Violence.

The bane of our world is violence.
From the violence of wild beasts to the torture chambers of the Middle East violence rules.

But what is violence but fear?
The fight or flight adrenalin rush of fear.

Why do superpowers build nuclear missiles that can destroy our whole planet?
Because they are afraid of being attacked by their enemies.
So they deploy a deterrent.

What is war but fear of attack?

Empires are monuments to fear.
Fear of being displaced as the dominant power.
So they oppress foreign powers and threaten them with violence.

The fear that rules our planet shows a lack of faith.
"God has forsaken the earth" they cry!
"We must defend ourselves."

If we truly believed in God we would know that there will always be enough.

God provides.

If we loved God we would lose our fear.
And we would love our enemies.

Gentle Light.

The darkness is not dispelled by violent explosions of light.

There is no battle between light and darkness.

The darkness is penetrated and dispersed by a gentle light.

Violent, spectacular displays can inspire fear.
And fear can inspire violence.

So God is gentle with us that we may not be afraid of the light.

Many passages in the Bible say that prophets and disciples were terrified of God.
This is not helpful.
Fear begets fear.
And fear begets violence, aggression, and force.

It is not God's wish that we be afraid.

It is God's wish that we show respect out of Love.

Patience.

When we begin to see we are impatient that others don't enforce a false position (usually by the book).

This can be a faith scripture which is not according to understanding.

But life is a process of learning.
We make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.

So people will come to see in time.

We must be patient with them.
Even as we are patient with ourselves.

We cannot know everything at once.
But if we pray we will come to see in time.

And then we will understand.

Margaret Thatcher.

The Philosophy of neo-conservatives like Margaret Thatcher which saw the deregulation of business and privatization of public utilities is nothing more than a return to the law of the jungle.

The policy of reducing state controls in favor of individual responsibility is not the flag of freedom it is made out to be.

The law of the markets is sink or swim.

These are not the ways of God.

God's law was instituted to mitigate the law of the jungle.

"'Do to others as you would have them do to you.'"  Matthew 7:12a (NRSV) is a direct challenge to an eye for en eye.

Care for "the orphan", "the widow", and "the stranger" is a direct endorsement of social welfare.

Margaret Thatcher may have mouthed words like generosity and compassion but they were certainly not reflected in her policies.

To pretend that they are following some sort of Christianity is ludicrous.

Under their policy of the trickle down economy the gap between rich and poor has widened dramatically.

So when neo-conservative politicians tell you that deregulation and privatization are policies of  freedom and equality don't believe them.

It is merely a return to dog eat dog.


(Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.)

Another Way.

When we are in darkness we believe that we have to be stronger than evil and ignorance.  We believe that superior violence wins out.

When we are in darkness we believe that Satan is real.

When we are in darkness we believe lies.

When we are in darkness we are afraid.
And our fear makes us violent.

But if we can pray in faith to God He will show us another way.
A non-violent way of light and love.

We can pray for our oppressors to see the light.
The light of freedom from fear.
The light of love.

We are born into darkness.
Life is a process of learning.
We make mistakes.
We learn from our experience.

When we draw close to God through love we begin to see another way.

We do not have to beat our opponents.
We can help them (non-violently) to see through love.
We can pray for them.

And they will be opponents no more.

Fooled.

He who deceives the whole world.

Rather than being wowed by some supernatural power, we are merely deceived by Satanists in our popular culture.

Their so called spells act more like propaganda than magic.

We are hooked, led astray, perverted, cursed, and corrupted by our rock stars, movie stars, and sporting heroes.

They distract us from any idealistic endeavor with dark entertainment and violence.

They subtly divert our philosophy to winner takes all and the idols of the world: fame, status, money, power, possessions, privilege, and pleasure.

In the end we have been fooled.

Three Aspects.

The message has three aspects:

1.  The World :  The conservative establishment which usurped Jesus' message of unconditional love and forgiveness and turned it into an absolute payment for our sins (Pharisees).
And the corporate plutocrats who rule the world through brutality, fear, and violence (Romans).

2.  Satanists :  Rock musicians, movie stars, and sporting heroes who have sold their souls to the devil and practice Satanism and black magic disguised in their art (Darkness).

3.  God :  The author and creator of the universe is not some violent, vengeful accountant waiting to punish us.
God is all good, benevolent, understanding, compassionate, and merciful.
Above all God is Love (Light).

Dominus Sanctus.

The characteristics of a nation's language are reflected in its actions.

Since the Latin language has been used for Christianity it has shown the characteristics of Rome.

One of these characteristics is domination which comes from the Latin Dominus which meas Lord.

Had Christianity stayed a Hebrew or Greek concern the characteristics of those languages would have created a quite different Church.

The English God of power and might reflected the attitudes of the British Empire, which conquered and exploited other nations.  This was translated from the Latin.

The German language of Martin Luther was abstract and philosophical. Consequently Protestantism is more intellectual and arid.

So what characteristics does modern English lend to Christianity.

Progressive Christianity is democratic, liberal, and altruistic.  It is concerned with social justice, environmentalism, and unconditional love.

These aspects of Christianity come largely from modern English usage.

Improvement.

God is looking for improvement.

It is not enough to just sit back and stay within our comfort zone.

"'And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?'"  Matthew 5:47 (NRSV)
Do you deserve a blessing?

In many cases people who are outside of the Churches are doing better than those within the Church.

Church people seem to think that greeting you on a Sunday is enough, perhaps 30 minutes if fellowship.
They ignore you during the week.
And they pressure you to be like them and do good works out of fear.
Mostly to do things for them.

It is not good enough.

Jesus exhorted us to love one another.
To be brothers and sisters in Christ.
Not acquaintances in Christ.

If it was good enough people would come.
If they experienced love.

But they experience pressure and disapproval and manipulation.

And they stay away.


(Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.)