There is little that differentiates the Muslim religion from the Christian religion, or any religion for that matter: at the heart of all religion is an assumption of “perfect knowledge” and “divinely-inspired truth”. As this truth cannot be tested or proven, all religions are just as probable as the next. Therefore, what really matters are the principles of a religion, and how close they conform to other religions’ principles. The assumption is that all religious teaching could be boiled down to the most commonly-accepted ideas and principles, they could be distilled through secular moral codes and legal principles, and we could come to a “close-enough” set of what are most likely the “best practices” set of ideas that everyone should follow with the idea being that all the religions can’t be wrong (there has to be some purpose to life). Outside of these principles, religions might as well throw out their ceremony, doctrine, dogma, and codes in favor of a more spiritual and personal connection with “God” and a few, well-worn principles with which to live by.
Questions for thought:
1) What makes the Christian religion different than other religions?
2) Why should Christians believe "their" absolute Truth over another religions' absolute Truth?
3) What does our belief provide us, on a practical level (if anything)?
4) Is there an argument that Christianity is much more valid than other religions (based on historical record, pragmatic efficiency, quality of principles, etc.)?
5) If an alien landed on the Earth, how would you convince it that Christianity was the Truth?
6) What is the purpose of religious ceremony?
7) Are the things that separate Presbyterian teachings from other Christian teachings that important? If some are, which ones, and why?
8) If a Moslem follows the tenets of Islam as best he/she can, do you think they will get to "heaven"? Is that something humans should even debate/talk about? Does it matter what we think?
9) If you had to imagine a "higher" purpose for our existence (why we are here on this planet) that had nothing to do with our religion, what would it be? Does religion "only" attempt to answer "the why" of it all (our purpose)? What do you say to those who argue for a "purposeless existence?
10) Is it really possible to gauge the essence of God through reading The Bible? Outside of The Bible, what other things can we use to investigate God, our religion, and our purpose on this Earth (if anything)?
Sunday, December 7, 2008
What is a “Red Cell” and why do we need one?
A “Red Cell” is a military term that is used to describe a small group of people who work on a plan for the enemy in order to test the friendly plan and to allow a reaction capability when our military units run simulations and exercises. It could be as simple as two people describing what the enemy would most likely do once our forces take an action. It could be as complicated as a large group inputting data, troop movements, and decisions into a computer simulation. What it does is to add a thinking element against a friendly force’s plans and insert unanticipated circumstances into exercises- in short, making our units stronger, more effective, and able to adjust to the complexity of real warfare much better.
A “Red Cell” in religious terms would be much the same as it is in military terms. Imagine Satan as an enemy that acts through surrogates- associates who try to get you to cheat, “friends” who encourage you to lie, secularists who articulate their worldview much better than we do. In order to better defeat these surrogates, we must hone our beliefs into a strong weapon, able to make mincemeat out of any attack on our belief system. A believer should not only know what is in scripture, but he or she must understand how “the enemy” can attack those verses. We must stay one step ahead of the opposition, or risk the loss of parts of our team to stronger-sounding ideas.
Our faith is strong as it is backed up by the Word and hundreds of years of practice and belief. But we must anticipate the actions of those who would destroy or slowly erode what we believe. I propose the establishment of a First Pres of Leavenworth “Red Cell” and encourage all who wish for a deeper understanding of our faith to read the monthly posts, think about them, research and have discussions in order to better counter the ideas, and ultimately come away with perhaps a stronger grasp of why we believe what we believe.
The motto of our Red Cell will be, “To Question All Assumptions”, with the idea being that if we don’t, we won’t be prepared when others do. I invite all to join “The Red Cell” of First Pres.
A “Red Cell” in religious terms would be much the same as it is in military terms. Imagine Satan as an enemy that acts through surrogates- associates who try to get you to cheat, “friends” who encourage you to lie, secularists who articulate their worldview much better than we do. In order to better defeat these surrogates, we must hone our beliefs into a strong weapon, able to make mincemeat out of any attack on our belief system. A believer should not only know what is in scripture, but he or she must understand how “the enemy” can attack those verses. We must stay one step ahead of the opposition, or risk the loss of parts of our team to stronger-sounding ideas.
Our faith is strong as it is backed up by the Word and hundreds of years of practice and belief. But we must anticipate the actions of those who would destroy or slowly erode what we believe. I propose the establishment of a First Pres of Leavenworth “Red Cell” and encourage all who wish for a deeper understanding of our faith to read the monthly posts, think about them, research and have discussions in order to better counter the ideas, and ultimately come away with perhaps a stronger grasp of why we believe what we believe.
The motto of our Red Cell will be, “To Question All Assumptions”, with the idea being that if we don’t, we won’t be prepared when others do. I invite all to join “The Red Cell” of First Pres.
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