TRTL said:

<<You just don't get it. It was an attempt to see if fundamentalist christians would be able to understand what it's like to be treated in this manner.>>

Ohhhh my.. mate .. we SOOOOoooo 'get' it... its you who does not.

Ever since we were thrown to wild beasts, stoned, ridiculed, mocked, slandered, and on a daily basis trivialized by movies which include the phrases such as "Jesus f____ng Christ"..and by workmates who use similar terms.. and by other movies which pretty much only show Christians as wierdo's, whacko's, serial killers, tyrants, abusive fathers etttttcetera.. err yes. we really do get it.

The difference is.....the issues we raise are rather more tangible regading Islam and its outworking in society.

-Taxi drivers DO in reality refuse carriage to blind and alchohol carrying would be passengers.
-People 'are' denied their normal food and discriminated against.
-Bombs 'do' go off in the name of Islam.
-and the list goes on....as you have heard till ur sick of it.

It isn't that we don't get the problem... its that the problem is different.

*The difference is.....the issues we raise are rather more tangible regading Islam and its outworking in society.*

You of course forget Boazy, that the Christian (Catholic) Church,
not so long ago, used to have heretics like myself and others,
burnt at the stake! It was only the rise of the secular movement
that forced the Christians to their present position of being
forced to accept tolerance, not because of their good hearts.

Christians at their worst are as bad as Muslims at their worst,
as history shows. That is why we need secular Govt and religion
as a lifestyle choice and no more.

TRTL

You are wrong again. You write 'Your constant attacks on abortions and homosexuality reveal how little credence you give to any view that doesn't subscribe to the Catholic interpretation.'

I consider myself a Christian( denomination unimportant) not a Roman Catholic.

Your 'testing the waters and seeing if people are willing to open their minds and put themselves in other people's shoes.' is equal to me saying all humanist are paedophiles. You totally misrepresented two groups of people putting them in the same category as
terrorist. This was deceitful and dishonest. I have no problem with any Christian organisation coming under scrutiny. What I object to is you or others misreporting and misrepresenting the truth especially when a number of people have given freely of their time and resources to help those caught in habitual problems that are in the process of destroying their lives.

You are also wrong to call my opinion 'attacks' when it comes to abortion and homosexuality. You seem blinded to the fact that these two wrongs are constantly promoted in the press and in articles published on OLO. Do you have problems with those with opposing views to yourself though I admit my opinions are in the minority. I have family members who have had abortions and who have lived the 'gay' lifestyle. I still care for them dearly but do not condone their actions. I pray they like yourself find forgiveness in Christ.

Is it my imagination Boaz, or are you becoming increasingly shrill as the months and years go past?

>>Ever since we were thrown to wild beasts, stoned, ridiculed, mocked, slandered, and on a daily basis trivialized by movies which include the phrases such as "Jesus f____ng Christ"..and by workmates who use similar terms.. and by other movies which pretty much only show Christians as wierdo's, whacko's, serial killers, tyrants, abusive fathers etttttcetera.. err yes. we really do get it.<<

From anyone who doesn't know you, this might sound a little paranoid.

Do you for one moment believe that yours is the only group who has ever been treated this way?

Incidentally, which Christian group do you represent here? Crusaders? Witch-duckers? The Spanish Inquisition?

And furthermore, why do you think that suffering (most of them by proxy, of course) all these humiliations gives you leave to inflict the same on another group of people?

You have been leading the chorus for a very long time, stirring up hatred and fear. These are simply your own analogue of being "thrown to wild beasts, stoned, ridiculed, mocked, slandered, and on a daily basis trivialized".

It all seems a little contrived sometimes, almost as if you are simply going through the motions. Which would possibly explain the increasingly desperate language you employ.

Isn't it time to retire, and do us both a favour?

Now I'm worried, I've been involved with both the open bretho's and the Church of Christ in the past (both listed here as potential cults). Come to think of it I did come across the cosmic quackery stuff in the bretho's that was more by way of the younger group I was part of rather than via teaching from the churches leaders.

The bretho's did tend to be suspicious of believers outside their group (to varying degree's) but my impression is cults are fairly hard to leave which was no problem with them. Friendships (but not to close) with people outside the church were encouraged.

Some were extreme and with no sense of respect for others, I remember a couple from a congregation which I lived near (but did not attend) with a habit of setting a portable PA up outside suburban houses on a saturday night and preaching to the people in the houses. Most bretho's I knew were appauled by that kind of behaviour.

The more open of the bretho's were theologically not all that different to Church of Christ, Baptists etc excpet for the head covering thing and the lack of paid ministers.

Church of Christ could swap signs with most baptist churches and nobody would spot the difference. Some congregations may be different but most were in my experience far to open to be cults.

I've tried to find out in the past if the stuff Gibo cherishes is from his church or a smaller group he hangs around with. Possibly a mixture. Certainly cult like signs but then he is allowed to mix it on OLO and a cult probably would not like that much.

I did once work with a Coonieite (not sure of the spelling). Now they have some very cult like characteristics (although I don't recall any flying saucers).

R0bert

R0bert reminds me that, while our most vocal Brethren tubthumper asserts that the world religion of Islam is a cult (but presumably his Brethren aren't), they share the characteristic of preferring their women to wear hijabs.

Of course there's many other things they share, like the much of the Old Testament, for example.