You forget to mention that just a few days ago, another 12 y.o. kid committed a shooting with a real gun at school and killed several people (I don't remember what state that was in); I think though, the cops shouldn't have fired at that fake gun owner, tasers would've been more than enough. Even if that was a real rifle, illegal possession of a gun and disobedience are not punished by capital sentence.Originally Posted by Paul G.
A bit off topic, but very interesting to hear. Some of the views of these Christians are so offputting that it makes me doubt my own faith. What if they got it right, you know? At the end of the day, God is sometimes showing a really harsh side in the old testament, for instance. I once visited a Christian forum, and these people were right up there with some of the most radical republicans we see here, plus some and with faith to spur them on. It's miles from what anyone I met face2face actually believes, but because they are so strong in numbers in Christianity, they tend to set the tone a bit. Hence that article I read - trying to make sense of them. Plus it's the language issue - their views are easily accessible, while people with a more similar interpretation to me, tend to write in other languages that I don't speak. Even more puzzling,many of them aren't well to do themselves, and could become financial victims of a medical disaster any time. But on this one I am just confused, not worked up. Whatever is done on this matter is happening within the borders of the US, to Americans - so it's not my problem.
Я неверующий, но могу предположить, каковы их мотивы. Возможно, что они считают неправильным любой способ уклониться от божественного наказания, от ответственности за свои грехи и свою жизнь. Поэтому им может доставлять удовольствие наблюдать как люди мучаются, болеют и умирают, ибо они грешники (в соотвествии с доктриной христианства), а бог не может быть несправедлив.
P.S. Что касается моего мнения, то любое философское утверждение не может быть доказано или опровергнуто. Это в общем известный факт.
On the contrary, I think this hateful, judgmental attitude by America's right-wing "christians" has a profound impact on the world outside. They are the same ones who constantly push for war, and some of them actually believe they are "helping God" to bring about the final apocalypse of mankind. They are so fanatical, that they actually want to make it happen...
Yeah, but plenty of American Christians are not like that though! I wouldn't want to blackpaint the whole lot. For example Quakers, Mennonites, Jehovas Witnesses.... the Amish people, and probably many more that I don't know about are pacifists. There are some other high profile Christians who are against wars as well. Ron Paul, I think, for instance, but I don't know too much about his other views.
There is a church here in my neighbourhood that I go to sometimes, and it has some kind of vice pastor who preaches occassionally and runs some groups and charities. This man is American and once he started banging on about "our troops" (meaning both British and US) in Afghanistan, and how one person came to faith when he was under attack by the Taliban or something schmoozy like that. He described the Taliban as "pure evil" - ex US- allies and people who are trying to fight a foreign invasion. He had some kind of point which I've forgotten, but he was taking sides in this war, in church.
Myself and a few other people started giving each other meaningful glances and I was EXTREMELY close to just getting up and walking out. I am not a liberation theologist or Jesus comrade, but it's certainly better than these fanatical right wing people. But it's hard, since I agree with their views on some other matters - but on this, no.
And I totally agree with you on their apocalyptical madness. They are more extreme zionists than many Jews that live in Israel. w00t!! If God wants to bring about the apocalypse per the book Revelation, he can take care of it without some war hawk Christians with nukes and drones... The other verse they should read is the one about how "no man will know when that time is, not even the Son". etc, etc. So they can predict it all they want. These people make me wonder if Marx didn't have a good point about religion being like opium. In the case of these people, they are high on twisted religion. If they are going to abuse Christianity like that, then they are to Christianity what jihadists are to Islam.
By the way; I think it's tragic that you lost your faith because of experiences with idiotic Christians. Hope you don't think I'm like that and that you'll reconsider at some point. You can't judge all Christians on those you came across. There are some very cool and radical Christians who you'd feel right at home with.
I don't think most Christians would be like that, but some are: Health and Wealth Gospel - where ministers go on TV and hint about how illness can be a punishment from God, along with poverty. Don't know if you have that in Russia - very vulgar, so hopefully not! I'll never forget the first time I saw such a broadcast. It is not real Christianity.
