MAYBE CONTROVERSIAL ... BUT ...
While having my usual brunch brekkie at Greek and reading the sunday paper ... Zapiro's recent cartoon using caricature of the nativity scene to describe the current political scenario ... while yes possibly a bit OTT .. Go back to the source ,, JZ saing the ANC will rule till Christ comes back ?? The reaction from people saying I'm a Christian and blah blah and offended .. did they attack the this Arcangel of idiots ??
Firstly .. if their faith is strong enough then well nothing should be able to detract from their purported strong belief ... the nativity scene and its origins and yes the man written word of the good book ,, who knows how much perversion has occured over the years to suit needs of those in power ( don't forget that the church and state were pretty much intertwined in the early years ) ?? unless you thousands of years old and been there all the time would only know how much selective " inspired " writing has occured .. what people are missing is their own core belief in a creator, themselves , and something divine that occured allowing us to exist on the face of this amazing planet .. that apart from established religion of whatever persuasion helps many people reinforce their faith and keep it going .. the downside , it can be a terrible controlling factor for those not strong enough to firstly believe in themselves as a result of the creation and that we all have free will . So result .. we have whole communities " controlling" and yes judging each other each other and each believing that each is better than the next ??
Which brings me to the thing that got it going .. this morning while doing idle moment watching the box ... There was a doccie on power of prayer and healing .. the controversy of it being to never put the creator to the test , if something is meant to be , be it a birth or a death then in all likelyhood it is as it is meant to play out .again the test of inbuilt faith ... acceptance with the knowledge that one can do a certain amount of shaping of destiny within bounds , the rest is all a part of the divine mystery .. love , joy , pain ... the good and the bad ...
The experiment revolved around a grouping of different religions when called upon would do prayer for people undergoing stent surgery to open blocked arteries , their documented recovery if they were prayed for or if chose not to have prayer for them ...
What got the test going was stats that showed that people that came from the " bible belt" of america seemed show best recovery and prolonged good health as result of the surgery as the whole community would pray fervently for their making it through the procedure firstly and their good recovery thereafter ..
So this group of surgeons embarked upon this controversial study ...
Well all went as expected . those that agreed to the prayer from the broad selection of religious groupings did show generally better survival , initial and sustained recovery ,, was it mind over matter knowing that one has support or indeed someting divine , who knows ??? for me it would be acceptance of someting good happening ..
Anyhow back to the zapiro cartoon and the Christian viewpoint ... the groups involved in the study were , a Christian womens prayer group , a sufi muslim group , a baptist type church , a bhuddist monastry , individuals of various persuasions and a church groups ... the question posed to those that did the prayer was do you believe your prayer had the power ?? awfully enough the so called mainstream christian grouping said emphatically that their prayer was more powerful quoting that while the other groupings intent was good it was misguided and not to the " scripture " Huh !! ??? I got that familiar sick feeling coursing through my body ?? quotes were ... there are 8 established religions in the world ... the 7 others try to reach God and the only one in which God tries to reach mankind is Christianity ?? point blank dismissing of 7 other major groupings belief , faith , love .. etc ...
Surprisingly the " other " prayer " groups when informed of their supposed lack of Oomph due their not being christian gently shrugged their shoulders and said basically so be it , if they believe so .. our good intent was there and yes we believe good enough to help , .. good humble opinion ..
So who is right ?? For me those whose opiniated judgemental comment made me sick .. They score soooo low ...
One reason , despite having a deep faith in , my creator , myself , the power of love , the power of intent , and yes an aversion to being judgemental find myself judging the comment of that established group that chose to judge and diminish the power of others good intent ... or am I just speaking my truth ??
So therefore I remain the " Failed Protestant " subscribing to no established religion yet looking for and accepting the good and beauty in each one ..
phew Sandy you had me slightly worried here.
At the end of your message you say" One reason , despite having a deep faith in , my creator , myself , the power of love , the power of intent , and yes an aversion to being judgmental find myself judging the comment of that established group that chose to judge and diminish the power of others good intent ... or am I just speaking my truth ??
So therefore I remain the " Failed Protestant " subscribing to no established religion yet looking for and accepting the good and beauty in each one .."
Yes there are those who 'practice religion' and are actually wolves in sheeps clothing. Watch out for these deceivers.
