In the chapter two of the novel Religious Pluralism in America, Hutchison covers an array of
different topics that come together to form a unified message of tolerance and
behavior. As an insider, one may expect an outsider to conform or assimilate
into the appropriate behavior based on religious or cultural views, while the
insider can be as different as they wanted. Though this stance is clearly
unfair, tolerance and therefore change usually wasn’t accepted until the
outsiders had big enough numbers and took a stance as citizens.
2) A radical insider, William Miller, predicted the
second coming of Christ three separate times before the Millerites finally
began declining in numbers. Though clearly deluded he was still accepted
because he was an insider. If the second coming of Christ were to actually
occur, would people believe a man claiming he is the son of God and how do you
think it would be addressed?
This article questions the issues of sexual inequality in
the Catholic Church and relates the tolerance and behavior quandaries presented
in Hutchison’s Religious Pluralism in
America.
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/7237/excommunicated_for__grave_scandal__of_ordaining_women/
If the second coming of Christ were to actually occur, I don't think many people, believers included, would believe a man claiming he is the son of God unless they witnessed Him healing the sick, casting demons out of people, raising others from the dead, etc. What other proof would they have; anyone can walk among the people as an impostor. Also, since no one is suppose to know when the second coming is to take place, it makes sense to be conscience of the fact deluded people exist and may very well try to deceive different communities by claiming to be Christ.
ReplyDeleteI agree. These days people need solid visual proof to believe the impossible unlike older times where blind faith was widespread and excepted. It's interesting to think that the second coming of Christ may have already occurred but no one believed Jesus for who he truly was.Have you thought about not what others would think but what you would think? Would you need solid proof or would just inherently know?
ReplyDeleteAn example of a religion today that is viewed as an "outsider" group is Mormonism. Mormons have been rejected from many states in the nation and today they reside mostly in Salt Lake City in Utah. A big reason why Mormons have been practicing their religion behind the scenes is due to their belief in Polygamy and early underage marriage. These two practices both step out of bounds for reasonable belief in the US, and as a result Mormons have been persecuted by the FBI and other authorities.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe anyone would believe a man who claims he is the son of God. Today there are many people out there with wild ideas about religion and belief and as a result of this someone who claims he is the second coming of Jesus would be completely ignored. Not many people today enjoy being preached to, especially about new age religion, and such a man would be treated as a nuisance by the crowd at large. If this man was the second coming of God he would need to prove himself somehow, but that is increasing difficult to do today due to the existence of special effects on TV broadcasts.
The mormons are absolutely a group that are outsiders of society but people are afraid of some of their practices. I am not saying I agree or disagree but I do think this is a time for change. While the LGBT community is fighting for the right to marry I am surprise polygamists are not fighting along side them because if same sexes can marry then why can a man not have three wives?
DeleteA possible reason why mormons do not team up with the LGBT community is that polygamy brings up many issues with regards to inheritance and divorce that the LGBT community does not need to address.
DeleteIf the second coming of Christ was to actually occur, I believe that people would believe that he is the son of God. Although this is controversial due to people constantly acting impostors and the special effects these days (like Shavonne and John said), I still believe that if Jesus was to have a second coming that he would be so extraordinary that people would accept him as the son of God.
ReplyDelete