Philosophy, Ideology, Religion & Knowing The Difference

Once again, this is an article that's been rattling around in the ol'computer for awhile and I finally managed to take sometime outta my day to down and actually outline this puppy, write it out and post it for your consumption. The origins of this articles dates back to a few years ago when I made the argument that Scientology IS NOT a religion. I understand that in some countries (aside from Germany, well done) consider Scientology a religion but I took immediate issue with this because "religion", the very definition of the word carries with several things that Scientology does not have. Also many Scientologists claim that Scientology is compatible with all religions. THIS IS FALSE! But we're not here to talk about Scientology, exactly, we're here to discuss religion, philosophy and ideologies and knowing the difference between them. So let's dive in!

The Plight Of A Black American Christian

This article after my previous article has been a LONG time coming, and because of that I feel like this article is going to be very long, very wordy and very emotion driven, which is unfortunate because I try {keyword being: TRY} to be as objective as I possibly can be when dealing with topics that infuriate me but have a feeling that I won't be able to control my anger and frustration but I will make every attempt to do so as to not make this article a jumbled mess of angry rambling. I will make a note that a lot of this article comes from my own personal experience but nonetheless are troubling signs of larger issues that aren't only applicable to me.

Why It's Hard To Be Black & Christian in America...

This article I feel has been a LONG time coming and I feel like everything I've been thinking and feeling has led to this. Before I continue I should preamble a lot of things so you can understand where exactly I'm coming from, of course I'll be omitting a few bits and pieces of personal information. I am 25 years old, I will be 26 next month, I am African American, I am male. I grew up in a Fatherless home, I was raised by my Mother and Grandmother, both of which are light-skinned. My Grandmother was so light-skinned that many often mistook her for a White woman.

I am visibly African American as you've seen. My family is unfortunately a statistic, as my family was torn apart by the drug abuse of my father. Unfortunately I met him a few years back and was none too pleased with the reunion. Thankfully he is out of my life. I was raised in Detroit all my life around other African Americans and wasn't fully accepted by my peers due to my voice being a few octaves higher than it should be and the fact that my vocabulary and taste in music didn't sync up with theirs. I have not done drugs, I do not drink, heck, I don't even drink coffee. My mother is a worker at Ford and has been for a long time. We're living a middle class life and getting by day to day. We are also Christians. However recent events in American history have driven a wedge in America that hasn't existed since slavery.

Regarding "Pastor" Haynes...

So as I stated earlier in regards to the topic of Nominal Christianity, here is "Pastor" Fredrick D. Haynes III discussing President Obama's statement on Gay Marriage... I apologize for the length of this video but I had a lot to say and there was a lot of correcting to be done. Furthermore I will indeed be sending this link to "Pastor" Haynes and hopefully open a dialogue with him about his views. Below here is the original video and below that is my response. Enjoy and Peace in Christ.

The original Video


My Response

The Poor Reality Of America Today...

”While it’s great to listen to your kids’ ideas, there’s also a time when dads simply need to be dads. In this case, it would’ve been helpful for him to explain to Malia and Sasha that while her friends parents are no doubt lovely people, that’s not a reason to change thousands of years of thinking about marriage, Ideally, fathers help shape their kids’ worldview. In this situation, it was the other way around. I guess we can be glad that Malia and Sasha aren’t younger, or perhaps today’s press conference might have been about appointing Dora the Explorer as Attorney General because of her success in stopping Swiper the Fox, sometimes dads should lead their family in the right ways of thinking. In this case, it would’ve been nice if the President would’ve been an actual leader and helped shape their thoughts instead of merely reflecting what many teenagers think after one too many episodes of Glee.” - Bristol Palin

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, BUT it's a shame when an UNMARRIED Bristol Palin makes MORE sense than The President of the United States. Now I am NO Sarah Palin supporter, nor am I a supporter of The Tea Party or anything of that nature, BUT I can't deny that she's 100% correct (the little jab about "Dora The Explorer" aside) President Obama did indeed put the blame squarely on his children stating that it wouldn't occur to them that something was wrong with the relationships of their friends parents. Here in lies Bristol's point...it wouldn't occur to them BECAUSE YOU NEVER TAUGHT THEM!! President Obama has claimed Christianity time and time again and time and time again he's proven that he does NOT understand what it is he's claiming. To make matters worse MANY who call themselves Christians are going to look to President Obama as an example of a "Christian" who supports Gay Marriage, leading many to believe that you can be a Christian and support Gay Marriage...and YOU CANNOT because the 2 are UNARGUABLY INCOMPATIBLE!  

