It's been a while...

I haven't been feeling very good physically or mentally the last few weeks, so my non-existent audience (nearly so; at this time my actual audience seems to consist of my fiance and my stuffed cat that sits by the computer) has been let down a little, to say nothing of the fact that this blog was kindasorta supposed to be a substitute for things like church. Eh, He'll forgive me.

In light of the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I feel I should post some things I'm grateful for despite the long list of things I feel are wrong with my life. Perhaps concentrating on them will improve things.

I'm grateful I live in a county that, despite making me jump through hoops to do so, will give me insurance so that I can at least get some health care for my problems.

I'm grateful I have a fiance who understands my problems and puts up with them, and does the lion's share of the work because of them. I'm trying to do more, but in the meantime it's good that he's willing to do so much.

I'm grateful to have rediscovered my religious and spiritual side, and the ability to separate that from the people who practice a form of my religion I cannot recognize.

I'm grateful for my ability to create. It's something that makes me happy.

I'm grateful to have had so many extremely wonderful friends to help me through some of the roughest times (and a little sad I've lost touch with so many, but glad they're still out there).

I'm grateful for all the other people who have the gift to create, whether songs or games or writing or art, because those are some of the best parts of life.

I'm grateful for sunrises and sunsets, kittens, laughter, and all the other wonderful things that were made for the enjoyment of mankind.

I'm grateful that there are good examples of people practicing my religion out there, because seeing those helped me find my way back.

I'm grateful to Google for offering a free place to write down my thoughts.

I'm grateful that I still have a place to live, food to eat, internet access, and things I can do purely for leisure and enjoyment.

I'm grateful that there is a power out there that loves me despite all my many human flaws.

I am appalled at my own kind

Well, they're not quite my own kind. I recognize them as Christians, but we're obviously very different. It's the ones who, in the wake of the horrendous tragedy at Fort Hood, are saying, "See, Muslims are all terrorists!" Who are, in the main, the same ones who when people, oh, say, shoot an abortion doctor in the name of Christ, don't have anything to say about that, or at best say "But that's not what we believe!"... and then refuse to give the same courtesy to others.

I'm appalled that Christians give other Christians a free pass on such acts, but immediately harp on anyone of any other religion, especially Muslims. We worship the same God. Never mind my belief that ultimately we all do, I mean this one much more literally; Muslims consider Jesus one of the great prophets and believe some of the same things Christians do about him (albeit not all of them). We should get along better. It's one of the shames of religion that we can't. And one of the shames of American Christians in particular that so many of them refuse to believe anyone who says "We're not all like that."

Are there bad Muslims? Yes. But there are also bad Christians. And a lot of them are right here in this country. Condemning the entire religion based on the whack-jobs is really... unChristian. Brotherhood, remember?

(Belated x2) Sunday Thoughts

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."—Mark 16:15

A fairly sizable portion of Christians seem to believe that the primary goal of all Christians should be to preach to others, and I believe this is one of the verses that makes them think so.

Sunday Thoughts

So... normally I write more about what things mean to me on this day, and maybe that's where this'll end up... but my topic today is not a verse or idea from the Bible, but rather, the actual whole Bible. To be specific, it's about the project to rewrite the Bible that some of my non-existent readers may've heard about lately, spearheaded by Conservapedia. I say "rewrite" rather than the word they use, "retranslate", because, frankly, they're planning on putting some stuff in I don't remember from any version of the Bible I've ever read, including the KJV.

Is Proselytizing a Sin? (Part 3/Final)

So, let's wrap this up, and go back to my basic question: Is proselytizing a sin?

I think I've shown how it can be, whether one defines sin as "harm against other people" or "offenses against God". Anything that drives people away from God (and, if you think Christianity is the One True Way, Christ) pretty much would have to be a sin, and generally speaking, things that harm people are sinful.

But is it always a sin?

Sunday Thoughts

We don't all agree on the nature of God or what He wants from us. Some people don't believe He even exists; others simply differ in the details. But that doesn't matter. It doesn't have to.

We, as people, probably all want something similar: peace, prosperity, health, happiness. We can work together for those things.

For those of us who believe, it may be because we're doing what we believe God (or whoever) wants us to do. For those who don't, it may be because they believe this is the only chance we have to experience those things.

It doesn't matter why we act, as long as we do act.

If people focus on what people do and what they're working for, then it doesn't matter if you're working with someone who does not share your faith. And I find it heartening that there are others out there who agree, who put aside the differences to focus on the similarities. I do wish there were more, but as long as there are some, we can continue to try to make the world a better place.

Faith does not stand alone

Last year, a Wisconsin couple was charged with reckless homicide in the death of their daughter. The girl, who was 11, died from complications from untreated diabetes. The parents had not sought medical care, instead relying on prayer to heal their daughter.

Today they were sentenced to 10 years probation and 30 days a year in jail for the next six years. They plan to appeal. They don't think they did anything wrong.

Belated Thoughts and Other Things

I didn't do a "Sunday Thoughts" yesterday because my sleep schedule was rather inverted due to illness followed by a bout of insomnia... eh, it doesn't matter why. I didn't do it.

I've wanted to keep doing at least that one post a week in lieu of church-going, but I'm not sure I have quite that much to talk about without repeating myself. I might open up the focus of this blog a bit to encompass current events and various religious responses to them and what I think of those things. I don't want to debate these things, but seeing things through the filter of my religious and moral beliefs is both inevitable and important, and I might as well talk about them here.

You may, if you've read the last few posts, have noticed that I did two Sunday posts in a row talking at least in part about charity. If I do more current events posts, there will be some more of that, and I'm afraid it might get repetitive, but... it's very important to me, and very mind-boggling to me how a country with a large Christian majority doesn't seem to act charitable very often. Still, I'll try to keep it at least vaguely interesting.

The last few posts have been more about the negative side of religion, so I want to say something positive... unfortunately I can't seem to think of anything tonight. I'll try to come up with something positive this week.

Is Prosyletizing a Sin? (Part 2)

In my last post on this topic, I related a sad story about a kid I used to babysit thinking he was going to Hell because he didn't listen to me, his babysitter, and I said this: emotionally and psychologically harming someone is a sin.

Before I go further on that, I should define the other word I'm using here the way I understand it. Proselytizing, to me, is when someone tries to convince someone else to convert to their beliefs. It differs from evangelism^[1] in that evangelism is more about simply spreading information about one's religion.^[2]

Sunday Thoughts

There's something about this country I don't understand.

See, Christians are a majority here. Maybe not everyone who classifies themselves as Christian is particularly active in their faith, but they were raised with Christian beliefs and still consider themselves such.

So why are so many Americans against programs to help the poor? Whether it's direct as welfare or a national health insurance of some sort, or as indirect as better education, people seem unwilling to pay for government programs, or volunteer time or money or goods to private programs. And some people are pretty heated about their opposition to the former.

I don't understand how anyone can reconcile that unwillingness with what Jesus taught. I don't think I need to pull out Bible verses for this; anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the Gospels should know that Jesus was pretty explicit that helping the sick and the poor was the right thing to do, and that giving up one's own wealth for that purpose was the best thing to do.

I find it difficult to understand why anyone who calls themselves a Christian would have any trouble giving to a cause that helps the poor. Churches which run food pantries or other helpful programs are struggling to meet demand, so it's not even happening there. And when it comes to government programs and any hint of suggestions of tax raises, it's met with anger and refusal. Is that really the Christian response?