I agree, the state of things now means that the true Christian,(minority), often feels wary of admitting their beliefs & faith openly, for fear of prejudice & hate becoming directed towards themselves, being labelled as a Christian in today's society is not a good thing at all.
Basically the true teachings of Jesus Christ, of what he tried to achieve for humanity as a whole, have once again become twisted and perverted by many evil men, for their own gain.
Historically this has happened once before - God's word was perverted by men, and, (as any loving parent would,) He tried to 'put us back on course', by sending Jesus to refresh His word, the word of God, Jesus cut out all the crap tha...

I agree, the state of things now means that the true Christian,(minority), often feels wary of admitting their beliefs & faith openly, for fear of prejudice & hate becoming directed towards themselves, being labelled as a Christian in today's society is not a good thing at all.
Basically the true teachings of Jesus Christ, of what he tried to achieve for humanity as a whole, have once again become twisted and perverted by many evil men, for their own gain.
Historically this has happened once before - God's word was perverted by men, and, (as any loving parent would,) He tried to 'put us back on course', by sending Jesus to refresh His word, the word of God, Jesus cut out all the crap that men had added & twisted for their own gain & tried to teach us a way of seeing the true way of life, intended for each and everyone of us, to see for ourselves, so we would no longer follow the word of men, and as it says in the book - to FREE us ALL from the HATRED & sin that MANKIND created! The Bible as I see it, is a DIY manual! it gives you the basics (I'm talking real stuff - that our bodies need food & water,relationship advice, tolerance & environment guidelines) then it is up to you to learn & develop further, there are only a few major Do nots in there - which is exactly what is happening today - killing, hatred, greed & intolerance! And Nowhere does it say that it's OK to do, or be any of those things to non-Christians! So, if you happen to come across one of the true believers, then please bear this in mind, and I'm sorry if this comes across as my preaching to you, as I merely intended to attempt to 'put the record straight' on a few things.
And finally, in the words of Bill & Ted - "Be Excellent to each other Dudes"!

Jaftla, trace back your brand of Christianity as to when it lost Christmas and then belatedly, rediscovered it!

A sure sign that you still not all the way there is when you are so sure that your 'take' on Christianity is the only true one. Not at all Christian, IMO. Smacks of exclusivity in being saved to me? Not at all Christian, for sure.

Maybe you should join your friends, the settlers, in erecting the WALL around Bethlehem, the birth place of the real Christianity.

WALL: Strangulation of Christianity's Birth Place Deliberate Policy?

I very much wish you and yours a truly Christian Christmas and a prosper...

Jaftla, trace back your brand of Christianity as to when it lost Christmas and then belatedly, rediscovered it!

A sure sign that you still not all the way there is when you are so sure that your 'take' on Christianity is the only true one. Not at all Christian, IMO. Smacks of exclusivity in being saved to me? Not at all Christian, for sure.

Maybe you should join your friends, the settlers, in erecting the WALL around Bethlehem, the birth place of the real Christianity.

WALL: Strangulation of Christianity's Birth Place Deliberate Policy?

I very much wish you and yours a truly Christian Christmas and a prosperous New Year, if I don't hear from you prior to the end of 2007.

I go with the fact that: "Their (Christian) religion has been hijacked by fundamentalist fanatics " and "the true teachings of Jesus Christ, of what he tried to achieve for humanity as a whole, have once again become twisted and perverted by many evil men,"

There appears, here and in history and current events, to be a Huge Gap: Some folks (a small minority, in fact and action) think of Christianity as meaning Peace and Compassion.

Others (the vast majority, in fact and actions) see it as a Code of Conduct & Idelogy that must be obeyed and forced upon others....or just a mainstream excuse to seek power, gold, land, etc.

Author of the 1020's, & Nobel Prize winner, T.S. Eliot spent a life...

I go with the fact that: "Their (Christian) religion has been hijacked by fundamentalist fanatics " and "the true teachings of Jesus Christ, of what he tried to achieve for humanity as a whole, have once again become twisted and perverted by many evil men,"

There appears, here and in history and current events, to be a Huge Gap: Some folks (a small minority, in fact and action) think of Christianity as meaning Peace and Compassion.

