Clipmarks | willhelm's 'christianity' clips

Thomas Paine and American Values

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:13:45 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "Aspirations of Thomas Paine and his fellow liberal-progressives toward economic equality as the necessary condition for earthly social perfection gave us the bloody French Revolution. More than 70,000 French citizens – from children to the elderly – were murdered on the guillotine, by hanging, and by firing squads, in the name of "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood."

Those same liberal-progressive ideals espoused by Thomas Paine gave us the 20th century, the most savagely sanguinary and oppressive period in human history, all in the name of perfecting humanity."

These realities combined with the motivations from Rousseau laid the foundations for nationalism and socialism that came to fruition in the early 20th century Europe.

Clip Source: www.intellectualconservative.com

Paine's social and political ideas were essentially the revolutionary and bloody socialism that afflicted the world in the 1789 French Revolution.

His The Age of Reason is an attack upon Christianity and all spiritual religion, a panegyric to the minds of intellectuals as the source of human perfection via the collectivized political state.

Paine was a great admirer and supporter of the French Revolution and an advocate of cutting everyone down to the lowest denominator of poverty in order to achieve economic equality. This, of course, remains a guiding principle of today's Democrat/Socialist Party and of liberal-progressives on both sides of the political aisle.

Enter the Dragon - The New China

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:53:34 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: neiswonger.wordpress.com

The relationship between “East” and “West” has already changed. They can never be spoken of in the same way again. There may be more Christians in Asia now than in the United States. The traditional centers of Christianity have shifted to Africa and the East and the Christian would be wise to pay attention. Most credible sources already see China as the next cultural and economic center of the world and much of this is attributable to the rising Christian intellectual class that has given the people a reasonable worldview beyond the vacuity of Communism and Materialism. Worldview is everything, and Christianity is strong.

Compassion -or- Philosophy of windows into the soul

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:29:25 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "Besides, the effectual truth of enlightened self-interest and the invocation of rights in service of that interest was hateful competition among men, not genuine co-operation. Ultimately commerce and all other such forms of competition serve the passion of amour-propre or vanity, which craves superiority over our fellows or inequality for its own sake. Rousseau thus presents the emergent liberal commercial society in which Montesquieu, Hume, and Smith invested such hopes as a lurid nightmare of strife, exploitation, and cruelty."

"Commerce makes men more alike while also multiplying inequalities among them. Montesquieu seized on the first of these facts to welcome commerce as a new dawn: whereas difference bred narrowness and hostility, sameness brought greater understanding. Rousseau, by contrast, stressed the second of these elements, presenting commerce as driving men apart even as it supposedly brought them together."

Clip Source: www.incharacter.org

As was already evident to Aristotle, we tend to pity most those who most resemble ourselves or whose misfortunes most resemble our own (Rhetoric II.viii.13–14). Like “identifies” readily with like, much less readily with unlike. This suggests that our pity for others is a vicarious expression of our fears for ourselves.

Moreover, those least able to bear the sufferings of others are commonly least able to bear their own (Republic 606a–c). But self-pity is a vice, not a virtue.

it would be mistaken to suppose that what Christianity taught was compassion.

A single and omnipotent God who, having become flesh, suffered all that flesh can suffer; a morality that begins in the contemplation of the Passion of this God-man, an injunction to universal charity as the supreme virtue — this was far indeed from the humanistic and aristocratic rationalism of the pagan philosophers. At the same time, Christian charity was also far from what we mean by compassion

The Long March

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:19:08 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "much of the wacky, upside-down, right-is-wrong, black-is-white stuff we see in the news these days is directly or indirectly inspired by Gramsci: the attacks on Christianity, the family, individual freedom, morality and moral judgements; multiculturalism; the cult of victimhood, "tolerance," political correctness, the replacement of the roles of family, religion, individual responsibility and choice with government rules, laws, and regs; the expansion of the State and the Welfare State and the Nanny State; anti-tradition, anti-capitalism, anti-success, anti-nationalism, anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism, etc - all the stuff that makes me echo Bob Grant with "It's sick out there, and getting sicker." I am sure Antonio never anticipated that a Green movement would emerge to become an ally of the slow, incrementalist and thus less-alarming Gramscian revolution."

Clip Source: www.yankeefarm.net

Our well-informed readers, Buddy among them, occasionally refer to "Gramscian tactics," or describe something as "Gramscian."

It is difficult to understand what has been happening politically in the US and in Europe for the past 30 years without understanding the influence of Gramsci (1891-1937) on Western Leftist thinking and strategizing.

Gramsci was a clever Italian neo-Marxist who realized that the West, due to its prosperity, its increasingly-wide access to education and opportunity, social mobility, and its readiness to repair injustices (due to its Judeo-Christian morality), would never be amenable to a violent proletarian socialist revolution.

So he came up with Plan B, which is often termed "Gramscian tactics."

Thus Western "hegemonic culture" became the enemy

And defeating that enemy could not be done with guns. It required a "long march through the culture" to slowly discredit and undermine its institutions, values, and foundations.

