Things To Think About Vol 4 1st Edition

I hate how the church gets all involved in media and politics, it really irritates me.
First of all, you really notice this during primary season and election season like we are in now where many politicians are concerned about appealing to evangelical Christians and church-goers etc...yes, that bothers me because I think candidates are just using the church to get themselves votes. But what really gets me is so called "Christian leaders" who are backing a certain candidate. It really concerns me, not so much the leader itself, but the people who will follow that leader's choice in candidates even if they know nothing about that certain candidate.
If a religious leader (lets say an important catholic leader) supports Mike Huckabee for example, it seems to me that everyone catholic (hypothetical) is almost bound to vote for and support Huckabee. I know this happened in our church way back when Bush was running. Everyone supported Bush and they were excited to back a "Christian" president and I remember even during church after 9/11 happened how happy they were to have a "Christian" president and us even talking about this during a service or two. I'm sure everyone can tell by reading this, that I do not support Bush very much, but still I believe that people should be able to make their own decisions based on what they believe in, not what someone else does. If you are waiting for your church leader to make a decision on who they are voting for so you can vote for the same person, I'm sorry, but you shouldn't be voting. Look into the candidates for yourself and make a decision.


On to the other part of my rant, which is getting the media out of the church. Many churches nation-wide were promoting the heck out of "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". Why? Because it was written by a Christian author and it had some Religious undertones in it. Was this really a life-changing movie that the church really needed to go hoop-la over? No. It was basically a Harry Potter movie. But the church hates and despises "Harry Potter" because it uses witchcraft. But the church loves "Narnia" because it uses witchcraft along with a supposed "christian message". What is this "christian message"? It goes like this-in Narnia, the lion sacrifices his life to save another and comes back to life just like Jesus did. Ok yes, that is a religious parallel. However, how many other gazillions of movies can you also make religious parallels if you are looking for them? I talked to some people who had seen this movie and they weren't even aware that this was supposed to be a Christian movie. If you ask me, Disney knows that if they put out a movie that has a Christian theme to it, but make the theme as unnoticeable as possible, then sell it to the church, they know they will make millions even if it is a crappy movie. Disney knows that the church is a very easy target and they will make huge money.

So is church a place where we worship God, or is it a political machine and a media target?

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Things To Think About Vol 3 1st Edition

I want to bring up a controversial topic that is very touchy in the U.S. Its the issue of Americans vs. the Islam. After 9/11 happened, many Americans displayed anti-Islamic attitudes, which really bothered me. The attitude towards Islams and any person from the Middle East seemed to be that they are violent, they smash planes in to buildings, and that their Muslim religion encourages them to do it.

Many people have pointed out Surah 9:5, a verse in the Quran (Islamic Bible) that reads this: "Fight and slay the non-believers wherever you may find them". But you cannot read that verse alone and make the conclusion that every Muslim is a terrorist. Instead, here are some verses that describe what the Muslim religion does believe in:
"God does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of your religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly; surely God loves the doers of justice. God only forbids you respecting and loving those who made war upon you on account of your religion, and drove you forth from your homes and backed up others in your expulsion, that you make friends with them, and whoever makes friends with them, these are the unjust. fight in the cause of God those who fight against you, and do not commit aggression. Indeed God does not love those who are aggressors".
-Now lets examine verse 9:5, which says "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."

-So what does this mean? In the religion of Islam, they believe in showing compassion to their enemies. But, they do not show compassion for people who make war with them. It says in the beginning of verse 9:5-"But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay Pagans", this means that Muslims are required to give a 4 month grace period when war is upon them. The Quran tells them to turn the other cheek while being killed for 4 months, then, If they continue with war, then you are allowed to fight back and kill.

While I am a Bible believing Christian, if you take one verse from the Bible, a person might think that all Christians are terrorists, such as :
"Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves." (Numbers 31:17-18)

"Do not think that I have come to send peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. I am sent to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Matthew 10:34-35)

And this verse which is very similar to the Quran verses which I previously posted:

“When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you… Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes (Deuteronomy 20:10-17)

My point about the Quran and the Bible is that you have to look at what context the verse is in. You can't just take out one verse or two and make a statement like "All Muslims want to do is kill". All I'm saying is be open to people and be informed before you start making accusations. Nothing makes me more upset than people making accusations and claims when they have no idea what they are talking about. Almost all Muslims aren't extremists, actually like 99 point something percent of them aren't, just like 99 point something percent of Christians aren't killers/murderers.
There have been groups that call themselves "Christians" that have "killed in the name of God" (KKK, religious cults etc...) so do not think that this is just a one-sided affair.

Anyway, I guess it all comes down to being open

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