"God's Warriors"

baloney_detector · 08-24-2007, 10:43 AM

Did anyone watch "God's Warriors" on CNN?

My take on this 3-part program is that there is certainly many people in this world who wish to force their beliefs on everyone else.

And, if you ask me, organized religions tend to separate just as many people as they bring together.

highway80west · 08-24-2007, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baloney_detector

Did anyone watch "God's Warriors" on CNN?

My take on this 3-part program is that there is certainly many people in this world who wish to force their beliefs on everyone else.

And, if you ask me, organized religions tend to separate just as many people as they bring together.

That's pretty much why there are cults, BD.

My family's generation before the current one, part of my father's family was Episcopal, which I am a part of, and the other part of my family was Jehovah's Witness. Yet we and they always remain a loving family. My dad was Episcopalian, and his brother/my uncle is Jehovah's Witness.

My dad got his religion from my dad, and my uncle got his from his mom.

My mom's family were all baptists.

tristanrobin · 08-24-2007, 10:56 AM

I didn't get to see the program - and I had really wanted to watch it. Life got in the way.

I agree with your assessment of most organized religions though. They are no more uniters than G.W. was.

baloney_detector · 08-24-2007, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by highway80west

That's pretty much why there are cults, BD.

My family's generation before the current one, part of my father's family was Episcopal, which I am a part of, and the other part of my family was Jehovah's Witness. Yet we and they always remain a loving family. My dad was Episcopalian, and his brother/my uncle is Jehovah's Witness.

My dad got his religion from my dad, and my uncle got his from his mom.

My mom's family were all baptists.

Hey, my Mom's side of the family is mostly Episcopalian too!

And, even though I am personally agnostic and not religious, I have great respect for the Episcopalian Church.

They are quite inclusive and humanistic, if you ask me.

We also have a Roman Catholic part of my family too.

mytmouse57 · 08-24-2007, 11:04 AM

From Abdul Baha'

"The world of humanity is one and God is equally kind to all. What then is the source of unkindness and hatred in the human world? This real shepherd loves all his sheep. He leads them in green pastures. He rears and protects them. What then is the source of enmity and alienation among humankind? Whence this conflict and strife? The real underlying cause is lack of religious unity and association for in each of the great religions we find superstition, blind imitation of creeds, and theological formulae adhered to instead of the divine fundamentals, causing difference and divergence among mankind instead of agreement and fellowship. Consequently strife, hatred and warfare have arisen, based upon this divergence and separation. If we investigate the foundations of the divine religions, we find them to be one, absolutely changeless and never subject to transformation. For example each of the divine religions contains two kinds of laws or ordinances. One division concerns the world of morality and ethical institutions. These are the essential ordinances. They instill and awaken the knowledge and love of God, love for humanity, the virtues of the world of mankind, the attributes of the divine kingdom, rebirth and resurrection from the kingdom of nature. These constitute one kind of divine law which is common to all and never subject to change. From the dawn of the Adamic cycle to the present day this fundamental law of God has continued changeless. This is the foundation of divine religion.

The second division comprises laws and institutions which provide for human needs and conditions according to exigencies of time and place. These are accidental, of no essential importance and should never have been made the cause and source of human contention. For example during the time of His Holiness Moses—Upon him be peace! —according to the exigencies of that period, divorce was permissible. During the cycle of His Holiness Christ inasmuch as divorce was not in conformity with the time and conditions His Holiness Jesus Christ abrogated it. In the cycle of Moses plurality of wives was permissible but during the time of His Holiness Christ the exigency which had sanctioned it did not exist, therefore it was forbidden. His Holiness Moses lived in the wilderness and desert of Sinai; therefore his ordinances and commandments were in conformity with those conditions. The penalty for theft was to cut off a man’s hand. An ordinance of this kind was in keeping with desert life but not compatible with conditions of the present day. Such ordinances therefore constitute the second or non-essential division of the divine religions and are not of importance for they deal with human transactions which are ever changing according to the requirements of time and place. Therefore the intrinsic foundations of the divine religions are one. As this is true, why should hostility and strife exist among them? Why should this hatred and warfare, ferocity and bloodshed continue? Is this allowable and justified? God forbid!"

baloney_detector · 08-24-2007, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tristanrobin

I didn't get to see the program - and I had really wanted to watch it. Life got in the way.

I agree with your assessment of most organized religions though. They are no more uniters than G.W. was.

I'm sure CNN will air it again.

Personally speaking, I think a secular form of government is much better than any theocracy since, with a secular government, people are most free to believe and act as they want to believe and act.

