


Very interesting, but I also believe that you have presented a
misleading argument.  Christianity is not the cause of the massacres
and horrific injustices that you relate, rather they are the fault
of people who misunderstand Jesus Christ's message, and modify
it to suit their own beliefs and aims, rather than alter their
ambitions to be more in line with those presented as desirable in
the New Testament.  With every truthful and good message that
carries authority or implied authority, comes the inevitable
fact that some (many?) people will understand it in a distorted
way, with inevitable consequences.

The Bible's message is that we are to love all people, and
that all people are redeemable.  It preaches a message of
repentance, and of giving.  Unfortunately, all people have
deceitful hearts, and are capable of turning this message
around and contorting it in sometimes unbelievable ways.
This is also a fundamental Christian doctrine.

One of the problems is that you look at the world through
the eyes of Western history.  I think that you will find
many, many cases of massacres that were instigated by
people who never claimed they were Christian.  I am not saying
this to justify the massacres that were, but I am merely
pointing you to a tendency which is present in humans already.

Consider the world without Christianity.  I doubt that we
would have the same freedoms in the countries in which we
live, if it wasn't for the peaceful doctrines of Jesus Christ.
Perhaps we would even be confronted by a very harsh religion
(I won't name any here, though one comes to mind) which
would not even allow us the freedom of speech to debate such
subjects.

Point the blame at inherent human tendencies of thirst for
power, greed and hatred.  Please don't point the blame at
a message which preaches fundamental giving and denial, in
love for others.

Yours in Christ,

Andrew McVeigh


p.s. I believe that a line of questioning like you presented
is, strangely enough, compatible with becoming a Christian.
Certainly Christianity encourages one to question the behaviour
of the world, and especially Christians.  I praise God for
Jesus Christ, and the fact that we can doubt our beliefs
and still come back to God and be forgiven, time and time
again.

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