Eek, it's Wednesday- Please help!!!

[Lissa]

I really hate to do this, but I'm in need of some help. And this seemed like a great spot to go.

I help with the youth group at my church, and lead a "discussion group" (or something resembling that!) on Wednesday nights. I have a lesson planned this week on why people may not be Christian- I'm kind of trying to get the lesson of tolerance through to my girls (they said a few things last week that made me think this was a good time.) Anyway, the first activity I wanted to do with them tonight was to give them a bunch of quotes and see if they could guess where they're from.

Only problem is, I'm being dragged into a two hour conference call, which really sucks up the spare time in my day today.

There's been some great discussions about spirituality on this board, which is why I'm asking for help here. I know there's people that have done their research on various religions. What I'm looking for are fairly simple quotes (and their sources) that basically say "be a good person." Since they're junior high girls, I'm not necessarily looking for obscure. If it mentions Allah or Budda or whatever, that's completely fine. I'm also looking for quotes from popular culture that sound like they could be from the Bible.

I leave work at 5:00 EST, so this is a one day thread. If anyone's got one (or more), please, please, please post!

Thanks so much!
Lissa

[druidGirl]

Hum, makes me sad I don't really remember any Buddhist proverbs. Here's a song lyric that always rang true with me:

"Buddha may not have been a Christian, but Jesus would have made a great Buddhist."

[Head Mutant]

Here's the basis of the golden rule, but I'd suggest you'd also find the alternate, contemporary take as well:

"Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Jesus, Luke 6:31)

I'll get you some more later... off to do a service in a retirement home.

[Robert]

Try something that goes along the lines of...

'Noah was a drunk and look at what he accomplished, and no-ones asking you to build an Ark'.
Metatron (The word of God herself).

[Robert]

And on a more serious note...

'If a man slaps you on his left cheek, turn your face and let him slap you on the right'.

[druidGirl]

Here are some old proverbs I found. Feel free to pick your favorites, or which ever ones best apply.

"The task of the priest is to save mankind." - Buddhist proverb

"Good actions go not outside of the gate: bad deeds travel a thousand [miles]." - Buddhist proverb

"[First] see the person, [then] preach the doctrine." - Buddhist proverb

"Even a devil, when you become accustomed to the sight of him, may prove a pleasant acquaintance." - Buddhist proverb

"To see what is right and not to do it, is to want of courage." - Confucius

"Those who cannot forgive others break the bridge over which they themselves must pass." - Confucius

"My true religion is kindness." - 14th Dalai Lama

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy yourself, practice compassion." - The 14th Dalai Lama

"What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." - Confucius

"War ends only when people love each other." -Buddha.

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."-Buddha

"Your suffering is my suffering and your happiness is my happiness."-Buddha.

"Overcome anger by love, ill-will by good will; overcome the greedy with liberality, the liar with truth. "-Buddha

"What's done to the children is done to society."- Buddha

"Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good."- Buddha

"When you play with fire with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." - Buddha

"However many holy words you read. However many holy words you speak. What good will they do you if you do not act on upon them? " -Buddha

" Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others." - Buddha

"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."- Buddha.

"A generous heart, kind speech, and compassion are the things which renew humanity."- Buddha

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."- Buddha

"Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life."- Buddha

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." - Dalai Lama.

[Hucklebubba]

Robert said:

'If a man slaps you on his left cheek,

That would be quite a trick.

Sorry. I could've been helpful, but I don't have any proverbs handy, so I decided to just be a pest instead.

[Robert]

Im sorry, im in the middle of I.T. class and am trying to post while not getting caught. Im not really paying attention. Now thats dedication, or boredom.

It should be...

'If a man slaps your left cheeck, let him slap you on your right'.

[Head Mutant]

In my high school Sunday School class, we're working through a book called "Bruce and Stan's Guide to Cults, Religions, and Spritual Beliefs" -- a light comparative religions course. I told the kids that there are three important reasons to study other religions: to understand and respect people of other beliefs even if you don't share those beliefs, to see how mankind of most major religions and beliefs have an overwhelming desire for God and to live a good life, and finally to understand what makes Christianity so radical in comparison (and to put Christianity to the test to see if it is truly true or falls apart).

Anyway, one of the first things we discussed was the fact that "there is truth in everything, but not everything is true." (C.S. Lewis' famous metaphor of truth being a mirror, with each religion holding only shattered pieces that reflect part of the truth, but only Christianity has the whole) We've also stressed the difference between tolerance and acceptance. Jesus preached that we should tolerate everyone, but he didn't blindly accept everything they did or believed in. So I can tolerate other religions, and definitely support the right (as God does) for people to choose Him or not, but I don't have to accept other religions as fully true either.

But ultimately -- and your kids probably need to understand this -- an arrogant and unloving attitude that says "I know the right way and you're all *wrong*" will not only drive people away, but actually be against what God desires. We should humble ourselves, always listening and be loving of others, firm in our faith while not bashing others over the head with it.

