• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Interesting Religious Stuff

I get the Times and I remember reading this article. I also saw something about it on the Nightly News. I thought there would be more uproar about his statements, but they seem to not have caused much fuss. Must be a sign of the times.
I'm not Catholic, but I tend to agree with what he said. The relational part of preaching has, in a lot of ways died out, which is sad. It is tough to minister to someone when they don't consider you their friend. A lot of preachers from every denomination seem to forget that. Sin is sin, and it is present in everyone in some form or another, so to marginalize one group of sinners who are seeking the Lord, is to do a disservice to your position as a teacher and shepherd.
 
Excellent post Peder, I didn't know of the last item, though it doesn't surprise me after having read earlier things about the Pope like this.

The pontiff’s choice is a consequence of his desire to adopt a “simple” living arrangement that allows him “to live in community” with other priests and bishops, Lombardi explained.

While his predecessor Benedict XVI cherished the privacy of the papal apartment that allowed him to study and play his beloved piano, the Argentine pope has shown a more common touch with people and enjoys the contact with the residence’s guests and visitors.
 
Intolerance creates an atmosphere in which people are forced away from which ever belief system you are actually attempting to get them to embrace. Not in the history of mankind has intolerance worked as a recruitment tactic whether its to a belief system or a political viewpoint. Religions should try to remember this.

This is one of the fundamental reasons there must be separation of Church and State. There are many behaviours which are forbidden in a variety of different religious systems (from eating pigs, to eating cows, to issues around homosexuality and what constitutes marriage) but in a free state people who follow a different belief system should not be discriminated against, or even people within the same belief system who aren't as rigidly orthodox as others. The state has a responsibility to the rights of ALL people living within it, and these rights are often at odds with a rigid religious view. The State should exercise a universal tolerance, while religion can worry about upholding its beliefs within the freedom offered by the state.
 
It is refreshing to see religious leaders who live more like a sanyasi than an aristocrat. Buddhist leaders like Thich Nhat Hanh come to mind for me when I think of those who live humbly despite their prominent position. Hopefully, the Pope inspires some good changes through the example of his own actions.
 
This is interesting:

Jerry Mungadze, Ex-Gay Therapist, Claims Color Choice Can Reveal 'Demonization'

Ex-gay therapist Jerry Mungadze has a highly scientific way of determining if someone is possessed by demons -- by giving them a box of crayons and asking them to color in a picture of a human brain. Oh, he can also tell if you're gay by using this method, reports Right Wing Watch.

During an appearance on televangelist Benny Hinn's TV show, "This Is Your Day," Mungadze explained his method. “There’s a certain color someone uses that I won’t mention that tells me someone’s been demonized. Everything that I talk about is based on numbers, is based on studies, which is what you do is when you’re a scientist."

Sounds very scientific indeed! However, the Zimbabwe-raised Mungadze is not in fact a scientist, holding a B.S. degree in "Bible," an M.A. in Biblical studies, and a Ph.D. in counselor education with a minor in psychology, according to his website.

The video consists of Hinn and Mungadze looking at an extremely basic diagram of the brain, explaining that each section relates to an area of a person's life, including, "how you relate to people, compassion, identity, your focus, etc." The color chosen by a person for each area is how Mungadze determines whether a person is possessed by demons or gay. Spoiler alert: if you color in the brain with a pink crayon, you're gay.

He eventually did reveal the crayon colors that indicate possession, despite his earlier statement to the contrary. “I can be in a room with people who are into the occult who are steeped in demonology, I may not know it just by sitting next to them, but I let them do that and I can tell what spirit they have and what it is doing in their life," he said. "People that come from the occult, people coming from witchcraft usually [choose] blacks and browns and grays."

Noted.



I don't think anyone will dispute that he has a B.S. degree in "Bible".
 
"Ex-gay therapist"? Was he a therapist who, in his own mind, could reform gay people or did he used to be of the homosexual persuasion himself?

It seems to me that most people who are actively anti-gay tend to have some kind of deep seated repressed gay feelings themselves. Again, not trying to bash anyone. I'm still not sure where I stand on this issue. I'm pretty conflicted.
 
Back
Top