Wednesday, December 17, 2014
St. Crispina
Crispina was a Christian martyr, beheaded by the Romans for refusing to worship their gods. At her trial she said, "A religion that inflicts torture on those who do not adhere to it is not a religion." The Romans had all the political and military power. Christianity had none. Jump ahead about a thousand years, and some dissenters burned at the stake by the Catholic Church could make the same quote. When an Institution has power and its dissenters have none, religion brooks no dissent. So when we condemn various groups of Islam for their tyranny today, we might also remember, those of us who profess a connection to Christianity, that we have been there and done that. It is correct to say that something is wrong, but not to be so judgmental as to say, "Well, we would never do that."
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I am bothered that people lack compassion about Stephen Hawking. He is a genius wrapped up in a shriveled body who spits in our eye about not believing in God. Let's see his wife left him and his ability to communicate is just about gone. Would you not be a little ticked. He did say that if we could begin to understand the universe, we could understand the mind of God. Or do we practice "convenient compassion." What was you said about we all have value.
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