Hattip to Matt Archbold at Creative Minority Report. From those brilliant and twisted people at Catholic Memes.
The One Unforgivable Modern Sin
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
This is so true. In modern “culture”, at least here in California, the one sin recognized by so many people is “judging” or “intolerance”. With that comes the acceptance of so much sin and ironically, the very people who believe this rage and judge people who they think may be even slightly intolerant.
Reminded me of this oldie:
http://proecclesia.blogspot.com/2006/07/liberal-bible.html
Unforgivable to think your own thoughts, away from the herd. Thoreau ‘s different drummer is more and more distant.
Church poster labeled ‘hate incident’ by police
May 29th, 2014
A Baptist church in Norfolk UK has been investigated by police after a poster displayed outside the building attracted a complaint.
The poster coupled a picture of burning flames with the words “If you think there is no God you’d better be right!!”. It was displayed near another sign advertising forthcoming events and promising visitors “a very warm welcome”.
But 20-year-old passer-by Robert Gladwin lodged a complaint. He later said that the message of the poster “could not be further from the often uttered phrase ‘love thy neighbor'”.
A police spokesman said that national guidance required them to investigate the complaint and that the matter had been recorded as a hate incident.
Pastor John Rose of Attenborough Baptist Church said that the Church offered a variety of ways for people to engage with the Christian message. He continued: “Jesus encourages us to love God and to love our neighbor and we therefore regret that the poster has been seen as inciting hatred.”
The poster has since been replaced with another explaining “God loves you”.
Andrea Williams commented:
“People may differ in their response to the precise style of this poster but the more important point is that speaking of the reality of hell and of eternal destiny is entirely consistent with a loving God who commands us to love others.
“Jesus himself often warned about hell. He did so not to harm people but because He loved people. Our thoughts and actions in life have consequences and God will hold us to account. The good news of the gospel is not that hell is an illusion but that Jesus provides a way of escape from it.
“It is worrying that even an allusion to the eternal destinies that the Bible describes can now be classified as a hate incident.”
Source: http://www.christianconcern.com/our-concerns/freedom-of-speech/church-poster-labelled-hate-incident-by-police
[…] The One Unforgivable Modern Sin – Don. R. McClarey JD, TACatholic […]
From a comment above:
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The poster coupled a picture of burning flames with the words “If you think there is no God you’d better be right!!”. It was displayed near another sign advertising forthcoming events and promising visitors “a very warm welcome”. But 20-year-old passer-by Robert Gladwin lodged a complaint. He later said that the message of the poster “could not be further from the often uttered phrase ‘love thy neighbor’”.
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It IS God’s love that you and I should be afforded the feel will to make a decision for Heaven or Hell. God loves us so much that He will respect our free will to choose hell over Heaven even though He sacrificed His only begotten Son to prevent that from happening. Ironically perhaps (and maybe this is theologically questionable but I am a nuclear engineer, not a theologian), hell IS an example of God’s love for it is the place that God allows for all those who do not want to be with Him forever. It hurts Him to the point of death on a Cross to allow us to go to hell if that is what we want, but that is how much He loves us.
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Liberals are so stupid.
It’s one of their weapons for killing the free exchange of ideas.
It’s a form of bullying, i.e., shouting down someone with an alternative opinion to the post-modern narrative.
Richard Fernandez: “It is impossible to understand the politics of the Left without grasping that it is all about deniable intimidation.”
At this time, approaching Pentecost, we need to acquaint ourselves with, and pray for the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. The Fruit that we need here is that of Goodness.
Goodness While kindness is the soft side of goodness, Goodness reflects the character of God, and is one of God’s attributes. Goodness in us desires to see the Goodness in others, and is not beyond confronting or even rebuking others for that to happen, as Jesus did when He cleansed the temple.
Well, a picture that says “if you think there is no God you’d better be right” is, if we take it apart from what followed, quite lousy preaching and lousy theology.
— What is an atheist who reads that supposed to do? Is he going to lie himself into believing in God only for the faint doubt he may have had before concerning his atheism? And what if he had not even had that?
Then, does God punish people for their opinions or for their sins? Oh, I forgot, we are talking about Baptists…
And – now I’m walking onto disputed ground, but still – even if we do stipulate eternal punishment in Hell, would it be better – for our atheist at least – if God did not exist (and, as we might assume, the soul were mortal)? Isn’t dissolving into nothingness something still worse than at least being kept in existence, and being judged important enough that one’s misdeeds really have offended God and are repaid by punishment, though that be eternal torment?
Mercy sakes!
Tom D’s story is absurd and an indicator of the dark being called light.
There is a hell. To imagine that there isn’t one, is one sure way to end up there.
Pray Pray Pray.
Well, a picture that says “if you think there is no God you’d better be right” is, if we take it apart from what followed, quite lousy preaching and lousy theology. – What is an atheist who reads that supposed to do?
Laugh, and then think about the joke and start applying the much-claimed rationality.
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The serious version is classic– Pascal’s Wager. “If I bet there is a God, and I’m right, I go to heaven; if I bet there’s no God, and I’m wrong, I go to hell. If there is no God, doesn’t matter.”
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I’d say eternal torment is worse than not existing– more on topic, I think a lot of atheists would. We’re talking about torment beyond what is possible in life, and a large number of atheists commit suicide from lack of hope of relief of pain, with the goal of non-existence.
“Judge not lest ye be judged.” is a warning to judge correctly, for surely you will be judged by your own judgment.
Instead of usurping Christ’s prerogative for “judging”, why don’t we take a try at “forgiving”, “healing” or “loving” instead. I know it’s a lot to ask, but baby steps will get us there.
“Instead of usurping Christ’s prerogative for “judging””
No fear of that in the contemporary world Matt. The whole game is to pretend that no sins exist, except for judging, either yours or anyone elses. The words of Christ: “Go and sin no more” are thrust firmly down the memory hole, with predictable and terrible results.
I think we all agree that “forgiving”, “healing” or “loving” are the way to go. The actions of healing and forgiving require a judgment or discernment of sin– otherwise what’s to be forgiven or healed. We can love of course, because we were first loved, though unworthy, a fact we must try to keep ever before us.
Yes, it is the “Go and sin no more” message that is neglected. I think clergy ned to realize when preaching, that much of their flock is barely catechized. Many people do not have the background to fully grasp the “Judge not” message. It requires proper attention and explanation.