Tags: progressives, cultural marxism, social control, culture, politics

3 moral errors of Conservatism

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:37:47 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.orthodoxytoday.org

The first moral error of political conservatism is civil religionism. According to this notion America is a chosen nation, and its projects are a proper focus of religious aspiration; according to Christianity America is but one nation among many, no less loved by God, but no more.

The second moral error of political conservatism is instrumentalism. According to this notion faith should be used for the ends of the state; according to Christianity believers should certainly be good citizens, but faith is not a tool. To be sure, the pedigree of instrumentalism is not purely conservative; it has followers on the left as well as the right. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, for instance, wanted the state to invent a civil religion to his order and then make use of it.

The third moral error of political conservatism is moralism.

moralism wants to make politics a tool of faith

even secularists impose a faith on others

Nazi Christian Propaganda

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:49:29 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: Christianity was used by the Nazis as propoganda in a similar way that it is used by Marxists in Black Lib Theology and the same way Militant Islamists take liberties with Islam.
From article:
"The German Protestants, in doing this, have been the first body in Germany to stand up against the dictates of Hitler, and have shown courage and determination. They have also shown that the Nazi interpretation of religion is not accepted by the mass of pious people in Germany, and that the idea of a military, patriotic Christ has not yet conquered over the gentler, nobler idea which inspires better Christians than the Nazis, and which is summed up in the teaching, “Love thy neighbour as thyself.”
There was a similar relationship between the Chruch and Mussolini, who despised Theists and the organized Church.
Fascism was characteristically anti-Christian in practice - public and personal. "

Clip Source: www.garethjones.org

Before me I have a German book called “Christianity in National-Socialism,” which attempts to proclaim and prove the following doctrines:

• First, that “the philosophy of the Nazis is in accordance with God’s creative will, and with the teaching of Christianity”;

• Secondly, that the principles and the deeds of the Nazis are practical applications of the doctrines of Christ; and

• Finally, that the Nazis are the only true defenders of Christianity.

He first shows that God is on the side of the Nationalists, for He divided men into races and nations, just as He divided living beings into various animals and the world into various regions: “We would seek in vain for German oaks in India and Indian palms in Germany, for Polar bears in Africa and elephants on the North Pole.”

“God who has created men of such different types has placed in them the urge to keep and to develop their national and racial qualities. Who fights against this is a fool, and is sinning against God and God’s will.”

Meaning of Flag Draped Coffin.

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:54:07 GMT

clipped by: Efrain Alvarado

Clip Source: members.aol.com

All Americans should be given this lesson. Those who think that America is an arrogant nation should really reconsider that thought. Our founding fathers used GOD's word and teachings to establish our Great Nation and I think it's high time Americans get re-educated about this Nation's history. Pass it along and be proud of the country we live in and even more proud of those who serve to protect our "GOD GIVEN" rights and freedoms.

The 1st fold of the flag is a symbol of life.

The 2nd fold is a symbol of the belief in eternal life.

The 3rd fold is made in honor and remembrance of the veterans departing the ranks who gave a

portion of their lives for the defense of the country to attain peace throughout the world.

The 12th fold represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies,

in the Christians eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit .

The 13th fold, or when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost

reminding them of their nations motto, "In God We Trust."

Tags: god, christianity, america, rights, freedom, life, eternal

Iran cracking down on Christians

Thu, 29 May 2008 18:04:08 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Amid a growing crackdown on religious freedom, Iranian police reportedly have been rounding up people they suspect have converted to Christianity.

Converting from Islam is a crime in Iran; converts can face jail and other penalties.

Most of those detained have been released, but at least one of them, 21-year-old Mojtaba Hussein, is still behind bars and is not cooperating with his captors, according to Moeller.

“He may not be willing to give up the names of other Muslim converts. He may not be willing to recant his faith himself,” Moeller said.

Because Bibles are rare in Iran and teachings are not "as dependent on the Bible as Evangelical Christianity in America is,” said Moeller, there is a “real lack of scriptural foundation."

But despite the growing pressure from the state, worshippers continue to practice, and Moeller said the house church system seems to be growing.

“We’ve got confirmed reports of groups of Muslim convert believers doubling in size in the last six months,” he said.

Faith as a necessary virtue

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:15:44 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which Christianity looks very improbably; but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of your moods against your real self is going to come anyway. That is why Faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods "where they get off," you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith."

From Mere Christianity, p. 138-139.

Clip Source: str.typepad.com

Faith seems to be used by Christians in two sense or on two levels....In the first sense it means simply Believe - accepting or regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity. That is fairly simple. But what does puzzle people - at least it used to puzzle me - is the fact that Christians regard faith in this sense as a virtue. I used to ask how on earth it can be a virtue - what is there moral or immoral about believing or not believing a set of statements?...What I did not see then - and a good many people do not see still - was this. I was assuming that if the human mind once accepts a things as true it will automatically go on regarding it as true, until some real reason for reconsidering it turns up. In fact, I was assuming that the human mind is completely ruled by reason. But that is not so....

