I've made extreme analogies.

[ayin jade]

Yoko was John Lennons' life..He loved her with whole mind, body and spirit! Maybe in the same way you love Jesus!!! Again..what's the difference? I can tell from your postings that you LOVE Jesus. So I ask you this, WHY SO BLIND....are you so blind that you cannot see the power of Love? What do you think Ghandi or Jesus would say?

What power do you think there is in love? The only true love is the love of the Lord.

I dont care what Ghandi said. He was only a man after all. Jesus said repent of your sins and turn to God. Jesus said to love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. JL, do you love the Lord that way? Since you make love so important to you, then your first priority should be to love the Lord.

[John Lennon]

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((removes all the long quotes that are such a pain to scroll through.....))

First of all..what's wrong with feeling good? Kindness towards humanity and so on-values both Jesus and Ghandi tried to teach us? YOKO might have made him anti-Beatle!

But that's what led to their break-up.

Jesus leads to eternal life. Ghandi and the beatles do not lead to eternal life. Feeling good doesnt lead to eternal life. You need Jesus.

Eternal life? All we really know is the life we have here and now!

[John Lennon]

Yoko was John Lennons' life..He loved her with whole mind, body and spirit! Maybe in the same way you love Jesus!!! Again..what's the difference? I can tell from your postings that you LOVE Jesus. So I ask you this, WHY SO BLIND....are you so blind that you cannot see the power of Love? What do you think Ghandi or Jesus would say?

What power do you think there is in love? The only true love is the love of the Lord.

I dont care what Ghandi said. He was only a man after all. Jesus said repent of your sins and turn to God. Jesus said to love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. JL, do you love the Lord that way? Since you make love so important to you, then your first priority should be to love the Lord.

We are all human...every last one of us including Jesus, who's teachings will always be with us! Along with every other prophet on Earth who has impacted our imagination! What we do with these ideaologies is up to us as a speices on the brink of destruction! I hope we can get back to the garden again! Deep down...we all do.-Lennon.

[Jefferiah]

I used to have similar feelings to yours John. And what you are saying is true. Jesus was not about compelling people to believe in him by force. And in the history of the church as an organization there have been many disgusting acts (i.e. the Inquisition). What you must remember is that there are Christians and also there is the label Christian. Its very easy to use a label to get what you want, because sometimes people cannot see beyond that. I used to have a stereotype of a Christian as a hypocritical, stuffy......but experiences with people I knew who were Christians proved that I was wrong. Sometimes we are so caught up in what we consider the common forms of discimrination that we fail to see there is actually reverse discrimination. I think in many ways Christians get a bad name from people prejudging them, and its not easy to point this out to society because we have it in our heads that stereotyping is done by Christians who are intolerant of others. Of course there are intolerant Christians as well. But then I also think we see alot of things as intolerance that are not necessarily so bad. We are a very touchy society today. So touchy that it could end up quite bad for Christians, though I cannot be sure. I think, for instance, that its perceived as very bigoted when Christians consider homosexuality as a sin. However, this does not mean that Christians look down on homosexuals. The Christian belief is that it is not what God intended, and therefore we call it wrong. But also we recognize that we are all sinners. This does not make sin ok though. But it says to us that we have to extend mercy to the sinner because God extends mercy to us. Now many people see the view that homosexuality is wrong as very bigoted. But it is a valid view. And we have a right to believe that it is. And to say it. You dont see the general body of the church out there flogging gay people, or kicking them out of church. But also because it is considered wrong to us the Church wont allow gay marriage. People say this is a breech of human rights but where is the Church's right to practice what it believes. Jewish people do not eat ham, you know. And its considered wrong to them. And I am part of the pork eating population. And the fact that Jewish people see it is an unkosher sin does not offend me, and I dont find it intolerant of them. And I would not consider it a breech of my rights as a person of the ham-eating orientation if a Rabbi refused to allow me to use his Synagogue to hold a Ham Potluck Dinner. Its their synagogue. They believe ham eating is wrong. Thats their right. But to voice the belief that homosexuality is wrong is much touchier. Voicing it is not ostracizing them from society or beating them. Its saying that we believe it is unethical. Anyways I went off on a bit of a tangent. The point is when it comes to religion which is generally viewed as conservative you have to be willing to look through the looking glass a little, and look at conservativism and liberalism as two labels themselves, which have ways of portraying themselves as good. I think alot of society sees conservatives as people who dont want to allow the world a lot of freedom but on further examination you might find that conservative ideas allow for more freedom. And that when people get very very touchy they may end up trading off freedom of speech and freedom to believe or disbelieve in a religion for the sake of banning everything that could remotely offend someone.

[John Lennon]

Yoko was John Lennons' life..He loved her with whole mind, body and spirit! Maybe in the same way you love Jesus!!! Again..what's the difference? I can tell from your postings that you LOVE Jesus. So I ask you this, WHY SO BLIND....are you so blind that you cannot see the power of Love? What do you think Ghandi or Jesus would say?

What power do you think there is in love? The only true love is the love of the Lord.

I dont care what Ghandi said. He was only a man after all. Jesus said repent of your sins and turn to God. Jesus said to love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. JL, do you love the Lord that way? Since you make love so important to you, then your first priority should be to love the Lord.

I think the point lennon is making ...is that there "is" only one love.

Exactly..as Micen2 put it. You've heard the phrase 'God is Love" In looking at it from a universal standpoint; I think the concepts are very much the same. Whatever name you want to call it or religion you follow.

When man gives into hate-we call it Satan-But in the end, I think the 'evil' or 'good' is within us.