Others (the vast majority, in fact and actions) see it as a Code of Conduct & Idelogy that must be obeyed and forced upon others....or just a mainstream excuse to seek power, gold, land, etc.

Author of the 1020's, & Nobel Prize winner, T.S. Eliot spent a lifetime combing through these ideas, and trying to live, I think, a lifestyle with "values," although I think he was disappointed.

I go with the Sinclair Lewis idea, in the 1930;s, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.”

And the idea of SuperSized Gov.& Presidential candidate, Huey Long who said: "Fascism will come to America in the name of anti-fascism" (aka: law and order, peace democracy and security blagh blagh).

So, these are not new ideas or considerations; that is something to remember. Although we may be closer to the social reality than before.

Although -- the Crusades were done in the name of Christiantity. Massive programs of extermination and Religious Wars were done in the name of Christianity (one branch and/or the other). Political domination was enforced by selective Christian beliefs.

The whole near genocide and partial genocide of the Native American Indians was done with the encouragement and support of Christianity.

So, we are now suddenly surprised? Or we now suddenly see the Big Picture? Why, in God's Name, -- considering these realitites -- would we even suggest this is not a fascist religion?????

Well...I suppose become of the good compassionate Christians and the words of Jesus.

Tsk. Tsk.

Very fine comments

The whole near genocide and partial genocide of the Native American Indians was done with the encouragement and support of Christianity.

True, but you might be doing your Protestant Christians a disservice by not including the far worse devastation visited upon their southern neighbours, referred to as Latin America by the Catholic Christians.

Christian kill. They kill for god! What a blasphemy, but true They kill in HUGE numbers. Certainly they have no equal in the Americas. Have there ever been worse?

Now they're killing Arabs in huge numbers. And they are blaming the Arabs for their own destruction!!! Why? Because the Arabs have OIL? Or are the Arabs ...

Very fine comments

The whole near genocide and partial genocide of the Native American Indians was done with the encouragement and support of Christianity.

True, but you might be doing your Protestant Christians a disservice by not including the far worse devastation visited upon their southern neighbours, referred to as Latin America by the Catholic Christians.

Christian kill. They kill for god! What a blasphemy, but true They kill in HUGE numbers. Certainly they have no equal in the Americas. Have there ever been worse?

Now they're killing Arabs in huge numbers. And they are blaming the Arabs for their own destruction!!! Why? Because the Arabs have OIL? Or are the Arabs the new Native American Indians, making way for the new settlers???

I read today that 20 million Iranians will die in Israel's defensive nuclear strike on Iran. In your name of course. Is an Iranian life not even worth that of a bison/buffalo? All in the name of Christianity? I don't think so. Not the god of Jesus Christ, the god love.

Conservatives are Christians, in the same way George Bush is an American. Sure It's a Great if euphemistic title, but most act as though they are faiths or countries in their own right.
Jesus didn't walk around Palestine claiming to be the Christ. He was prepared to let his actions speak for him, and he often asked the apostles who the people were saying he was. When questioned remotely by John the Baptist, his answer was
"Go and tell him what you have seen"
If you want to know if someone is a Christian, there's no point in listening to a word they say, as their testimony is bound to be skewed by their position.
You just watch the way they act.
Religion is a powerful political tool.
It's a...

Conservatives are Christians, in the same way George Bush is an American. Sure It's a Great if euphemistic title, but most act as though they are faiths or countries in their own right.
Jesus didn't walk around Palestine claiming to be the Christ. He was prepared to let his actions speak for him, and he often asked the apostles who the people were saying he was. When questioned remotely by John the Baptist, his answer was
"Go and tell him what you have seen"
If you want to know if someone is a Christian, there's no point in listening to a word they say, as their testimony is bound to be skewed by their position.
You just watch the way they act.
Religion is a powerful political tool.
It's a disgrace that someone who is up to their eyebrows in corruption, can try to foist the heat onto someone who was executed 2000 years ago, because he was a threat to the political, and theistic institutions of the time. Ironic that he was taken into custody and executed without being charged. It was supposed to be a secret. But word got out.

