"And when you pray....." (Matt 6:5)
Here's the thing with AD....Christians were in charge of the world and decided for everyone else that the Calendar should be based on what they claimed was the birth of the Christ. Most scholars reject that arbitrary date as well as it's association with the Jewish founder of a new religion. Christians choose to remain arbitrary rather than to call the current date CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before the Common Era). The most radical religion has been Christianity, forcing people to convert, killing people who didn't agree with the teachings of the religion, and claiming the world for Christ. None of it was pretty and their claims of persecution are tiny in comparison---except for when they persecuted their own. Once the Original Church began to break into smaller denominations, the persecution began in earnest! The main reason so many Christians came here for religious freedom was because they were being persecuted in their own countries by Christian denominations that had power over what they could believe, how they could pray and any number of differences (ie The Puritans). So, if you think you are different in wanting control over this country's belief system---SURPRISE, you are just following in your ancestors' belief in the Christian right to control everything from government to what denominations would be allowed. And your persecutions began with the Jews, just didn't stop there. What did Jesus say about praying in ANY way in public places? Don't know? I can tell you and you can look it up: Matt:6:5 "And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites because they love to stand and pray in PUBLIC places so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But, whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Please note that Jesus does not tell you to pray to him or in his name---but he tells you to pray to God who is the Father of all men...this includes Jews, Muslims, other Christians you don't agree with and all people---but you do not have the right to impose your prayers or the way you pray on ANYONE. If there is going to be prayer in public, it should be silent prayer so that all can pray in the way they choose!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Is the Civil War Still Raging
Is the Civil War still Raging?
As a student of history, it's suddenly become very clear what the animosity between some of the southern leadership and the government may be...it's because there is a silent modifier to "government" that explains everything. That modifier is Yankee. Oh, I know the Civil War was a long time ago but many southerners have not forgotten anything. Those with a big problem with "the government" are not using the silent modifier because it would make them look a little crazy but I'm sure that's it. I'm reading a very interesting book about the Civil War and the war actually continued for a long time after the cease fire. The defeat left a bitter taste especially in the wealthy who financed the war and lost literally everything including their ability to build back up (without free labor). The "Yankee government" could be defeated in other ways and so they began to try to undermine every attempt to integrate the south with its new way of life. The state that made the greatest strides in defeating the Yankee government was Mississippi, with the help of the Klan. The Klan was the preferred instrument in keeping "the proper order" in the south---no slave would ever really be "freed" as long as they could undermine everything the "Yankee government" tried to accomplish. The Klan was the "shadow" army, still fighting Yankee occupation. The Klan was the shadow government in many states and was very welcome by those who believed they had every right to insurrection and no right to accept defeat! The Klan only lost it's hold as we all moved into the future and many whites had no taste for pursuing the false goals set by individuals who only desired to fight a war that was lost many years ago...blacks as well as white preferred to forget the "power" of this group of guerilla fighters. We now have at least one state flying the Confederate flag over it's state house. So we need to remember that many southerners called the war, "The War of Northern Aggression"--and for many today, there really is no ONE government, there is only the "Yankee government" and them. What we're really fighting here is something that never died, the ghost of a southern government that has no intention of complying with the "Yankee Government". I think it's worth thinking about...especially in light of the Tea Party trying to organize it's own Southern Revolution.
As a student of history, it's suddenly become very clear what the animosity between some of the southern leadership and the government may be...it's because there is a silent modifier to "government" that explains everything. That modifier is Yankee. Oh, I know the Civil War was a long time ago but many southerners have not forgotten anything. Those with a big problem with "the government" are not using the silent modifier because it would make them look a little crazy but I'm sure that's it. I'm reading a very interesting book about the Civil War and the war actually continued for a long time after the cease fire. The defeat left a bitter taste especially in the wealthy who financed the war and lost literally everything including their ability to build back up (without free labor). The "Yankee government" could be defeated in other ways and so they began to try to undermine every attempt to integrate the south with its new way of life. The state that made the greatest strides in defeating the Yankee government was Mississippi, with the help of the Klan. The Klan was the preferred instrument in keeping "the proper order" in the south---no slave would ever really be "freed" as long as they could undermine everything the "Yankee government" tried to accomplish. The Klan was the "shadow" army, still fighting Yankee occupation. The Klan was the shadow government in many states and was very welcome by those who believed they had every right to insurrection and no right to accept defeat! The Klan only lost it's hold as we all moved into the future and many whites had no taste for pursuing the false goals set by individuals who only desired to fight a war that was lost many years ago...blacks as well as white preferred to forget the "power" of this group of guerilla fighters. We now have at least one state flying the Confederate flag over it's state house. So we need to remember that many southerners called the war, "The War of Northern Aggression"--and for many today, there really is no ONE government, there is only the "Yankee government" and them. What we're really fighting here is something that never died, the ghost of a southern government that has no intention of complying with the "Yankee Government". I think it's worth thinking about...especially in light of the Tea Party trying to organize it's own Southern Revolution.