The point of the previous post was, in part, the hardness and unlikeableness of much real religion. It is the very fact that Jesus tells his hearers not what they want to hear but, further, something they were scarcely prepared to hear at all, that first suggested to me he was truly inspired. The opposite, of course, is known as pandering. Great men never do that.
From David Virtue:
So here in Salt Lake City, the home of Mormonism -- a made in America Jesus religion, with all the appurtenances of outward material success complete with clean cut men and women -- The Episcopal Church this week paraded its modernist, "We can out do the culture and stay ahead of other mainline churches" by passing resolutions dumping on traditional marriage and brokering in same-sex marriage that would have had a Cranmer, Hooker, Newman, Luther, or Calvin weeping tears, likely threatening them with hellfire were they to rise from the dead.
But this is the 21st century and hell is out, heaven is in, well sort of, with heaven on earth as the ultimate goal -- if we can just clean up the environment, provide full employment, do away with poverty, give women equal rights to everything a man can do, provide open ended abortion for women, open our borders to everyone who wants to come, provide free medical care, save the whales and end racism...to name just a few things Episcopalians believe will usher in the kingdom. It is euphemistically called the Five Marks of Mission, but one won't find any stripes down the backs of privileged white bishops who will end their days with fat pensions and endless honorifics thus conferring on them a god like status, at least in this life. The Color Purple is not just a movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment