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Jetavan
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« on: March 14, 2011, 12:15:29 PM » |
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The Rev. Steve Lawler should have just given up chocolate or television for Lent.
Instead, Lawler, of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Ferguson, decided to adopt the rituals of Islam for 40 days to gain a deeper understanding of the faith.
On Friday, he faced being defrocked if he continued in those endeavors.
"He can't be both a Christian and a Muslim," said Bishop George Wayne Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. "If he chooses to practice as Muslim, then he would, by default, give up his Christian identity and priesthood in the church."
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Lawler said he only planned to take his idea so far. For example, he did not intend to declare his belief in the oneness of God and to accept Muhammad as God's prophet. It's the first of the Five Pillars of Islam, which are obligatory for Muslims.
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By Friday afternoon, Lawler learned that the Episcopal church is more rigid than he had thought. After hearing the objections of the bishop, Lawler reversed course, giving up the Islamic rituals. If he isn't saying shahada, and if he is just praying in a different way, then I don't see a major problem. |
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« Last Edit: March 14, 2011, 12:19:39 PM by Jetavan »
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If you will, you can become all flame.
Extra caritatem nulla salus.
In order to become whole, take the "I" out of "holiness".
I'm not a witch.
Ἄνω σχῶμεν τὰς καρδίας
"Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is." -- Mohandas Gandhi
Y dduw bo'r diolch.
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Benjamin the Red
Recovering Calvinist
OC.net guru
 Offline
Faith: Orthodox Catholic
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America, Diocese of Dallas and the South ||| American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese
Posts: 1,601
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
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« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2011, 06:48:46 PM » |
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I'm more surprised by the fact that the bishop cracked down, than the fact that the priest is "exploring" Islam. Perhaps there is a sliver of hope for the Episcopal Church afterall.  |
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« Last Edit: March 14, 2011, 06:49:18 PM by Benjamin the Red »
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"Hades is not a place, no, but a state of the soul. It begins here on earth. Just so, paradise begins in the soul of a man here in the earthly life. Here we already have contact with the divine..." -St. John, Wonderworker of Shanghai and San Francisco, Homily On the Sunday of Orthodoxy
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GabrieltheCelt
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« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2011, 07:23:16 PM » |
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The Rev. Steve Lawler should have just given up chocolate or television for Lent.
Instead, Lawler, of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Ferguson, decided to adopt the rituals of Islam for 40 days to gain a deeper understanding of the faith.
On Friday, he faced being defrocked if he continued in those endeavors.
"He can't be both a Christian and a Muslim," said Bishop George Wayne Smith of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. "If he chooses to practice as Muslim, then he would, by default, give up his Christian identity and priesthood in the church."
....
Lawler said he only planned to take his idea so far. For example, he did not intend to declare his belief in the oneness of God and to accept Muhammad as God's prophet. It's the first of the Five Pillars of Islam, which are obligatory for Muslims.
....
By Friday afternoon, Lawler learned that the Episcopal church is more rigid than he had thought. After hearing the objections of the bishop, Lawler reversed course, giving up the Islamic rituals. If he isn't saying shahada, and if he is just praying in a different way, then I don't see a major problem. The good professor is also going to start a program called "Giving Up Church For Lent." What is it about this religion that attracts people who don't like it? Seems to me that if you like something, you accept it rather than constantly testing its boundaries and trying to change it. |
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"The Scots-Irish; Brewed in Scotland, bottled in Ireland, uncorked in America." ~Scots-Irish saying
"Yes, you are a white supremacist, ..." ~Iconodule
"In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength." ~Robt E. Lee
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Anastasia1
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« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2011, 04:02:16 AM » |
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The good professor is also going to start a program called "Giving Up Church For Lent." What is it about this religion that attracts people who don't like it? Seems to me that if you like something, you accept it rather than constantly testing its boundaries and trying to change it.
When you know it's real, and you know you don't like it is when you know you need it? |
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« Last Edit: May 29, 2011, 04:02:36 AM by Anastasia1 »
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Therefore prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, Lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land...
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