THE ZAPIRO CARTOON -- REACTION ...

[SandyB]

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 ..

[Leon Sumter]

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

[SandyB]

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 ...

[Leon Sumter]

yes its all about being sensitive to all shapes and sizes and beliefs.

[SandyB]

 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 ..

[Clive Symes]

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.

[Leon Sumter]

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.

[Clive Symes]

 

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  !!