Barbara Ehrenreich is not talking about theology or faith here, but this is also true in several strains of Christianity.

“Positive thinking Christianity” is often referred to as prosperity theology (also known as prosperity doctrine, the health and wealth gospel, or the prosperity gospel)It is a religious belief found among “tens of millions” of Christians primarily in the United States but also here in Europe, centered on the notion that God provides material prosperity for those he favors. It has been defined by the belief that “Jesus blesses believers with riches” or more specifically as the teaching that “believers have a right to the blessings of health and wealth and that they can obtain these blessings through positive confessions of faith and the ‘sowing of seeds’ through the faithful payments of tithes and offerings.

I see this thinking and teaching also influencing all parts of Christianity to different degrees. The belief that belief or should we say “positive thinking”  itself is a powerful tool in either manipulat

ing-influencing God or people in a good or bad way to achieve personal gain or good. The belief in Utopia, the belief in the unrealistic or unseen. I believe in the mystical,in dimensions beyond our senses and in the supernatural but it is always in the context of  reality or as Barbara emphasizes the need for realism.

Have a look and tell me what you think;

Thanks Gunilla for this:)

Kester Brewin says the following in his letter to the church in North America : if you want to find the Kingdom of Heaven, you’re going to have to abandon your pursuit of paradise. In other words, the purified utopian ideal is dangerous; God is found in the dirt of the incarnation.

It certainly could be a letter to us in the North too..

холни маси

I have posted stuff by Sir Ken Robinson before, and as always it is brilliant.

This is good by Dan Pink!

Jay bakker, Tony Campolo and Brian Mclaren share some thoughts on gay issues. Worth a look and a think.

Tony Campolo says the following in this video:Many people say; love the sinner but I hate the sin, but that is the opposite of what Jesus said. He never said love the sinner but hate

the sin. He said hate your own sin. That is a good place to start.

Brian Mclaren

Mclaren asks,what do I do with those who dont believe what I believe about this issue? Do I cut them off

? Acceptance and approval are they the same thing? My acceptance is not conditioned on my approval.

Jay Bakker is the pastor of this church in New York.

“By acknowledging that all our readings are located in a cultural context and have certain prejudices, we understand that engaging the Bible can never mean that we simply extract meaning from it, but also that we read meaning into it. In being faithful to the text we must move away from the naive attempt to read it from some neutral, heavenly height and we must attempt to read it as one who has been born of God and thus born of love: for that is the prejudice of God.

Here the ideal of scripture reading as a type of scientific objectivity is replaced by an approach that creatively interprets with love.”

–Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God

“One of history’s greatest lessons is that once the state embraces a religion, the nature of that religion changes radically. It loses its nonviolent component and becomes a force for war rather than peace.

it would have to drop its power politics and renege on its mission to seek advantage over other nations, enhancing itself at the expense of others. And so a religion is in the service of a state is a religion that not only accepts war but prays for victory. From Constantine to the Crusaders to the contemporary American Christian right, people who call themselves Christians have betrayed the teachings of Jesus while using His name in the pursuit of political power.”

–Mark Kurlansky, Nonviolence

This occurrence is not limited to just the Christian right. But also to anyone like myself, capable of misusing my religion to violate “the other”, “the other” often being the ones closest to me.

My understanding of the teachings of Jesus often have a starting point of Jesus being a servant, never a dominating superman.