Sinister: God is in my heart and he's tearing at the seams

[Lawrence Mikkelsen]

Youn J. Noh mentioned The Chills. Thanks. You made my day.

***TELL GOD I'M HERE***
Wayne Fortune (or Ba Ba) mentioned Christianity. It's a pretty difficult one
to stick up for sometimes, but I'm going to try.

Right. Where do I start? Firstly, his comment about God as "some fictional
character designed to strike fear into the hearts of the masses". Actually,
you'd be hard pressed to find a culture which doesn't have a some concept of
God. Whether what you say above is true or not, you can't blame God on
Christians.

Next. The Christian church has done loads of terrible, evil things in the
past. True. But again, this is *people*, and often people, even with good
intentions, get the wrong end of the stick and do terrible terrible things
for what they believe in. However, Christians have done lots of good too ...
here they feed, clothe and shelter the homeless people in Auckland that no
one give a damn about. A Baptsit Minister I know has a whole bunch of
prostitutes living with him and his wife and kids because they have nowhere
to go at night when they finish work. Look at Mother Theresa ... and the
civil rights movement. Look at the beauty in the writings of people like C.S
Lewis and Tolkien.

Some of you may know that New Zealand was the first country to give women
the vote - and this was achieved largely by a group of militant Chrisitan
women. For every flag-burning, red-necked abortion clinic blower-upper there
are hundreds of good people who are doing all they can to help people make
their lives better. Unfortunately, the above mentioned lunatic militants,
and the "old bald ministers" that Wayne mentioned happen to be the public
face of Christianity for so may people. Which is a tragedy.

"We know we are not the people you want us to be, we are not the people we
want to be" Actually I couldn't agree more. When I think of all the people I
could have helped - all the means things I've said which I shouldn't have -
I really am not the person I want to be. And I have never personally met
anyone who is. (I'm not saying *no one* is). I guess for me that's the
essence of Christianity for me. Knowing that, despite my failings, God loves
me.

I'm going to shut up now ... or else get myself crucified (pardon the pun)
for turning Sinist*r into a theology discussion group. I don't know if I've
in any way adequately addresses Wayne's issues, but hopefully he'll realise
we're not all as bad as the guy from "The Kirkin' of the Laddie".

Wayne Fortune (or Ba Ba) also mentioned Nick Drake. Glad you've discovered
him. Enjoy ......

***B&S CONTENT (minimal)***
So it seems as though everyone else in B&S has "something to do" apart from
Stuart M. What *are* you doing, Stu? Please say you're working on a solo
album :)

Lawrence Mikkelsen
http://www.akn.quik.co.nz/mikelsen/aboutme

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