Conservative activist: Net neutrality goes against God

[markpkessinger]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/20/conservative-activist-bible-ben-franklin-pilgrims-all-opposed-to-net-neutrality/

I once heard a sermon on the Ten Commandments by a wise old Lutheran Bishop. When he got tot he commandment that states, "You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain," I was very curious to hear what he had to say. You see, I had learned, growing up, the rather quaint, Victorian view that it was a proscription against cursing. As an adult, that view seemed absurdly trivial, so i was interested to hear what the good bishop would have to say about it.

The bishop addressed my concern head on. He said (paraphrasing here):

Now, many of you were taught that this commandment means you must not use curse words. People come to me all the time because their husbands or fathers, other loved ones, or even they themselves have an ingrained habit of cursing, so much so that it has become a pattern of speech. And they worry that perhaps that will be counted against them. But the reality is, this commandment has a much, much deeper and more profound meaning. This commandment is a warning against attaching God's Name to things -- to causes, to desires, to prejudices, to wars -- that are not of God. So while a particular pattern of speech may not be the most desirable trait, it's hardly something you need fret about. You might want to be careful, though, about any claims that God is "on your side" on a particular issue, since we cannot know the mind of God, and you may very well run afoul of this commandment.

It seems to me this is what the religious right does all the time -- they claim divine warrant for what is, in fact, nothing more than a political view. If that elderly Lutheran bishop had it right, they might want to tread a little more lightly. Just sayin'. ;)

[FiveGoodMen]

1. When you hear someone claiming to speak for god, you are listening to the devil

(or his closest real-life equivalent)

[Drale]

5. or they are schizophrenic

[Lance_Boyle]

8. or a dyslexic dog owner. n/t

[no_hypocrisy]

2. By the bishop's logic, I deserve slow internet service b/c I don't recognize blasphemy?

[markpkessinger]

4. Huh?

No, I think what the bishop was saying is that for a Christian, claiming that worldly things or causes (such as, for example, net neutrality) are or are not on the side of God is a risky business. ;)

[Drale]

3. That is exactly what the right does all the time

Thats why my plan when I die is to find where they tell people they are going to hell, get a lawn chair, crack open a beer(or what ever the beverage of choice in heaven is) and enjoy the looks on the faces of the crazy right wingers when they find out they waisted their lives and that they are going to hell.

[blondeatlast]

6. Somehow I think Jesus would approve of Net Neutrality--

y'know, that whole hanging out with whores and thieves and casting the moneychangers from the temple thing.

[RandomThoughts]

7. yea that is so important.

That is so many of the problems. When people say they speak for the holy spirit, and blasphemy, are also part of that same thing, spoken in the Bible.

If your going to mess up, everyone makes mistakes, but don't say you are doing it for God. I couldn't believe a group of bankers said that. Still wonder if that was made up. Although they never answered my questions on that topic.

If you do use the name of God, you end up making God look bad, unless you are perfect, and no person is. If he wants you as on his side, he will cover small mistakes, but most people use the names for the way it creates an impression in other peoples minds.


And people do that with both good and bad names. That is part of Label Trap.

If your point is valid, you shouldn't have to invoke what a group considers to be divine name of God.

I think Jewish people, some of them even say they should not even say or type it at all, so write it without vowels.


So many of faith end up ruining a faith for many by how they put so much bad into what people think it is. My faith had to survive what I thought it was about from so many people running around talking about it in ways that are really bad.

So I think that guy is right, people should not invoke divinity to make there point. The point should show its value, not attaching a noun to it.

Yea there is no way to know if God is on your side, Lincoln said that best. And there are many people that use one noun, while speaking about something else. There are even some that think they follow something and actually follow something else.

So I try to avoid usage of names also, although it calms down many people of faith to know that I can, so for comfort I occasionally make statements of belief, but not statements of saying what God chooses to think or the mind of God.

Nobody can know for sure. Although no Christian can say a person is not on God's side becuase of hardship, since they said to Jesus, take yourself down from the cross. And Job was said to be a worthy servant, and had hardship. So even someones situation wont tell you if God is on someones side. And you don't know if someones lot for today is same for tomorrow. So in faith, there are lots of ways people seem to judge people 'value' based on some circumstance, that according to teachings has nothing to do with there 'value'

So I try not to judge.