Yes there is a Creator. There is simply no way that our intricate and well ordered creation just happened by chance. This does not make sence.
Yes this Creator is all powerfull.
Yes there are many thousands of supposed Christians (actually evil people) over the centuries who lost the plot and started murdering non-Christians.
Yes we are all created in the perfect image of God.
We have to personify and act out the perfect image of God in our daily lives, i.e. love and care for others. That's where most of us fail dismally. And I agree with you being judgmental is definitely not the way to go, for we will all be judged one day by God.
One needs to get away from the notion that we belong to this or that religion. Religions simply are groups of people that interpret they way the worship an almighty Divine Being of sorts.
Essentially there are two broad groups, those that believe in the Holy Trinity, God the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Son and those that believe in an almighty Divine Being they call God or Allah or whatever.
Essentially it is our duty to seriously question our existance, and how and why we were created.
Yes we are all failures to some extent and we all search for spiritual peace and yes some of us find sometimes. You are not alone with this.
Peace
Aah ! finally a reply .. and yes a good and balanced one .. thanks Leon .. and yes I sometimes do get people worried when I post sometimes or give opinion .. but yes as i am aware of the fragilty of mankind and our perfect imperfection I have to speak my truth when I feel the need as gently as possible so as not to cause problems ...
yes its all about being sensitive to all shapes and sizes and beliefs.
Mmmmm ... DoI detect a smile emerging form the moustache ?? common understanding .. yes being sensitive or being in acceptance is right , not always easily attainable but the ideal goal ... I rest it there ..
SANDY you never cease to amaze me, Leon well said !
I like the way you put it as a " Failed Protestant " subscribing to no established religion yet looking for and accepting the good and beauty in each one .."
Being brought up and attending an Anglican Church school ( attending services no less than 15 times a week, unless I could find some way out ) I have searched for faith and beleive it is essentially within each one of us.
Not wanting to delve into why I resent some religions more than others suffice to say that more blood has been spilt in the name of GOD than in all the wars ever fought for territory.
What MEN and WOMEN will do in the name of religion is unthinkable. Yet even since faith / hope /charity all exist within each one of us we are still unable love our neighbours.
Why does one religion need to dominate another ?
There is a similar thread running through all religions usually based on what good there is in mankind. It is a pity that the masses can be swayed by Cardinals / Ministers and Imams etc the majority of whome have their own agendas.
There will never be peace on earth until we can break or overcome the hatred instilled in us by these deceivers whose only reason for practising religion is to advance their own ends.
If each one of us, no matter what religion, could raise our children to believe in the sanctity of mankind and to be accepting of each others faith, knowing that there is a higher power that created us and accepting that each of us comes into the world with nothing and leaves with only the soul we have become during our sojourn here, the world would be set to change.
Clive says:
"If each one of us, no matter what religion, could raise our children to believe in the sanctity of mankind and to be accepting of each others faith, knowing that there is a higher power that created us and accepting that each of us comes into the world with nothing and leaves with only the soul we have become during our sojourn here, the world would be set to change."
Well said Clive.
Many people 'practice religion' for a whole host of reasons, be they, fellowship, prestige, power, habit, ritual.
A minority want to rejoice and share their joy in whatever Supreme Being they believe in, be it God, Jesus Christ, Allah, Budha, etc and these folk therefore go to church, mosque, schule or whatever.
Each and every soul on this planet has to honestly determine quite carefully what it is they believe in taking all factual information and evidence (i.e. well ordered intricate Creation) into consideration and then stand firm in this belief without compromising the well being of other folk.
I believe that whatever faith/religion you belong to whether it be Anglican, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Jew, etc, the example you set in life to others should reflect your belief system. There are many so-called Sunday holy people but who are absolute pigs during the week.
In most cases the closest some people get to a Bible/Koran/Old Testament or church is what they see in your behaviour. This is the best and most effective form of witness of what you believe in.
Any religion needs to be applied to our daily lives in everything that we say, and do.
If this is not the case we are simply 'practicing religion' for all the wrong reasons and going through meaningless time wasting rituals, that may fool those around us but will definitely not fool Almighty God.
:emot112_2: bravo
Couldn't have put it better, nice to know we are not alone in our belief, now best how to get the rest to track along with us !!