Hell - 10/31

        Patheos.com is a website/blog owned by the “Unfundamentalist/Progressive Christian” John Shore. While they still believe in the core beliefs that Jesus was God in the flesh and died for our sins, “Unfundamentalist” or “Progressive” Christians, as described by Shore on his website, are people who follows doctrines such as “Christianity is supposed to be all about nothing more than living a life of love, compassion, fairness, peace, and humility” and “…the idea that Paul never wrote a word condemning natural homosexuality is more credible and persuasive than is the scholarship claiming that he did.”

       During this past week, Shore published an article called “What Christianity without hell looks like”. He starts off the article on the wrong foot by saying “The idea that the Bible declares hell a real and literal place is no more valid than the toxic lie that the Bible condemns homosexuality.” The “toxic lie” must be disregarding 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 which says “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.” The Bible pretty clearly states that homosexuals, as thieves and adulterers, will not be welcomed into heaven. In fact, I would like to point Shore to Revelation 21:8, which refers again to the group of people who will not inherit the kingdom, saying “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” But, since Shore decides to disregard these verses of the Bible, he clearly cannot be held accountable for his beliefs. Funnily enough, his second doctrine of his belief includes “Christians seeking to follow the Word of God must look to all the words of God”.

       The main point of his article isn’t too far off from the truth, however. He does say that he wants a Christianity that worships God and His glory more, which is great! But you can’t overlook the inevitable eternity after death; that’s what we call “The American Gospel (Jesus loves everybody!)” Shore believes that Christ died on the cross, but if there is no Hell, what for? He contradicts his own beliefs far too much to be taken seriously. I sure wonder where he thinks that the unbelievers will go after death if Hell isn’t real.

Subpoenas in Houston - 10/24

        Recently, the city of Houston, Texas, issued subpoenas to five pastors in the Houston area. These subpoenas are documents that say “We can use your documents (sermons) against you in court if they contain content about any of the following: HERO (Houston Equal Rights Ordinance), the Petition (a petition against basically all that the mayor has put in place, which the city attorney discounted many signatures of because of “technicalities”) Mayor Annise Parker (the first openly gay mayor in a major city in America who is behind these subpoenas), homosexuality, or gender identity.” These subpoenas were sent against these five pastors because of “The Petition”, which they weren’t even behind, but since they support the reasoning for it, they were targeted.

        Because these subpoenas were such a scandal, the government officials who were behind them tried to distance themselves from the subpoenas as much as possible. The subpoenas were changed to remove the word “sermon”, but putting sugar on a pile of manure won’t make it a cake.  Parker even said “There was some deliberate misinterpretation on the other side.” I don’t see how there can be misinterpretation when the subpoenas said “Don’t talk about these things that, as pastors, you should talk about, especially if they hurt my [Parker’s] feelings.” It’s blatantly obvious that Parker was trying to force her political agenda into church (or out of, depending how you look at it) which is a violation of the First Amendment.

        The famous “separation of church and state” came from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote to the concerned Danbury Baptist Church in 1802 assuring them that not a single denomination of the church would be the official church of the United States. Basically, this meant that the government wouldn’t be forcibly involved in religious practices. Now that it is, people are concerned about what will happen next. Putting a silencer on a gun doesn’t make it any less deadly.

Ebola - 10/10

        You may be wondering what this “Ebola” nonsense is all about; let me sum it up for you. Have you ever seen shows such as “The Walking Dead,” “Zombieland,” or “Frankenstein”? Well, forget about that because Ebola does not raise the dead. Ebola, which is a strain of hemorrhagic fever, has recently taken the continent of Africa by storm. Not to worry though, because to get Ebola to the United States you would have to get on an airplane with the virus without showing any symptoms until you interact with a countless number of people!

        Speaking of Satan’s activity on Earth today, Brian Palmer wrote an article titled “In Medicine We Trust” against the Christian missionaries who are providing support to the countries contaminated with Ebola. Palmer wrote in favor of the atheists who are criticizing the Christians for being “incapable of separating their religious work from their medical work.” Palmer also doesn’t fully understand why he doesn’t like the “missionary medicine” and says that he would be much more comfortable if “secular doctors [were] doing exactly the same work.” Palmer isn’t blind to his bias; he’s “just trying to be honest.”

        If I were to defend Palmer, I might say “Couldn’t [the Christian missionaries] just not [spread the Gospel]?” as “@George Sd” in the comments of Palmer’s article said. However “@nuzzybear”’s reply, “Couldn't Atheists just stop commenting on message boards because someone might feel uncomfortable with their opinion?” discredits that argument, showing that bias against a group is no more than intolerance and quite honestly it’s just silly.

These missionaries are an honorary part of the “116 Clique” rap group who are named for their love for Christ in all that they do. The “116” comes from Romans 1:16; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel.” They just want to spread the gospel, and for that, they are remarkable! The fact that Palmer wants to stop them from doing that just shows how hard his heart is towards God’s word.

Hong Kong - 10/3

        In Hong Kong, students have been boycotting classes and protesting against the involvement of China’s Communist Party in Hong Kong’s future. At least 60,000 Chinese are protesting the new policy that the “candidates”, if you can even call them that, have to be selected by a committee that will serve China’s Communist Party and its policies. This gives the people of China no real voting power besides deciding if their ruler will be named Xing or Zhao.

Giving the Chinese a “false democracy” is even worse than giving them a dictator; a false sense of choice is worse than being told to do something. If my parents told me I could either go to Disneyland or Hell and I chose Disneyland but went to Hell anyways, I might be a little upset.

       In “The Dark Knight Rises”, Batman is sent to an underground prison in the middle of the desert. The only way out is up to the surface and the light, through a difficult challenge of strength and perseverance. That “light at the end of the tunnel” is what keeps Batman alive and trying to save Gotham from its impending doom.

       Paralleled with the current situation in Hong Kong, The people are Batman, China’s Communist Party is the prison, and the voting system is the surface and light. The people see this hope of a true “People’s Republic of China” and are trying to cling onto it. If Batman was exiled to a prison where there was no hope of getting out, he wouldn’t have trained so hard and had such an ambition to do so.

       The “Chinese Republic of China” is what the people are trying to avoid, but it just may end up being the future.