Benno, I know you are a good man. And you are correct in all your points.
I guess what I am trying to say is that TRUE Christians, and not those who use it to gain some sort of power, does NOT condone forced conversions, oppression of other faiths, call for the death of someone of another faith, call for the death of abortion clinic operators.
In fact, a person who follows the tenets of Jesus Christ, not an organized religion, will love his enemies, turn the other cheek, judge not lest he be judged, and leave any form of punishment to the person in who's realm it belongs, God almighty himself.
In fact, the faith Jesus taught, right up till 321 AD, is not the faith that is taught in most Christian churches today. Now you may ask, why did I pick 324 AD as my break point? GOOD QUESTION!
The first change was made on March 7, 321 AD. Constantine the Great changed the day of rest on March 7, 321 AD by declaring, "All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the Venerable Day of the Sun."
Then we have Council Of Laodicea In Phrygia Pacatiana 364 A.D. What was declared then was "Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honoring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ."
Now for a history lesson, for which I apologize in advance. Unfortunately it is required to understand why I say most churches od Christ today are not truly Christian.
Constantine became Emperor of western Rome after Diocletian abdicated in 305 AD. And under Diocletian, 284-305 AD, the Christian faith suffered its worst persecutions to date, but had not been eradicated. Up till this time paganism played an essential role in life and government, and religion was considered an area within the governments rule.
Constantine was sympathetic to Christianity and tolerant to diversity in religion, but his conversion to Christianity after his rise to power was not due to true religious zeal. Christianity was a more effective way of accomplishing goals his rivals failed to reach under paganism. It was certainly politically advantageous for him to convert as soon he was not only the head of Rome but the head of Christianity. He found that if he portrayed himself as God's appointed Emperor he could accomplish more than claiming himself to be God. What he did in government was God's will and of course being chosen by God he was a natural as head of the Church.
After solidifying his position to gain complete control of the western portion of the empire in 312, he instituted the Edict of Milan, a "Magna Carta of religious liberty," which eventually changed the Empire’s religion and put Christianity on an equal footing with paganism. Almost overnight the position of the Church was reversed from the persecuted to legal and accepted. Constantine began to rely on the church for support, and it on him for protection. The Church and the Empire formed an alliance that remains to this day. Very rapidly the laws and policies of the Empire and the doctrine of the Church became one with Constantine as the interpreter of both law and policy.
Through a series of Universal Councils he eliminated dissent and dissenters, changed the holy days, and outlawed the Sabbath. The greatest effect he had was destroying any book in the accepted biblical works, over 80% of the total, he felt did not fit within his concept of Christianity.
He completely altered doctrine without regard to biblical edict, set up a church hierarchy of his own design, and established a set of beliefs and practices, which are the basis for all mainstream Bible-based churches. The separation of the Protestants and the Roman Church caused a physical split but the beliefs and practices established by Constantine remained almost identical. Very little has changed since the 4th century Councils changed face of Christianity.
I could go on and on about this, but I will cut it short to bullet points for discrepencies between what Jesus taught, and what is taught in the church today. If anybody would want me to expand on a point just shout it out and I will.
Alhough claiming piety and biblical authority the reality of the modern Christian church conduct is sadly lacking in scriptural foundation, and often runs contrary to the tenets of Jesus Christ. Finding any resemblance to the first church Jesus founded is a futile pursuit. Here are a few of the discrepancies:
· All the High Sabbaths, or festivals, outlined in the Bible are ignored and are replaced with ancient pagan holidays such as Easter, Christmas, and Halloween.
· Money is solicited and often demanded to allegedly support the work of the church, which has little, if anything to do with the original commission of the church. Such practice is not authorized in the teachings of Jesus, and may possibly be a gross violation, if extracted as a tithe.
· Meetings are held on Sunday without biblical authority, and setting aside the last day of the week for rest is ignored. There is no biblical command to meet in any building, on any day of the week, in force. The fact that the first day of the week is a day set aside by pagan religions to worship an assortment of sun gods only increases the violation. In the year 321, Constantine the Great ruled that the first day of the week, 'the venerable day of the sun', should be a day of rest. The personal pronouncements of a mere mortal do not negate the rules of God.
· Ministers and deacons in churches do not fulfill duties outlined in biblical text for these positions.
· Miracles and abnormal powers in people are condemned as witchcraft without regard to the reality that such were common phenomenon in the first church.
· Churches openly support political issues that contradict biblical principle and use church resources for these activities.
· Churches openly support war and nationalism and use church resources for these activities.
· Churches demand adherence to an old divine contract made with the twelve tribes of Israel by persons who are not members of the nation of Israel.
· Churches ignore the new contract made with the entire world.
· Churches exhibit an extreme level of hypocrisy by following only those laws it chooses and ignoring those it violates, while claiming total obedience to the teachings of Jesus.
· Church buildings, officers, staff, customs, public and private practices, finances, celebrations, rules, solicitations, associations, appearances, and stated missions are without biblical foundation.
· Feeding, clothing, and housing the poor, a basic biblical principle, and the core teaching of Jesus, is seldom practiced and then with only a token effort and a minute percentage of the churches funds and resources. In most cases of such rare exhibitions of charity, religious indoctrination is exacted as the cost for these services.
· Bigotry, with respect to race, gender, political belief, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, financial status, social conduct, and philosophy is commonly practiced or tolerated in either overt or covert manifestations.
· Dogmatic conditioning is encouraged, blind acceptance is expected, obedience is demanded, and all dissension and inquiry are condemned. Biblical demands for proof of doctrine are ignored. Loving your fellow man, unfortunately, is restricted to those the church approves of.
EDIT: Now you know why I have been called heretic, and even funnier, anti-christ.
Cheers, Thor