Most persons that call their selves Christians can read yet they do not know that a Christian is someone who acts like Christ. They also believe they know the will of God when only Jesus does and that will is to follow him. Yet they murder and lie in his name. So much for literacy.

I'm impressed; it must have taken about two swipes to paint up that strawman using such a broad, broad brush!

You've employed some of the vaguest generalities I've seen in quite a while to denigrate a whole bunch of people you ain't never met, accusing them in your next-to-last sentence of being full-on liars and killers. Most all the Christian folk (with a couple of admirable exceptions) are downright inept when it comes to either lyin' or killin'. I'm aquainted with folks of the Christian persuasion and they pretty much strike me as people trying to be true to themselves. Sorta like most everybody else.

I don't suppose you could give your post a little credibility and provide a couple of links that'd show how most all Christians are murderin' and prevaricatin' all over the place?

I am happy that you have met some people who act like Christ. Wish we had more. And yes I know real Christians. They are sure not for the Liars War going on and do not call their selves Christians. Only people that know them do. It is a sin to say you act like Christ and a shame. Only someone who has seen you act as Christ can call you that. Do no think Christ was like the liars and murderers that run our country or the people that continue to allow it to go on.

So then would you say literacy has increased or decreased the occurance of Church led/sanctioned violence in the name of Christ?

It would seem from a fair review of the historical record that literacy and the ability for the layperson to read the source material for a religion has led to a great decrease. I don't think anyone would argue that it can or will entirely prevent twisting any particular belief to suit a given goal and using indoctrination to help achieve it (see Rev. Phelps as a great example) However I would argue that because others are literate and can read for themselves, the potential pool of "recruits" for someone such as Phelps is far smaller. And I believe this will hold true for Islam as well.

The world is more violent in Jesus name every day and it is shameless. I checked out this Rev. Phelps and he fails to tell the main reason why Sodom was destroyed. It was because of it's unkindness to strangers. It does talk about lifestyles but that was not what it was detroyed for. It's not what you do to yourself but what you do to others.He does not have knowledge of the scripture. He is the type of person running this country. If you really read the meaning of Christian you will see that it was not a light word as It is only used to describe persons who fully act like Christ. The world is full of hypocrites and very few followers of Christ worthy to be called a Christian. I fall short every day but I will not go along with lies and murder, Jesus would not either. And if you claim to know the will of God then why would he send his Son for you to follow and not be burdened with trying to save yourself.

More violent every day in the name of Jesus? I suggest you take some time to read up on the history of our world before making such statements. Perhaps you can point me to an inquisition, or church led crusades going on?

In checking out Rev. Phelps, perhaps you failed to notice his only adherants to his brand of 'hate in the name of God' is his family who have been indoctrinated into it since birth. And again would lend credence to the claim that increased literacy helps prevent someone such as Phelps from spreading false doctrine, as people are able to see for themselves and not just 'take his word for it'

"And if you claim to know the will of God then why would he send his Son for you to follow and not be burdened with trying to save yourself. "

I made no such claim, but nice try...see how literacy works, others can read above exactly what I said and see that your claim is false. It's a great thing.

Look jack these people were elected by Angelic Christians as they call their selves. They make War out of lies and keep on supporting it. Over 1 million have died in the past 5 years. I checked out your Rev. Phelps that you brought up and told you he reads what he wants to into the scripture. He and his whole family are nuts. If you do not know that a Million people in 5 years is a heck of alot of violence and that it is supported by people who claim to be Christians then you are beyond reach.

georgedisrespectful:

The world is more violent in Jesus name every day and it is shameless. I checked out this Rev. Phelps and he fails to tell the main reason why Sodom was destroyed. It was because of it's unkindness to strangers. It does talk about lifestyles but that was not what it was detroyed for. It's not what you do to yourself but what you do to others.He does not have knowledge of the scripture. He is the type of person running this country. If you really read the meaning of Christian you will see that it was not a light word as It is only used to describe persons who fully act like Christ. The world is full of hypocrites and very few followers of Christ worthy to be called a Christian. I fall short every day but I will not go along with lies and murder, Jesus would not either. And if you claim to know the will of God then why would he send his Son for you to follow and not be burdened with trying to save yourself.

Speaking as one who has read the Bible from cover to cover a few times, you need to study more and post less.

I see you learned just enough to be a hypocrite.

georgedisrespectful:

I see you learned just enough to be a hypocrite.

And you learned to call people names, how Christian of you.

You did it to yourself by not bringing any content except how smart you are for reading the Bible and assuming that I have not.

georgedisrespectful:

Look jack these people were elected by Angelic Christians as they call their selves. They make War out of lies and keep on supporting it. Over 1 million have died in the past 5 years. I checked out your Rev. Phelps that you brought up and told you he reads what he wants to into the scripture. He and his whole family are nuts. If you do not know that a Million people in 5 years is a heck of alot of violence and that it is supported by people who claim to be Christians then you are beyond reach.

I would be interested to know just how you determined that these people voted for the current administration because "Jesus wanted them to kill the muslims" versus say based on economic and tax policy, a dislike of Gore and/or Kerry, or that they still mistakenly believed Iraq had something to do with 9/11, etc...

And yes, as I said with Phelps, that is proof that literacy can help prevent the spread of that kind of fanaticism but you seem to keep skipping that portion don't you? See if the average american wasn't literate then someone like Phelps would have a far easier time holding the reigns of power by the manipulation of religion and I believe, again as I previously mentioned, that a review of history bears that point out.

So other than your attempts to paint any who supported or voted for the current administration as somehow 'killing in the name of Christianity', which seems like a rather large paper tiger there for you to beat up on, you really haven't made much of any point at all.

"Jesus wanted them to kill the muslims"

First of all I did not say Jesus wanted anybody to do anything. I did say God wants you to follow Jesus. All I am stating is the Churchs that are full of so called Christians that put Bush in office and is keeping him there with no checks or balances on what he does that they should stop calling their selves Christians because they do not act like Christ. If you deny that the Churchs did not put him in office then you can believe that. But people of intelligence know that through fear of homosexuality and the so called promise to end abortion they control the vote in America because most Americans are God fearing and do not check the facts just what their Church says. They only use the internet for email that is mostly lies that they do not check out and pass on as facts. Many take scripture out of context when they should only look to what Jesus did. They have created a monster and are responsible to and should be calling their Congress persons and asking them to Impeach him before the next President comes along and thinks he has a lisence to kill.

georgedisrespectful:

"Jesus wanted them to kill the muslims"

First of all I did not say Jesus wanted anybody to do anything.

Actually, you did say the violence was in the name of Jesus

The world is more violent in Jesus name every day and it is shameless.

See, there's that whole literacy thing coming in handy again.

I made no claim that literacy would stop all violence of any kind, only that it would reduce violence resulting from religious extremism. You on the other hand, as another poster noted, simply return to using that very broad brush to paint that tiger and make repeated false claims.

Last I checked, since Christians of all denominations make up somewhere around 80-83% of the population, we could then use your logic to blame anything and everything on them depending on whatever brush you're in the mood for at the moment. Though perhaps you should familiarize yourself with the demographics a bit by looking here before making any further claims.

I did say "The world is more violent in Jesus name every day and it is shameless."

Not by Jesus but said by hypocrites and never did I say Jesus wanted anybody to do anything again. I am just saying Jesus would not do such things as lie or kill.

You Can twist all you want and the truth is still the truth.

Jesus was never for a liar or a killer that continues. He would wish everyone to stop.

Or do you think he would wish for it to go on forever?