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From: Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: OT Rant About Christians.
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2024 09:03:11 -0700
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On Thu, 22 Aug 2024 17:06:46 +1200, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:

>On 18/08/24 04:36, Paul S Person wrote:
>> On Sat, 17 Aug 2024 16:48:56 +1200, Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> wrote:
>>=20
>>>> On 8/16/2024 8:40 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
>>> snip
>>>>>
>>>>> And who ever said Chrstian Nationalism had anything to do with =
Jesus
>>>>> Christ, who clearly stated that his kingdom is /not/ of this world?
>
>much snippage for brevity
>>> If you also agree that Western cultures worship of commercialism,
>>> including borrowing and lending, of Christmas also has nothing to do
>>> with Jesus Christ, it is not too difficult to realise that most
>>> Christians are brilliant if unknowing hypocrites.
>>=20
>snip
>> The claim that we "worship" commercialism is one I have never
>> understood.
>
>With hindsight, my choice of the word "worship" was foolish as it was
>extreme. My point was that Jesus, crucified about a week after his
>terrorist gang of twelve violently invaded and assaulted Temple
>officials/contractors carrying out the Temple's commercial activities,
>stood for the exact opposite of commercialism which is the real emphasis
>of the Christian's Christmas.

Which would be a fine point, were it not for the fact that the
Christian Christmas involves only /one/ Gift. All other gifts are
(well, should be) references to that one.

A fair number of Christians are as disgusted by its commercialization
as you appear to be.=20

IOW, it can be argued that it is not the /Christian's/ Christmas that
is commercialized. Which is why it is more commonly called "the
Holiday Season", and starts (at latest) the day after Thanksgiving and
extends to (at earliest) New Year's Day. That is to say, I don't think
it's been extended to the day after Halloween or Epiphany. Yet.

>snip
>>=20
>>> The NZ Prime Minister, (who until recently spelt cat with a k), is a
>>> devout member of some weird USA Christian cult that preaches that =
Jesus
>>> Christ's kingdom is on earth right now and that the righteous =
believers
>>> like himself, are those being rewarded right now with monetary =
wealth.
>>=20
>snip
>> As others have noted, the cult is one of the "prosperity gospel"
>> groups. This works well for the leader, who gets lots of money from
>> his followers, but not so well for the followers, who may wait their
>> entire lives for their reward. The leaders are among the guys you may
>> have read about who have golden cars and very large mansions as a
>> result of the money they rake in. The end up in the news because the
>> IRS tends to get after them because they register as Churches for tax
>> purposes, and there are expectations that go along with that type of
>> non-profit organization involving where the money goes.
>
>That was interesting. Unsubstantiated rumour is that the current NZ
>prime minister's rise to a management position and wealth in the USA was
>due to his religious connections as he has been completely useless as a
>politician behaving like a CEO surrounded by yes men.
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"