From: westreic@oc.nps.navy.mil (Eric Westreich)
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Re: The Christian MA
Date: 14 Aug 92 05:09:29 GMT
Organization: Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA

In article <1992Aug12.113042.25326@relay.nswc.navy.mil> snorthc@nswc.navy.mil (Stephen Northcutt) writes:
>It has been my honor to read this list since its inception.  R.M-A
>has been a blessing to me :-)  All the great advice, the sorely
>needed rebukes and the encouragement,   Now I have something on my heart,
>that I want to share with you.  I am neither a superior MA or superior
>Christian, but I am one of each.   I am going to touch on the gay-MA thread,
>which I am sure we would all rather leave buried, including me, but that isn't
>my main point.  It would have been much better if an older, more advanced,
>more worthy soul were to say these things, but since one never came forth I
>have to try.
> 
>Finally, I thank you for your time and bandwidth.  Stephen Northctt.
>===================================================================

Stephan,

     I hope that you are feeling better...your recent post suggested that the 
incident that you alluded to has caused a loss of compassion.

OPINION ON

     Many religions prescribe to the golden rule and it's corollary, "Do not do 
unto others as you would not have them do unto you." Yet many religious 
practitioners act as if their understanding of "God's Universe", their one and 
only truth, allows them to violate this concept. The human body limits what you 
CAN know. For example, you can explain the world to a child, but they will only 
understand so much of what you say. If they take the parts that they understand 
and behave as if their small piece of understanding is the complete and total 
truth, they can cause others pain. The child next door will have their own 
complete and total truth. For those of us in the physical world, there are 
pieces of understanding that we CANNOT know...perhaps until we leave our body 
behind. It is possible that I and the child next door, in our total and complete truths, are only holding pieces of a jigsaw puzzle...each believing our piece to be the entire picture. As long as someones jigsaw piece does not cause others 
harm, then perhaps it is just as well to let them hang on to their one piece, as silly as it may be. Maybe their piece is not worth killing them over. It may 
even be foolish to arrogantly condemn anothers piece (as posted to the net) for 
being completely false.

     As we grow up, our belief of what the one and complete truth is changes. It
seems strange to think that we can stop at any one point in our lives and say 
"At last, now I really know the complete and total truth of the Universe." We've usually thought that a few time in previous years. Perhaps it is silly to 
believe that while we are in the physical plane that we have finally grown up at all. Some children think they they are fully grown up at four years old.

     I can only wonder at my arrogance in thinking that I am grown up enough to
KNOW that this piece of my complete universal truth is true enough to post to  
the net. After all, it's hard enough to live up your own set of rules for being 
a good human, without having to live up to someone elses.

OPINION OFF

    Best of luck in finding your compassion.

-Eric