Comments for Fear Not: What does virtual rumor-mongering say about Christians? at http://www.abpnews.com , comment 0 to 11 out of 11 comments http://www.abpnews.com Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:18:53 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2635 I am pleased to see such a thoughtful piece about the thoughtless actions that are so common in public political activity today. I am curious about two things though: (1) you attempt to differentiate between "Christians" and "the population at large," presumably in the USA. Given that 80% of Americans identify as Christian, what is the difference between these two groups? Do you mean to differentiate between "Baptists" and the general population? I suppose you could make a case there, since only about 16% of Americans identify (at least in the 1990s) as Baptist. (2) You described Obama's mother as "freethinking," giving this as a reason why her son was so strongly distrusted by Christians. I find it curious, and sad, that in the 21st century, the followers of one of the most free thinking men in the history of the west would find such distrust in that practice. - sweet spot Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:56:53 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2642 An interesting piece. I would like to ask you also to consider why it is that self-avowed Christians should find it acceptable to spread the vilest slanders and lies about gay men and women. Is it because they don't know any better? The filth being spread by people like Peter LaBarbera is appalling and extremely damaging to decent men and women trying to live their lives in an open, honest and productive manner. I also wonder how it is that these same self-avowed Christians know so little about the Bible and what it was that Jesus actually taught. This piece warns of the damage being done by the torrent of lies currently being spewed about our president. Let's hope it's not too little too late. It might also be time to look into other areas where a similar kind of ignorance and/or hypocrisy would seem to operate. - Jaker Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:02:36 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2644 Maybe I'm confused, but when was religion NOT about rumor-mongering and fear-mongering? Isn't that the entire point of religion? Where would religion, especially the big 3, be without fear and rumors? From rumors of a virgin birth to rumors of a resurrection to rumors of a vengeful god who would one day destroy the earth (and has completely flooded it at least once before), rumor-mongering and fear-mongering seem to me to be the most important feature of the major religions. - dirtygreek Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:23:40 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2645 "Tillman said Christians should learn the “put off” and “put on” pattern of behavior the Apostle Paul taught in the New Testament." This comment says a lot. As Christians, we must consider how we present ourselves to the world. We want to reflect Jesus Christ and not come across as some hair-brained loose canon looking to bash someone or cry wolf because we think there may be a wolf. I would like to recommend that a big part of the solution to this problem is for us to become more like Jesus Christ. He is not only Lord and Savior, but also a role model. There is now available a Bible study series titled Getting To Know Jesus that studies every event in the life and teachings of Jesus. The more we know about Jesus, the more we will become like Him and the more we will be an effective witness to the world around us. By Getting To Know Jesus, we will be more concious of our witness. We will become less involved in pursuing imaginary or already dead foes and more involved in showing the love and truth of God in our lives. - gmc4jesus Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:23:56 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2646 Dirtygreek, it's not accurate to think that Christianity is about rumor-mongering. Read the gospel accounts of the period after the resurrection and you'll see that the early Christians were at pains to explain why the story of Jesus' return from the dead was factual. They cite the numbers of witnesses who met him and describe specific incidents to show that the story was true, not just a rumor. These accounts wouldn't necessarily stand up in a modern court, but they show that the early Christians were concerned about truth-telling and tried hard to practice it. - kweberlit Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:00:49 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2647 So many "Christians" find rumor mongering an easier way to express their "faith" than living out the true Christ-life. Living as true disciples of Jesus is way to inconvenient for most. They want Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. Also it reinforces what they already want to believe. - Nabhi Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:06:53 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2649 I find it interesting that those who defend Christianity also refuse to speak up about the plan by Christians to rewrite the bible and remove the 'liberal' elements from certain sections of the New Testament. You know, the ones where Jesus preaches to love your neighbors and help the poor and not seek to enrich yourself at the expense of others. Yep, those are way to liberal. There should be more references to killing non-believers and screwing over the poor to get more rich. That was what Jesus really meant. It's so easy for everyone to just dismiss those people as crazy but without the religious communities speaking up and condemning these fools, you just set yourself up for more ridicule and hatred by those that don't believe as you believe. Starting standing up for everyone (gays, atheists, women and evolutionists) and call out the morons (bible rewriters) and you'll find support from many who don't currently support you. Sitting on your hands just gets you lumped in with all the fools. - JC8 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:58:03 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2658 This little article should be at the top of every website like this one. It should be on church reading lists and passed out at youth meetings. I don't think most Christians are aware of just how destructive this behavior is to America. Allowing your fellow Christians to enable liars does nothing to further causes of Christianity or democracy. One could even argue that enabling a liar isn't that far removed from being a liar, and you know someone is paying attention to that. Please share this article with everyone you can. America needs it. - Eric P. Metze Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:38:57 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2702 I noticed the writers were willing to trash Fox News for a story the writers consider false, but what of the other broadcast news channels