I did not judge the movie. I have not seen it. I simply said that the REVIEWER FELT that the film was not suitable for children. That he is capable of formulating this judgement is a testament to his VALUE SYSTEM (his morals). That he is willing to POST this judgement for all to see, is a testament to his willingness to defend his beliefs.
What I was stating is that I feel that there is a lot of comtemp for religion in general and christianity in particular in the postings here at Slashdot. However I also feel that those who are so comtemptous of religions have only their own opinions upon which to feed on. A sort of intellectual incest which generates very skewed views of the role of religion in a persons life. Some of these people however also suffer from a lack of exposure to... suffering. Their only real complaint could be in the order of: "The server crashed last night!". This is a view of the world dangerously far away from reality. Billions of people who live on this earth don't do so in anticipation of the next kernel patch, or Quake3. Those billions wake up, try to find enough to survive and comtemplate what it all means. Religion tels them that yes they are important that God loves them, and that someday after all the suffering is overwith down here, there will be a better place for them. That gives them hope. And hope is a desperatly important thing to them, because in the abscence of hope there is only despair.
You are right: Christ taught "Love thy neihbour.".
He was a man of peace, and of love. Out of this flows mutual respect between men/women.
What I am reading in the posts on/. are less than respectfull of my own beleifs. I am a member of a Church that has a history of TWO THOUSAND YEARS. In that time many things have been done by and in the name of that Church. Those that were done BY THE CHURCH should be judged in the context of the time when they were done. As for those that were done IN THE NAME OF THE CHURCH, those things were not under it's control and hence it cannot answer for them. I will not whitewash the sins of the past, however I won't discard all of my beliefs just because of those sins. The Church today, and those who act in it's name, are doing more for those in need in this world than all of those of you who would judge it only on it's past.
Jesus-Christ might have been a man of peace and love, but when he drove the vendors and money changers from the Temple, he showed us that there are limits to what we must consider acceptable.
He showed us that sometimes we must stand up and be counted for what we believe. Some will spite us for it, but it is RIGHT. Many in today's world would have us believe that there are no such concepts as RIGHT and WRONG. Only an endless spectrum of grey. I don't subscribe to this point of view. As I've read in a RECENT advertising campaign: "IF YOU STAND FOR NOTHING, THEN YOU WILL FALL FOR ANYTHING"
What the Christian reviewers are doing is standing for something. You did not have to read the review if you did not want to. But at least they felt they had to advise parents that that particular movie was offensive.
Perhaps those of you who feel that Chistianity and religion in general are too limiting, should leave the confines of you keyboard and the Internet and go out into THE REAL WORLD and see what YOU can do to help ease the suffering that is out there. Go help the poor, the naked, the sick. Give of you time, your money and yourself. Then come back here and we will talk. Until then just Shut-up.
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... suffering. Their only real complaint could be in the order of: "The server crashed last night!". This is a view of the world dangerously far away from reality. Billions of people who live on this earth don't do so in anticipation of the next kernel patch, or Quake3. Those billions wake up, try to find enough to survive and comtemplate what it all means. Religion tels them that yes they are important that God loves them, and that someday after all the suffering is overwith down here, there will be a better place for them. That gives them hope. And hope is a desperatly important thing to them, because in the abscence of hope there is only despair.
I did not judge the movie. I have not seen it. I simply said that the REVIEWER FELT that the film was not suitable for children. That he is capable of formulating this judgement is a testament to his VALUE SYSTEM (his morals). That he is willing to POST this judgement for all to see, is a testament to his willingness to defend his beliefs.
What I was stating is that I feel that there is a lot of comtemp for religion in general and christianity in particular in the postings here at Slashdot. However I also feel that those who are so comtemptous of religions have only their own opinions upon which to feed on. A sort of intellectual incest which generates very skewed views of the role of religion in a persons life. Some of these people however also suffer from a lack of exposure to
Michael J. Longval
mlongval@geocities.com
You are right: Christ taught "Love thy neihbour.".
/. are less than respectfull of my own beleifs. I am a member of a Church that has a history of TWO THOUSAND YEARS. In that time many things have been done by and in the name of that Church. Those that were done BY THE CHURCH should be judged in the context of the time when they were done. As for those that were done IN THE NAME OF THE CHURCH, those things were not under it's control and hence it cannot answer for them. I will not whitewash the sins of the past, however I won't discard all of my beliefs just because of those sins. The Church today, and those who act in it's name, are doing more for those in need in this world than all of those of you who would judge it only on it's past.
He was a man of peace, and of love. Out of this flows mutual respect between men/women.
What I am reading in the posts on
Jesus-Christ might have been a man of peace and love, but when he drove the vendors and money changers from the Temple, he showed us that there are limits to what we must consider acceptable.
He showed us that sometimes we must stand up and be counted for what we believe. Some will spite us for it, but it is RIGHT. Many in today's world would have us believe that there are no such concepts as RIGHT and WRONG. Only an endless spectrum of grey. I don't subscribe to this point of view. As I've read in a RECENT advertising campaign: "IF YOU STAND FOR NOTHING, THEN YOU WILL FALL FOR ANYTHING"
What the Christian reviewers are doing is standing for something. You did not have to read the review if you did not want to. But at least they felt they had to advise parents that that particular movie was offensive.
Perhaps those of you who feel that Chistianity and religion in general are too limiting, should leave the confines of you keyboard and the Internet and go out into THE REAL WORLD and see what YOU can do to help ease the suffering that is out there. Go help the poor, the naked, the sick. Give of you time, your money and yourself. Then come back here and we will talk. Until then just Shut-up.
Michael J. Longval
mlongval@geocities.com