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Comment List
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Fair warning: This could be considered a trick question, but I do think being honest and open about the visceral response is important. We all have them, let's face it, just different hot buttons for each of us...
;'{P
2006-10-01 00:26:29 Posted by Mel ()
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Hi Mel. Do not like seeing gospel tracts being torn up and thrown away and certainly not pages been torn out of the Bible.I do not like to see God word being mishandled in any way at all. As for flags...In this little country of ours flags cause an awful lot of trouble so it is a bit of a sore point. I will decline to answer that part of your question.
God bless
Colin
2006-10-01 07:22:22 Posted by Colin Moffett ()
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Ya know Mel, people have been doing it for years. Look at all the different doctrines and cults that have torn pages from God's word or even added pages. No other way to explain some of the far fetched theologies that there are.
The burning of the flag breaks my heart. Funny thing is that it's guys like you who have fought to give people that right. Twisted irony!
In His Service,
2006-10-01 07:37:47 Posted by Teri ()
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Hi Mel, You know that no matter what we do to the pages of the bible, God's word remains just that: God's Word.
No matter what pages we rip from the bible, God's word remains just that: God's word.
The Union flag of the United Kingdom has been torn, burnt, bedraggled through more battlefields than that, but it is still flying from the flagpole! It still represents the United Kingdom.
The pages & the flags only represent the real thing, as we all know the real thing is Unique.
Otherwise it would not be worth an awful lot.
God's word is the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of love & grace, nothing can change that.
My God & Yours is Unique!!
Love in His Name Stuart
2006-10-01 12:36:11 Posted by Stuart (stuart@sadrankin.com)
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First of all, the 'WORD' of God was stripped, beaten, and torn apart beyond measure nearly 2,000 years ago. Until that truly breaks the hearts of all of us...., do I need to say it?
Secondly, this "little" country of ours waves a flag that I fought under in Vietnam. My son fought under the same flag in the middle east. I abhor anyone who takes issue against either the 'WORD' or the flag of this "little" country of ours and anyone else who begs freedom! Jesus died for our freedom, and men and women of every race, creed, and color have given their life for it ever since others have arisen to take it away.
Another thing, silence or 'no comment' is as good as "I surrender" to the enemy of the Lord and the United States of America. They both stand for principle, an idea that true freedom is not without sacrifice, and to this ol' boy and his family they are one in the same,and we will proudly defend this until the Lord comes again and gives us what Dr. Martin Luther King would proclaim as: "Thank God almighty, we're free at last!
To all who disagree...., I only say, "You have that freedom. Enjoy it. That's why every patriot, from Jesus 'til now, have shed the 'BLOOD'. God's speed and God bless.
2006-10-01 23:36:03 Posted by Monte ()
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By the way, (Mel, you've got me goin' now buddy. Why did you do this to me? The knock-knock joke?) i would not normally do this, nor did I ever consider it. But, I want you all to go to my web site and click on these two pages: 'By Dawns Early Light' and 'The Common Man'. Listen to the music very carefully and read the articles on both of them. If none of that speaks to you as a Christian and an American...., Then, I'm talking to the wrong people. You'll find the URL in my profile.
2006-10-02 00:03:16 Posted by Monte ()
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Monte perhaps you are refering to my statement when you keep saying this "little" country. I should point out my "little" country is N. Ireland which is part of the United Kingdom. I am proud of the flag of my land which is the Union Jack. Thousands of my fellow contrymen died for it at the Somme and elsewhere in both world wars. They are ones within and outside our country who are trying to make us live under another flag. That is why I said flags are a sore point with us. But I tell you this. I will fight and die to keep the Union jack as my flag. Yes they can burn tear destroy the pages of the Bible as they have done in ages past and now but they will never destroy Gods word. I like Stuarts statement and also yours Monte
Colin
2006-10-02 08:23:30 Posted by Colin Moffett ()
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Thanks for clarifying that for me brother (and I mean 'brother') Colin. The problem with doing what we are doing (blogs) is that you can't get a real feel for whomever you are conversing with. We can't see the eyes, facial expressions, nor the inflections in one's voice. So, we do the best we can to help one another understand who we are and where we're coming from with what we have to work with. By the way...., keep those "Irish eyes smiling".
2006-10-02 12:56:15 Posted by Monte ()
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So you know the song Monte... I am pleased to call you a brother in the Lord. You live in a great country. Of course it was Ulster Scots like me who made it that way!!! I think we supplied you with at least six Presidents. Pity I cant see you face now.
God bless.
We Irish do have a bit of the blarney!
2006-10-02 16:01:45 Posted by Colin Moffett ()
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Ok, Guys. I'll give you my take. Teri hit one major point. That is that the 'adding' and 'subtracting' pages as in promulgating doctrine that is not in line with God's Unadulterated word is what truly bothers me. Stuart hit the other one. These physical things are only symbols of the real things (which are totally abstract to many, and for this reason for them less real) and the fact that someone tears up or burns a symbol is not of any real consequence. The purpose is serves is expression or provocation. I learned this in P.O.W. training. They tore up a Bible in front of me, eliciting the response that they wanted to use to control me. They wanted me to feel powerless and to suck on subdued rage. It worked! From that I learned that I should not allow these things to affect me this way. To do so is to give others too much control over me. Consider that, please!
That being said, what I will say next will probably still suprise many of you. As Teri said, many have fought and even died to give people the freedom to express themselves in these ways. In America, this is how I see part of the First Amendment. Other parts of it are perverted to serve the whims of the Godless and those who see no need to stand against them, prefering 'peace at all costs'.
I accept both as expression first. I examine why a person feels they must do this. If I cannot understand, I discount them as I would a child throwing a temper tantrum in a grocery store. They want attention. If I do not feel they are worthy of it, I do not give it to them. If, on the other hand, I can understand what their grievance is and see that no one is paying attention, I understand that it is the same as someone shouting to people that are ignoring them when they should be paying attention. I do not hold it against them. In either case, I would defend their right to do so.
I swore an oath, again and again, to "...Defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, Foreign and Domestic..." and I take that oath so seriously, that it could push me to civil disobedience if I thought a Law was contrary to the U.S. Constitution. In such a case, I would consider the politicians who would attempt to enact such a law clearly as domestic enemies of the constitution that so many have died believing in. The Constitution, even though a construct of man, is not just a piece of paper. It lives and breathes in the hearts of those who believe in its priciples.
Does it make me happy to see these things? (the desecration of these or even other symbols) NO! It yanks at my guts very violently. However, how it makes me feel is only the effect of them (those doing these things) trying to get my attention. It works! And if that was the only way for them to get my attention, who am I to deny them that right? Who is anyone who would do so?
Getting long winded, but I think I've covered it.
In Christ,
Mel
2006-10-02 18:09:43 Posted by Mel ()
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