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Originally Posted by #-3
In all seriousness, pulling this from the sex abuse thread. I think it's completely unfair to blame the bible.
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Not in the slightest. Where do you think the ideas espoused by Christians come from in the first place?
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My sarcasm above, was meant to denote what I think the real problem is. The Christian mythos tells people that good people believe and bad people don't, so if you believe you are good and can dismiss any actions on the basis of being a good god fearing faithful man.
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I think you are totally wrong about this. Here is a sampling of Christian responses to the news about Ravi Zacharias:
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Originally Posted by Random Christian
I'm so glad I'm a Christian and not a Zacharian, because my hope and trust is in the Lord rather than in men, but there are still ramifications to fallen ministers, which is why the enemy targets them.
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Originally Posted by Random Christian
My faith is found in no one else than Jesus Christ! Praying for those directly affected by Ravi's sin.
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Originally Posted by Random Christian
This makes me sad as well. But reinforces the truth that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. I may be guilty of being one who thought he was super-human, super-Christian. But he was just a man.
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Originally Posted by Random Christian
The Lord really used Ravi Zacharias’s talks to move me closer to Him. The Lord used RZ to bring me closer to understanding God’s purpose for me. Key term is THE LORD. RZ was just the vessel— just a man. I pray that he repented and turned from this wickedness prior to his death.
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Originally Posted by Random Christian
This does not in any way discredits his MESSAGE!! We ALL FALL SHORT and there’s is no question that what he did behind closed doors was WRONG! But I put faith in NO MAN- It’s God’s WORD that’s the backbone.
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I think it is easy for Christians to gloss over the failings of their leaders on the same premise that Christianity is founded upon: EVERYONE is a sinner; EVERY sin is equally deplorable and unacceptable. Quite to the contrary, it is fairly common for Christians to eat their own when they have fallen, and this is in large part due to the ideas expressed above: ministers and leaders are mere vessels for the message. Completely inconsequential, easily discarded and forgotten.
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Originally Posted by #-3
I hear this from people all the time, "well they have good morals, they believe in god." Catholicism is even worse because they teach you that you can be forgiven for some pretty terrible as long as you truly believe, and ask nicely.
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Yeah, I see this as terribly dangerous theology, and in the case of fallen leaders like RZ it is this same type of thinking that normalizes all sorts of awful behaviour. Since every individual person in the human race is hopelessly depraved, then your thoughts and actions are no less wicked than those of child molestors, sociopaths and genocidal dictators. It is all "sin," after all.