or; how do you share your message?
(Please excuse my lack of lucidity, I'm quite ill and drugged up the wazoo and still I'm stuck at work. Yay.)
With much interest I've read the conversation occuring on KFC's thread here, specifically concerning the Hindu prayer offered in the United States Senate floor.
For those of you who haven't seen exactly how it went down, I'm giving you YouTube goodness (or badness?) here.
Watch it.
I know that I've already asked the question "Does God or country come first?" in another thread. Most people seemed to say that God would come first, and that's fine in a personal setting. But on the other thread, Kingbee makes an important statement when he says, (and I paraphrase here) "The First Amendment trumps the First Commandment." This, of course, referring to the freedom of religious belief protected by the First Amendment versus "Thou shalt have no other gods" from the First Commandment.
In personal life, that's fine that you have "no other gods" before yours. But in a political sphere, the Amendment must, of necessity, overrule your belief in your god. Because, let's be honest - everybody believes in a different god, or believes in the same god in a different way. Even within the same religious sect, people have drastically different ideas of how and what their god is like.
Now, moving back to the video.
These supposed "Christians" are doing the exact opposite of what Christ would have them do. Have they forgotten so flippantly the Golden Rule, given by the Man himself? Treat others the way you want to be treated. Do you want your "Christian" prayer shouted down by Hindus, Muslims, or even other Christians who may not agree with you? Of course not - it's an affront to your god. But to do the same is an affront to their god, and is not, I believe, the type of behavior that the Christian God would be that big of a fan of.
Think about it - how do you share your message? How do your convert people to your cause? Is it through being a good example, leading a good Christian life? Or is it through shouting down your opponents, treating those who believe differently as somehow inferior? Because that's the vibe I get as I watch the video - these are people that somehow see themselves as superior because of their supposed belief in Christ. They're acting the exact opposite of the way a true representative of the Lord Jesus Christ should and would act. Or at least that's how I see it.
So what do you think, JU? How do you share your message? Did those who were shouting down the prayer giver have the right idea? Or could there be a more effective way to share your message?