Linus Soh

Ah, the topic that started it all…

This is a topic that separates many Christians so much so that many have left churches and even the faith all together because of how this topic is handled.  Jesus said to give to the poor but evangelical Christians don’t want government social programs.  This seems to be in direct contradiction of scripture!  Is this an instance where the Christian only follows certain teachings but not others?

What The Atlantic and other news organizations fail to do is look into why Christians don’t want government subsidies to the poor.  More to the point, Christians do not want the government to control subsidies to the poor.

I have never met a Christian that said that compassion is something that we shouldn’t do.  In fact, often times, Christians are judged for not being compassionate enough (probably who other topic, but let’s move on).  The thing that makes compassion so powerful is that it’s a choice and it’s voluntary.  The two words are strikingly similar and even related, but refer to two different ideas.

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Welcome to my new series “Why do Christians…”! I think I’m really going to enjoy this series primarily because this is a topic that has always interested me. One of my personal favorite questions is “Why do Christians love The Chronicles of Narnia but hate Harry Potter?”

In this series, I’ll tackle seemingly contradictory points of view held by most conservative Christians. Be forewarned that they don’t represent the entire Christian faith, but do represent the most mainstream viewpoints and counter-viewpoints.

So, let’s get started with a whopper: abortion and the death penalty.

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted on either blog. I was, however, inspired today by reading this article. It seems that whenever a newspaper does a “Is he really Christian” article, the author does a very poor job using biblical verses.  They are used out of context and often do not use the correct interpretation.

One of my English professors set it best: When you were in high school, teachers told you that there are no wrong answers in interpretation. This statement has done a disservice to all students.  It’s one thing to say that Romeo & Juliet is a love story.  It’s quite another to say it’s an instruction manual to build an IKEA bookcase.  The same thing goes for the Bible.  While it can be argued that bible verses can be interpreted in many ways, there are such things as mainstream interpretations.

What I hope to do in the the series “Why do Christians…” is to share a few of these interpretations.  For example:

• Why do Christians…hate abortion but love the death penalty?
• Why do Christians…hate government subsidies to the poor?
• Why do Christians…pick and choose which verses to follow “to the letter”?
• Why do Christians…usually vote Republican?

I’m hoping to have the first article ready by the beginning of September.  The series will start with the first item.

I would like to encourage other questions.  Feel free to post them in the comments below.

I’m not going to lie: this entry is inspired by the episode of How I Met Your Mother.  The episode focuses on the workplace life of one of the main characters, Marshall Eriksen.  After being picked on by his co-workers, Marshall summons his childhood hero, Dr. Birnholz-Vazquez, a scientist who lived among the gorillas in Africa.  Much to his fiance’s frustration, Marshall begins acting like his co-workers so he would be accepted by them.

A popular Christian axiom goes “Be in the world, but not of the world.”  This more-or-less summarizes a popular passage about being ambassadors of the world.  The overall message is don’t be like everyone else who likes money, status, material items, things like that.  Instead, look at the world like Jesus did, with eternity in mind.  Unfortunately, Christians can get easily distracted by “the world” and miss out on what God is doing.  And some Christians take things too far by doing things they normally wouldn’t do to get accepted by their non-Christian peers.

This is always a tricky topic with Christians because the line between being in the world and being of the world is very thin and sometimes the two sides blend together.  But part of being a Christian is realizing that we aren’t here to change the world.  We’re here to change lives.

As I mentioned in my last post, too many Christians spent too much time trying to save a sinking ship.  So, instead of trying to save the remaining passengers, they go to the bar, have a drink, dance on the dance floor, and then if they feel confident enough, they’ll tell their fellow shipmates that the ship is indeed sinking.

Don’t misunderstand: there is nothing wrong with alcohol or going dancing.  I’m not the mayor of the tiny town of Footloose!  But I’ve seen too many Christians use these events as an excuse to get to know their fellow shipmates and never get around to sharing the message that the boat is not going to last forever.

This is what happens when our goal is to be accepted by the gorillas instead of trying to save them.  Acceptance should be a means to an end and not the end itself.

When I talk with people who don’t align themselves with a religion, I often ask them what they think about Christians in general.  My unofficial count is that above everything else, people see Christians as hypocrites.  And in many ways, this description is well-deserved.

A well-known, but often misattributed, quote about Christ and Christians goes, “I like Christ, but do not like Christians.”  Too many Christians today are so concerned with the righteousness of the Bible that they miss out on the message of the Bible.  Too many Christians go about making the world align with scripture; they ignore the fact that the world is not supposed to align with scripture.

