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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 08/02/2009 : 03:41:03
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Like all of us, I wonder how we managed to get the nation into the current mess it's trying to dig out from under. Well, this might shed a little light on some part of it. When God is treated like "on-demand cable," the most fervent believers will have trouble adhering to basic rules of propriety, let alone values.
The last few weeks have been rather busy for Pentecostal/Charismatic types like Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Gov. Sarah Palin, and Bishop Thomas Weeks. Ensign alone has seen the headlines monopolized by his paid-off adulterous relationship, and the outing of his political and religious ties to The Family and his dabbling in the do-it-yourself exorcism movement. The senator's political career, despite his vow to run for reelection, seems suspect.
Then, when you consider the excitement sparked both by Sarah Palin's exit from the governorship of Alaska (to pursue a higher calling) and the news that Bishop Thomas Weeks has found a new wife after beating and divorcing Juanita Bynum, one might surmise that Pentecostals and Charismatics are primed to take over Howard Sterns' title as “King(s) of All Media.”
Given the avalanche of media attention on these Pentecostal and Charismatic “newsmakers,” one might expect to find more helpful information on the movement(s) to which all three belong. After all, understanding their affiliations and beliefs can help to make sense of the motivations of such disparate figures; to say nothing of the prosperity purveyors like Creflo Dollar, Paula White, and Joel Osteen who share their tradition to some extent. When God is like “on-demand cable”—standing by to provide instant forgiveness and prosperity—it is very hard to convince the most fervent believers to adhere to basic rules of propriety, let alone values.
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There's not much I can add ro this article except: Recommended read!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Paulos23
Skeptic Friend
USA
446 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2009 : 06:13:33 [Permalink]
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Thanks filthy
In a way this highlights one of the main problems with concept of divine forgiveness. If you believe your going to get it no mater what, what is going to make you behave other then your own personal morals? |
You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting. -- Robert A. Heinlein
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. -- Aldous Huxley |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2009 : 09:32:10 [Permalink]
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Well; there is a sincerity clause.
If you sin willingly, coldly calculating to 'repent' later and wash it all away, one would assume that you are more hypocritical than sincere in your repenting. |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2009 : 09:38:18 [Permalink]
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| When God is like “on-demand cable”—standing by to provide instant forgiveness and prosperity—it is very hard to convince the most fervent believers to adhere to basic rules of propriety, let alone values. |
Just about everything that needs to be said is in that sentence.
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Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
Baculum's page: http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3947338590 |
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Pentecostalism: an History