or cable news channels? If Fox errors does that mean we can never trust them and we can trust the others? For that matter, why should we trust Snopes? If we forward emails it is because we trust our friends, and now we are told by two men not to trust them either. While I appreciate their good intentions, they really aren't giving me any reason to trust them, and maybe some reason to distrust their reasons for writing. Our duly elected president was not properly scrutinized before the election by the press that we count on for such things. The birth certificate issue should have been resolved, but no, they left it hanging with just a good-enough. What of the requirements to get into the Muslim school in Indonesia, schooling years for an impressionable young boy? Did he have to be declared a Muslim by his parents on the admission form? Were Islam classes a required part of the curriculum? How about the 20 years Mr Obama and his family spent sitting in a Christian church where the senior paster routinely denounced America? Are we supposed to dismiss all these questions as mere 'rumors' just because they reflect badly on a man who took an oath to protect and defend our way of life? This article just goes to show how hard it is to present a fair and balanced story about our current president. It does not mean that we are to distance ourselves from the subject because we are still responsible for judging the best person for the job with the best information we have available at the time. I would see what these guys have to say, but would go looking for the other 98 cents needed to do the job right. - Roses, WA Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:09:42 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2943 "Our duly elected president was not properly scrutinized before the election by the press that we count on for such things. The birth certificate issue should have been resolved, but no, they left it hanging with just a good-enough." Yeah like the McCain campaign didn't spend millions of dollars looking into the matter and other rumours. Oh wait they did and thought the claims he wasn't born in Hawaii were absolete nonsense. The gov of Hawaii was a Republican who supported McCain and she said Obama was born in Hawaii. The claims he wasn't born in Hawaii are based on misunderstandings of Hawaiian law regarding birth certificates which aren't public documents and several other states do this as well. It counts down on identity fraud when birth certificates aren't public records. A COLB is a birth certificate and several states only hand out COLBs. This is because the other offical term for a birth certificate is a certificate of fetal death. Hence the live birth part of the certificate. Also the law allowing foreign born children to get a Hawaiian birth certificate (once again several states also allow this) was passed in 1983 and isn't retroactive. This was done so American citizens who had children abroad which are several million (due to military families serving overseas, and Americans living abroad which are also several million) didn't have to bug the federal gov't about getting a birth certificate whenever they needed it. The requirement for Hawaii and the other states to register a foreign born birth is that it must be to an American citizen who at least was able to prove resideance in that state for at least one year. Oh Obama or his parents would have had to shown his birth certificate numerous times in his life for example to enroll in school, get a driver's license, get any sort of gov't assistance, get into university, get a passport, as well as having his birth certificate and other creditionals examined when he became a State Senator and a US Senator and finnally when he was running for President. Since he at numerous times due to being the third most powerfull US Senator on several commitees who had classified breifings done by the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency and so on they would have investigated his birth certificate in order to get the security clearance. Also as President he has a above top secret security clearance. To get near the President say for a photo op often times they have a huge background check where their relatives, friends who had they decades ago are interogated for hours about them. This check takes weeks. You think they don't check the guy who is going to run for office even deeper? " Islam classes a required part of the curriculum? How about the 20 years Mr Obama and his family spent sitting in a Christian church where the senior paster routinely denounced America? " Why aren't you asking these questions about people who went to church in which Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson preached in because I often heard far worse from them then the Reverend Wright. Oh wait the Rev is black so anything he says that is taken out of context is automatically scary! Oh btw Obama attended two schools in Indonesia. One was run by Catholics. The other was a public school that had buddhists, Catholics, Muslims and other religions represented as well as people who weren't religious. It was secular. - Damon from Alabama Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:06:32 +0100 http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4496&Itemid=53#pc_2944 "For that matter, why should we trust Snopes? If we forward emails it is because we trust our friends, and now we are told by two men not to trust them either. While I appreciate their good intentions, they really aren't giving me any reason to trust them, and maybe some reason to distrust their reasons for writing." There is a thing called referances and the ability to check them out to make sure the person refering to them is correct about what the referances say. That is why people tend to trust snopes over chain emails that fall apart when any fact checking is applied. This is why people with logic and sense don't trust global warming deniers, Intelligent Design advocates, Creationists. All of those groups when they have their claims checked out are found to have lied, misquoted, to advance their cause. It's why they keep losing in courts of law when challenging the teaching of evolution. "I noticed the writers were willing to trash Fox News for a story the writers consider false, but what of the other broadcast news channels or cable news channels? If Fox errors does that mean we can never trust them and we can trust the others? " Fox News you may want to look up the court rulings they were involved with. Even William Randolph Hearst would be envious of Fox News. If you don't know that name do some research no one with sense trusts the words of Preachers, Reporters or Politicans without doing any strigent fact checking. It's also being called an adult that you accept that people can lie and often times can repeat things without knowing they are spreading lies. Only a child is harmed by the revelation that he has been lied to. - Damon from Alabama Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:09:43 +0100