Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[BBC]

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has called on followers of the world’s main religions to turn away from extremism and embrace a spirit of reconciliation. The king was opening a conference in Madrid which brings together Muslims, Christians, Jews and Buddhists.

He said the great conflicts of history were not caused by religion, but by the misinterpretation of religion.

King Juan Carlos of Spain, the co-host, said Spain had always sought to promote international dialogue.

Critics have dismissed the gathering as a propaganda gimmick by the Saudis who, they say, are not best placed to host a meeting on religious tolerance.

Read more here.

[From me]

Well the critics may be right but I’ll give the King the benefit of the doubt. I think he makes a great point.  It isn’t religion that causes wars.  It is people who take their views to extremes.  We need to get along and allow people to worship how they want to.  I may not like a religion but people are free to believe it if they want to without worrying about their lives.

What do you think?

[These are my thoughts and not those of Campus Crusade or my parents]

 Here are the facts about religion and chaplains in the military:

1. In the military, there are Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, Islamic  etc chaplains.
2. Each chaplain is free to share his faith beliefs all he wants within the military guidelines given him. They are not muzzled.
3. Each chaplain is responsible for providing for the spiritual needs of all the soldiers under him or her. Therefore they provide and announce:

• On Sundays, on many bases, there are different services available for Roman Catholic and Islamic and for any chaplain who chose to provide his.
• Buses pick up some to go off post to Synagogues, Mormon temples, Greek Orthodox etc.
• Even Wiccans can meet as a group as long as the meeting is open to anyone.
• No one is compelled to attend any meeting but can attend any if they choose.

4. Any chaplain can use volunteers to teach classes on Sunday morning as long as that volunteer teaches under his or her supervision.

• Chaplains can recruit their volunteers from the community.

5. All belief groups want to share their beliefs to the world. In the America, they are free to do this as long as they do it by the rules.

For some reason those who are not followers of Jesus have problems with Christian groups ministering to the military.  Here is what I want to know:

• I want to know if there are Pagan, Wiccan,  Buddhists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jewish and other groups who send missionaries to the military who raise their own financial support?
• Are their atheist groups who raise their own financial support to assist the military in their emotional and educational needs?
• Show me where the Military Ministry of Campus Crusade has violated the Constitution?   The Separation of Church and State was to protect the Church from the State not the other way around.
• What harm is being done to our military?
• Do those who have a beef really care about the military personnel or are they trying to make a political statement?

These are questions I want answered.  I’m tired of being called a “right-winged bigot” and a “fundamentalist” and every form of profanity in the book.  Personally I’m ready for the US to leave Iraq but I support or military and our leaders.  I’m a follower of Jesus who wants to fulfill the calling God has given me.  I follow the laws and I’m tolerant of other’s beliefs.  It’s time the “other” beliefs showed a little tolerance of Christ followers too.

What do you think?

I’ll admit up front that I’ve been guilty of resorting to name calling when I couldn’t come up with something of substance to say. I was wrong. I’ve become a better learner by just closing my mouth & listening.

This weekend I “googled,” yahooed,” & “technoratied” the military ministry, my parents & “God’s basic training” & was amazed at the trash that was on many blogs & chat rooms. It seems that very few were interested in the truth. These sites were Atheists, seperatists & yes some Christian ones. I responded with the facts on a dozen or so.

Well most of them couldn’t handle the facts so they resorted to profanity, Bush bashing, military bashing & name calling?  Of course this type of behavior isn’t limited to any group.  Christians are guilty of this too.  You see it in politics daily.  If you can’t win an argument or you have nothing worth saying call someone a:

• Liberal
• Right-winger
• war monger
• moderate
• fundamentalist
• fundy
• etc….

So the lesson I learned is this- if you don’t have solid facts or substance call people names & add a few profanity ladened  adjectives  That way no one can figure out that you have nothing of substance to back your claims.

What do you think?

[SF Gate]

Neighbors are losing their tolerance for the Museum of Tolerance.

People who live near the museum in West Los Angeles oppose plans for a two-story cultural center that could be rented out for private events, such as weddings. The museum also wants to expand its hours to midnight, when such events are held, and to reduce its 100-foot buffer zone from homes to 20 feet.

Some neighbors, concerned about additional noise and traffic, have collected about 70 signatures for a petition asking the city to reject the proposal.

“They don’t care about us as neighbors,” said Sharron Lerman, a neighbor and museum member. “Very insensitive.”

Read about it here.

[From me]

You gotta love tolerance!

I want to welcome Bill the Mormon Realtor from the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee back to this blog. Bill decided to spam my site with posts about 2 sticks and a Baptist Preacher. Sounds like a great joke.

Bill, I’m just not feeling any burning in my bosom. Well– maybe the burrito I ate yesterday.
I hope you had fun.
BTW: This is the 1,100th post!