceptance is the absolute demand, the less is just not enough! When it comes to humanity, there is no room for compromises. To tolerate someone is just to try to bear one no matter how hard it may be.
Also "Be what you are, but keep quiet about it" is not a good attitude. I've been quiet long enough: It's time to shout it out from the roof tops! If some people are disturbed, perhaps they need to be wakened up from their ignorant sleep. The world will never change if those people don't even know they know glbt-people, who might be their friends or own children.
I'm sure fundamentalists turn more people away from Christianity than they succeed to convert. I would rather go to hell for my love than to heaven inhabited by fundamentalists: That's exactly my idea of hell! Imagine being in earthly paradise with Jehovah's Witnesses - it is precisely the same thing!
Evangelicals even think that the climate change won't matter, because they will be taken out of this world anyway. How wrong they have got it! I don't believe human being has evolved from apes - however, I do believe in spiritual evolution - far from earth being created in six days 6000 years ago: Our evolution didn't even begin in this current state of planetary existence, but our future destiny is related to that of the earth! It is our task to transform earth by our work; We left from the motherly womb of the wild nature, garden of Eden, and our destination is creation of the highest human efforts, the heavenly city of New Jerusalem made of precious stones - new earth born of spiritualized substance, same substance as our resurrection bodies will be. Solid matter will be gone and the curtain between the realms of the living and the dead will be no more.
Little girl is explaining how only the worship where people are jumping, shouting and swinging is the real worship. In fact, those people are pulled out of themselves; they are manipulated by suggestions and led to mass hystery. And "speaking in tongues"? It's not different from spiritism - spirits are working indeed, but the Holy Spirit? I don't think so! Lucifer appears as a beautiful angel of light. The same crowds that shouted on Palm Sunday "Hosanna!" just a week later shouted "Crucify him!"
God works within silently and in secret. But the peace of Christ won't leave us in peace, it will always disturb us! "If they ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'" (The Gospel of Thomas) Active peace, peaceful activity: Through peace which is active quality comes Love which is Action. Nature of the Holy Spirit is movement. It's not static, it's constantly changing. We are moved. And then we have this movement of Religious Renewal.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Mt.11:28-30) We've had a brief moment of rest for our souls and we go back to our worldly business; But this time yoke is easy and burden is light, because we're no longer carrieng it alone! Mountains are moved - the greatest obstacles in our way.
It is not the Faith of the heart to allow oneself to be overwhelmed by emotions, to take what you are told for granted, or to adopt this or that code of conduct! What has religion got to do with nationalism, war-mongering or politics?!
It seems paradoxical, that in Finland Church and state are not completely separated - even the season of the parlament is opened with the Lutheran Mass - yet religion is not such a frightening political force as it seems to be in the United States! Abortion might be a murder, I can't deny that, but still women must have a free choice! Should we give up our God-given reason to please God?
"Each tree is recognized by its own fruit" (Lk.6:44); Then fruit of fundamentalism is rotten: On one hand it's intolerance and judgementalism - fear and distress on the other.It is often the fact that when people live by the strict rules, they become judges for their fellow men. I've been there and seen that! A minor "sin" occationally is good for you. Just as Oscar Wilde pointed out, Jesus liked sinners - not self-righteous people. You may even get the impression that those people are avoiding life itself. Man has freedom to be willingly imprisoned. If you think celibacy is a choice, then try it yourself, don't push it to others. Everybody has right to make up his own mind, and so have I a right to select my friends: 100 % of acceptance is the absolute demand, the less is just not enough! When it comes to humanity, there is no room for compromises. To tolerate someone is just to try to bear one no matter how hard it may be.
Also "Be what you are, but keep quiet about it" is not a good attitude. I've been quiet long enough: It's time to shout it out from the roof tops! If some people are disturbed, perhaps they need to be wakened up from their ignorant sleep. The world will never change if those people don't even know they know glbt-people, who might be their friends or own children.
I'm sure fundamentalists turn more people away from Christianity than they succeed to convert. I would rather go to hell for my love than to heaven inhabited by fundamentalists: That's exactly my idea of hell! Imagine being in earthly paradise with Jehovah's Witnesses - it is precisely the same thing!
Evangelicals even think that the climate change won't matter, because they will be taken out of this world anyway. How wrong they have got it! I don't believe human being has evolved from apes - however, I do believe in spiritual evolution - far from earth being created in six days 6000 years ago: Our evolution didn't even begin in this current state of planetary existence, but our future destiny is related to that of the earth! It is our task to transform earth by our work; We left from the motherly womb of the wild nature, garden of Eden, and our destination is creation of the highest human efforts, the heavenly city of New Jerusalem made of precious stones - new earth born of spiritualized substance, same substance as our resurrection bodies will be. Solid matter will be gone and the curtain between the realms of the living and the dead will be no more.
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