On Jul 6, 5:35=A0am, Les Cargill <lcarg...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Tiglath wrote:
> > On Jul 5, 4:53 pm, James Hogg <Jas.Hogg...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> >> And one might ask whether a civilised government should engage in
> >> "revenge" at all, especially a government led by a born-again
> >> Christian.
>
> > It's amazing how few people notice that. =A0Although The Golden Rule
wa=
s
> > postulated by Buddha and Rabbi Hillel before Jesus there is no doubt
> > that the admonishment to love our enemy is central to Christianity,
> > and sets Christianity apart. =A0There is no qualification saying,
"Love
> > your enemy unless you really don't like him." It says love your enemy,
> > no if, ands, or buts.
>
> The word "love" is closest to the Greek word "agape" - a-gawp-ay -
> which is much more like "consideration". It's just the Golden Rule
> again.
>
As with many ancient Greek words, 'Agapao' is a superset of 'love.'
and expresses a concept we can't express in English with one word. It
is not only love, but charity, grace, mercy, and more.
So Jesus wants us not only to love, but all those other things too.
Matthew 5:44 (KJV)
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you, and persecute you"
>
> > though political
> > nonviolence has worked wonders and Gandhi and Luther King achieved
> > extraordinary, counter intuitive victories with it. =A0 But the point
i=
s
> > that no nation of Christians has adopted this rule.
>
> Nations aren't people.
Really? When you look at the Earth from space, it is striking.
There are no national boundaries visible. They have been put there
like the equator and the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn,
by humans. The planet is real, the life is real, but the political
separations that have placed the planet in danger are of human
manufacture -- PEOPLE MADE.
The Golden Rule's wisdom implicitly recognizes that all the beings in
this little world are mutually dependent. It's like living in a
lifeboat. We breath the same air that Russians have breathed, and
Zambians and Tasmanians and Iranians, and people all over the
planet. Whatever it is that divides us it is clear the planet will
be here for a long time to come, but will we?
We need to marginalize people like Bush and other leaders who preach
one thing and do another, and especially PATRIOTS who thing that the
artificial division on a part of our planet confers them superiority
and can tell the rest of the world what to do or else.
If a human group does better, knows more, and thrives past other
groups it should spread its wisdom and knowledge PEACEFULLY and by
example. No God commands us to ram democracy down the world's
throat.
>
> > =A0All the more
> > noticeable in a =A0president who rules with his faith. =A0 Bush
clearly
> > told us that he believes that God wants men to be free and that this
> > belief guides his foreign policy.
>
> And I believe him. And his foreign policy has shown that.
It's no different than violent Jihad. Same **** different sewer.
>
> > I recall "Do unto others as you would have then do unto you." =A0 I
> > don't recall "God wants all men to be free."
>
> Stuff concerning the universality of freedom generally has
> more to do with Jefferson or Locke, and it's simple enough
> to replace "self-evident" with "God-given" - the speakers
> of those phrases mean the same thing.
>
I dispute that. Freedom is not a right any more than being wealthy is
a right. As long as humans need gods to wor****p, leaders to tell
them what to do and lawyers to mediate their disputes they cannot be
free.
My income taxes MEAN that I have to work a certain, not small number
of hours to sup****t the programs and decisions of others, many of
which I don't agree with, like the Iraq War. And if I don't pay I go
to jail. The alternative is not to work and live in a park. Some
freedom.
> > And religious people seem to see nothing wrong that their most sacred
> > tenets are just window dressing.
>
> Ritual? All people have rituals. Some rituals are formal, some
> are not.
>
A tenet is not a ritual. Learn the difference.
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