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with frail and feeble minds.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

********************
Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.
But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.

Anonymous (Or I don't remember the author)

**************
"Going to war over religion is like having an argument over whose imaginary friend is better."
--Richard Jeni.

************

May all the Gods instill true understanding, and compassion, and openness within our hearts, for there are...

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with frail and feeble minds.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

********************
Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.
But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.

Anonymous (Or I don't remember the author)

**************
"Going to war over religion is like having an argument over whose imaginary friend is better."
--Richard Jeni.

************

May all the Gods instill true understanding, and compassion, and openness within our hearts, for there are as many gods as human beings. And who can claim to know THE Truth, while our minds are so weak and our intellects polluted by centuries of false dogmas and doctrines? There are as many beliefs as there are believers, so let's try and bring together all our little shards and bits of comprehension, rather than take one aspect, and say it's the whole. Complementarity, not separation. Togetherness, not selfishness. No one should be so full of themselves to claim only THEY, have found God, "Who seeth in secret".
To all, in these darkest of times, omen to even more and more obscurantism, I wish Peace and Love.
Together.
Merry Christmas.

i find it really sad that these so-called christians feel and act these ways, and say that it's because of their religion. i wish these people (and all peoples in the world) would just stick to the commandment "love thy neighbor as thyself". that's all you need. even the beatles agreed. respect and love for your fellow man, consideration and courtesy, forgiveness and patience, THESE are the things that everyone should practice. God doesn't care if you're attracted to the same sex, God doesn't care where you pray, God doesn't care if you even believe in Him. and God didn't write the bible, man did - man is fallible. i'm just so sick and tired of this bullshit anyone does in the name of...

i find it really sad that these so-called christians feel and act these ways, and say that it's because of their religion. i wish these people (and all peoples in the world) would just stick to the commandment "love thy neighbor as thyself". that's all you need. even the beatles agreed. respect and love for your fellow man, consideration and courtesy, forgiveness and patience, THESE are the things that everyone should practice. God doesn't care if you're attracted to the same sex, God doesn't care where you pray, God doesn't care if you even believe in Him. and God didn't write the bible, man did - man is fallible. i'm just so sick and tired of this bullshit anyone does in the name of God. and i'm sick and tired of sometimes feeling ashamed to be a christian because of these jackasses. while it's had it's faults and still does, the roman catholic church is getting better and becoming much more progressive (i'm not roman catholic, i'm polish national catholic, there is a BIG difference), their thoughts on evolution, their beliefs of who goes to hell, are pretty intelligent and well thought out. they also don't take the bible literally. the protestant and baptist churches are now the ones distorting and twisting what they say is God's word.

Yes, very good words but I prefer Pokkets' words...

It's a disgrace that someone who is up to their eyebrows in corruption, can try to foist the heat onto someone who was executed 2000 years ago, because he was a threat to the political, and theistic institutions of the time. Ironic that he was taken into custody and executed without being charged. It was supposed to be a secret. But word got out.

These words tie back so well with the words of the title "who are the REAL Christians around here?". Any one wish to match up out 2007 characters with those of that first Christmas?

Nowadays whole villages sufferer lockdown with not even birthing mothers allowed out at night. By ...

Yes, very good words but I prefer Pokkets' words...

It's a disgrace that someone who is up to their eyebrows in corruption, can try to foist the heat onto someone who was executed 2000 years ago, because he was a threat to the political, and theistic institutions of the time. Ironic that he was taken into custody and executed without being charged. It was supposed to be a secret. But word got out.

These words tie back so well with the words of the title "who are the REAL Christians around here?". Any one wish to match up out 2007 characters with those of that first Christmas?

Nowadays whole villages sufferer lockdown with not even birthing mothers allowed out at night. By day, a 6 hour plus delay is the norm. Birthing in a snug manger back then might be superior to the side of the road now. Stealth death! State death!