LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY raven_moon)

In following up an article posted here recently, I ended up browsing the IRD website. The section titles “Outrageous Quotes” caught my eye, since I could see nothing outrageous at all in the one that appeared in the sidebar on the home page.

What follows is some of the quotes that were listed as Outrageous. The fact that I agree whole-heartedly with several of them, is both funny, and really sad....

---

“Before the tsunami, many Buddhists thought that Christians were trying to convert the Buddhists by our social service. But our tsunami relief work has started removing that fear.”

- The Rev. Lesley Weerasinghe, Methodist pastor in the southern port city of Galle, Sri Lanka, where more than 4,000 people perished during the tsunami of December 2004.

---

“All atonement theories root in a sense of human alienation and with it a sense of human powerlessness. “Without Thee we can do nothing good!” So we develop legends about the God who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. . . . As we Christians tell the story of Jesus’ dying for our sins in doctrine, hymns and liturgy, we quite unknowingly turn God into an ogre, a deity who practices child sacrifice and a guilt-producing figure, who tells us that our sinfulness is the cause of the death of Jesus. God did it to him instead of to us who deserved it. Somehow that is supposed to make it both antiseptic and worthwhile. It doesn’t. I think we can and must break the power of these images.”

- The Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong, Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Newark (Ret.).

---

“When a novelist plays fast and loose with the facts it’s called entertainment.  When religion plays fast and loose with the facts it’s called doctrine.”

- Vince Isner, director of faithfulamerica.org, a program of the National Council of Churches dedicated to promoting a liberal political agenda.  The remarks are a response to the controversy surrounding the release of the movie, The Da Vinci Code.

---

“Buddhists are amazing because they are so humble. They are an example of a non-judgmental religion. There is no concept of sin. They accept people as they are.”

- Dr Manoj Kurian, Coordinator of HIV and AIDS programs for the World Council of Churches, promoting Buddhism as a model for Christians in dealing with AIDS.  Dr. Kurian was speaking at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

---

Granted, some of the items listed seem a little fringe, like the one claiming that churches are run by converted Jews for the purpose of controlling america, or the group that is claiming Jesus was gay. But the majority of these statements are reasonable, rational, compassionate sentiments... Seems like reason, rationalism and compassion are outrageous. Who knew?

HERE is the page for the quotes for 2006. LInks to other years are at the bottom.

(X-posted to my own journal)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY mysticknyght)

It's easy for Fundigelicals to scare off kids:

In 2002, the SBC's Council on Family Life reported that roughly 88 percent of evangelical children are leaving the church shortly after they graduate from high school. Dr. Frank Page, the denomination's new president, says SBC churches need to counter that statistic by finding ways to make themselves more relatable, more pertinent and significant to students before they graduate.

Here's the part I like, though. OK, I know this is Agape Press, but look at this graf:

Even though Christian students are under attack for their beliefs in many public schools today, Page believes those who are firmly grounded in their faith can have a "salt and light" influence on their peers and teachers. Nevertheless, the SBC president says his prayer is that more churches will begin offering Christian schools, both for families who can and for those who cannot afford such education.

They're able to write this "we're under attack" shit so casually. Tell a lie enough times...

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY cheap_laugh)

Religion Questioned A website that has some in an absolute snit.... for obvious reasons.

some excellent rebuttal points

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY cheap_laugh)

stories like this:
"Jesus! It's a Comedy"

AMMAN - Italian commercial television network Mediaset is in Jordan shooting a two-part romantic comedy on the life of Jesus, the Royal Film Commission said on Monday.


“The Holy Family”, starring newcomer Brando Pacitto as Jesus, Alessandro Gassman as Joseph and Ana Caterina Morariu as Mary, is being directed by Italy’s Raffaele Mertes, who has made several religious productions.

The two-part TV film “seeks to narrate the human side and the inter-relationships between Joseph, Mary and Jesus, starting with the rough, gruff but good-hearted 40-year-old carpenter who falls in love with a girl many years his junior,” Jordan’s Royal Film Commission said.

“The work is a romantic comedy centered on the great love story between Mary and Joseph,” it added.

Where IS the Religious Right on this one?
x-posted to cheap_laugh