Post by Atrahasis on Dec 19, 2004 12:01:11 GMT -5
The masses of well meaning-Christains have one flaw: Too often they do not do enough deep thinking about their faith, because to a good extent reason is the antithesis of faith. You simply don't need too much reason to have faith. This is why it is easy for an institution like a church or a government or any organization with enough resources and charisma to dupe them into doing and thiking all sorts of things which can be quite anti-Jesus in nature, for the sake of mustering support for political causes.
So in America today, you have Christians automatically opposing stem cell research without even batting an eye, mainly because they are trusting larger entities than themselves to guide them as to what the spirit of God wants them to do. Big mistake, because upon careful reflection, opposing stem cell research is quite anti-Jesus. But to realize this one has to know what the true spirit of Jesus is, and I don't believe a lot of Christians in America really know what that is. Most of the time all they know is that beleive in the resurrection and the Jesus story, but as for really understanding the mind of Jesus or God, they actually prefer to leave that to other people and the organizations that they belong to, to guide them. They may sing the gospel songs and preach and witness to Jesus, but despite all of that it's still possible that they are far from the spirit of God. Not that they aren't saved, but when it comes time to reap rewards in the afterlife, they will probably end up being toilet scrubbers in the big mansion in the sky.
What is the main argument that stem-cell research opponents use? It is that we are killing embryos and thereby killing children. Well, I have one for them to consider: The Secret of All the Great Religion in the World.
That secret is this, and it is surprisingly simple: That death does not matter. It really doesn't, not even in Christianity, which is why you have such a strong martyr tradition in it. It's true if you think about it, because if you have an eternal soul, death is just shuffling off this mortal coil to enter into the glory of God, which is the ultimate and most desired destination a human can want. In other religions, older ones, you have heroes pondering whether it is right to kill their kinsmen in a battle that they are about to have, and the answer is that it doesn't matter whether they all die or not because they're going to enter the afterlife anyways; what matters more is that one does his duty and fulfills his obligations in this life, because although death doesn't matter, it's how one lives his life that does.
Now that we've establlished that, the question arises: So what does matter? How one lives his life? That's important too, but there is another thing that matters, perhaps more so in Christianity because it is a mercy-centered religion, and that is: Pain and Suffering, and the relieving of it. This is a very Jesus-like thing to do, and physical as well as spiritual healing was a big part of his personal ministry.
The relief of pain and suffering: Why is it important? If you believe in reincarnation or even an afterlife, logically you should desire that there be less pain and suffering in the world, if not for your future incarnation's sake then for you childrens'. Imagine for a moment what that perfect realm which we call Heaven must be like: There is harmony and balance and no pain nor suffering. The reason souls come to Earth out of that realm must be to accomplish or learn something, or possibly even to escape the humdrum. The fact is, people can't concentrate on what they're supposed to learn if they are engulfed in pain and suffering...granted, there probably has to be some in order for important lessons to be learned, but if the struggle against pain and suffering were not an important mission for Christians, Jesus would not have engaged in it nor told his followers to do the same and even greater works than he did. Consider John 14:12:
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."
Death doesn't matter. However, suffering does. Therefore I see it as distinctly un-Christian to block stem cell reseach which would go a long ways to accomplishing Jesus' original mission and the mandate he gave to his followers. It's true that he was a protector of children and the downtrodden, but nowhere did he say that a cell that is fertilized outside of the mother's womb is a child. "Whosoever harms this zygote is in big trouble" are words that he never uttered. But on the other hand, had he met someone like Christopher Reeve, and had he the power to cure him, I don't think JC would have passed the chance up. Everything that we know about his character and compassion tells us that he would have healed such a man. Now, if we had the power to do so, how faithful are we to the spirit of JC if we pass up the same chance? He himself did say that we would one day accomplish greater things than he.
That time has come, but it's a leftover prevailing religious attitude that prevents us from carrying out that mission. The Church itself is comprised of men who make decisions, and the fact is that they have been atrociously wrong in the past, and this has been the source of acts which JC himself would never have approved of, acts that involved killing and decimation and persecution and discrimination...by the millions. So to ignore the realization of the true spirit of Jesus in favor of what the prevailing attitude in the church may be is....
