Warning
Religious content, don’t read if you don’t want to.
Idols, statues, image of deities, what ever you call them, many treat them as some sort of God and worship it for many reasons, some just want peace, some want prosperity, some want to better their fortune, some want success, some want power, what ever the reason to me it’s more than just a false sense of security. Some even go to the extent of flying to Thailand to get one.
Just for the record, I want to blog about it and get it off my chest. You see there is a four face whatever-you-call-it in my office and to me its a problem. An idol is nothing more than an empty piece of clay, cause its ridiculous for man to make an object and start worshipping it.
You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third generation and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.
With this verse in the bible, I’m quite sure the person who placed the idol in the office will be punished and not just him, but also his children to the third generation and fourth generation. I’m not cursing that person, but thats what the bible says. Wah lau serious case!
I think Singapore have many people who have the “better believe and be safe than sorry†mentality. When all the myths and superstition unfolds during major events like weddings, child birth, moving into new house, a lot of people even the younger generation will listen to them and do what they say by having this “better believe and be safe than sorry†mentality. Ok if you want to think like that, do remember Exodus 20:3-6 which states “punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third generation and fourth generationâ€. Wah Lau, even if you don’t believe and want to “better believe and be safe than sorryâ€, then you better not have an idol around if you don’t want to be the cause of punishment for your generations below.
I can’t stand it, its so irritating to see the golden statue in my office, its like the golden calf in the bible, the people who worship will kena punish. I really don’t want to be punished for grave sin that others have committed out of ignorance.
Aaaaaa stress…
it doesn’t really make a difference idol or no idol.
religion is just religion a place to put your ‘spirituality’
just because you don’t have an idol doesn’t mean the way you believe in something is “different” as such. the cross serves much the same purpose.
i can’t help but to say this..
christianity is never a religion. it’s a relationship with God.
(:
i know its a completely different scenario – but this is how i relate your story to mine, i live in somebody else’s home of which there’s somebody who smokes and we have a baby around. it is very irritating, our daughter may be punished for a grave sin that others have committed out of ignorance.
“With this verse in the bible, I’m quite sure the person who placed the idol in the office will be punished and not just him, but also his children to the third generation and fourth generation. I’m not cursing that person, but thats what the bible says. Wah lau serious case!?”
Do you mean non-muslim who eats pork are sinners in the eyes of the Muslims? I think you ought to respect other pple’s beliefs.
cant help but say this. conviction leaves little room for tolerance.
tolerance is a sin, that’s why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorah. Tolerance is bullcrap, its made up by “Da Man” (school of Rock) who passes “anti-terrorist” laws, in turn discrimating and suppresses the individual – anybody who speaks the truth and what’s in their hearts and on their mind – to enforce collectivism and “global” attitudes in order to destroy those who wish to stand out from the crowd.
If I know the truth – the truth will set me free. Thus when I know what the truth is – then how do I respect other people’s religion when the truth tells me and I believe it to be truth, that other people’s religion is created by either a) the devil b) man’s imagination?
the cross – a christian doesn’t worship the cross. sorry you got that wrong. the cross isn’t meant to be worshipped. it is neither an idol nor does it resemble anything living above or beneath the earth. If you’re referring to the one with christ on the cross, that’s not christianity. that’s another faith – they are similar but not mutally inclusive.
to enforce the idea of tolerance, since you feel that we should have have no conviction and leave it all to tolerance : let’s tolerate these scenarios
let us tolerate :
a) father who immorally abuses his child, the child gives birth to an unwanted baby and the baby is thrown down a garbage chute.
b) a serial killer who continues to murder and the cops let him go all due to tolerance.
c) a money swindler who continues to swindle old ladies money and the cops let him go all due to tolerance.
d) a suicide bomber who continues to bomb people all due to tolerance
e) a preacher who continues to preach the truth about the only way to heaven, and show love to others telling them that their sin will result in destruction, and that their religion is wrong – which is the truth, resulting in violating “tolerance” codes of conduct.
now tell me if your “tolerance” really helps the spiritually, morally bankrupt mankind of our age?
in reply to passerby2:”and show love to others telling them that their sin will result in destruction”
let me just quote the reason why this post has caused so much debate:
‘I really don’t want to be punished for grave sin that others have committed out of ignorance’
now tell me, is that the love you speak of. more like save my own ass.
IF this stuff about idolatry cannot be tolerated, then WHY tolerate it. why not SPEAK YOUR TRUTH. if it so liberating, why not speak it…why come back to a blog and damnate all those people.
WHY not speak to them and tell them this truth then, if it is so true.
although masquerading under the pretence of ‘these people are going to go to hell, oh no’, the real message is that he does not want to get ‘dirtied’ by sins of others, rather than proactively seeking to show them the path to salvation as well.
