Every few weeks a story comes along that prompts me to write something like this: "Religion is the number one cause of war, hatred and injustice." A reader almost always then tries to correct me by commenting "no, it's people that cause those things, not religion."To which I say, "Feh!"
ABC News reported recently on a new documentary, Jesus Camp, that tells of a North Dakota Christian camp called "Kid's on Fire," that is literally training evangelical Christian teens and pre-teens to die for Jesus. Not figuratively, but literally. The mindset is being instilled that these kids should be just as fervently willing to die for their religion as fundamentalist Muslim children are.
At the ABC news site, you can watch a news video about the camp. It seems rather diabolical, for something that purports to be for the glory of the Prince of Peace.
You can watch kids, some who look as young as six or so, speaking in tongues, weeping for salvation, praying for an end to abortion and worshipping a picture of President Bush.
"I want to see them as radically laying down their lives for the gospel as they are in Palestine, Pakistan and all those different places," pastor and camp leader Becky Fisher said. "Because, excuse me, we have the truth."
"A lot of people die for God," one camper said, "and they're not afraid."
"We're kinda being trained to be warriors," said another, "only in a funner way."
Ah, yes, war is fun.
Onward, Christian soldiers
Marching as to war.
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Lauren Sandler, the author of Righteous, a book about the growing evangelical Christian youth movement, says the movement will have a negative impact on the country's future, because even the most moderate young evangelicals are inflexible on issues such as abortion and gay marriage.
"It's an absolute, straight-up us-against-them," Sandler said. "It's, you're either with us or you're against us. Not only are you a sinner, but you are working for the enemy — the enemy being Satan."
Sounds like something the Muslim fundamentalists would say, as they're gearing up to bring World War IV to a street near you, thanks to Pope Benedict the Backpeddler.
With training camps like this, is it possible one day we'll have to worry about Christian zombie soldiers, or even Christian suicide bombers?
Don't think it isn't possible. Last week, ABC News reported that an Athens, Alabama woman and two of her "disciples" held her brother at gunpoint while forcing him to repent of his sins and ask for Jesus's forgiveness. Police were at first skeptical of the story, but after examining evidence, including a bullethole left in the ceiling after Tammie Lee Doss popped off a round because her bubba Randy wasn't praying hard enough, charges of unlawful imprisonment and menacing were filed against the three.
Jesus was unavailable for comment.
Fortunately, God has spoken recently on the subject, giving us the Five Steps to Peace, which I repeat once again for your edification:
You are facing now a new and startling danger — a danger posed to your entire species. A threat to your very survival posed by the combination of a split in ideology and an advance in technology, which makes it possible for you to seek to resolve your differences with tools of human destruction unlike anything you may have heretofore dreamed of in your worst nightmare.Update, Sept. 20 — Julie R. Neidlinger, who describes herself as a lifelong Pentecostal Christian and hints at being on her way to spinsterhood at age 32, defends the Jesus Camp in her blog, referring to author Lauren Sandler as "Miss Liberal Feminist" instead of by name. Julie has this disclaimer next to her photo on her blog: "So you think you hate me and wish to leave a nasty comment on this blog covered by the veil of anonymity. Two words: moderated comments. Four words: Don't waste your time." Sounds like someone I want to share a pew with. Julie gives the term "Christian apologist" a whole new meaning. Julie's blog article linked to this one, so we thought we'd return the favor. Hey, Julie!
There are five things you can choose now if changing your world, and the self-destructive direction in which it is moving, is what you wish to achieve.These are the Five Steps to Peace, and if you take them, you can shift everything on your planet.
- You can choose to acknowledge that some of your old beliefs about God and about Life are no longer working.
- You can choose to acknowledge that there is something you do not understand about God and about Life, the understanding of which will change everything.
- You can choose to be willing for a new understanding of God and Life to now be brought forth, an understanding that could produce a new way of life on your planet.
- You can choose to be courageous enough to explore and examine this new understanding, and, if it aligns with your inner truth and knowing, to enlarge your belief system to include it.
- You can choose to live your lives as demonstrations of your highest and grandest beliefs, rather than as denials of them.
Evangelical Christians | Jesus Christ | Jesus Camp | Becky Fisher | BurningTaper.com | God | Burning Taper
0 comments:
Post a Comment