Graham, Everyone knows that JC was an Anglo, blonde haired, blued eyed fella and so were his disciples. Look at this picture of him for proof. http://www.webspinners.futura.net/zumaltsp/Jesus2.jpg

And if he was at the Cronulla riots he would have been in there throwing fists and supporting real Aussies against those trouble making unaustralian Lebonese immigrants and other bloody ethnics.

If he really gave a stuff about Indigenous people he'd have done something by now.

Yes, Jesus upheld social justice in ministering to the poor and sharply criticising the Pharisees and Sadducees for their hypocrisy in administering the law. But we must never forget that his primary purpose was not for social justice. If it were then he could have prepared his followers for battle and overthrown the leaders of Jerusalem and been crowned king. But when his authority was questioned by Pilate, he responded, "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36). Jesus' purpose was not to be crowned king of Israel in this world. It was instead to be crowned king in the world to come and to open the door of kingdom for all people, even those despised hypocrites of the ruling classes if they were to repent of their hypocrisy and follow him. Such despised rulers might be likened to political figures of our own generation despised for their corrupt deeds. But they are in need of salvation too, just as the poor begger suffering the injustice of a greedy society is in need of salvation.

It is easy for us to read into Jesus the kind of ideal political figure we wish for our own times and overlook the far more important message of repentance and salvation for all who should turn to him. Remember that if the gospels are truly to be believed and Jesus truly is who he claimed to be then he could easily have ended all injustice at his first coming.

Dear Ranier... maybe he is waiting for someone like you to humble himself at the foot of the cross, asking forgiveness for being flippant about a man dying, and to renew you, empower you, and transform you in mind, emotion and will, to be the first among many, who, being close to the indigenous situation, would be the best equipped culturally to translate the saving Gospel of Life to those you have contact with. (and yes.. I'm sure I myself have many planks in my own eye.. pray for me on this)

Blaming Jesus for not doing anything, when clearly God has shown He works for mankind 'through' men and women, is a bit unfair and cheap shottish.

When Christ was faced with the Romans and religious leaders about to arrest him, he said "Don't u know I could call on legions of Angels to help me" but he did'nt, because He came to die for your sin and mine. Yes Ranier.. 'your' sin AND mine... not just mine.

So, I urge you in His name... to humble yourself, turn to Him, and become one of His children.

"I stand at the door knocking. If any man hear my voice, and opens that door, I will come in, and dine with him, and he with me" Rev 3.20

Ranier... please open that door.

BD,

My religious beliefs go back a little more than 2000 or so years-
and so Christian colonialism is only a recent phenomenon here but it has much to answer for here and across the pacific.Not that I'm fixated on this but you have have asked me to prostrate myself unto your God / Jesus/or whatever you choose to call him.

I would never ask this of you.

The story of JC is nonetheless a good story about a man who set out to fight injustice.

Every people on earth has found its way to God, to some kind of God, to some answer to the universe that is above and outside themselves.

No, it is not the idea of God that sets us apart in the history of humanity, it is the kind of God in which we choose to believe that in the end makes all the difference. Sadly, your appears to be a very bossy,dogmatic and scripture bound.

I think the one Graham Ring speaks to and about in much more universal and ordinary fella who would be welcome in my country anytime. A long-grass fella for sure.

Dear Ranier...
colonial associations with Christianity are one thing.....
they are but a manifestation of how people understood and applied their faith in a particular context.. with all the variations that humans tend to bring to such a thing.

None of this changes the historical truth of He who said "I am the way".. and that applies to every man woman and child on earth irrespective of race, culture or creed. I did not ask you to prostrate yourself before 'my' anything. I proclaimed the living Christ to you. It has nought to do with 'me', but everything to do with Him.

The people of many indigenous cultures are now sending missionaries to 'white' mans world.. but we don't say its 'black mans' religion.
Its Gods self revelation, no matter what color of skin on the messenger.

Your religious background indeed goes back a long way,.. I suggest it goes back to our common ancestor in one of the survivors of the flood. (Have a very cafeful read of Genesis 10, the Table of Nations), Your own mythology (from your own tribal background) may not specifically have such a myth but it does exist in some aboriginal cultures. There are enough of them in the world which have the same characteristics, which include that God caused it, and gave a warning, and that it was for humanities sin, to conclude that it is a blurred but universal allusion to a real event.

Ranier.. you need to forget anything about 'white mans' religion, and focus on the fact that it is 'semitic' in cultural, and divine in spiritual background.

You are right, the Jesus of history was strong on social justice, but there have been many of that nature, all died and became dust. Christ came not to 'fix society' he came to fix people like you and I. Heaven knows we need fixing. New people make new societies.
Blessings

GR's quote:
"cannot live by word alone" - too true. Would journalism as we know it today, survive if weren't for gracious benefactors - sub editors : who featherbed, coax and generally nursemaid these prodigies until they can earn a decent living ?

The sign of the times. History repeating itself - or a swipe at the higher echlelons of education ?

Your christian upbringing rings a familar chime - except being rebellious by nature and ' free thinking ' by temperament, the exasperated Nun's lost little time in recommending to my distraught parents - I should seek my fame and fortune, preferably on another Planet. As distant and far removed from All Hallow's as the space shuttle station Mir.

Your observations about the great man JC intrigues me - perhaps mostly ' tongue-in-cheek ' or just another cheap shot at christianity from a dissident couch-potato who lost your way because the Church wasn't handing out accolades for kin-folks who only attend baptismals and/or funeral eulogies once in every lunar eclipse - rarer still ? Kidding.

Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code certainly got the heckles up at the Vatican for sure. The hierarchy spent many an uneasy night pouring over page after page for heretical nuances, blasphemy and sacrilegious ' zeitgeist ' theories that might subvert the hoi polloi or worst ! I know for a fact that the Jesuit Society of Jesus, founded by zealot St Ignatius Loyala, were deeply offended by the novel and apart from relegating it's contents to the inferno, instantly sought ' bans ' throughout the intelligencer to prohibit further sectarian discussion. The book written in 42 languages and selling at a phenomenal rate - last count 8.5 million, has caught the imagination of young and old. Feeding the public's insatiable frenzy for punishment and self immolation, are actually producing a film version featuring enigmatic Tom Hanks. An epic, I'm tipping. One would think the public would deem a storyline of the Holy Grail mythology - of symbols and cryptography, would be as entertaining as Harry Potter ?

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