The story of the Good Samaritan shows that the Christian spirit is to to make sure that anyone who needs it gets healthcare, no matter what. Samaritans were a people that regular people didn't like. A bit like gypsies. I really like this story, so just for fun: Parable of the Good Samaritan in easy Russian, from some "easy" translation I found:
От Луки 10:25-37
Притча о милосердном самаритянине
25 И вот один законоучитель встал и начал испытывать Иисуса, говоря: «Учитель! Как я должен поступать, чтобы унаследовать жизнь вечную?»
26 Иисус ответил ему: «Что записано в Законе? Что читаешь ты там?»
27 И ответил тот: «„Люби Господа Бога своего всем сердцем своим, и всей душой своей, и всей силой своей, и всем разумом своим”, [a] а также „люби ближнего своего, как самого себя” [b]».
28 Иисус же сказал ему: «Ты ответил верно. Поступай так и будешь жить».
29 Но законоучитель, желая оправдаться, спросил Иисуса: «А кто мой ближний?»
30 На это Иисус ответил: «Один человек шёл из Иерусалима в Иерихон и попал в руки разбойникам, которые сорвали с него одежду, избили и ушли, оставив его полумёртвого лежать на земле. 31 Случайно той дорогой проходил один священник. Увидев избитого, он ушёл прочь и не остановился, чтобы помочь ему. 32 Пришёл на то место также и левит и, увидев избитого, обошёл его, не остановившись помочь ему. 33 Но некий самаритянин, находившийся в пути, проходил мимо и, увидев этого человека, сжалился над ним. 34 Подойдя к нему, он перевязал ему раны, омывая их оливковым маслом и вином и, посадив на своего осла, привёз его на постоялый двор и позаботился о нём. 35 На следующий день он дал два динария хозяину постоялого двора, сказав: „Позаботься об этом человеке. И если истратишь на него денег сверх этого, то отдам тебе, когда вернусь”.
36 Кто из этих троих, по-твоему, был ближний тому, кто попался в руки к разбойникам?»
37 Законоучитель сказал: «Тот, кто сжалился над ним».
И сказал ему Иисус: «Иди и поступай так же».
He probably thought the Taliban were "freedom fighters" during the Soviet-Afghan war...
It's funny how the labels change depending on who is killing whom... and who does the reporting...
osama.jpg
Thanks very much for posting that, Hanna! I would consider this to be one of Jesus's most important parables -- and also, incidentally, a parable that seems to be original to him (whereas some of the other sayings/parables of Jesus were most likely borrowed from the Jewish rabbinical tradition).
The only problem is that some people nowadays forget that the Samaritans were outsiders that nobody liked, and (at least in English), "Samaritan" is sometimes used as a synonym for "nice person." So, it often makes sense to change the identities of the injured traveler and the helpful stranger, depending on your audience.
E.g., If I were speaking to an audience of conservative evangelical Christians, I might make the injured person a conservative evangelical Christian, while the helpful stranger is a gay drag queen. But speaking to an audience of liberal secularists, I'd make the injured person a gay drag queen and the stranger would be a conservative Evangelical. In other words, the "Samaritan" should be a member of a group that most of the audience will find it difficult to identify with -- that's the whole point of the story.
An Arab cartoonist who works under the name "Abu Mahjoob" clearly understood what the parable is about:
(and, mind you, if you check out his other work, the guy is definitely not very pro-Western!)
Каково назначение притчи (не только этой, а всех христианских притч)? Изменить человека, изменить стереотип поведения, который вырабатывался тысячи и миллионы лет. В человеке остались старые стереотипы, рефлексы, алгоритмы, эмоции, которые помогали ему выживать тысячи лет (бронзовый век, каменный век и т.д.). Опыт многих поколений говорит нам "убей" и "укради" (особенно у чужих), а книжка говорит противоположное. Но изменить человека за 2 тысячи лет невозможно. Поэтому мы имеем сейчас так называемых христиан (и так называемых мусульман и прочих), которые на самом деле являются людьми со старыми страстями. А любую философию можно приспособить под эти старые страсти и стереотипы поведения. В том числе и Библию и Коран. Казалось бы, там всё зафиксировано, но есть тысячи трактовок, благодаря которым и пацифист и людоед найдёт себе что-то близкое в священных книгах.
Поэтому я не считаю, что среди христиан должно быть больше добрых людей, чем среди прочх. Все люди одинаковые, разные у них только флаги.
Posting Permissions
Russian Lessons | Russian Tests and Quizzes | Russian Vocabulary |
26Likes
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
