Good morning Christians, what have you learned from history about your religious beliefs?

Question

In the late 1700s some people wanted democratic rule. Conservative elements of the church pointed to the Bible and said it proved that the king ruled by God's will.

In the mid 1800s some people wanted to end slavery. Conservative elements of the church pointed to the Bible and said it proved that God approved of slavery.

In the early 1900s some people wanted to give women the vote. Conservative elements of the church pointed to the Bible and said it proved that God made women inferior to men.

In the mid 1900s some people wanted to end segregation. Conservative elements of the church pointed to the Bible and said it proved God wanted to keep the races separate.

When you look back at how your parents and grandparents dealt with these things, are you ashamed or proud?

Now some people want to allow gay marriage. Conservative elements of the church are pointing to the Bible and saying it proves God hates homosexuality. Do you think they're right this time around?

Answer 1

Good point. Eventually, gay marriage will be allowed in the U.S. and the Christians will grow to accept it. In fact, some day Christians will use the very same Bible to support gay marriage, just as they do now to speak against slavery, for women’s rights, for democracy, etc.

Answer 2

Good morning to you too!!

My mother is from the south and my stepfather is from the north. They never talked about slavery, women's rights, segregation, or homosexuals. They never talked about it in front of me. And sometimes I seriously doubt they talked about it to each other. And I never had the chance to discuss these things with my grandparents.

My grandmother did however, always encourage me and everyone she knew to be the best that they can be. She always told me not to listen to what others said, but to follow my own heart and be true to myself. She told me that I didn't have to answer to anyone but myself.

So I would think that I would be proud of my grandmother. She was an amazing woman.

As for gay marriage... I think if two people are in love and they are happy then why shouldn't they be together? I may not understand it, and it may not be the lifestyle choice for me. But I do know, that there is a limited amount of love and peace in this world and if you can find someone to share it with then why not?

I don't know if the conservative elements of the church are right or wrong when it comes to homosexuality. I do believe in my heart, that it is wrong for anyone to judge anyone else. As long as someone's beliefs do not hurt anyone else, or themself, then I think that person deserves to be happy. I also think that we will all have to answer to God someday. Me, you, and the conservative elements of the church... and who knows what God would say on that day...

Answer 3

I have no problem (legally) with gay marriage. I think it is wrong and a sin but I will not force my beliefs on anyone.
I think adultery is wrong but I'm not out campaigning for laws against it.
Tolerance does not mean acceptance.
I reserve the right to speak out against anything I want - after all I live in America.

Answer 4

So we have molesting Catholic priests and the president of the national Association of Evangelicals paying a male prostitute for sex and drugs. Shows that imaginary gods and make-believe holy spirits don't really regenerate anyone. I hardly think Middle-Eastern monotheism of any variety can make claims of moral authority, nor should we base our views of morality on a god who instructs his armies to slaughter captive women and male children (Numbers 31) while keeping the young girls for themselves. Not my idea of moral authority, or at least none I'd even want my children to follow.

Answer 5

It really amazes me... Jesus said to treat others as you would want to be treated, but somehow there's always a group of people that don't qualify because of something someone else said elsewhere in the Bible.

Jesus didn't say 'unless they're a different religion, or race, or gender, or sexual orientation'.

It just floors me, how many Christians say Jesus is their lord but they ignore what he said in favor of what they want to see.

Answer 6

wow , so much proofs there was in your critical questioned , that's had made me needs to studies carefully , before , making any answers to it's.--->> EDITED : i had like the second parts of your critics , THAT'S I HAD THINKS FOR TO BE THE CAUSED FOR THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR.

Answer 7

The Crusades

Misconceptions about the Crusades are all too common. The Crusades are generally portrayed as a series of holy wars against Islam led by power-mad popes and fought by religious fanatics. They are supposed to have been the epitome of self-righteousness and intolerance, a black stain on the history of the Catholic Church in particular and Western civilization in general.

The Crusades were not the brainchild of an ambitious pope or rapacious knights but a response to more than four centuries of conquests in which Muslims had already captured two-thirds of the old Christian world. At some point, Christianity as a faith and a culture had to defend itself or be subsumed by Islam. The Crusades were that defense.

