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Date:         Fri, 4 Sep 1992 12:11:40 CDT
Reply-To:     bradk%isdgsm@rtsg.mot.com
From:         Brad Kaiser <bradk%isdgsm@RTSG.MOT.COM>
Subject:      Concerning the persecution of Christians [LONG!]

Dear netters:

You know, Scripture says a lot of wonderful things.  Now, there are a
few (only a few, thanks be to God!) people in this group who (a)
believe that I, as a Roman Catholic Christian, am part of a Satanic
cult; (b) do not consider me to be their brother; and (c) therefore
consider me and my beliefs (the two are inseparable) to be an object,
a suitable object for their contempt and ridicule.

For those person(s), whom I assert *are* my brothers and sisters, and
whose contempt and hatred I greet with love in the Name of Jesus
Christ, I humbly and respectfully submit the following Scriptures for
your consideration:


   A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with
   everyone, able to teach, tolerant, correcting opponents with
   kindness.  It may be that God will grant them repentance that
   leads to knowledge of the truth, and that they may return to
   their senses out of the devil's snare, where they are entrapped
   by him, for his will.
               -- 2 Tm 2:24-26

   You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not
   kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgement.'  But I say
   to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to
   judgement, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' ['Blockhead']
   will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,'
   will be liable to fiery Gehenna.  Therefore, if you bring your
   gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything
   against you, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and
   then come and offer your gift.
               -- Mt 5:21-24

   How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me remove that
   splinter in your eye,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam
   in your own eye?  You hypocrite!  Remove the wooden beam from your
   own eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in
   your brother's eye.
               -- Lk 6:42

   Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You pay tithes
   of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier
   things of the law: judgement and mercy and fidelity.
               -- Mt 23:23

   But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And
   who is my neighbor?" ... [Jesus replied,] "Which of these three, in
   your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers' victim?"  He answered,
   "The one who treated him with mercy."  Jesus said to him, "Go and
   do likewise."
               -- Lk 10:29,36-37

And, for my co-religionists, I also respectfully offer the following
Scriptures, which I hope will strengthen and fortify you to withstand
the pain to which Christians are called:

   But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of
   Christ, so that when His glory is revealed you may also rejoice
   abundantly.
               -- 1 Pt 4:13

   Then Jesus said to His disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after Me
   must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever
   wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
   for my sake will find it."
               -- Mt 16:24-25

   This saying is trustworthy, "If we have died with Him, we shall
   also live with Him; if we perservere we shall also reign with Him.
   But if we deny Him, He will deny us."
               -- 2 Tm 2:11-12

   Bear your share of hardship along with me like a good soldier of
   Christ Jesus.
               -- 2 Tm 2:3

   Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am
   filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf
   of His body, which is the church ...
               -- Col 1:24

   When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when
   slandered, we respond gently.  We have become like the world's
   rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment.
               -- 1 Cor 4:12b-13

   Blessed are you when people hate you,
   and when they exclude and insult you,
   and denounce your name as evil
   on account of the Son of Man.

   Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!
   Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.
   For their ancestors treated the prophets
   in the same way.
               -- Lk 6:22-23

Now, to the gentleman who earlier today accused me of teaching "a
false gospel of works centered around the false mediatorship of a
woman they call Mary", I address the following question:

Since I proclaim with joy every day that Jesus Christ, *NOT* Mary, is
the only-begotten Son of the Living God and my Lord, King, and Savior
[1], and since I agree with the teaching of the Catholic Church that,
"The fact that some are saved is the *gift* of Him who saves; the fact
that some are lost, is the *merit* of those who are lost." [2] and
that, "The wages of sin is death.  But the gift of God, life
everlasting, in Christ Jesus Our Lord." [3] ... since I believe and
proclaim these things with all of my being, WHY DO YOU BEAR FALSE
WITNESS AGAINST ME, AND AGAINST MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, IN VIOLATION
OF GOD'S HOLY LAW ????

If you wish to reply, sir, do so in public.  I have nothing to say to
in private, except to wish God's abundant blessings upon you.

-- Notes --

[1] In the words of the Mass, "for You alone are Holy, You alone are
    the LORD, You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy
    Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.  Amen."
[2] Council of Quiersy, A.D. 853
[3] Rom 6:23

In Christ's Love,

Brad Kaiser
(bradk%isdgsm@rtsg.mot.com)

  "Hatred destroys.  Only love creates."
            -- St. Maximilian Kolbe, shortly before his arrest and
               martyrdom at the hands of the Nazis.
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