Hi Nick. I do believe that some of the comments here are going way off tangent, i.e., tolerating incestuous acts or serial killers. Those in no way are related to the topic of religion and tolerance.
If the person who has brought the golden four face is not Christian, I don’t see how he is sinning and why his family and the next four generations should be punished.
I quote:
Matthew 22:15-22 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,†they said, we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?†18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.†They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?†21 “Caesar’s,†they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.†22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Which means, that on earth, we are bound to our earthly rights. If the laws on earth requires us to be tolerant of other religions to live harmoniously, we should abide to that. What we ‘owe’ to God, is between us and God and should have nothing to do what what others around you are doing. Also, him worshipping those idols, should not condem you as long as you don’t worship those idols.
It is precisely why the world is in so much chaos these days – others choose to enforce their believes on other and are not tolerant of the different religions.
And to passerby2, Catholics and Christians are mutually inclusive. Christianity started out with Catholicism and how Protestants (or what you would call Christians) came about is because these group of people were dissatisfied with the church and chose to break away from it. Therefore, they are called Protestants (protesting from the Church). At the end of the day, we still workship the same God.
I’ve got 2 things to say:
1) If an empty piece of clay bothers you, then you should be questioning your faith. Remember that nothing from the outside can make you unclean on the inside. If your own beliefs are so easily shaken, don’t put the blame on others.
2) Be careful not to pick and choose only the passages from the Old Testament that you find accceptable. It is true that Jesus (Matthew 5:17-19) says
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Apart from idol worship, there were many other commandments and laws in the Old Testament that most Christians today have conveniently forgetten.
To pick a few examples of this line of reasoning, Christian men would have to be physically circumcised. All Christians would have to offer sacrifices. Men, at least, would have to travel to Jerusalem to keep the annual festivals. Christians would have to keep the various purification rituals. One of these rituals specified that individuals who came in contact with dead bodies would be “unclean” for seven days. They would have to ceremonially wash themselves on the third and seventh day (Numbers 19:11-13). If any person failed to do this, he or she would be “cut off from Israel” (verse 13). There are many dozens of such laws in the Law of Moses that would have to be followed.
Now, do you follow any of these?
If not, you may want to look inward. Remember that Jesus (Matthew 7:3-5, NIV) said,
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
“It is precisely why the world is in so much chaos these days – others choose to enforce their believes on other and are not tolerant of the different religions.” – joan.
Jesus says, “I am the way, truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me”.
Was Jesus tolerant of other people’s beliefs in saying that? NO.
i think passerby2 is just a bit of a nut.
Hi passerby2, all Jesus is saying is that the only way to the Christian God is through Christ. It has got nothing to do with whether Jesus is being tolerant to other religions or not.
Are you implying that Jesus preached intolerance and by extension, if the suicide bombers were Christians, their actions would be right?
i think you guys are totally off.
the issue is more like the “better be safe than sorry” part. The other parts are just comments which nick jus put in in his own part in his belief.
he isn’t like, putting down other religions who worship idols wad. its more like hes putting down people who worship those idols when they do not believe in the religion.
btw we should keep to the issue cus this ain’t a religion forum or sumthin.
lauises: Whatever Nick said or meant, we must acknowledge that a blog is on the public domain, and will always be open to interpretation, so we must be mindful of how the things we say will be interpreted.
At the end of the day, I think tolerance would not be misplaced within the teachings of Christ. God is Love, and God’s love is unconditional. Furthermore, God teaches us to love one another unconditionally, so how can it be that we discriminate against our fellow brothers and sisters on this earth for not sharing our faith? It should be our love of them that leads them back into the faith rather than our exclusion of them.
Lastly, there is no harm in commenting on the faiths, religions and beliefs of others. However, before doing so, it is our duty to at least have a good understanding of that faith or belief and not attack a straw man. To pass judgement without such an understanding would be akin to the Americans dismissing the Chinese as a race of slit-eyed money-grubbing Bruce Lees who eat Chop Suey and Egg Rolls. And we all know how easy it is to vilify something we don’t understand.
My point is that when we look beneath the surface, we may actually find more similarities than differences between us.
Ok, I’ve said all I’m going to say on this topic. Nick, I hope you take my comments and those that the others have made here in a positive light. All I am hoping for is more understanding and tolerance in the world.
Hi everyone, chill, i was trying to “get something off my chest” and did not intend to cause this controversy and debate. I don’t claim to know everything & i just want all of you to know i’m still a learner.
Of all the comments i think “lauises” (comment 14) was closest to what i was actually trying to say. If some of you misunderstood what i wrote or are affected by what i wrote, i just want to appologise for it. :)
Thanks for visiting my site and for reading what i wrote.
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