On being liberal and our diversity (poll)

[Hats Off]

I need a "None of the above option," Otherwise I can't participate.

Oh, no. Another liberal. What is happening to MennoNet? That explains all those other posts. Oh dear.

[Hats Off]

I need a "None of the above option," Otherwise I can't participate.

You'd lower yourself to drive a red car??

The poll says "owning" rather than "driving" -- in some cultures, that makes a difference.

Yeah, we travel in airplanes but don't own them. I get to ride in a red pickup truck but don't own one.

[Hats Off]

Other signs of liberalization:

• Serving in the military or police force
  Swearing oaths
  Divorcing
  Living in a decked-out home
  Amassing significant wealth
  Wearing or driving luxury/status brands
  Instigating a personal lawsuit
  Voting in national elections
  Wearing jewelry and other (male/female) decorative adornment
  Pouring money into collector cars, guns, figurines, etc.
  Wielding political power

Uh - too many of those fit too many conservatives! They can't be signs of a liberal.

[Hats Off]

There is a Mennonite man who dresses very conservatively; black hat, black car, etc. He believes that the way you know if God is blessing you is if you have material blessings and things are going well for you. He says God has abundantly blessed him with money. I thought that was called the prosperity gospel.

So is he conservative or liberal? The two are often mixed in the same person. I think many of these questions are answered in knowing which kingdom we are a part of and then deciding if the particular practice promotes His kingdom.

I think that is why my answers above tend not be too serious. One of my first posts tends to express how I actually feel.

[Wade]

Other signs of liberalization:

• Serving in the military or police force
  Swearing oaths
  Divorcing
  Living in a decked-out home
  Amassing significant wealth
  Wearing or driving luxury/status brands
  Instigating a personal lawsuit
  Voting in national elections
  Wearing jewelry and other (male/female) decorative adornment
  Pouring money into collector cars, guns, figurines, etc.
  Wielding political power

I would define most of those things as apostasy... Just in the sermon on the mount Jesus spoke out against most of these things directly if not indirectly.

[Dan Z]

Other signs of liberalization:

• Serving in the military or police force
  Swearing oaths
  Divorcing
  Living in a decked-out home
  Amassing significant wealth
  Wearing or driving luxury/status brands
  Instigating a personal lawsuit
  Voting in national elections
  Wearing jewelry and other (male/female) decorative adornment
  Pouring money into collector cars, guns, figurines, etc.
  Wielding political power

I would define most of those things as apostasy... Just in the sermon on the mount Jesus spoke out against most of these things directly if not indirectly.

Yeah that was my point I guess - these things apply if liberalism is a slide away from the core tenets of our Christ-centered faith (which is one way of understanding it). If liberalism is a rejection of our Mennonite/Germanic culture then that is another list. If liberalism is theological then that is a third list.

[Ernie]

Ah... I was writing this as you were writing.

And then there are theological liberals (according to the Evangelicals) who are conservative (according to folks like Scroll Publishing, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.).

The Apocrypha being semi-inspired
The Bible being unclear on the following...
-whether the lost who have not heard will get a chance to repent
-annihilationism
-whether Paul was unChristlike in rebuking Peter publically in his letters and should have refrained from doing this (this tampers with an Evangelical understanding of inspiration of scripture)
-post-millenialism
-new heavens and new earth on this earth
etc.

[joshuabgood]

Ah... I was writing this as you were writing.

And then there are theological liberals (according to the Evangelicals) who are conservative (according to folks like Scroll Publishing, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.).

The Apocrypha being semi-inspired
The Bible being unclear on the following...
-whether the lost who have not heard will get a chance to repent
-annihilationism
-whether Paul was unChristlike in rebuking Peter publically in his letters and should have refrained from doing this (this tampers with an Evangelical understanding of inspiration of scripture)
-post-millenialism
-new heavens and new earth on this earth
etc.

Don't forget Paul slamming the Cretans...or hammering John Mark.

[Hats Off]

Ah... I was writing this as you were writing.

And then there are theological liberals (according to the Evangelicals) who are conservative (according to folks like Scroll Publishing, Seventh Day Adventists, etc.).

The Apocrypha being semi-inspired
The Bible being unclear on the following...
-whether the lost who have not heard will get a chance to repent
-annihilationism
-whether Paul was unChristlike in rebuking Peter publically in his letters and should have refrained from doing this (this tampers with an Evangelical understanding of inspiration of scripture)
-post-millenialism
-new heavens and new earth on this earth
etc.

Don't forget Paul slamming the Cretans...or hammering John Mark.

Were the Cretans also people of colour? This would really give us good grounds for our white superiority or whatever it is.

[joshuabgood]

In all seriousness, whiteness as a social construct didn't exist then.