Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Crazy Crap / Phillips Because Nothing Says 'Follower of the Prince of Peace' Like Punching a Dude in the Face
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 8:53 AM
Comments (9)
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Well, as a Christian who also kickboxes, I guess I can see your point and I can see their point. Of course, I'm not actually punching people in the face, just working off stress and calories. But I don't know if this is all that surprising. The Bible is very violent, all that smiting and smoting and crucifying.
Ya know, Buddhism and HInduism are pretty peaceful religions too, yet we also have Shaolin Kung Fu and a variety of Indian martial arts. So I think this might be a little bit of hoo-hah over nothing.
I'm a little offended that they use martial arts to recruit men only (what, women can't kick ass?) and also that they seem to think "Jesus was a fighter." Um, no.
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Good point about the smiting, crucifying etc Southern Beale. Makes interesting reading. But biblical slashing and killing also creates another one of those outrageous spiritual paradoxes.
Jesus preached love. No question. However there is substantial evidence that underneath what many regard as sap and mush was a steely fiestiness. He mentions it in his discussion of John the Baptist when He talks about violent men and force.
You're no doubt correct in your assumption Jesus wasn't a kick-boxing aficionado. But His performance attracting attention to himself when he routed the peddlers and money changers from the temple certainly displayed his own capacity for force and violence. I suspect if He'd needed to use kick-boxing in the course of things there, he probably would have acquitted himself well.
Wow, they sure don't like that women are going to church. That seems to be the point. The pews were pastel rather than leather, for heaven's sake. They sound ilke a bunch of Promise Keepers latching on to a fad.
Well hell Ashley, I just love that women go to church. I do too. In Sturgis, every year.
Church in Sturgis is a fine way to discover new 'Ole Ladies', extra 'Ole Ladies', or interim 'Ole Ladies', whichever. One of Sturgis' special delights to anticipate as Rally time approaches.
Why don't you put in an appearance up there next year? Give you something to remember in your dotage.
I'll bet they *love* the Book of Eli over there. God says it's cool to be a machete-wielding badass, cutting off heads and shooting people to make sure the KJ Bible gets reprinted. GET SOME!
My long thoughtful response to Humpfree just got lost in an internet cloud, and I don't have time to repost it ... the abbreviated version is, read Shane Claiborne's "Mad Jesus Skilz" essay for the final word on Christianity and boxing.
Read with interest the “Mad Jesus Skilz” piece you recommended Southern Beale. Thought provoking, certainly.
First, a question: what might be your own musings about the pursuit of martial arts?
Second: the problematic business of WWJD. If I've discovered anything for certain in a long relationship with the almighty it is that God/Jesus will not be 'figured out'. He cannot be second guessed. Repeatedly, He chooses different courses of action under what to me at least appear to be repeated, very similar circumstances. Has to do with intent. His will, as it were. And in fact, I don't know what He will do for sure unless He tells me intuitively before hand.
As to the matter of whether or not He might be pleased with us: the answer to that is to me an unqualified yes. No matter what. We, all of us, are forgiven for being what we are. How we perform out of our human condition is a product of spiritual experience and growth. Which to me seems to be what this mortal journey seems to be all about.
And I'm convinced His pleasure with us becomes delight when spirituality finally overcomes fleshiness. Amen.
