All4one said:
Much like healing. Many believe Jesus can heal so why can't eveyone go around healing? He has led a few into deeper truths of the same thing. Like studding a subject in history as we get deeper we find more and more about things.
We're kind of getting into apologetics or comparative religion, but we're being
so civil....
Many do believe that Jesus can heal. How the healing occured is a matter of
theology. Some might say Jesus did it because he IS God, others might say
because he solicited God for the healing. I've seen both points of view over
the years. As far as why everyone can't go around healing, that depends
on the religion. Healing something through solicitous prayer is still healing.
Are you referencing someone having the internal mechanism to heal
others all by themselves? There are people who identify as Christians who
do exactly that. There are also shamans, practitioners of eastern medicine,
mystics of various cultures, gnostics, and pagans who do that, each with
their own mechanism of doing it.
I'm reminded of a joke. The joke is usually explicit about the religion of the
three people in the boat, but for the sake of maintaining the civility we have
going on, let's just let it be said that the three are of different religions.
Persons X, Y, and Z, all respected leaders in their different faiths, decided to
go on a fishing trip. They'd known each other for years, and had both a
healthy professional respect for each other, as well as a friendship for each
other as people. The fishing trip, they figured, would be a good way to relax
after various professional functions. So, they go to the lake, load the rods
and tackle into the boat, and set off into the water. Lunchtime rolls around,
and the three are getting hungry. They look around, and realize the cooler
is not in the boat. They look back to shore and sure enough, the cooler
is on the shore. X starts the engine, which dies immediately. No gas. Very
frustrating. Z then stands up, steps out of the boat, and walks back to shore
on the surface of the water, barely getting Z's feet wet. Y stands up, looks
down, steps out of the boat, and walks back to shore, barely getting Y's feet
wet. X is rather disturbed by this. X decides since they could do it, X
could too. X stands up, steps out of the boat, completely submerges into
the rather cold water, hollers a bit about that, then begins swimming back
to shore. While watching X swim, Y turns to Z and says "Guess X didn't
see the rocks just below the surface." Z says "What rocks?"
Three people, same situation, same need, different mechanics of resolution.
Now, to try to get this back on topic, Christians who identify as "pro-life"
in the matter of abortion tend to state that the fetus is a person, with
equal rights as the mother, thus it's murder. Earlier in this thread I posted
a link to an article wherein representatives from other faiths gave their
point of view. Some said the morality of abortion should be judged on a case
by case basis. One faith, Judaism, has members who've taken the point
of view that the fetus is certainly a potential person, but since the mother
is a "full" person, the mother has legal superiority until birth, when the fetus
is a "full" person. Pagans, in my observation, tend to believe the option of
a legal abortion, whether they'd get one or not, should be available, with it
ultimately decided by the mother, whatever faith she is, and based in her
morality and any advice she's been given or solicited. Same issue, is it
right to have an abortion, different points of view with correspondingly
different mechanics of resolution. Now, pro-lifers, in particular Christian
pro-lifers, tend to present their religion, or morality, as part and parcel of
their stance against abortion. I recognize the Christian stance that their
point of view is "IT". But an enforcing of morality from a certain group and
establishing as the
only morality leads to conflict, as Christian history (first
millienium "heretics," Protestant movement, Mormons and other branches,
etc.) shows. I'd much rather see the option be available, and Christians
actively counsel and help people who seek their help, than the pro-life
movement force a standardized morality onto people, particularly in a country
that allows the freedoms we have. I'd rather see Christians act in love than
hate. Stop telling people what they're doing is wrong, and listen to why
they're doing it. They can't afford it? Give them money, or help them fill
out aid forms. They don't want it? Help them figure out if adoption is viable.
They're concerned about their health or the health of the fetus? Offer to
help with medical care, and be willing to say "Okay." when they say no.
Put down the signs and the posters and the banners, and open your arms in
love. Don't scream your hate, whisper your love. Act like Matthew 6:1-6.
And don't openly advocate killing the medical staff at the clininc.
