Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
..... Shall we stop preaching and start practicing? There are whole slew of Christian countries at war with each other over Ukraine right now.
......and there was a slew of Christian countries at war in WWI and WWII.
People of the same religion killed people of their same religion who were living in another country.
In both World Wars Catholics killed Catholics and Protestants killed Protestants.
Since Jesus fulfilled the temporary Constitution of the Mosaic Law - Romans 10:4 - Jesus changed the standard.
Please note Jesus' instructions for his followers of Jesus as found at Matthew 26:52.
Jesus and his 1st-century followers were politically neutral and did not even take sides or get involved in the issues of the day between the Jews and Romans.
Jesus instructed the practicing of Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8 to be carried out and done on a grand international scale.
Christian weapons are Not carnal weapons as found at 2nd Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:11-17
......and there was a slew of Christian countries at war in WWI and WWII.
People of the same religion killed people of their same religion who were living in another country.
In both World Wars Catholics killed Catholics and Protestants killed Protestants.
Since Jesus fulfilled the temporary Constitution of the Mosaic Law - Romans 10:4 - Jesus changed the standard.
Please note Jesus' instructions for his followers of Jesus as found at Matthew 26:52.
Jesus and his 1st-century followers were politically neutral and did not even take sides or get involved in the issues of the day between the Jews and Romans.
Jesus instructed the practicing of Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8 to be carried out and done on a grand international scale.
Christian weapons are Not carnal weapons as found at 2nd Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6:11-17
You need a dose of Thrillo to set you straight about Jesus. Where is that guy when we need him?
With all due respect to your pacifist religion and leanings, QB, this world is a very unspiritual place! The vagaries and dangers of this world are not compatible with pacifism. Whatever our spiritual goal is, it is more difficult to achieve if we are killed or taken captive by hostile regimes. War to prevent that seems unavoidable until we evolve more as a species, IMO.
Sadly, The vast majority of Christians do not even know what that is, let alone use Him to guide their state of mind and actions. They believe in and follow our ancestors' beliefs about their wrathful and vengeful War God thinking they are following Jesus. It is a travesty of primitive ignorance and superstition writ large.
Speaking as an atheist who is familiar with the Bible, I cannot imagine why religious people are expected to be particularly opposed to war.
Sure, you can tease out anti-war ideas from scripture. But then, you can find support for almost anything in there. In the case of pacifism - or even less stringent tendencies toward peace - in order to do so, you have to ignore a lot of bits that are rather enthusiastic when it comes to war.
Speaking as an atheist who is familiar with the Bible, I cannot imagine why religious people are expected to be particularly opposed to war.
Sure, you can tease out anti-war ideas from scripture. But then, you can find support for almost anything in there. In the case of pacifism - or even less stringent tendencies toward peace - in order to do so, you have to ignore a lot of bits that are rather enthusiastic when it comes to war.
Those are very good points and—no disrespect to QB or her fellow Quakers, or the Amish and Mennonites—it explains why there are very few truly pacifist Christian sects.
Speaking as an atheist who is familiar with the Bible, I cannot imagine why religious people are expected to be particularly opposed to war.
Sure, you can tease out anti-war ideas from scripture. But then, you can find support for almost anything in there. In the case of pacifism - or even less stringent tendencies toward peace - in order to do so, you have to ignore a lot of bits that are rather enthusiastic when it comes to war.
I think there are times that wars must occur, unfortunate though that may be.
Speaking as an atheist who is familiar with the Bible, I cannot imagine why religious people are expected to be particularly opposed to war.
Sure, you can tease out anti-war ideas from scripture. But then, you can find support for almost anything in there. In the case of pacifism - or even less stringent tendencies toward peace - in order to do so, you have to ignore a lot of bits that are rather enthusiastic when it comes to war.
But that would apply only to fundamentalist Christians; i.e., those who believe the Bible to be the literal "Word of God".
Quakers like the OP have always been pacifists, and while the Bible is an important piece of writing to them, it doesn't have the divine status it does in the so-called "Bible-believing" churches. Nor would it in liberal churches such as the Episcopal Church, which understands that those passages claiming God was on one side were written by men who were part of an ancient tribal warrior people.
Such groups are usually anti-war. QB wants 'em to get noisier about it.
But that would apply only to fundamentalist Christians; i.e., those who believe the Bible to be the literal "Word of God".
Quakers like the OP have always been pacifists, and while the Bible is an important piece of writing to them, it doesn't have the divine status it does in the so-called "Bible-believing" churches. Nor would it in liberal churches such as the Episcopal Church, which understands that those passages claiming God was on one side were written by men who were part of an ancient tribal warrior people.
Such groups are usually anti-war. QB wants 'em to get noisier about it.
I understand the history of pacifism among Quakers. And I also understand the selective pick and choosing of which tenets to embrace and which to reject. This is invariably presented as the rejected ones being faulty in some manner. But, lo and behold (and to no surprise), the 'faulty' scripture is always that which doesn't comport with the desired ideology. The faith does not follow the text, but the (important) text is selected for the pre-selected faith. The Quakers' beliefs are based on some of Jesus's teachings, as depicted in the Bible. That makes it a text-based faith. I'm just pointing out that it's really not rational to base a worldview on what's in a book when all the inconvenient parts need to be explained away in some manner.
Finally, the fundamentalists really aren't... fundamentalist. Thy just have a different preference for which passages to exalt and which to ignore.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