“I’m a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.” - President Barack Obama, Sept. 25, 2004 

I suppose we know what he means when he said he tries not to have his religious beliefs dominate or determine his political view. As Christianity is compatible with ANY political system that'll allow religious ideologies. You can be a Christian and a Democrat, you can be a Christian and a Republican, you can be a Christian and a Monarch, you can be a Christian with any sort of political affiliation but the one thing you CAN'T be is a Christian who is actively going against the Word of God. There's a word for people like that, it's called Hypocrite. I maybe selfish in saying what I'm about to say next but being African American myself I can't help but think what this is going to do for the African American community at large. Of course many of us are proud to have an African American in the White House however, when Racial Identity trumps God's Word, we have a problem. NOT THAT I AM ENDORSING MIT ROMNEY! Let's face it Romney's religious teaching profane marriage JUST AS BADLY AS HOMOSEXUALITY. But I see an even LARGER divide being driven between African Americans because of this...and that makes me very sad. This is just not a good week at all for the people of God. Peace in Christ, we can still pray for Obama's repentance and acceptance of what God has taught and affirmed SINCE THE BEGINNING. Pray for him and pray for Romney. Peace in Christ all!

UGH! SERIOUSLY TYT ?! SERIOUSLY ?!

^"22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. ²⁴ But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,"-Eph 5:22-25

 Do I REALLY have to jump down the throat of The Young Turks Today ? I believe I do. WHY because sometimes it just gives me a MAJOR headache when Non-Believers make attempts to put words in the mouth of The Bible from Christians and reapply them to mean something COMPLETELY different. Before I go on, I'd like to say that I don't care about Michelle Bachman at all. I'm a Christian (obviously) and Moderately Conservative and I wouldn't vote for her with a gun to my head. Just so we're clear.

Ana's interuptation of "Submissive" IS NOT what The Bible is saying. God does NOT want Women to be brainless servants with NO personality, NO say in anything, ect. ect. If Ana and Michael had ACTUALLY do research on the context of the text they'd see what I posted above.

"Husbands love your wives, AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH, HE GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR HER!"
Eph 5:25

Does that sound like a "GO MAKE ME A SANDWICH!" type situation ? The submission expressed in the text implies a mutual submission. As made further in Eph 5:28;

^"28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself"

That just said. LOVE YOUR WIFE AS YOUR OWN BODY! Does that sound like a BAD submissive relationship?  No, rather The Bible is telling Wives to submit to their Husband's authority. Not in a "ANYTHING HE SAYS GOES SENSE!" but as sign of respect. That is the man you chose to be Your Husband therefore you should listen to him. IF The Husband does love you as he loves his own body, he's going to want your input and your suggestions on things. THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE TO TELL WOMEN THAT THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT THEIR HUSBAND'S PERMISSION! If my girlfriend (hopefully wife, eventually) asked me for permission to do something I'd be confused and ask her "Why are you asking me ?" Granted, she'd never ask me because she knows that I respect her decisions and choices and vice versa.

From Ana's question I'm assuming that NOT ONCE did she even bother to read the rest of the verse Bachman quoted but instead used Bachman as a reference thinking that That's probably what the text is mandating. Michael however AT LEAST says that there are varying degrees of submission BUT STILL WHY CAN'T THEY ADDRESS THE REST OF THE TEXT?! The UNFORTUNATE thing is that by the end of this video they once again BLAME RELIGION and NOT their lack of Biblical Context, Reading Comprehension and Research Ability. And to make matter worse...people feed into this crap. *sigh* And people say that Christians are the dominate force in America ? Yeah...right.

THANK GOD, at least ONE BEACON OF HOPE HERE!