tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post3237102202655998184..comments2023-10-15T10:32:17.331+01:00Comments on Tales from a Draughty Old Fen: epithets and officersFrugal Dougalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-86537443896873790342009-01-23T09:44:00.000+00:002009-01-23T09:44:00.000+00:00I take your point - I didn't make it clear I was r...I take your point - I didn't make it clear I was referring to the so-called "old religion" as it is now practiced in Europe, with, for example, large helpings of a paganized version of the Jewish Caballah, which you'd have to be very literate to understand.Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-35659568583352917792009-01-22T23:53:00.000+00:002009-01-22T23:53:00.000+00:00We have a pretty good idea of what constituted May...We have a pretty good idea of what constituted Mayan paganism. (They were not illiterate.) I remember that an expert in the field (don't remember her name) protested against the "bad rap" that Aztec and Mayan civilizations got, saying that they weren't a bunch of barbarians, but highly civilized peoples. Unfortunately, the two are not mutually exclusive conditions. Live human sacraments were an integral part of their religion - and the victims were non-consenting.Pam H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01223991201236433802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-63044223762910118952009-01-21T22:26:00.000+00:002009-01-21T22:26:00.000+00:00I see what you mean - like the gods of the Etrusca...I see what you mean - like the gods of the Etruscans fed the demonology of the Romans who succeeded them, etc and so on. <BR/><BR/>The gods some pagans think they worship seem rather demonic - the three-faced mother goddess and her consort, the horned god. They say it's the "old religion", but in truth we have no idea of what constituted pre-enlightenment paganism, as most of its practitioners were illiterate, and the Enlightenment stamped that particular belief out in a not very enlightened way.Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-47409643715557153692009-01-20T23:58:00.000+00:002009-01-20T23:58:00.000+00:00I only questioned whether it was the same god as o...I only questioned whether it was the same god as ours because some civilizations' "gods" were not gods at all, but, if anything, demons. More than a twisted perception....<BR/>Just wanted to clear that up.Pam H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01223991201236433802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-73936759244418925602009-01-20T21:24:00.000+00:002009-01-20T21:24:00.000+00:00Linda, I hear you and no mistake. What so-called ...Linda, I hear you and no mistake. What so-called multiculturalists don't realise is that the recipients of our tolerance aren't always tolerant themselves. There's a bridge in Cambridge with a fresco that says "diversity and respect in our community". In my opinion it's almost right, except that the "and" should be changed to an "or".Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-31261090374234448442009-01-20T14:18:00.000+00:002009-01-20T14:18:00.000+00:00It is the Westerner who does not think we should c...It is the Westerner who does not think we should call the Muslim radical, because of our constant montra of "tolerence". How can we tolerate a radical after all? So we soften the edges to make it all acceptable. <BR/>The basic tenants of Islam are quite radical. Their goal is not 'justification', as that is obtained at birth into Islam. The goal is to create a world of Islam, with no other belief system acceptable. THAT is radical. <BR/>They worship the same God, because there is only one God. However, the interpretation they have of God is twisted and molded into their story. The One True God became Man-- Jesus Christ. They do not recognise that, so... they do not see God as He truly is.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05290534151500649637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-56870037722879477732009-01-14T23:41:00.000+00:002009-01-14T23:41:00.000+00:00I kinda think, from talking to them, that some Mus...I kinda think, from talking to them, that some Muslims worship the same God as Christianity professes, but it looks to me like some of them worship a spirit of a different ilk. I'm not sure which is the true Muslim faith.Pam H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01223991201236433802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-20431084478639384022009-01-14T17:25:00.000+00:002009-01-14T17:25:00.000+00:00I agree - I read another book which had as its tit...I agree - I read another book which had as its title CS Lewis's paraphrase of something St Thomas More said - "Mad, Bad or God".<BR/><BR/>In the Koran, when Adam and Eve ask for forgiveness, Allah restores them to their former state, so the history of Salvation's out the window, as is the need for Baptism (Islam is inherited at birth). <BR/><BR/>Muslims don't have the Old Testament of sacrifice through animals - although some "folk Islam" traditions in, eg, Iran and Bangladesh say that the sacrifices of chickens will help them be saved, but you just can't go anywhere theologically with that - so there's no understanding of Jesus as the "Lamb of God". They don't believe that somebody can bear somebody (or everybody) else's sins, so the Atonement is out. Allah is a distant figure with whom Muslim's don't see themselves as having a personal relationship, hance the title of Bilquis Sheikh's book on her conversion from Islam to Christianity, "I dared to call Him Father".<BR/><BR/>As you indicate, the ignorance of many Muslims towards Christ is often of the wilful variety. When people say that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, they've got a bit of the truth (eg one ex-Muslim said that his conversion to Christianity was like changing a black-and-white TV for a colour one), but they're sweeping an awful lot under the carpet.Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-16070626922884292562009-01-13T13:34:00.000+00:002009-01-13T13:34:00.000+00:00If Jesus is not "the only One who is the Way, the ...If Jesus is not "the only One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life", then that makes Him a liar. Because He said He was. He also said, "NO ONE comes to the Father except through Me." He said, many times, that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. Sometimes He refused to say it (such as to the pharisees, because they wouldn't believe, and His time had not yet come, and to His disciples, because He didn't want people making a king of Him, but to come to Him based on their own faith), but He said it to others, throughout the scriptures, and especially to the High Priest the night He was crucified, because it was time. I hate that argument the Muslims use, because it shows complete ignorance of Christ, and they patently refuse to learn. As Frank Sheed says in his book "To Know Christ Jesus", if Jesus is not the Son of God, then He is NOT a "holy man" but rather either a liar or a madman.Pam H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01223991201236433802noreply@blogger.com