Good will to all men? Not from the grumpy atheists! (Thank God not all atheists are grumpy but there sure seems to be a lot of them)
Why is it that so many in the atheist community cannot bring themselves to get past their anger whenever they engage in discussions? The language of many of their contributions in public debate is laced with invective and dripping with sarcasm and bile. There are exceptions of course, but they tend to fall more into the category of being the 'exception that proves the rule' when compared to the hostility of many of today's atheist posters. Comment offered by the theists in the public square is often depicted as being 'malicious' or 'venomous' and intended to enslave the 'feeble minded and weak' by those who post. Nothing could be further from the truth. Venom is something that is oriented to death. Christians are oriented in a 180 degree different direction. We speak not to the culture of death that grips our world but rather for the culture of life and light which ends with the gift of eternal life. For example, the Catholic Church in its hum...
*sigh* Hands up everyone who thinks Easter is original with Christianity. And keep your hands up if you think it's exclusively Christian.
ReplyDeleteBut the protesters have a point...things are getting way out of hand with graphic depictions of violence, "intended" to grab adults' attention, but managing only to turn adults off in disgust and scare children into nightmares. Do the perpetrators of this scenario think that children can tell the difference between what they see and what is real?
And to answer the question with which I opened...and which was raised by the archbishop...yes, in a way it is the celebration of the birth of the Easter Bunny. It's all in the perspective. And culture.
As a Christian, I understand the portrayal of the Crucifixion. If you present the Crucifixion to a group of Christians, the response is probably different. If people chose to see a movie of the death of Jesus, then they are presumed to be aware of what will happen.
ReplyDeleteIn a world where Christianity has lost its focus for so many, the Crucifixion is not a good place to start evangelizing, IMHO.
I'm not thinking that was the wisest use of time and space.
That people are celebrating the birth of the Easter bunny, rather than the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is telling. It means that our society in general is believing that the Easter bunny is as real as Jesus Christ.
For those who know the love of Jesus Christ to be real, and feel it in their hearts, we should be disappointed in ourselves that we have not been able to share that love with our brothers and sisters in this world.
I bet that I can invite more people into a relationship with Our Saviour by loving them where they are at, accepting them, and caring about their needs, than I can scripture whipping them, including graphically throwing the Crucifixion scriptures in their faces.
Just my opinion.
"It means that our society in general is believing that the Easter bunny is as real as Jesus Christ."
ReplyDeleteAnd so it is. Although most people are not familiar with the story, it's still as valid as any other story.