BTW: The Angola Prison in Louisiana is being sued by the ACLU. Although the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has a program that allows inmates to have the opportunity to earn an accredited bachelor’s degree in Christian ministry, it seems that not all persons have access to religious material.
Howie, as someone who has had some experience in sending materials to prisons for LifeWay, I can say that it comes down to what the guards who survey the material think about it. They can reject anything they want to — and really because these guys are in prison, not much can be said. I am not against mormons having material, but I do think that it is an issue that goes beyond what a seminary can do. It’s bueaurocratic in nature, not specifically religious. We have had things rejected as well, in fact very often. Sometimes it is a matter of guards stealing the books or just not wanting the prisoner to have what he wants. So I am not sure this is an issue that falls within the idea of a denial of religious rights, though the needs to be an investigation. I just wouldn;t jump to any premature conclusions. BTW, saw your comments on Prescott’s blog and I have to say I am disappointed. I still think you need to read Behe’s book along with a couple of other ID books before you jump to supporting a guy like Prescott who distorts much research the he is ignorant of. And that story was atrocious (about Philip Johnson). I think it is ridiculous to question someone’s motives like that without any serious evidence, other than one’s own suspicions. Is that what we are called to do as Christians? Isn’t that what he claimed to be fighting against in the conservative resurgence? Anyway, glad to see you are blogging more now.
I’m all for equal access to religious materials. I say give him the books he wants. But if you know anything
about Mormonism, you must know that Mormons are not Christians! They worship a different Christ and advocate
a radically different Gospel. Let’s not let ecumenical enthusiam blind us to false religions!
“Let’s not let ecumenical enthusiam blind us to false religions!”
I prefer to let arrogant pharisaical jerks determine what beliefs are heretical. I’ve been branded a heretic so many times that I almost think that being branded as such is proof that one follows God correctly. After all, Jesus was hardly a conservative. Pretty liberal in fact.
Well, I suppose that’s one way. I prefer to let the Bible tell me what beliefs are heretical. Let’s see…with Mormonism: God the Father has a physical body, which he used to literally impregnate one of his own spirit daughters, Mary, in order tthat she might give birth to the physical body of Jesus (the spirit brother of Lucifer). I just picked three heresies at random here out of the quagmire of Mormon theological possibilities. Yes, heresies. If you’ve been “hurt” (your word) so badly by conservative Christians that you no longer care to know truth from falsehood, you’re in pretty bad shape, chief.
“I prefer to let arrogant pharisaical jerks determine what beliefs are heretical.”
I think simply labeling all those who seek to heed the anathema warnings of Paul and the Apostle John as pharisaical jerks is a bit of an overstatement. I think there are clear examples of heresy from church history and Mormonism would fall easily in those categories. As for your own experience, I would agree that we throw that word (heresy) around a bit much, especially in light of the fact that it means strictly speaking that those who hold to such beliefs are bound for hell. However, the Church is called to expose certain beliefs which do lead down the path of destruction and speak on the basis of the revealed Word of God alone. What God does not call heresy, is not. But what Scripture reveals clearly, we should not hold back, for we have a responsibility to our brother or sister’s soul.
“After all, Jesus was hardly a conservative. Pretty liberal in fact.”
This depends entirely on what you mean by the terms conservative and liberal. If you mean socially, then you have some case. But if you mean theologically, I would disagree. He did affirm the Law and the Prophets, and even to some extent, support popular views that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, that Jonah was a real man, and that Judaism started with Abraham. Those are fairly conservative views. He reinterpreted Judaism in light of Himself, but never suggested that men were not sinful, nor that sin was not the problem that needed to be dealt with. While Jesus might have been a radical, that does not equate to liberal.
My point is that I don’t take every opportunity to call persons heretics. I think I’m pretty qualified to know what a heretic is, but my ultimate concern is not to point spend most of my time doing that (like fundamentalists do).
Howie, you seemed to suggest that anyone who fences the communion table is a “pharisaical jerk”. CKS pointed out that Mormons are not Christians, a point that almost every conservative Christian would affirm (fundamentalist or simple evangelical) because of their insistance that Jesus Christ was not eternally God, but rather was born as a spirit brother of Satan, that God has a physical body, and that the Trinity is actually three seperate gods, with many more out there in the universe. So to me your comment was accusatory of all conservative Christians on the basis of their fencing of the table to the exclusion of true heretics. So it seemed you were equating all exclusivists with fundamentalists — thus my previous comment back to you. Sorry if is seemed harsh.
Mabye he should give the money he won from his lawsuit to the families of the people he murdered! He has the right to his religous materials, but they should have had the right to have Jaime and Kelly still here!
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