A few of points on the outsourcing/conversion discussion

[Guest guest]

Namah Shivaya,

 

1. It was the Catholic Church, not "Christians", who maintained the

agenda to convert-or-destroy across Europe and the Americas.

 

2. Most Christians are not trying to avoid the wrath of God. If you

read the New Testament, Jesus communicated the New Covenant between

God and his followers. He became like a Mother and Father full of

love and compassion, not wrath. The wrathful God is from the pre-

Christ Old Testament.

 

3. I believe the ancient Egyptians were "wiped out" because they

(Cleopatra and her consort Marc Anthony) lost the war waged on them

by Rome (led by Marc Antony's former best mate Octavius). Neither

Antony nor Octavius were Christian; if anything they followed ancient

Roman traditions. It's a "small" point in this conversation, but it's

come up a couple of times and I thought I'd share what I've learned

about it. Rome was not Christian until about 350AD under the rule of

Constantine.

 

4. Not all Christians are closed-minded. Not all turn away when you

tell them about Amma. There is not one kind of Hindu, one kind of

Christian, etc. And I've met plenty of Indian Hindus who roll their

eyes when I mention Amma.

 

In other words, we (Hindus, Christians, Jains, Amma Devotees, Jews,

etc.) are all INDIVIDUALS on a spiritual path. For some individuals,

that means joining a group, but that doesn't MAKE them the group.

 

I only bring this up because I think it's important to avoid stamping

these stereotypes on folks. By doing so, aren't we also criticizing

and proselytising an Amma-devotee-centric perspective on other

religions?

 

I submit that Christians are as diverse a group as we.

 

Om Siva

Om Jesus

Om Amma

 

Gabriela

[Guest guest]

Not to get way off-topic here...but your contrast between the "Old Testament"

[Jewish]

G-d as "wrathful" and the "New Testament" [Christian] G-d as loving and

compassionate is one that always disturbs me. Yes, we see examples of wrath in

the

Hebrew scriptures, but we also see examples of deep love and compassion. This is

also the kind of problem you see when you take the scriptures out of the context

in

which they have been understood. Yes, in the Hebrew scriptures, there is an

emphasis

on justice and righteousness, but there is also an emphasis on chesed

(lovingkindness) and Divine mercy (e.g., the 13 attributes of mercy, the loving

image

of G-d carrying us on eagles' wings, the story of Jonah). Similarly, the Qu'ran

contains,

on the surface, both profoundly wrathful and profoundly compassionate passages

--

and it would be reductionistic to characterize Allah as simply "wrathful" on

that basis.

 

You make an important point about not stereotyping individuals...and it's also

important not to stereotype religions or their scriptures.

 

Namah shivaya,

Iswari

 

Ammachi, "Gabriela" <gabriela1027> wrote:

 

> 1. It was the Catholic Church, not "Christians", who maintained the

> agenda to convert-or-destroy across Europe and the Americas.

>

> 2. Most Christians are not trying to avoid the wrath of God. If you

> read the New Testament, Jesus communicated the New Covenant between

> God and his followers. He became like a Mother and Father full of

> love and compassion, not wrath. The wrathful God is from the pre-

> Christ Old Testament.

>

> 3. I believe the ancient Egyptians were "wiped out" because they

> (Cleopatra and her consort Marc Anthony) lost the war waged on them

> by Rome (led by Marc Antony's former best mate Octavius). Neither

> Antony nor Octavius were Christian; if anything they followed ancient

> Roman traditions. It's a "small" point in this conversation, but it's

> come up a couple of times and I thought I'd share what I've learned

> about it. Rome was not Christian until about 350AD under the rule of

> Constantine.

>

> 4. Not all Christians are closed-minded. Not all turn away when you

> tell them about Amma. There is not one kind of Hindu, one kind of

> Christian, etc. And I've met plenty of Indian Hindus who roll their

> eyes when I mention Amma.

>

> In other words, we (Hindus, Christians, Jains, Amma Devotees, Jews,

> etc.) are all INDIVIDUALS on a spiritual path. For some individuals,

> that means joining a group, but that doesn't MAKE them the group.

>

> I only bring this up because I think it's important to avoid stamping

> these stereotypes on folks. By doing so, aren't we also criticizing

> and proselytising an Amma-devotee-centric perspective on other

> religions?

>

> I submit that Christians are as diverse a group as we.

>

> Om Siva

> Om Jesus

> Om Amma

>

> Gabriela

[Guest guest]

Namah Shivaya,

 

I did not say that in the Old Testament God is not

loving, only that in the New Testament God is not

wrathful.

 

Gabriela

 

 

--- ammasiswari <ammasiswari wrote:

> Not to get way off-topic here...but your contrast

> between the "Old Testament" [Jewish]

> G-d as "wrathful" and the "New Testament"

> [Christian] G-d as loving and

> compassionate is one that always disturbs me. Yes,

> we see examples of wrath in the

> Hebrew scriptures, but we also see examples of deep

> love and compassion. This is

> also the kind of problem you see when you take the

> scriptures out of the context in

> which they have been understood. Yes, in the Hebrew

> scriptures, there is an emphasis

> on justice and righteousness, but there is also an

> emphasis on chesed

> (lovingkindness) and Divine mercy (e.g., the 13

> attributes of mercy, the loving image

> of G-d carrying us on eagles' wings, the story of

> Jonah). Similarly, the Qu'ran contains,

> on the surface, both profoundly wrathful and

> profoundly compassionate passages --

> and it would be reductionistic to characterize Allah

> as simply "wrathful" on that basis.

>

> You make an important point about not stereotyping

> individuals...and it's also

> important not to stereotype religions or their

> scriptures.

>

> Namah shivaya,

> Iswari

>

> Ammachi, "Gabriela"

> <gabriela1027> wrote:

>

> > 1. It was the Catholic Church, not "Christians",

> who maintained the

> > agenda to convert-or-destroy across Europe and the

> Americas.

> >

> > 2. Most Christians are not trying to avoid the

> wrath of God. If you

> > read the New Testament, Jesus communicated the New

> Covenant between

> > God and his followers. He became like a Mother and

> Father full of

> > love and compassion, not wrath. The wrathful God

> is from the pre-

> > Christ Old Testament.

> >

> > 3. I believe the ancient Egyptians were "wiped

> out" because they

> > (Cleopatra and her consort Marc Anthony) lost the

> war waged on them

> > by Rome (led by Marc Antony's former best mate

> Octavius). Neither

> > Antony nor Octavius were Christian; if anything

> they followed ancient

> > Roman traditions. It's a "small" point in this

> conversation, but it's

> > come up a couple of times and I thought I'd share

> what I've learned

> > about it. Rome was not Christian until about

> 350AD under the rule of

> > Constantine.

> >

> > 4. Not all Christians are closed-minded. Not all

> turn away when you

> > tell them about Amma. There is not one kind of

> Hindu, one kind of

> > Christian, etc. And I've met plenty of Indian

> Hindus who roll their

> > eyes when I mention Amma.

> >

> > In other words, we (Hindus, Christians, Jains,

> Amma Devotees, Jews,

> > etc.) are all INDIVIDUALS on a spiritual path. For

> some individuals,

> > that means joining a group, but that doesn't MAKE

> them the group.

> >

> > I only bring this up because I think it's

> important to avoid stamping

> > these stereotypes on folks. By doing so, aren't

> we also criticizing

> > and proselytising an Amma-devotee-centric

> perspective on other

> > religions?

> >

> > I submit that Christians are as diverse a group as

> we.

> >

> > Om Siva

> > Om Jesus

> > Om Amma

> >

> > Gabriela

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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