Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: unisoft!lynn@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Lynn Klein) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Christians abetting Satan? (Was: gulf crisis, spiritual help...) Message-ID: Date: 1 Oct 90 01:21:54 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 41 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Regarding my post that, when we die, God won't give one hoot about what we believe, but will instead ask how we practiced the works of mercy, and Charlie's response about the difference between belief and faith, and am I talking about just doing good works... I'm not trying to argue about saving Christians or non-Christians, and I am not talking about being nice at the workplace and giving to the United Fund, and I don't want to delve into a philosophical argument. I've spent years in a graduate theology program exploring these questions -- faith, belief, works, among others -- and the point I see is that we are commanded to *love* one another as God loves us. This means compassion, sharing, and taking sometimes frightening steps into true solidarity with those who suffer. We have much power and *incredible* wealth in the First World, specifically in the United States. We have a responsibility to share the blessings we've received with those who are poor and powerless and have no voice in this society, and empower them live a decent life. Haven't we all been taught that God especially loves the poor, the orphan, the widow? For the past several years I've worked with Central American refugees who have been tortured and had family members killed, simply for want of a decent life. Seeing the suffering of these friends I love has changed my life. The churches in Central America cry out to us for help and solidarity with their struggle. Knowing of the suffering of so many in this world, I have little patience with endless discussions of who to pray with and how to pray, and whether God can create a rock God can't lift. Why don't we talk about the *poor* on this net? Why is it always a personalized Christianity of "being saved," or philosophical discussions that degenerate into boxing the Holy Spirit into a text book? I continue to pray for all of you, and for the kind of world where it is easier to be good. Lynn Klein