The superficiality of liberal-progressivism

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:31:03 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "Humans in that philosophy are merely bundles of nerves and muscle that respond positively to sensual pleasure and negatively to pain. Intellectuals, therefore, in theory, can structure political societies that will create universal happiness and harmony, effecting paradise on earth. It was this promise that gave us the Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany."

Both Freud and Ortega were atheists and regarded spiritual religion as ignorance to be banished by what in the United States John Dewey called progressive education.

What Freud and Ortega would not see was that the socialistic materialism spawned by the French Revolution was the true source of civilization’s discontents and the banality and crassness of mass man.

"By initiating the destruction of Christianity in Europe, the French Revolutionary version of the Age of Enlightenment effectively decapitated civilization, leaving one-dimensional humans with bodies but little wisdom. "

Clip Source: www.thomasbrewton.com

There is more to life than sensual gratification.

Reading Anthony Daniels’s At the Forest’s Edge in the New Criterion website, one is reminded of the superficiality of the liberal-progressive philosophical foundation.

Mr. Daniels ruminates about the analyses of modernity expressed by Sigmund Freud in Civilization and Its Discontents and by Jose Ortega y Gasset in The Revolt of the Masses. Both works were published in 1930, when liberal-progressivism was becoming ascendant in the United States.

Both are products of the materialistic philosophy of the 19th century that repudiated God and spiritual religion, proclaiming that only the tangible and material elements of everyday life here on earth had any real influence upon human conduct and the course of history.

Top 12 books of Christian History

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:23:57 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.scriptoriumdaily.com

1. Selections from the Bible: Paul’s Letters and John’s Gospel.

2. Irenaeus of Lyons, Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching.

3. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation.

4. Gregory of Nazianzus, The Five Theological Orations.

5. Cyril of Alexandria, On the Unity of Christ.

6. Augustine of Hippo, The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope, and Love.

7. Anselm of Canterbury, Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man).

8. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae selections.

9. Martin Luther, Selections.

10. John Calvin, The Institutes.

11. The Heidelberg Catechism by Ursinus and Olevianus

12. John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress.

Tags: christianity, theology, books, history

Barack Obama on Christianity

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 05:31:44 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.christianitytoday.com

The Democratic presidential candidate is fighting the e-mails that have been widely circulated. Obama has been continually speaking about the role of faith in politics since his Call to Renewal address in June 2006.

In the days before the South Carolina primary, he is driving efforts to speaking with media to emphasize his Christian beliefs. His campaign also sent out a recent mailer portraying the candidate with his head bowed in prayer and says that he will be guided by prayer when he is in office

"I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."

The reason behind todays's political division.

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 03:30:39 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "The new battleground, reasoned Gramsci, must become the culture, starting with the traditional family and completely engulfing churches, schools, media, entertainment, civic organizations, literature, science, and history. All of these things must be radically transformed and the social and cultural order gradually turned upside-down with the new proletariat placed in power at the top."

Learn your history people. It is not about politics. It is about cultural and institutional destruction.

Clip Source: www.americanthinker.com

By the end of WWI, socialists realized that something was amiss, for the world's proletariat had not heeded Marx's call to rise up in opposition to evil capitalism and to embrace communism instead. They wondered what had gone wrong.

Separately, two Marxist theorists-Antonio Gramsci of Italy and Georg Lukacs of Hungary-concluded that the Christianized West was the obstacle standing in the way of a communist new world order. The West would have to be conquered first.

Gramsci posited that because Christianity had been dominant in the West for over 2000 years, not only was it fused with Western civilization, but it had corrupted the workers class. The West would have to be de-Christianized, said Gramsci, by means of a "long march through the culture."

he suggested that the new proletariat be comprised of many criminals, women, and racial minorities.

Tags: marxism, socialism, politics, culture, society, left

Imam's daughter converts to Christianity and guess what ?

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:34:58 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: She must be killed.

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

The daughter of a British imam is living under police protection after receiving death threats from her father for converting to Christianity.

The 31-year-old, whose father is the leader of a mosque in Lancashire, has moved house an astonishing 45 times after relatives pledged to hunt her down and kill her.

"I know the Koran says anyone who goes away from Islam should be killed as an apostate, so in some ways my family are following the Koran. They are following Islam to the word.

"But I do not think every Muslim would act on that.

"Some days I feel very low and what my father might do preys on my mind. But I regularly change my phone number to avoid him catching up with me.'

A study this year found that 36 per cent of British Muslims between 16 and 24 believe those who convert to another religion should be punished by death.

In July an Iranian immigrant to Britain, who converted to Christianity, was saved from deportation after it emerged she would be stoned to death in her own country.

Tags: islam, freedom, liberty, religion

I am a Christian - Maya Angelou

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 01:10:44 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.christiangoth.com

I am a Christian

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,

Now I 'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

By Maya Angelou

Tags: christianity, poetry