reply to post by justme2

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Thank you for finding that, justme2.

Sarah Palin appears, to me, to be dangerously insane.

So. Let me see if I can understand her crazy points:

'God' has chosen Alaska and Wisconsin as a 'refuge' for the 'Rapture'??? What is Canada?? Chopped liver? AND, btw....isn't the so-called 'rapture' an instant ascent to Heaven? Who needs a refuge or a 'sanctuary'....what is this, "Logan's Run"?? Heck, I'd rather find 'sanctuary' in Hawai'i, if we're going to limit God's 'plan' to the 50 US states. OR, we could add other territories....USVI, Puerto Rico, Guam....Panama Canal Zone (where McCain was born, but that's not important right now).

BTW, that adds up to '54', so far....oh, and the District of Columbia, makes '55' states and territories. So maybe a gaffe by a certain person, who was tired when he spoke, doesn't seem so much of a joke after all....but, again....not important right now.

Speaking in tongues? Handling snakes? Crazy? ... Check! Crazy? ... Check!

Thinking that God guides your decisions??? Check times eight!

I always thought Christians believed in free will. Silly me.

Oh, I forgot to mention....she (and I assume this crazy church, as well) believe in the Bible as literal. Not sure which Books, or whether OT or NT....still a bit unclear, as the lines get blurred.

Of course, some radical fundamentalist Muslims can also mis-intrepret the Koran....and that's just as crazy.

Folks, we had a hack Science-Fiction writer in the 1950s start a 'religion' here in the United States. He wrote a book titled 'Dyanetics', about your 'reactive mind' and other nonsense....aliens living in volcanoes from the planet Zeno, or something. AND people actually believe this BS!

People, we have an amazing brain, but only if we use it properly. Unfortunately, not all of us do.

Those who give their complete live to any god are a danger to the world,
because religion has always brought war not peace. If you cannot make the right decisions, but let a "god" make them for you, you are thinking in an unnatural way, wich could bring danger to your enviroment. Believing in god is good, but letting a human made book dictate you whole live could be a sign that your on the wrong path.

As long as her preacher isn't preaching racism and blaming specific races for all the problems in the world, doesn't bother me. Has Palin's children been signed up for training as Christian soldiers? Does any of this actually apply to the church she attends? Could it be that this is the local church where she grew up and that is why she attends? As opposed to the church she sought out as an adult?

Really? So if she were to say, blame specific religions for all the problems in the world (keeping in mind, that religions are also very culturally-specific, as is race), that would be ok?

I admit, I am being hypocritical here - because I myself tend to blame religions for the world's problems, but I also don't exclude any religion either. That is even more hypocritical.

I am having a hard time understanding why people are having such a hard time with candidates who have firm religious beliefs. In a world that seems to be getting crazier by the day, those who have a faith in God are criticized for having a moral standard to live by.
Everyone seems to think that if you are an evangelical or fundamentalist christian(as opposed to the more liberal "mainstream" churches) then you are determined to hasten the return of Christ.
Nothing could be further from the truth. While Christians anticipate the rapture, look for the appearance of the antichrist, and believe that armaggedon will occur ant the end of the seven years of tribulaton, followed by a thousand year reign of Christ, they realize that this is God's time table, not theirs.
But those who are liberal, especially the ultra-liberals seem to fear anyone who is Christian. It seems that any one who has a moral compass threatens them. These same liberals want us to let the radical muslims alone, and let them do what ever they want. What they don't seem to realize is that Muslims eagerly await the return of the last Imam, the one who will cause the entire world to convert to Islam, or die, and establish shiria law world wide.
May I ask a question to those who are criticizing Sarah Palin, George Bush and others in public office who are professing Chrisitans. Would you rather live in a country whose leaders have a firm grounding in a moral system that respects life, or one whose holy book declares that those who do not convert are to be killed? And those who leave the faith are often hunted down and killed.
There is biblical precedence for speaking in tongues, and there are two ways that it is practiced. One is a as a gift of prophecy, and when this is used in a meeting, there must be an interpreter present. (Prophecy does not always mean telling the future. It originally meant to teach and provide instruction. It over the years the word has taken a different meaning, and people now think it is only telling the future. I have attended Pentecostal churches, and I find that most of the time, the "prophecy" is a word of comfort, or a re-phrasing of certain bible phrases.)
The other use of tongues is as a prayer language, to utter those "groanings that only the spirit can expresss." This is to be used in private, when one goes into one's "prayer closet." In this way, I feel that many Pentecostals misuse this gift, unless I have misinterpted the bible, this is not to be used in assembly, because "God is not the author of confusion."
Bottom line, no church is perfect because, although the bible is the guide, humans interpret the bible, and sometimes mistakes are made, but I'd still prefer leaders who have a firm moral grounding in the teachings of Jesus.

