A Flawed Historical Viewpoint.

The state of the western political world today:

 

1. USA and Donald Trump (does any more need to be said?)
2. Britain: Brexit, Theresa May and a hung Parliament.
3. In Australia, partisan politics continues to cripple a government that often seems to have more policy disagreements within its own ranks than it has with the official opposition party.
4. France: power to be in the hands of a new, untested, quickly cobbled together party based on the charisma of a young leader. Can such a party provide longstanding stable government?
5. German elections in September… what surprises could that bring?

 

Some religious commentators are attributing the increasing instabilities in the “Western World” to a departure from our historical Judeo-Christian foundations; but I find their view of history is seriously flawed.

What kind of “Judeo-Christian” foundation was “Western democracy” ever built upon? Has there ever (REALLY) been an all-encompassing embracing of Jesus or His gospel?

 

Over over centuries there was a lot of religious superstition, theological rhetoric, and political USE of the Church as a tool of government.

And while there may have been individual pockets of society that at times have shown authentic devotion to God, has there ever been a GENUINE widespread, long-lasting commitment to Jesus and His Kingdom that could result in a claimed blessing of “the West” over past centuries – blessings that are now allegedly being forfeited?

 

If anything, it seems to me that during the period AFTER the claimed abandonment of Judeo-Christian ideals, the west experienced its most peaceful and prosperous period: that is post WWII.

Of course there were ongoing problems, but arguably, things had never previously been better for the average person in the west as the world got back to its feet after the death and destruction of the Second World War.

It’s mostly in the last decade or two (significantly post 9/11) that perceived threats have led to growing fear that blessings (our comforts, safety and wealth) will be forfeited due to a casting aside of Judeo-Christian” ideals. (Proffered evidence of this casting aside can date back a century or two. One case I’ve seen points way back to the French Revolution* as an example!).

Those fears of loss at the heart of the argument seem mostly founded on a fear of others – those “not of the west” . A fear that others coming into our nations will disrupt and compromise our “western values” – values that to a great part are not necessarily Kingdom values anyway.

 

Apart from the current issue of promoting a fear-based ideology, the fictionalising of history projects the cause of perceived problems onto society at large, putting the blame on “THEM” and THEIR (society’s) relationship to God; shifting the focus away from the personal and our own relationships with God and the unbelieving society we live among.

 

 

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*  example here

 

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Christians Don’t Lie

Many years ago, on an earlier blog of mine, I wrote two or three articles with the title “Christians Don’t Lie” in which I tried to encourage readers NOT to believe everything they read or heard from professing Christians, because contrary to what the title says, Christians can and DO lie.

That is the reason so many warnings are given through the New Testament, telling believers to test all things, and to “beware” because there are many false voices around us claiming to speak truth, when in fact they are doing the opposite.

I condensed those earlier articles into one and posted the new version on this site.

After posting my “A Lesson in Deception and Manipulation” article yesterday I’ve decided to create new category and tag labels with the title “Christians Don’t Lie” to link those related articles and others that may be written in the future.

 

https://onesimusfiles.wordpress.com/tag/christians-dont-lie/

A lesson in deception and manipulation.

I’ve unsubscribed from Bill Randles blog.

In his recent post with the title “My One and Only Trump column…(I hope)” he continues the anti-Clinton rhetoric of earlier posts while continuing to claim he’s not trying to push or support Trump,

With that post he includes a link to a video that he has given the title: Hillary: Christians must change their Religion

I went to the link to see what was revealed.

The video starts with a lower screen caption saying

HILLARY: CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA MUST DENY THEIR FAITH IN CHRISTIANITY, ADHERE TO NEW LIBERAL LAWS

 

For some time a presenter primes the viewer for the terrible things the video will reveal about Clinton’s plans for followers of Jesus, the kind of thing encompassed in the fore-mentioned caption.
We are treated to a photo of an angry looking Clinton dominated by a statement made to appear like a command she is shouting at the viewer.

And finally we get to the “evidence”, a section of video featuring Clinton herself addressing an audience. Here is the FULL transcript of what she says within that video. Which I assume is the best evidence they have to support their claims about Clinton.

…far too many women are being denied critical access to reproductive healthcare and safe childbirth. All the laws we’ve passed don’t count for much if they’re not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice mot just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will and deep seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.
As I have said and as I believe the advancement of the full participation of women and girls in every aspect of their society is the great unfinished business of the 21st century. And not just for women, but for everyone, and not just in faraway countries but right here in the United States.

Yes she does say something about religious beliefs having to be changed – what religion and what beliefs? They are unspecified. That is the only reference to religion within the excerpt screened.

Where is content that would justify the captions and even Bill Randles’ link title?

Considering the context of female reproductive health the religious beliefs and cultural codes she references could be anything – maybe something like female genital mutilation practiced in some sects of Islam, or Catholic denial of contraceptive methods. NOTHING is said about any need to deny the Christian faith, and nothing is said or even implied about kneeling to do so.

That video excerpt is followed by the return of the presenter, who excitedly continues with:

“Did you see that? Did you notice that she said that the change of Christian beliefs is the unfinished business of the 20th Century? This means that she wants to persecute Christians.”