From the safe distance of many centuries, it is easy enough to scowl in disgust at the Crusades. Religion, after all, is nothing to fight wars over. But we should be mindful that our medieval ancestors would have been equally disgusted by our infinitely more destructive wars fought in the name of political ideologies. And yet, both the medieval and the modern soldier fight ultimately for their own world and all that makes it up. Both are willing to suffer enormous sacrifice, provided that it is in the service of something they hold dear, something greater than themselves. Whether we admire the Crusaders or not, it is a fact that the world we know today would not exist without their efforts. The ancient faith of Christianity, with its respect for women and antipathy toward slavery, not only survived but flourished. Without the Crusades, it might well have followed Zoroastrianism, another of Islam's rivals, into extinction.



Christianity has been on the defensive against Islam almost from Islam's very beginning. From medieval Muslim aggression to present-day aggression in America, Sudan, Armenia, Malaysia, Indonesia, jihad (in the sense of "holy war"; the word itself simply means "struggle") is an historical and extant Islamic reality.

The Crusades were a series of defensive wars against Islamic aggression in the Middle Ages and attempts to recapture the Holy Land from Muslim conquerors in order to allow safe pilgrimage and to protect and maintain the Christian presence there. Jerusalem had been Christian for hundreds of years when Caliph Omar seized it, and following that victory, Muslims warred their way into Egypt, other parts of Africa, Spain, Sicily, and Greece, leaving Christians dead and churches in ruins. They stole lands in the area now known as Turkey, destroying Catholic communities founded by St. Paul himself. They siezed Constantinople -- the "second Rome" -- and threatened the Balkans. They warred their way as far north as Vienna, Austria and Tours, France.

Not too shocking considering the Qu'ran teaches:

Q.9: 29 ”Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are of the People of the Book [Jews and Christians 1], until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”

and

Surah 47:4: "When ye meet the unbelievers, smite at their necks"

and

Surah 4:74: "To him who fighteth in the cause of Allah" [whether he is slain or gets victory] "soon shall we give him a reward of great value."

In other words, Christians are to "convert, submit, or die"

All this understood, it must be said that the Popes' noble, reasonable purposes for the war, however, became entangled with the purposes of those with secular interests and more interested in dynastic feuds, economic concerns over Mediterranean trade, or destroying the Eastern Roman Empire. Many "bad guys" jumped onto the Crusade bandwagon and evil was done by some of the Crusaders: the sacking of Constantinople (including the destruction of churches) and the murder of Jews along Crusade routes most definitely took place and are deeply lamentable. There is no excuse for such behaviors except human evil, but this evil was not sanctioned in any way by the Church, in no way reflects on Church teachings or her purposes for the Crusades, and resulted in the excommunication of many Crusaders responsible.

The inherent evil of the Muslim religion does not mean that all who call themselves "Muslims" are evil! Many Muslims are of the same sort, religiously speaking, as many "Christians"; they don't take their religion that seriously, are merely "cultural Muslims," have enough natural virtue to try to explain away and defuse the Qu'ran's exhortations to violence, or are simply ignorant about Islam's violent history. May God bless, not their religion, but them, bringing them to all Truth, Who is Christ -- not only a Prophet, but the Son of the Living God.

Answer 8

I have learned that MAN always perverts what is good and HOLY and that GOD has and will judge the actions of those who profess to speak in His name and twist scriptures for their own evil purpose.
It was not and is not what Christ taught His true followers.
A believer in the risen Christ

Answer 9

People through the ages have looked to the Bible and misunderstood it. That's why we have so many atheists today. However, there is no reason to think God doesn't hate homosexuality because He said in His Word that He hates all workers of iniquity.

Answer 10

St. Pacifico of San Severino
(1653-1721)

Pacifico was born into a distinguished family in San Severino in the Marche of Ancona in central Italy. After joining the Friars Minor, he was ordained. He taught philosophy for two years and then began a successful preaching career.
Pacifico was an ascetic man. He fasted perpetually, eating no more than bread, soup or water. His "hair shirt" was made of iron. Poverty and obedience were two virtues for which his confreres especially remembered him.

At the age of 35, Pacifico contracted an illness that eventually left him deaf, blind and crippled. He offered his sufferings for the conversion of sinners, and he cured many of the sick who came to him. Pacifico also served as the superior of the friary in San Severino. He was canonized in 1839.

Pacifico lived out the words of St. Francis. His preaching and ministry were linked to his life of penance.

Francis urged his brothers to proclaim the Word of God without fanfare or self-interest. In that way, their words were truly God’s and directed toward the welfare of their listeners. The way Pacifico lived made his preaching all the more effective, for his listeners knew the power present in his words.