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From: gulley@stolaf.UUCP (William T. Gulley)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Church Discipline
Message-ID: <1880@stolaf.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 16-Sep-84 16:38:28 EDT
Article-I.D.: stolaf.1880
Posted: Sun Sep 16 16:38:28 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 08:05:35 EDT
Organization: St. Olaf College, Northfield MN
Lines: 39

>     I thought that the Christian concept of God was that of a
>loving, forgiving God.  If this is so, then I see *no* reason why
>Born-Again POSSLQ's, or gays in seminaries should be denied the
>possibility of participation in a church activity or community.  If God
>feels that these people are sinners of the worst kind, then he will
>judge appropriately.  This seems to be a personal matter between each
>individual and his/her God.

The Christian concept of God is precisely that, loving and forgiving
even beyond what we sometimes expect, or want.  And as God and Creator,
He has a pretty good idea on what he built the human model for, and
what not for.  In the Bible, I am told by a person who knew Him 
(namely the Apostle Paul) much better than I that homosexuality is 
not in the blueprints for the human model. As a Christian, my qualms
with those people are not so much whether they have the right to form
their church or not, but whether they have the right to undermine my
belief system by calling it Christian.

>	As for the wife-beater and the child abuser, there is a 
>very simple solution.  The congregation needn't be involved here;
>the police and court systems do an adequate job.

If they're doing such an adequate job, why is wife- and child-beating
still so rampant?  (My answer: They're largely un-policable.)  Their
fellow members in the congregation would know more about the person,
and therefore be more in a position to help, than some anonymous
policeman. (However, I'm sure that there are cases to the contrary, also.)

>	Perhaps, if Christians were more like their God, there wouldn't
>be quite so much persecution and anguish in this world.
>Henry C. Mensch                 | Purdue University Computing Center

I very much agree.  But of the two groups, non-Christian and Christian,
it seems like a safe bet to say that there is a much higher percentage
of those in the Christian camp *trying* to be, than in the other. (But
then, there's where the loving, forgiving God comes in again. .)
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The Essential William Gulley  {!inhp4 || !decvax} !stolaf!gulley