MEET THE MAN YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF........PAPIUS the investigative reporter

by Terry 43 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Terry

  My point is, from the bit I've learned about you, your conscience would have been hurting either way. You didn't get off scott-free, either. You went to prison, and obviously suffered there as well. Standing up for what you believed was right, no matter the consequences, took strength.

  Tammy

  I can appreciate you understand, Tammy. Thank you.

  The larger point is still up in the air. I was addressing the fact that JESUS' MESSAGE was totally impracticable. (You cannot practice it.)

  In a world without conflict it works like a charm. But, a bully always targets those who do not and will not fight back (regardless of their reasons).

  What really makes JESUS Jesus is that "turn the other cheek, love your enemies" foundation.

  As beautiful and idealistic as it sounds nobody can MORALLY live by it for the reasons you most eloquently stated. Evil will prosper when the good

  person stands by and lets it happen.

  So, I have to wonder what you mean when you say:

  But then, I don't see Christianity (as Jesus taught it/not what it has become) as a stagnant, doctrine based faith.
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  tec

  I probably didn't mean that as progressively as it sounded.

  I guess what I mean is this:

  Christianity allows people room to grow and explore and discover the world around us - though the rules and doctrines have often caused fear about embracing change. Such as women speaking in the church and the discoveries in science that might not always mesh with the literalist view of the bible - dinosaurs never existed, man has never been to the moon, etc.

  But Jesus did expect us to think for ourselves, otherwise he would not have been so hard on the Pharisees over their judgment of supposed Sabbath violations. And while many of the rules that were in place for the people of the first century do not necessarily apply anymore, the core values have carried to our time and culture, and will continue to carry through to the future.

  Tammy
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  Terry

  But Jesus did expect us to think for ourselves, otherwise he would not have been so hard on the Pharisees over their judgment of supposed Sabbath violations. And while many of the rules that were in place for the people of the first century do not necessarily apply anymore, the core values have carried to our time and culture, and will continue to carry through to the future.

  Tammy

  Jesus' view were the views of Judaism. What He found irrepressible about Pharisees was that they didn't understand that the Law was for the benefit of humanity. Life was important. Gathering food on the Sabbath was to sustain life. Those Pharisees saw it only as a rule broken regardless of the reason behind the actions.

  Law untempered by understanding of human weakness and need was brutal.

  I'm still not able to get you to engage in the practicality of Jesus' extraordinary teachings on "love your enemy" and "turn the other cheek."

  If it isn't possible to practice this in the face of enemies such as rapists, murderers and marauding armies intent on mayhem---what good is this teaching at all?
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  not a captive

  Tammy and Terry,

  I heard an interview on NPR a while back with Arun Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's grandson. The practical aspects of loving your enemy and non-violence were illuminating. The concepts were frankly knit in with the realism of active instead of reactive attitudes to disturbed people. I didn't remember the tone as being like a "social gospel" but Quoted his grandpa as saying "Poverty is the worst form of violence". I'm not going to paraphrase anything here. Just saying it was full of reflections on the practical experiences of loving your enemy.

  I have the same horror of vicious attack by brute-like people. In the twinkling of an eye an assault can change or end a life. But incredibly people do resist violence by refusing to commit themselves to it. I wondered about it when I grew up. I was a child born to a soldier and I have always loved soldiers. The book Liberty and Conscience --A Documentary History of the Experiences of Consciencious Objectors in America through the Civil War has something to say. These Christians lived in hostile lands. Native Americans and hostile Europeans flooded around them. These people did have perspectives so different from the peoples surrounding them. They paid a heavy price. Notably, their women encouraged their peacable men regardless of what it may have meant for their own prospects for safety. The women were no less Christian.

  I very much enjoy your posts. Maeve