...basically one of the probelms in America today.
So in America today, you have Christians automatically opposing stem cell research without even batting an eye, mainly because they are trusting larger entities than themselves to guide them as to what the spirit of God wants them to do. Big mistake, because upon careful reflection, opposing stem cell research is quite anti-Jesus. But to realize this one has to know what the true spirit of Jesus is, and I don't believe a lot of Christians in America really know what that is. Most of the time all they know is that beleive in the resurrection and the Jesus story, but as for really understanding the mind of Jesus or God, they actually prefer to leave that to other people and the organizations that they belong to, to guide them. They may sing the gospel songs and preach and witness to Jesus, but despite all of that it's still possible that they are far from the spirit of God. Not that they aren't saved, but when it comes time to reap rewards in the afterlife, they will probably end up being toilet scrubbers in the big mansion in the sky.
What is the main argument that stem-cell research opponents use? It is that we are killing embryos and thereby killing children. Well, I have one for them to consider: The Secret of All the Great Religion in the World.
That secret is this, and it is surprisingly simple: That death does not matter. It really doesn't, not even in Christianity, which is why you have such a strong martyr tradition in it. It's true if you think about it, because if you have an eternal soul, death is just shuffling off this mortal coil to enter into the glory of God, which is the ultimate and most desired destination a human can want. In other religions, older ones, you have heroes pondering whether it is right to kill their kinsmen in a battle that they are about to have, and the answer is that it doesn't matter whether they all die or not because they're going to enter the afterlife anyways; what matters more is that one does his duty and fulfills his obligations in this life, because although death doesn't matter, it's how one lives his life that does.
Now that we've establlished that, the question arises: So what does matter? How one lives his life? That's important too, but there is another thing that matters, perhaps more so in Christianity because it is a mercy-centered religion, and that is: Pain and Suffering, and the relieving of it. This is a very Jesus-like thing to do, and physical as well as spiritual healing was a big part of his personal ministry.
The relief of pain and suffering: Why is it important? If you believe in reincarnation or even an afterlife, logically you should desire that there be less pain and suffering in the world, if not for your future incarnation's sake then for you childrens'. Imagine for a moment what that perfect realm which we call Heaven must be like: There is harmony and balance and no pain nor suffering. The reason souls come to Earth out of that realm must be to accomplish or learn something, or possibly even to escape the humdrum. The fact is, people can't concentrate on what they're supposed to learn if they are engulfed in pain and suffering...granted, there probably has to be some in order for important lessons to be learned, but if the struggle against pain and suffering were not an important mission for Christians, Jesus would not have engaged in it nor told his followers to do the same and even greater works than he did. Consider John 14:12:
"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."
Death doesn't matter. However, suffering does. Therefore I see it as distinctly un-Christian to block stem cell reseach which would go a long ways to accomplishing Jesus' original mission and the mandate he gave to his followers. It's true that he was a protector of children and the downtrodden, but nowhere did he say that a cell that is fertilized outside of the mother's womb is a child. "Whosoever harms this zygote is in big trouble" are words that he never uttered. But on the other hand, had he met someone like Christopher Reeve, and had he the power to cure him, I don't think JC would have passed the chance up. Everything that we know about his character and compassion tells us that he would have healed such a man. Now, if we had the power to do so, how faithful are we to the spirit of JC if we pass up the same chance? He himself did say that we would one day accomplish greater things than he.
That time has come, but it's a leftover prevailing religious attitude that prevents us from carrying out that mission. The Church itself is comprised of men who make decisions, and the fact is that they have been atrociously wrong in the past, and this has been the source of acts which JC himself would never have approved of, acts that involved killing and decimation and persecution and discrimination...by the millions. So to ignore the realization of the true spirit of Jesus in favor of what the prevailing attitude in the church may be is....
...basically one of the probelms in America today.
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