Re; Jenny

Submitted by Straight_Talk_Luigi (United States), May 15, 2008 at 20:11

I don't think you are bashing anyone.

Actually, I'm a fan of the New American Bible.

The Church didn't keep secrets to fool people, they did it because during the Middle Ages the only educated were predominately Church clergy, and they were worried people might misinterpret the Bible.

The Catholics have not been right about everything, and Martin Luther was correct in that time out of purgatory could not be bought by money and signed off on a piece of paper. But I don't think even he had an armed revolt in mind.

However, Purgatory does exist and there is Scripture evidence of this. Matthew 12:32 implies that there is time when sins will be forgiven. And I daresay I am glad to have Purgatory, because no one who has a stain on their soul will enter heaven.

You seem to know more about the history than I do. This is the first I've heard about college lecturers at Oxford being involved in this, but I guess some things never change.

But your points have one fallacy: The reason why people over the last 1400 years broke away from the Church wasn't because it was the right thing to do, they did because they wanted something easier. In other words, they wanted to do what they wanted all the benefits thereof.

Henry the Eighth seperated because he wanted more than one wife. Mohammed rejected Jesus because the concepts of humility and turning the other cheek got in his way of progress.

That's what it all boils down, is progress. We each have our own idea of what this is. Such is the problem with moral relativism. To Mohammed, it was spreading the existence of the God of Abraham by any means necessary---mostly through war and violence. Showing God that he would accomplish what Isreal had failed to do for centuries. And that could not be done without removing many of Jesus's teachings.

The Reformation was also filled with war and violence.

Today, Jennifer, we are witnessing the sunset of Protestant and Bible-alone Christianity in Europe. I suppose Catholicism isn't too far behind in some places like France and Germany and Spain. These philosophies are flawed in the sense that they came about because of changes in society, and they move along with them. Their swaying attitudes have finally caught up with them. Because now instead of "well, I don't need the Pope or the Vatican to tell me what to do." It's "I don't need religion PERIOD to tell me what to do." So, the people become atheists and give into their desires.

Atheism is the world's fastest growing religion. I would say It's even out pacing Islam. But it won't last long.

You see, in any sort of opposing forces, what makes the forces of man different from that of nature are willpower. Psychology is a young science, but history has proven time and time again that a society cannot be conquered from without until it has been conquered from within. Will Durant first said this about the Roman Empire. What better way than do destroy a soceities spirit.

Trouble is, it promotes a secular, liberal soceity, and those societies don't reproduce. Because Europe even with all its technology and gains from the Renaissance and Enlightenment, will lose to Islam because of its own petty selfishness. In Roman Catholcism, God is the antithesis of selfishness, because as a priest once told me, to be selfish is to be as close to the devil as you can get, because God is all generous and giving.

And who has the stronger will and motivation? Someone who's greatest childhood accomplishment is smoking pot on the back of a two-story bus? Or someone who was trained for years in a terrorist training camp and instructed that dying for God will recieve you virgin women.

You can take any issue that plagues mankind today, break it down, and at the root you'll find selfishness. I absolutely promise you that.

Of course, Islam is tolearated by any means possible, and not just because of fear of terrorism. It's also because Europe knows it needs Islam in order for it to reap all the government benefits of free health care, education, and 35-hour-work weeks. Europeans just don't want to have children. If they did, they would kick all the radicals out. Oh, sure, they'll say the world is too overpopulated, but

As someone who studied environmental science, I will be the first to say the world isn't overpopulated. That whole idea is an alarmist agenda created by liberal socialists who want to appear to be generous and giving (like God, ironically), yet they want everything for themselves.

The problem is resource distribution, and sure, you'll find college students all over the West who clamour on about how we should give. But when they find a REAL job and see that over half of what they earned taken out even before they get their check, then it's not so fun.

So what's the solution? Reduction of human population. But since they've lost the will (side-effect of no-to little religion) to stand up to Muslims, who are single-handedly keeping the population growing, they settle and say "I won't have any kids." Of course, that means more Muslim immigration and in order to keep it going, they cover for terrorists, criminals and people who want to destroy them by blaming Isreal and America.

In a recent interview with Y!, President Bush said "If you want to be popular in the Middle East, all you have to do is blame Israel for everything."

And what better way to be a selfish person than to blame all your troubles on someone else. And why not Israel. People have been doing that since the Exodus.

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