Here are some quotes from the book, if any can be helpful:

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has rise, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." (C.S. Lewis, Christian)

"O God! Whatever share of this world you have allotted to me, bestow it on your enemies; and whatever share of the next world you have allotted to me, bestow it on your friends. You are enough for me." (Rabi'a al-Adawiyya, Muslim)

"Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the Scripture laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of the more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we could never attain to previously..." (Joseph Smith, Mormon)

"As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become." (Lorenzo Snow, Mormon)

"I didn't like any of the religions I was acquainted with, and so I made up one that I did like." (Ernest Holms, United Church of Religious Science)

"All is One. All is God." (Hindu mantras)

"For it is an unbroken torture to me that I am still so far from Him, who, as I fully know, governs every breath of my life, and whose offspring I am." (Ghandi)

"May I not enter into Nirvana until I have brought all beings to supreme enlightenment." (Bodhisattva vow)

"Living beings are limitless; I vow to save them." (Buddhist vow)

"We reject hatred, intolerance, and unnecessary violence, and embrace harmony, love and learning, as we are taught by nature." (Creed of the Western Reform Taoist Congregation)

"Until you know about life, how can you know about death?" (Confucious)

"How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?" (Woody Allen)

"God, equally with gods, angels, demons, spirits, and other small spiritual fry, is a human product, arising inevitably from a certain kind of ignorance and a certain degree of helplessness with respect to man's external environment." (Julian Huxley)

[Lissa]

Thank you guys, SO much!!!!! I really, really, really appreicate it!

Justin- that's exactly what I'm doing with my kids. I want them to understand that there are many reasons that people aren't Christian, and that it's not because they're evil or immoral. It's the tolerance issue I'm after, particularly after their statement last week that atheists are evil. Ahhh, the junior high years! (Of course, much of the evil thing got cleared up when I told them that no, that's Satanists that worship the devil, athiests just don't believe in God.) So thank you VERY much for the eloquent summation. The whole working-with-kids thing is new to me, and I'm still just getting acquainted with their abilities at this age.

Thanks again guys!
Lissa

[Head Mutant]

Heh. Gotta love the junior highers. Bless you for working with them, and just hang in there. Kids at that age are usually still at that point in their mental development where they can't see much past black-and-white, which is why they'll usually latch on to something you (or someone else) says and make it 100% law in their hearts. So it's always dangerous because while you want to instruct and teach them things you know or feel are right, it's always better if they come to these conclusions on their own (with some guidance from you, but leeway as well). One thing I figured out very early on is that if I got in the habit of answering my own discussion questions, no kid would ever want to discuss them, because they'd know I'd just answer anyway and possibly make them look foolish.

But have fun! I'll keep ya in prayer, and I know it'll go well. Kids always surprise you when you least expect it. Hence, "surprise".

[Robert]

SUPPRISE!

[mutantclare]

"I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

-Stephen F. Roberts

[Hucklebubba]

Head said:

an arrogant and unloving attitude that says "I know the right way and you're all *wrong*" will not only drive people away, but actually be against what God desires.

True. However...

(This thread probably wasn't meant to become a debate, but I'm not exactly contradicting you, so I guess everything's okay.)

...swinging too far in the opposite direction is conducive to an increasingly popular sort of mushy relativism. ("Feel-Good Theology," as it's sometimes called.)

I contend that, while preaching judgment and excluding mercy is bad, preaching mercy and excluding judgment is as bad, if not worse.

And now let me share some of my recent reading with you, just 'cause. It bears a degree of relevance to the rest of the post:


I've just finished reading a Don Nori novella titled "The Angel and the Judgment." In it, a bitter televangelist (We're never given his name.) becomes fed up with all the imperfect cretins who are nowhere near as righteous as him, and so adopts a preaching doctrine of pure judgment. Not "turn and repent"-type judgment, but more "God is done with you, America is screwed"-type judgment.

And so it is, that said televangelist is visited by an angel, and given authority to choose the form which God's judgment will take.

At first, he's understandably giddy with the prospect of doling out some atomic justice, (Actually, he chooses "pestilence," but the ensuing plague is directly followed by a nuclear attack. This is never explained.) but he becomes somewhat less enthusiastic when he learns, the hard way, that he's not exempt from the very judgment he was preaching.

Long story short, the preacher himself repents with the sort of sincerity that only comes from having your flesh partially melted off. Happily, we the readers learn that, while the angel was real, the events of the judgment were not. They were merely engineered to drive home a point. (Truth be told, had Yoda popped up at the beginning of the judgment segment, and said "Only a dream this is!" it wouldn't have been any more obvious.)

The story ends with the preacher vowing to keep the spirit of Christmas in his heart every day of the year, and telling a small English boy to go buy the prize turkey. I think. That may have been something else.

[PowerBum]

"Jesus is just alright with me. Jesus is just alright, oh yeah."

The Doobie Brothers