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29359. pelty - 10/24/2008 9:09:26 PM Right. Aplogies for not being clear. I have not seen his movie and my critique is/was not aimed towards that. If his critique is that there are Christians who are dumb and do not understand the complexities of their beliefs, I say "yes, but so what?" The same might be said of people of all creeds (or lack thereof). Irrationality comes in many guises.
My issues with Maher are stylistic, to be sure, and stem from the media's willingness to grant some sort of authority to a guy whose academic credentials are borderline non-existent and whose career highlights include "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death." 29360. anomie - 10/24/2008 10:21:17 PM VK, you can't defend your client by changing her words. She didn't say what you said she did. And she didn't say what the church's "duties" are.
You are clearly missing everything if you think Jen doesn't know exactly what she's doing. She is being evasive on purpose, and in such a clever way that it has sucked you right in. And she's doing it becasue she knows she can't possibly justify many of her previous criticisms of other people's beliefs if she goes down the road of a simple and concise conversation about the authority of chuch verses individual conscience and direct relationship with god. Once she acknowledges that authority rests with god working person to person, ahe can no longer justify her criticisms of other faiths and practices. To do so, she would have to invoke some authority external to that relationship...a church!
Perhaps if you'd quit revising her text in your mind, you could see the simplicity of it all. 29361. vonKreedon - 10/24/2008 10:24:40 PM He are Jen's words, perhaps if you read them with genuine curiosity you'll find answers to your questions:
"Well, Protestants believe that the body of believers constitutes Christ's 'church'. As far as God claiming that one denomination/branch is the exclusive, sanctioned church, I do not believe that. Now, as an institution, church must have its primary focus on serving Christ and being in his will."
29362. anomie - 10/24/2008 10:25:12 PM Specifically she didn't say this: "...the community of faith is the Church spoken of in the Bible..." Didn't even imply it.
As to "duties", she merely used the word. She didn't say what the duties were. The "focus" on such and such helped the church carry out it's duties, or something ike that... 29363. anomie - 10/24/2008 10:30:09 PM VK, I read that. It's not what you said she said in your other post. I've said, I read that as her denial that God established a church. She must be implying the church established itself, or themselves. Therefore they have no authority on earth, etc, etc. So why doesn't she just confirm what you and deduce from from her vague, passive language? It's because she wants to leave it confused so she can claim something entirely differnt later on, (I would say if I were going to impune her motives, which I am.) 29364. anomie - 10/24/2008 10:37:18 PM And why are you mentioning (questioning?) my genuiness? Of course I'm genuinely curious, but not about her confused doctrines. I'm curious about how she resolves the inconsistencies in her own mind and I said so. What's more genuine than that? I'm not sittig at her feet to learn what Protestants believe. 29365. vonKreedon - 10/24/2008 10:50:36 PM Well you start with the assumption that she has confused doctrines and are incurious about those, only about how she resolves the inconsistencies in her own mind. That's a mighty limited and agenda driven form of curiosity.
And it's clear to me that she's saying that the Church is the community of believers, and yes I imply that in her belief it is established by God for two reasons:
1 - The community of belief does not exist but for the belief in God.
2 - Jen is clear that all her religious belief is based in the Bible, and in Matthew 16:18 Jesus says, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." So logically she must believe that God founded the Church. 29366. anomie - 10/24/2008 11:12:06 PM "So logically she must believe that God founded the Church."
What? What?
The question is "on earth". On earth. Why is it that you and Jen are so confused about 2 simple questions?
But anyway, why doesn't she say so? Why doesn't she describe what she believes the authorities and duties of that church? Aren't you curious why she doesn't chime in and clear things up?
To be frank, VK, you're not helping. You don't seem to understand why I'm asking the questions. You seem to think my interest is in doctrine and belief. It's not.
29367. vonKreedon - 10/24/2008 11:17:56 PM Well, this is the Religion and Philosophy thread.
I still don't understand your alleged confusion about Jen's answers to your questions. But it is quite clear that they are agenda driven, so perhaps the answers weren't what you were hoping for. 29368. anomie - 10/24/2008 11:18:36 PM And anyway, VK, didn't you say at first that her answer was "no"? Or that we could imply as much? And now you say of course she believes God founded the church. She has you confused too! Ha! 29369. anomie - 10/24/2008 11:21:33 PM You said, "But Jen, IMO, answers your question quite clearly, God did not establish any one institution to be "The Church", but rather..."
And then you said: "So logically she must believe that God founded the Church."
Please don't quibble over plurals.
So where's the clarity in Jen's reply when even her defender can't get it straight?
29370. vonKreedon - 10/24/2008 11:21:33 PM Nope, she says:
"Well, Protestants believe that the body of believers constitutes Christ's 'church'. As far as God claiming that one denomination/branch is the exclusive, sanctioned church, I do not believe that."
So, she believes that the Church founded by God consists for the community of believers, but that no one denomination, say the Catholic Church, can claim divine sanction for its franchise. Seems quite clear to me. 29371. vonKreedon - 10/24/2008 11:22:28 PM Errata:
consists for the community
Should be:
consists of the community 29372. anomie - 10/24/2008 11:22:48 PM Oh for pete's sake. We cross posted. See mine above, it shows you were clearly confused. 29373. vonKreedon - 10/24/2008 11:24:04 PM Nope, you are. 29374. anomie - 10/24/2008 11:24:40 PM VK, stop it please. She didn't say "founded by God". You're just being silly now. I won't do this with you anymore. Sorry, but it's too exasperating. 29375. vonKreedon - 10/24/2008 11:25:54 PM Ok, maybe you're not confused, but the alternative at this point is that you're soo agenda focused that you are being deliberately obtuse.
And either way, this conversation can serve no purpose any longer... 29376. anomie - 10/24/2008 11:54:23 PM VK, I didn't mind you saying I was confused. My "stop it please", was to your 29370, where you misstated what she said, again.
My disappointment is that what could have been an interesting exchange just dies in a dispute over what was meant instead of relying on what was actually said or asked. I don't blame you so much as Jen. This is what she hoped for, and she has been silent while you fell on your sword. 29377. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 10/25/2008 12:18:37 AM My problem with Jen's pronouncements of faith are that they usually boil down to God's will, which to my mind (and Saint Augustine's), no one can ever know.
So when I offered up some empirical examples of atrocious, non-Christian behaviors--like the many videos above--in the hopes of getting her to, at least, acknowledge the blatant hypocrisy of so many self-proclaimed Christians, she always ignored the salient issues in the very same annoyingly evasive ways that anomie is complaining about.
She is clever, but she is also transparent in her evasiveness and unwillingness to concede the flagrant contradictions and inconsistencies in her thinking.
I suspect that she is just prideful, stubborn and clings to her faith out of fear and habit of mind. Otherwise, she would be able to articulate her doubts and conflicted assumptions--like any other honest seeker of divine love. 29378. anomie - 10/25/2008 12:51:04 AM That's pretty well said. Although I like Jen,(I like you Jen), prideful and stubborn as she is, she can be exasperating as hell in a discussion, especially a discussion she doesn't want to have.
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