And I think religion aught to be a personal and individual soul-searching thing.

baloney_detector · 08-24-2007, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mytmouse57

From Abdul Baha'

"The world of humanity is one and God is equally kind to all. What then is the source of unkindness and hatred in the human world? This real shepherd loves all his sheep. He leads them in green pastures. He rears and protects them. What then is the source of enmity and alienation among humankind? Whence this conflict and strife? The real underlying cause is lack of religious unity and association for in each of the great religions we find superstition, blind imitation of creeds, and theological formulae adhered to instead of the divine fundamentals, causing difference and divergence among mankind instead of agreement and fellowship. Consequently strife, hatred and warfare have arisen, based upon this divergence and separation. If we investigate the foundations of the divine religions, we find them to be one, absolutely changeless and never subject to transformation. For example each of the divine religions contains two kinds of laws or ordinances. One division concerns the world of morality and ethical institutions. These are the essential ordinances. They instill and awaken the knowledge and love of God, love for humanity, the virtues of the world of mankind, the attributes of the divine kingdom, rebirth and resurrection from the kingdom of nature. These constitute one kind of divine law which is common to all and never subject to change. From the dawn of the Adamic cycle to the present day this fundamental law of God has continued changeless. This is the foundation of divine religion.

The second division comprises laws and institutions which provide for human needs and conditions according to exigencies of time and place. These are accidental, of no essential importance and should never have been made the cause and source of human contention. For example during the time of His Holiness Moses—Upon him be peace! —according to the exigencies of that period, divorce was permissible. During the cycle of His Holiness Christ inasmuch as divorce was not in conformity with the time and conditions His Holiness Jesus Christ abrogated it. In the cycle of Moses plurality of wives was permissible but during the time of His Holiness Christ the exigency which had sanctioned it did not exist, therefore it was forbidden. His Holiness Moses lived in the wilderness and desert of Sinai; therefore his ordinances and commandments were in conformity with those conditions. The penalty for theft was to cut off a man’s hand. An ordinance of this kind was in keeping with desert life but not compatible with conditions of the present day. Such ordinances therefore constitute the second or non-essential division of the divine religions and are not of importance for they deal with human transactions which are ever changing according to the requirements of time and place. Therefore the intrinsic foundations of the divine religions are one. As this is true, why should hostility and strife exist among them? Why should this hatred and warfare, ferocity and bloodshed continue? Is this allowable and justified? God forbid!"

All I can say is politics and religion always tend to pervert each other.

Thus, never the two should be considered as one.

highway80west · 08-24-2007, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baloney_detector

Hey, my Mom's side of the family is mostly Episcopalian too!

And, even though I am personally agnostic and not religious, I have great respect for the Episcopalian Church.

They are quite inclusive and humanistic, if you ask me.

We also have a Roman Catholic part of my family too.

Although I said that my mom's family were baptists, I don't much about my grandfather on her side of the family, as I never got to see him much. He died when I was very young. He was Polish. So he may have had a different religion, if he was at that. Perhaps he was Catholic, I don't know.

I don't know that kinds of churches Poland had, and I don't know if he emigrated to the US or was born in the US, which would have been around 1900, give or take a couple of years.

baloney_detector · 08-24-2007, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by highway80west

Although I said that my mom's family were baptists, I don't much about my grandfather on her side of the family, as I never got to see him much. He died when I was very young. He was Polish. So he may have had a different religion, if he was at that. Perhaps he was Catholic, I don't know.

I don't know that kinds of churches Poland had, and I don't know if he emigrated to the US or was born in the US, which would have been around 1900, give or take a couple of years.

I'd say that it is very likely that your grandfather was Roman Catholic.

My father's side of the family is Polish. Hence, that's our Catholic part of the family.

highway80west · 08-24-2007, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baloney_detector

I'd say that it is very likely that your grandfather was Roman Catholic.

My father's side of the family is Polish. Hence, that's our Catholic part of the family.

You might be right. I'd thought about that, too. He would have been allowed to worship long before WWII happened, if he ever was an immigrant to the USA. I don't remember very much about him.

My father never really liked that family anyway. They both refused to come to the wedding of my mom, who was 17, and my dad, who was 22. They did not approve her marrying at such a young age.

My dad's dad's family lived in the mountains west of Denver, Colorado, and traveling in those days was harder than it is now. The year was 1942, so that was before Eisenhower created the interstate highway system. They got married in San Angelo, TX.

Nevertheless, when they finally got to meet my mom, they welcomed her with open arms. My mom and dad got more love from them than from my mom's side of the family. Oh well.