Job Discussion Forums

[Paulie2003]

Mat...if I could interject here for a moment...you speak just like your pic looks...

it's a bit hard to explain...like knowing when someone is from Jersey or New York...

[matttheboy]

Hmmm, how do i speak? And can you guess where i'm from?

[ChinaMovieMagic]

Tamara, Thanks for the kind vibes...I can feel them.

Paulie, I wasn't clear what you're feeling in your words I'm reading. It seems you're a sort of Christian, so perhaps "start your own religion" is meant in a sarcastic/dismissive tone.

From my perspective, in the spirit of the Perennial Philosophy, your statement can be seen from various perspectives:
*all Truth needed has already been revealed in the Bible, so any more "Good News" is heretical/dangerous...the Enemy...including possibly Gnosticism, Buddhism, Tantra and other perspectives represented on
http://www.meta-religion.com/links.htm

*telling a musician "create your own music/school of music" Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, for example

*telling Tesla or Edison to "create your own electricity"

*telling the Chinese to "create your own herbal medicine/acupuncture"

*telling the Visitor in "Stranger in a Strange Land" to "create your own religion"

Actually, here in China, my goals are quite modest. In the spirit of the Yellow Emperor and (non-Rapturist)Noah, I actively en-vision creating a Euro-American/NativeAmerican/etc./Tibetan/Han Chinese extended family/tribe income-generating English/Chinese learning community in northern Sichuan (as described in Promoting Change in China's Classrooms? in the China-Job-Related section).

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/jiuzhaigou/page1.htm

[moonraven]

There is plenty to go around sadly--but not enough to go around joyfully....

[Paulie2003]

Dear China,

Are you indeed China?...cause, if you are than I know that you have your own special sense of 'magic'...

I guess I'm 'sort of Christian' ...if one could be labeled in those terms...

America is 'sort of christian', the Pope is 'sort of christian', the Catholic Church is 'sort of christian'...and so on...

Are YOU 'sort of christian' or 'sort of Christian'...don't get me wrong now...
I'm just trying to 'sort' this out...

Where's Guy when you need him?????

[ChinaMovieMagic]

China has had many experiences with many sorts of Christians. Starting w/the Italian Jesuit Catholic Matteo Ricci and his colleagues. With their knowledge of Math and Astronomy, the were well-respected by the intellectuals and the Emperor. They were winning friends and influencing people in high places--the Jesuit strategy I know, as I'm a product of a Socratic/non-fundamentalist Jesuit education.

Ricci et al., having developed knowledge of Chinese language/culture/history/worldview(s), determined that the Chinese practice(and that of many-many other traditions)of bowing etc. to the deceased ancestors was "paying reverence," not "Worshipping." But the Dominicans, the Rome-based rivals of the Jesuits (and the "Black Pope") had the ear of the Pope, and persuaded him that for Chinese to enter "the Church" they must give up this cultural/tribal practice. So...folks were not interested in losing their identity.

Back in the days of the primitive Apostolic Church, Paul's pragmatic vision opened "The WAY's" evangelical market to the Gentiles, especially those pork lovers and those attached to not losing their for*sk*ns.

With the all-sorts-of Protestant missionaries coming to China, confusion abounded. First one church, and the selective turn-paging would persude/convince folks to "believe" one perspective, then another version of Christianity would open on the other side of town, and that chap would have a different selection of page-turning and interpretations in conflict with the other chap. And they BOTH (all) claimed the Word-of-God is clear to see, and that the other chap/church is dead wrong.

Here at Sichuan U's ILTC we've got 4 Christian teachers seeking to save damned souls. Are you the sort of Christian that believe unless one is "washed in the Blood" then they will not be "saved" which means not "heasven" which means "hell." Yes? I find that most of these fundamentalists have a ignorarance of other spiritual traditions...even a distaste for them. Such a perspective has led to all sorts ofl christian (non-SIC) theocratic nastiness in history.

Here in China, the Taoist monks get along with the Buddhist monks, and they both use the word "Tao"--although they have subtle differences in interpretation, just as composers have different interpretations of, for example, Bach. Is music "Truth for all"?

On the Internet, and among Chinese Christians in China, there's folks promoting the "belief" or "certainty" that an army of , what is it, 200 million Chinese soldiers will invade Israel in 30 years or so. Other fundamentalist strongly disagree.

All kinds of Christians with all kinds of ideas from the "Word of God."
In the spirit of Quantum Theory, Chinese Taoism emphasizes the perspective of 'both/and" rather than the confrontational "either/or."

[Paulie2003]

Well...ummm...what can I say? I really don't know alll that much and I guess that China's history if further rather than nearer to me now...not having lived there for two years...

I do know that I attended a very fine church for expats while there...there seemed to be a lot of interest in Christianity throughout that land...

Though I did not see any indications first hand...I believe that the persecution of the Church still goes on there - Pastors imprisoned, beaten and tortured, etc...

I shared fairly open and freely with my associates, though the school I taught in was not open to 'religion' - as far as I know, most aren't.

Tell me a bit more about your training at school and what you have studied. I'm interested in your perspective on faith in China...

[moonraven]

Is it possible that folks like Paulie provoke persecution?

[Paulie2003]

So much for 'self-control'...

Whatever happened to people who keep their word...especially when they say numerous times that they will no longer respond to posters they deem illiterate, misinformed, bad-tempered or unable to communicate effectively

As long as YOU give me reason...I will be here...

[moonraven]

Paulie should have put quote marks around that last statement--it was spoken by The Devil....