Mulling over Daryl Stout to STEVE ASHER 21 Sep 2005

Hi Daryl..

SA>Mulling over Daryl Stout to STEVE ASHER 18 Sep 2005

 DS>   You enjoy mulling, don't you?? 

Yes, I do quite a bit... I could never think up a better reply
starter, but I might, one day.

SA>I just looked up the Pledge of Allegiance. I don't see anything
  >in it that would offend a reasonable person. "God Save The Queen"
  >was Australia's National Anthem, until it was changed to "Advance
  >Australia Fair" a couple of decades ago. Most nations have anthems
  >& tunes & the like, and there is no harm in showing our pride in
  >our nations, as I think most of us love our respective countries
  >with their strengths & faults. There is always the danger that
  >a leader or party will use that patriotism for evil, as has
  >happened.

 DS>   I'm surprised they haven't thrown a fit at The Star Spangled
 DS> Banner (the U.S. National Anthem)...the last verse has "Praise the
 DS> Power that hath Made, and Preserved us a Nation." -- and later in
 DS> that verse "And, this be our motto...In God Is Our Trust".

Again, it is more the motives, rather than the form of the words that
I wonder about. Australia's House of Representatives opens with..

"Almighty God, we humbly beseech Thee to vouchsafe Thy blessing upon
this Parliament. Direct and prosper our deliberations to the
advancement of Thy glory, and the true welfare of the people of
Australia", followed by the Lord's Prayer, but again, no mention
of Jesus Christ, and having prayed, they get on with the business
of name-calling, back-stabbing etc, as well as debate. 

Again, I have no real objection, apart from questioning the motives,
& I expect that any believers in Parliament would pray privately
for guidance, but the Party loyalties probably override any divine
guidance, much of the time.

SA>Mary is seen as the "Mediatrix of all graces", and there is strong
  >pressure to declare her as "Co-redemptrix", when there is only
  >one mediator between God and man... Jesus Christ.

 DS>   I understand that the current Pope is one of these as well. One
 DS> of the tracts done by Jack T. Chick (www.chick.com) is called "Why
 DS> Is Mary Crying??".

I'm not sure about the current Pope's views on Mary, but he has been
stressing the "importance of dialogue among religions" - understanding,
coexistence, joint values, which a "Parliament of the World's Religions"
or a "Clinton Global Initiative" etc would likely use to water down
the Gospel of Jesus Christ to some ineffictive substitute, while
labelling believers as extremists or terrorists, to be eliminated.

  >to mean. Funnily enough, I reject the whole concept, regardless of
  >what spin might be put on the words.

 DS>   Anything done by man is inherently flawed...physically, or
 DS> otherwise. 

Very true.

Cheers, Steve..

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