WTF happend to the seperation of church and state????

Oh...that got buried along with the rest of the constitution I suppose.

Pfft!!!!


Cheers!!!

You mean she should denounce a church that doesn't spew racism and hate-filled anti-American rhetoric? I guess the pastor needs to curse America more often like Reverend Wright or come up with a few idiotic theories about AIDS being created to kill the black man, then he'd be more mainstream..

If by "moral code" you are referring to speaking in tongues, faking seizures and speaking about god with arrogance that borders pugilism, than we have very differing views on what a moral standard is. To me, moral standard would be more along the lines of following the example set by Christ (for christians). These are fringe practices. There's nothing wrong with politicians having a moral code, or being christians.



Right, but the problem here is that what non-religious may see as preventable disaster, or a reversible disaster - these apocalyptic Christians may see it as a necessary step in god's master plan. That's where things get really strange, and that's the difference between thinking about-end times in terms of being part of the grand scheme, or seeing end-times as being something that we can avoid (within ability)

Those who have no god are to themselves a god, and so there is no moral right or wrong except for what one thinks it to be to himself. Hitler therefore cannot be condemned for his actions, just as the 9/11 terrorists can for theirs. Both did what was morally right in their eyes. Killing cannot be wrong, nor rape or cannibalism. Pediphelia, torture, sex with animals etc would all be just fine.

It is not those who believe in God that are a danger to the world but those who have no God and no morality to guide them. Poking fun at Sarah Palin changes nothing.

reply to post by scientist

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The video is definitely trying to make the church look crazy. But most evangelical types of Christian churches are into conjuring up the Holly Spirit in this kind of manner. They are following a long tradition that was started in the nineteenth century called Revivalism and the Second Great Awakening:

nationalhumanitiescenter.org...

What's interesting about this flavor of Christianity is that they don't just have the form of faith, they have the powerful manifestation of it as shown in healings and the social transformation of missionary villages.

So what are you implying in posting this video? That Christianity spiritualism is fake? Dangerous? Evil?

Btw, a large percentage of Hispanic-Americans and African-Americans practice a form of this kind of "spirit-filled" Christianity.

reply to post by Matrix1111

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Very interesting perspective, Matrix.

However, I've seen quite a few displays of other humans, non-christians, performing equally bizarre rituals as well. Pagans, various regional African tribes, Native Americans, Maori in Australia....the list goes on.

We can only guess/surmise at the Mayans and the Egyptians, etc...based on what historical references we have.

I suppose we can all agree that human sacrifice is bad, but you can agree that to their minds, in ancient times, it was their paradigm. Imagine what they would think of a ritual eating of the 'body' and drinkin of the 'blood'??

Or, handling snakes and 'speaking' in tongues???

To each his own, as it goes.

reply to post by weedwhacker

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Yes, it is a bizarre situation. Though religion in general seems to be an out-dated form of spirituality, it's protected by the First Amendment's Freedom of Religion. It protects the free exchange of ideas, even if unpopular by the majority. It's really a testimony to the greatness of the American experiment and demonstrates the power of the synergetic exchange of cultures, religions, ideas...

reply to post by scientist

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The evangelical Christians will never see what they are doing is following evil because it has already tricked them. They scare the crap out of me. Did you hear them talk about fire going through them? Where was the light? The sounds and movements they made were frighteningly possessed.

