Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
Having the Recovery as our backdrop, I don't think we can stress this point enough.
The Lord Jesus did not condemn the entire Jewish religion when He ministered on earth. What Jesus did condemn was the hypocrisy of their leaders. Numerous cases exist throughout the gospels, where He upheld the Jewish religion, and even honored it. The Lord's rebukes to the Jewish leaders centered on their hypocrisy, including their traditions which made His commandments void.
WL's book Christ vs. Religion confused this issue, creating a much larger "enemy" in the name of religion, than merely the hypocrisy condemned by the Lord. By transposing the words "hypocrisy" and "religion," WL successfully included all believers. All Christians were thus categorized with the hypocrites. The book of James uses this word "religion," which is another reason why James is so discredited in the LRC. I believe many LC'ers have been damaged by this confusion. So much so, that the LSM has a history of condoning their own hypocrisy, all the while condemning all other Christian churches, denominations, free gatherings, and ministries.
How totally self-serving their condemnation on religion has become.
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Although your point is well-taken, again I say it's not just about hypocrisy, it's also about simply being deceived by a false substitute of genuine service of God.
Again, the validity of the subject depends one which definition of religion one is using. Let's not make this a semantic argument about what "religion" really means and whether the word is okay to use. The question is what is the essence of the boy's point, and though hypocrisy is part of the equation, it is not all of it. The rest of it simply having a mistaken assumption of what kind of service pleases God.
I'm not advocating condemning "entire religions" or a scorched earth policy against "religion." But the fact is people who pray rosary beads with the idea that the sheer number of beads prayed makes a difference to God are deceived, but their problem isn't hypocrisy. It may just be misplaced sincerity.
Lastly, let me comment on your statement:
"I believe many LC'ers have been damaged by this confusion."
Let's be honest, LCers have been damaged by a lot of things. So take your pick. But the problem often isn't the essential information being given, the problem is LCers are never allowed to process the information they are given and to put it into perspective. So the result is they end up getting damaged because they don't know the basic skills of gaining understanding on their own. They just let their teachers tell them what to think and, whether it makes sense or not to them, they run with it, often trampling anyone who has the misfortune to be in their way, including each other.
Mindlessness + lots of information = disaster
Mindlessness + lots of information + zeal = total disaster