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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: C Kahn who wrote (219)	9/13/1999 10:50:00 PM
From: Cisco	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

I have no debate to win! It makes no difference to my faith system. God loves people on both sides of this issues. I simply felt that it makes no point to waste one times arguing over things that only make one side or the other feel put down. I came to point a long time ago, that I understood that I am not going to change people minds when it comes to this subject. My posts to this thread were only to challenge people to look beyond the traditions of their religious backgrounds. I wanted them to realize that not all of our religious heritage is good. As I stated early on, I believe God is the author of all truth, and therefore truth is truth regardless of where it is found. This theology grants one the freedom to question their most cherished beliefs in light of new understanding. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says that he has sheep of another fold, and that he must bring them along also. Have you ever wondered who this other fold might include? I suspect that the next life may not be as we perceive it and that God's love may be much more encompassing then many Christians would like to think. Those I trust the least are those who think they know the most. The ones I treasure the most are the ones who realize they know so little. My faith structure is such that I believe that I am called to see the world through the eyes of Christ. No more, no less. Tony Campolo illustrates what I am talking about in the following story : One day, in order to get class discussion going, I asked my students what some of the world's great religious leaders might have said about prostitution. I asked what Buddha might have said on this subject. I asked what the views of Muhammad might have been. I asked what the Mosaic Law had to say about this dehumanizing practice. The discussion was lively and intense. I was setting the class up to evangelize, and when I felt the time was ripe, I asked what seemed to me to be the crucial question: "What do you suppose Jesus would have said to a prostitute?" I was all primed to point out to the class the compassion and understanding which Jesus had for the colorful women of the night. I was all set to do my best to made Jesus look greater than all the religious leaders put together. Once again, I asked, "What would Jesus have said to a prostitute?" One of my Jewish students answered, "Jesus never met a prostitute." I jumped at the opening; here was my chance, I thought. I could show this guy a thing or two about Jesus and about the New Testament. "Yes, He did," I responded. "I'll show you in my Bible where--" The young man interrupted me. "You didn't hear me Doctor. I said Jesus never met a prostitute." Once again I protested. Once again I reached for my New Testament. I started to leaf through the pages of my Bible searching for those passages which showed Jesus forgiving the "fallen woman." I searched for the place where He gave the woman at the well a chance for spiritual renewal. Once again, my Jewish student spoke out, this time with a touch of anger in his raised voice. "Your're not listening to me, Doctor. Your aren't listening to what I am saying. I am saying that Jesus never met a prostitute. Do you think that when he looked at Mary Magdelene he saw a prostitute? Do you think he saw whores when he looked at a women like her? Doctor, listen to me! Jesus never met a prostitute!" I fell silent. My theology was under judgement. I was being corrected by a Jewish student who, in some ways, may have understood Jesus better than some of us who go by the name Christian. To be a Christian is to learn to see people as Christ sees them. In the church, when the church is really being the church, its members accept things that the world cannot accept. The prostitute becomes a sister. The corrupt politician becomes a brother. The homosexual becomes a fellow saint. The drug addict becomes a priest in the priest hood of all believers. The point I am making is that all person posting to this thread have worth in the sight of God. And I couldn't see what good was going to come from trying to prove someone else wrong on a subject that has no eternal value in my judgement. Therefore I decided to un-mark this thread. If somehow this offended you, then I apologize. Cisco