They all want the end to come so they can be raptured and be with Jesus. They do not even know Jesus or his teachings. They do not understand the souls journey and would like to end it prematurely. They are on the dark path and will never know it.

Take them as a reverse barometer and travel in the other direction. If the anti-Christ is real they will call it Jesus and who they call Jesus will be the anti-Christ.

reply to post by RRconservative

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What about that song that says "this world has nothing for me, I will follow you...."

To me that's scary. Putting faith in someone who may or may not exist while putting zero faith in humanity, nature, and planet Earth.

How can one sing a song that says this world has nothing for me? What about your family, country, culture, nature, and all the things that make life interesting and worth living??

Of course, this has nothing to do with her Church, but the separtists in Alaska are quoted as saying they hate America.. does that count?

I don't see anything wrong with the video. The World and Worldly people will never understand Spiritual things. Those that Criticize do so blindly without any knowledge of the truth, unless they know the truth and decided to reject it. When the Jews persecuted Jesus they cursed him, they beat him, they put him up in Crucifixion and in Jesus's own words "Lord forgive them for they know not what they do" those that Judge christians don't know anything about christianity, they don't know God for if they did then they would know his likeness,character and will, and those that know that, know that this is not extreme, this is mainstream "Zoe" the God kind of life. Paul spoke in tongues, the 120 in the upper room in acts 2 spoke in tongues, lemme tell you the early church was more radical than the church is today....our churches need a revival its dead and its coming. Granted, you will have the crazies in anything you do but this is not Crazy.


Keeper

reply to post by kettlebellysmith

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Oh so Atheists, agnostics, and new-agers don't have a moral compass??

Anyone who is half-way intelligent should know the difference between right and wrong. You don't need to be a Christian or go to church to have good morals.

You know what? People who are agnostic are opening & honestly admitting they don't understand life. I like people who are honest. How would you feel if you asked someone "who am I? Where did reality come from? What happens when we die?" Etc.....all the big questions. What if they said you are "Superman's children, reality comes from the purple egg of Superman, and when you die you go to Superman's 5 star hotel." Let's be real, most would think you were a kook.

This is why "libs" typically are fearful of Christians. Because their age old beliefs sound off the wall (in modern times) and don't seem logical. Although I consider myself non-partisan, I tend to lean left so I can tell you I'm not comfortable with Muslim extremists either (obviously). People seem to think liberals want America and Christianity to fail and Terror and Islam to win. That's just nonsense and anyone who believes that is just ignorant.

If the majority of Americans were Muslim then I'm sure they'd take the brunt of the liberal media blow. That's just the way things are. And frankly, we should be very cautious of a VP who says we need to "pray for a natural gas pipeline so we can create jobs." We need to do more than pray to make things happen for our country and our planet.

YouTube Link

reply to post by Scramjet76

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Scramjet!

Thank you for an amazing post!

The problem I run into the most is that people believe that if you don't worship a God, you don't have a moral compass. And what that really means is that they believe that if you don't have anything to fear, and thus something to lose, then you will act in any unpredictable manner you feel... (i.e., Freedom).


The ideas of most adherents of religions, not necessarily the religions themselves, are primitive and rooted deeply in fear. Even though the very religions these people profess theologically are based on faith, the people who follow them are sadly mostly fear based.

The truest moral compass is that which is not based in fear, but based in relieving suffering of the poorest among us.

Fear nothing. Respect everything.

Interesting indeed. In light of this I think I'll stick to my initial assessment for the time being since I know what this is. The truth about what is going on has few ears and telling 99.99% or more of people they're wrong makes one unpopular (so what).

In that light, I must hint that everything you think you're seeing is something else entirely and leave it at that.