I believe the problem with Christians today is that we have taken it upon ourselves to issue judgements inappropriately.  What most people, both Christians and the rest of the world, do not realize that that Christians are called to judge other Christians but not the world.  Throughout both Old and New testament, God asks his followers to judge fellow believers but not to judge the world.  This is a very broad topic, most of which I will not cover in this entry, but would like to examine what judgement is supposed to entail.

Christ accepted all sinners, regardless of social status or political ideology.  He associated with the lower ranks of society, proudly spending time with them.  It should be noted that while he associated with sinners, he never sinned with them.  In fact, he offered them an alternative.  He told them that eternal life could be gained by the likes of them.

A common saying among Christians is “Hate the sin, love the sinner.”  I think most people find this a bit offensive, especially the sins of homosexuality (This is for another topic).  I think it’s time for Christians to change this to just “Love the sinner.”  Yes, Christians are called to hate sin to the same extent that God hates sin.  However, Jesus became sin to destroy it’s power.  We must understand and accept that the sins of the world no longer have any power.

Christians are not called to be perfect, yet the world expects us to be.  However, rather than trying to change the expectation, why don’t we change how we act?  Instead of standing on a corner, telling people they are going to hell, let’s hang out with the tax-collectors of our time.  Instead of complaining about how the world is going down the sewer, let’s put on our rain slicks and get dirty.

The world is lost.  We are not supposed to save it.  However, we are to try to bring as many people out as we can.  We won’t win everyone’s heart.  But we will win more hearts by being more like Christ than being ‘Christians’.

A few weeks ago, my dog discovered a family of kittens living under my deck.  They are very adorable!  You can’t really see them from this picture but they are there.

After consulting MANY websites, I decided that it was best to trap the mom cat and have her fixed and released.  I’m not sure if the mom is feral or stray, but she looks like a stray.  I’m hoping that the vet will be able to find a microchip for the cat.  If not, we’re hoping to rehabilitate the feral cat.  If not, she will be released to the “wild”.

This weekend, my neighbors and I will attempt to cat Chipper (mom) and her four-to-five kittens.  Hopefully, it won’t take too long.

A small church in Florida has been the focus of media hysteria for declaring September 11th “International Burn a Koran Day.”  Without focusing on the political reactions of this action, it is important for Christians to realize the implications of this action.

First and foremost, I do not believe the actions of Dove World Outreach Center, the church hosting the event, is sinful.  Without more information concerning the motives of the church and the pastor Rev. Terry Jones, I cannot pass judgement. This post will not discuss why Christians can judge other Christians.  Nonetheless, before a Christian can make a judgement against another, there must be clear evidence.  Even though there has been a lot of coverage concerning this event, the fact is that very few have actually sat down with Rev. Jones to examine his motives and ultimately his heart.
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I’m feeling kind of goofy today.

I’m currently at work waiting for something to install and instead of working on my final exam for my MBA class, I decided to get something off my chest that I’ve been pondering for quite a while.

Heaven: what will it be like?

This is a question that has been pondered by both Christians and non-Christians alike.  The Bible mentions heaven a number of times.  The most famous, and probably the most familiar, verse, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”  Theologians have argued for centuries what this verse means.  There are also verses about heaven being a great banquet.

But somehow, I don’t think this really captures heaven.  Allow me to provide my version of what I think heaven will be like.

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I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine. My friend Bob is very strong thinker as I’m much more of a feeler. We got into the topic of dating when I asked him about women and their looks. I will admit that how a woman looks is important to me…it’s not the most important but it’s still something I consider.  My friend said that looks is only one facet of information that we get.  And like everything else, we’ll come to either accept or reject someone based on their looks.

In other words, if you’re not attracted to someone when you meet them, you may grow to accept them despite this.

This is actually not as horrifying as it sounds.  Put simply, Bob equated looks to any other quirk.  It is only the society at large puts a large value on looks that makes the evaluation much harder.  And I think this is something worth thinking about.

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I’m not a father, but I know quite a few.  I also know many mothers.  It’s amazing the transformation that a couple goes through when they have children.  It’s equally amazing how much chaos such a little package can bring to two people.  But I’m not going to be addressing that issue.

One of the questions I often ask new parents is have they figured out their baby’s cries.  For those of you who are not parents, let me explain this to you.  Since baby’s cannot form sentences until about age 2, their vocabulary is limited to laughs and cries.  That’s it.  Laughs are easy: you know the baby is having fun.  But cries is a whole other matter.

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