Edited September 8, 2006 by John Lennon

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

We are all human...every last one of us including Jesus, who's teachings will always be with us! Along with every other prophet on Earth who has impacted our imagination! What we do with these ideaologies is up to us as a speices on the brink of destruction! I hope we can get back to the garden again! Deep down...we all do.-Lennon.

This would be a fine thought. However Jesus commanded us to repent of our sins which were leading us to death. He commanded us to die to ourselves (IE; Humanism) and to be born again in His Spirit. The Spirit of Truth which leads us to the Garden

He also said that He was the doorway to the Garden and that no man might enter except through Him.

Joh

[John Lennon]

Also..the way I see it, I would never tell you what your first priority should be. That' not my place-nor is it yours. People have to follow their own heart, particularly in matters of religion. A society that has become as diverse as it is now can never be taken over by one religion. The bible is on the table..a person can pick it up, read it, draw inspiration from it or whatever. But if they don't-they don't. The same goes for every other religious text in the world.

Edited September 8, 2006 by John Lennon

[Matthitjah]

Grace to you,

Exactly..as Micen2 put it. You've heard the phrase 'God is Love" In looking at it from a universal standpoint; I think the concepts are very much the same. Whatever name you want to call it or religion you follow.

When man gives into hate-we call it Satan-But in the end, I think the 'evil' or 'good' is within us.

Gods Salvation is not Universal. It is applied to all whom will. While His Loving Kindness and Mercy know no end. He is Just and Rigtheous. His Justice requires that sin be dealt with.

God has also defined the human heart for us. There is nothing Good within us. He knows He Created us and only He knows the counsels of a mans heart.

Ps

[John Lennon]

I used to have similar feelings to yours John. And what you are saying is true. Jesus was not about compelling people to believe in him by force. And in the history of the church as an organization there have been many disgusting acts (i.e. the Inquisition). What you must remember is that there are Christians and also there is the label Christian. Its very easy to use a label to get what you want, because sometimes people cannot see beyond that. I used to have a stereotype of a Christian as a hypocritical, stuffy......but experiences with people I knew who were Christians proved that I was wrong. Sometimes we are so caught up in what we consider the common forms of discimrination that we fail to see there is actually reverse discrimination. I think in many ways Christians get a bad name from people prejudging them, and its not easy to point this out to society because we have it in our heads that stereotyping is done by Christians who are intolerant of others. Of course there are intolerant Christians as well. But then I also think we see alot of things as intolerance that are not necessarily so bad. We are a very touchy society today. So touchy that it could end up quite bad for Christians, though I cannot be sure. I think, for instance, that its perceived as very bigoted when Christians consider homosexuality as a sin. However, this does not mean that Christians look down on homosexuals. The Christian belief is that it is not what God intended, and therefore we call it wrong. But also we recognize that we are all sinners. This does not make sin ok though. But it says to us that we have to extend mercy to the sinner because God extends mercy to us. Now many people see the view that homosexuality is wrong as very bigoted. But it is a valid view. And we have a right to believe that it is. And to say it. You dont see the general body of the church out there flogging gay people, or kicking them out of church. But also because it is considered wrong to us the Church wont allow gay marriage. People say this is a breech of human rights but where is the Church's right to practice what it believes. Jewish people do not eat ham, you know. And its considered wrong to them. And I am part of the pork eating population. And the fact that Jewish people see it is an unkosher sin does not offend me, and I dont find it intolerant of them. And I would not consider it a breech of my rights as a person of the ham-eating orientation if a Rabbi refused to allow me to use his Synagogue to hold a Ham Potluck Dinner. Its their synagogue. They believe ham eating is wrong. Thats their right. But to voice the belief that homosexuality is wrong is much touchier. Voicing it is not ostracizing them from society or beating them. Its saying that we believe it is unethical. Anyways I went off on a bit of a tangent. The point is when it comes to religion which is generally viewed as conservative you have to be willing to look through the looking glass a little, and look at conservativism and liberalism as two labels themselves, which have ways of portraying themselves as good. I think alot of society sees conservatives as people who dont want to allow the world a lot of freedom but on further examination you might find that conservative ideas allow for more freedom. And that when people get very very touchy they may end up trading off freedom of speech and freedom to believe or disbelieve in a religion for the sake of banning everything that could remotely offend someone.

As a heterosexual, I consider homosexuality in conflict with nature. Because I may find it offensive, does not mean I would label it immoral. Edited September 8, 2006 by John Lennon

[Nevin]

My comparisons of Muslim fundamentalism & Christian Fascism is just to illustrate how potentially dangerous the world can become when these religions are twisted and driven by fanatics. I'm positive these religions were created with the best of intentions, But why do they end up trying to convert secular society to one ideaology? I think that is all Christianity really is, along with every other world religion. One poster made the comment.."God hates religion". If there is a God, that's a comment I agree with in some measure. This "God" cannot and never will be forced on the rest of a free world no matter how one religion may try to impose itself in such a way. To me,.It ruins the whole purpose of choosing to follow Jesus for youself..or Allah, or whatever name you want to call it. Picture this scenario.....you are there 2000 years ago, at the sermon on the mount and you see Jesus preaching to the crowd-Now before you have a chance to start working your way thru the crowd, some bully starts shoving you forward and screaming "You better listen to that man and heed what he says or you're going to hell! Maybe you can make your own choice to get closer to Jesus and hear the sermon. You would tell that bully to get lost right?

From Nevin

Do you Know what you beter listen to that "Man" or You will go to hell!!