Nick: On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 10:15 AM, Nicholas Geti <[email protected]> wrote: > > Publius, > Your elaborate explanations of all this are what turn me off about religion. > Everything is so perfectly logical with an answer for everything.
I appreciate that, I'm just sharing my perspective, FWIW. I don't see my answers as black-and-white as perhaps they come across. Something gets lost in the "condensation" from what I'd like to say to what I have time to say. But having said that, so many things do make perfect sense, once you have the right foundation of knowledge. I mean, surely you're not trying to say that an airtight logical argument is a bad thing? No wonder you're attracted to "global warming"... ;) >We are > doomed to failure by your rigid definitions. We are indeed! Which is why mankind needs a savior. > There have been more crimes, > devastation and wars in the name of religion than any other reason. I don't know, militant atheist totalitarianism had something of a "catch up period" the last 100 years or so, and may have taken the lead in raw numbers. > > Besides you are going to extremes about porn using terms like > "indulgencies". We are not talking here about being consumed by "sin". Well, I do think that's the issue, and that pornography, whether the participation therein, or merely the watching/viewing thereof, is just one of many examples of what it means to be "consumed by sin." That said, I don't judge the people involved (for one thing, I have watched it) so much as observe the influence of dark spiritual forces in the literal "fleshing out" of rebellion against God, which is in its most abstract formulation what "sin" (in all its many varieties) is. It's easy to get all legalistic about what the bible does or doesn't say about this or that flavor of sin. It's easy to take, for example, cultural facts relayed in Scripture and twist them to imply a meaning today that they do not convey. It's not about the letter of the law but about its spirit. God loves even the pornographer, even the prostitute, even the viewer who is so dysfunctional in his expression of sexual and other feelings that he finds pornography a hoot. But God also judges, rightly, in his time, and it's always a good idea while we yet have breath to give His way a chance to bring the peace, security and blessings we seek in material and carnal things. I don't like the legalistic battle over what the Bible does or doesn't technically say about this or that sin. If you know Christ, you have His mind, He is in you, and He tells you what is right and wrong, and what you, specifically, must do, right where you are. He guides you into experiences and through situations in the puzzle of your life, so that you can get to know Him, and be amazed at his grace, power and love. This is true for Jew and Gentile, black, yellow, white, male, female -- and all sinners of all stripes. He doesn't force His love on you, and He'll go away and leave you alone completely to your own devices in an instant if you want him to... which is why the world is such a cruel and lonely place sometimes. The Bible is just a testament, in two parts, to Christ. It is not Christ Himself, and itself promises truths in the spirit to be communicable to us directly from God, if we seek his face, turn away from our ways, and follow His ways. Anyway... there are a lot of bad doctrines out there and I don't know whether mine is the purest or best, but I've come to a place of peace about a lot of things that used to vex me, until I stopped judging and just started trying to perceive and discern physical and spiritual reality. I perceive that pornography is neither beautiful nor natural (I mean seriously, you want to tell me the situations depicted in porn flicks happen anywhere on earth except at Ricardo's naked cannibal BBQ parties?), but it is in fact emotionally dead, mentally worse than dead, and guided by spirits of rebellion and control (that would be Jezebel). I used to watch it occasionally but now it makes me sad and arouses me not at all. - Publius -- "It ought never to be forgotten, that a firm union of this country, under an efficient government, will probably be an increasing object of jealousy to more than one nation of Europe; and that enterprises to subvert it will sometimes originate in the intrigues of foreign powers, and will seldom fail to be patronized and abetted by some of them. Its preservation, therefore ought in no case that can be avoided, to be committed to the guardianship of any but those whose situation will uniformly beget an immediate interest in the faithful and vigilant performance of the trust." [Federalist Papers #59] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
