On Nov 5, 2007, at 3:41 PM, Charlie Bell wrote: > On 06/11/2007, at 4:42 AM, Dave Land wrote: >> >> In answer to Ronn's question: They might well see him for what he is: >> a hypocrite. And, if they were willing to do so, they would see the >> hypocrisy in their own lives, and recognize the need in him and >> themselves to seek forgiveness and repentance. >> >> Otherwise, they might resort to self-righteousness and post carping >> replies to an Internet mailing list. > > Difference is, most people don't spend their lives telling other > people how to live and then doing the opposite. Most people don't live > up to the high values that are espoused by the fire-and-brimstone > types, but they're not hypocrites either because they never claim they > do.
Good answer: I misread Ronn's hypothetical as referring to someone like the mega-church preachers and right-wing gay-bashing types who seem to keep finding themselves in the beds of hookers and on their knees in airport bathrooms... > I have a drink, occasionally a few; had sex before marriage (both with > my now wife and with others...); dabbled in drugs as a student and > still enjoy a joint when there's one on offer; look at porn now and > again; swear a bit (and as I grew up in London, use the odd word that > is taboo elsewhere...); and so on. And I'm perfectly happy with who I > am, because I don't claim to be anything else. You describe most of the people I know, except for growing up in London, but that is easily explained because "The sins of the fathers are visited upon their sons..." I have called myself a Christian, but I despise the disease that crawls among us and advertises itself by that name. I do not believe that Christianity is mainly about morality. I believe that plenty of people over the centuries have tried to portray it as such, but the "morality" of Jesus was something that most self-proclaimed moralists would decry as bleeding-heart liberalism today. Make no mistake about it: Jesus would be just as unpopular with most people who call themselves Good Christians™ today as he was among those who called themselves Good Jews™ back then. Dave _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
