Charlie Coleman wrote: > At 10:13 PM 1/22/2007 -0300, Ricardo Aráoz wrote: > ... >>> IMO, a belief in another world, an afterlife, makes it so much >>> easier to devalue this life. Suicide bombers are the ultimate >>> expression of this, but even the willingness to wage war and send >>> your own countrymen to their deaths becomes much, much easier when >>> you believe that they will be going to a better place once they are >>> dead. >>> >> But of course. What's more. I never understood why do christians get so >> angry when someone kills their children. After all they are innocent, >> they'll go straight to heaven. And this wonderful killer who sacrifices > ... > > I think the grief comes from to Christians for many reasons. > > First, we are still human. What happens in our physical life hits us just > like it does anyone else. Next, Christian belief is that life is sacred. > When tragedies strike, our spirit mourns for the loss.
But if there's no loss, nor tragedy. In no time you'll meet them in heaven, and you may be certain they'll be there. Or is your faith so flimsy? > > But then, as you say, the innocent life is expected to go to Heaven. This > does console Christians. Why console them? It is a joyous thing that a soul gets to go to heaven without the risk of living a full life full of temptation and the traps the devil sets for them. > In fact, this gives many Christians the strength > to forgive the offender (if there was one). Forgive? You should be thanking the man! He has doomed his immortal soul so that your children get a certain ticket to heaven and be able to spend eternity there. > There was a great example of > this with the IRA-British war/conflict. I'm embarrassed that I don't have > the man's name, but I don't have time to look it up. This is his general > story: he was attending a church service with his daughter (I think early > teen or just pre-teen in age). The IRA bombed the building. He and his > daughter were trapped in the rubble. He could hold his daughter's hand and > they could talk. His daughter would cry/scream occasionally, but as they > talked he thought they would end up being OK. They were like that for some > time. When they were finally pulled out, the daughter's injuries were so > terrible she died very quickly. That man publicly stated his forgiveness to > the IRA bombers. He went on to be a negotiator/speaker to try and bring > peace and was respected by both sides. He made a big difference as a result. > > Not everyone can cope with a loss or an evil with the same degree of > forgiveness. The issue here, if you have real faith, is that no evil has become your children. Maybe your faith is not as strong as that of the muslim's? > And, in general, for the world to have order there needs to be > some justice. A drunk driver/drug abuser that kills a bus-load of children > goes to jail. That is justice. Whether the families, in their heart, can > forgive him or not, that is the Christian struggle. Again... Forgive him for what? > > -Charlie > > > [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