Hold on – sorry, let’s back up to see where she said that again:

“I believe the advancement of the full participation of women and girls in every aspect of their society is the great unfinished business of the 21st century.”

Is that what the presenter has claimed she has said? Is there any truth to what he claims?
Is there any truth in anything he has claimed or in the captions emblazoned across the screen during the video that can be gathered from the “proof” offered in the footage of Clinton’s speech?
NO!

But then he continues, revealing the real agenda behind the video when he says : “God willing, Donald Trump will vanquish this witch…”

It is lies. It is deception. It is manipulative propaganda at its worse – all claimed to be conducted in the name of Christ, basically misusing the name of God for a political agenda.

And this all seemingly endorsed and promoted by Bill Randles, a bible teacher I once respected

.

 

 

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 link to the video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-uaBzbHR80&feature=share

 link to Randles article featuring the link https://billrandles.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/my-one-and-only-trump-column-i-hope/

Christians Don’t Lie

The following is an article I’ve copied from my older “blogspot” site:

 

Many years ago I met a former school friend in the street. He had strong socialist leanings and admired the Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

 Being a Christian I brought up the issue of the Communist persecution of believers. My friend expressed doubt about the truth of persecution and I responded by asking why the Christians experiencing persecution under Communist regimes should lie. They were Christians and lying was contrary to their faith.

Now in THAT case I have no doubt at all that my reference to Christians telling the truth was valid. Christians were (and ARE) being persecuted under various political and religious based regimes. However, I later learned that not all “Christian” claims are trustworthy and the truth is not guaranteed from all sources professing to be Christian.

In my younger years I was extremely naïve, perhaps even gullible. I gave people the benefit of the doubt and trusted that the majority of people (especially Christians) were basically truthful. I easily believed what I was being told. When I read or heard of fantastic experiences I didn’t doubt that the stories were true.

From early childhood I had a fascination with UFOs and read as much as I could find on the subject – but NEVER did I think that any of the stories may have been made up. This attitude remained with me after becoming a Christian – and if possible I had more reason to trust what I was told by other Christians. The truth was important to Christians, lying was strictly forbidden so why would any Christian disobey God by lying?

Even today I probably don’t realise how vulnerable this outlook made me. Whenever I read or heard Christian testimony I believed it without question. Why would a Christian lie?

In the church I attended I heard about a congregation member rising 30 cm off the floor during worship. I heard about angelic singing in a friend’s home. I heard the story of a group of ministers saved from a certain head-on collision when their car was instantly transported past the on-coming vehicle. Why shouldn’t I have believed these stories – they were told by people I knew, about people I knew, and those people were Christians and Christians don’t lie.

There were also books giving amazing testimonies of God’s miraculous intervention in the lives of Christians. There were books of people literally set free from Satan’s power – being turned from practising witchcraft to having faith in Jesus, books that showed the reality of “both sides” of supernatural reality. And I believed it all. Why would Christians lie?

I’m not sure now when the cracks started to form; when I started to see that Christians are not always as truthful as they should be, and not everyone who professes to be a Christian is a genuine follower of Jesus. I have written elsewhere about my “crisis of faith” that started in the late 1980s and lasted around 15 years. Maybe it was during this time that my eyes were opened.

I had maintained my interest in UFOs and other strange phenomena and read widely on these subjects, and for the first time I started to come across some sceptical voices from those who had an interest in these subjects but also questioned the validity of many of the claims being made. In my reading I was particularly interested in stories that had a “Christian” element and through this I became aware of investigation into stories I’d lapped up years before.

Mike Warnke was a Christian with amazing testimonies. He was an excellent communicator using humour to reach people with the gospel. He did this through personal accounts of his involvement with the occult (published in his book “The Satan Seller”) and also through experiences in the Vietnam war. His experiences in the occult did a lot to convince me of the reality of the powers of darkness. Some of his experiences could have been from a horror novel – but they were true. He was a Christian and Christians don’t lie.

BUT – I started to read claims that he HAD lied, that his stories were all false. And these claims were not from some antichristian group, they were being made by a Christian magazine. Now I had a dilemma. Who should I believe? Two separate Christian sources were contradicting each other over an issue of truth. They couldn’t BOTH be telling the truth – but surely Christians don’t lie.

I use that case as merely one example. Since then I’ve had reason to doubt many claims made by Christians and I have come to see that “Christians” are not always the most trustworthy sources of information. The situation is made worse by the same kind of gullibility that I displayed and people pass these stories on to others without giving due consideration for their reliability.

We’ve all heard of urban myths – those stories with no basis in fact that become “true” through constant retelling. I’m sure that a lot of favourite Christian stories are the same. How many have heard of the prayer meeting where armed soldiers barge into a meeting threatening to kill all Christians. And when the fearful have departed the soldiers put down their guns and ask to hear the gospel from those who REALLY put their trust in God.

 Is that story really true?

Maybe – but it would be more credible if various facts (location and identity of the soldiers) remained consistent.

 

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Reference about Mike Warnke allegations:

 http://mikewarnke.org/PDF/Tribunalhearing.pdf