Quote:
Originally Posted by TomHagen
Dude, that totally came out of leftfield, especially after our previous, very positive, exchanges about your beads (which I would still love to buy, but $ is tight). I can't imagine how anyone could NOT find that post offensive, even in jest.
Nevertheless, we of course forgive you and only look forward to good things.
Staying positive,
Rabs
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The comment I made is actually a tweaked Monty Python reference from the Movie "Life Of Brian". It's from a movie that's set in the time of the emergence of Christ, and makes light of all the happenings of the time, and just how difficult, confusing, and non-sensical things were.
Personally, I spent my first 35 years wondering why everyone hated Jews. Growing up with my buddy, and loving him and his family as much as I did (and still do), I could never make sense of it. Ultimately I did a lot of studying and became pretty well educated in regards to Judaism as it applies socially throughout the centuries.
I'm a Christian. I've been taught that in order to secure my place in God's Kingdom, I need to accept Christ as my Savior.
Had not Christ died at the hands of the people of his time, the prophecy would not have been fulfilled and I'd be left soulless.
Were it not for the hand that Jews played in Christ's death, and his consequent rebirth, I would stand damned.
Worse yet, I'd not have my Faith, and I'd not be filled with the Love that is my God.
When I see it that way, it just further confuses me as to why Christians would have any bone with Jews at all. The Jewish influence in Christ's death literally secured my opportunity to accept Christ's Love, His teachings, and my opportunity to gain eternal life. Aside from that, my peace and happiness all is a direct result of my Faith, and my desire to emulate Christ's Love.
I've been upset since I read it. Not only the inference that I was something that I am not, but being overtly threatened for posting in a thread that the rules clearly state shouldn't exist in the first place. "No threads that are political or religious in nature will be allowed."
That's not to say I blame Dave at all. My careless choice of words put me in the predicament where I now stand, and I shouldn't have been participating in a thread I knew wasn't supposed to exist.
I've spent my life liivng, working with, and loving many very good friends who just so happen to practice Judaism. I've long thanked Judaism for not only giving birth to my God, teaching Him, and making Him the person He was, but directly and/or indirectly insuring my salvation by sending Him to his death, and ultimately allowing me to find Christianity.
I'll answer to God tonight for the trouble I've caused today, and I'll pray on it while I work out in the shop this afternoon.
Rabbi, any transaction you and I may or may not have had pales in comparison to my desire for your love, understanding and forgiveness. Those things matter to me.
I hope this helps you all to understand a little better what I'm made of, even if it falls far short of God's intent for me.
I'll continue to work on my shortcomings just as I do every day with the help of Christ. Expect me to screw up again. It happens despite my best efforts and best intentions.
Fortunately, by the Grace of God, the mindless hurt I cause people tends to get further apart every day.
Again, I hope you can all forgive me foir being insensitive, unthoughtful, inflammatory, and unthinking. I certainly know better. It's the practice that sometimes gives me fits.
