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From Magic City Morning Star R.P. BenDedek R.P. BenDedek (pseudonym) is a conversational English Teacher in China (Hubei Radio and TV University Wuhan), and writes for Magic City Morning Star News. In addition to his 'Stories from China', he is the author of 'The King's Calendar:The Secret of Qumran' at www.kingscalendar.com.
First allow me go back to yesterday. Yesterday was my birthday, and I started the day by going to my last Chinese Exam. What a mistake that was. I was the first to finish and leave, much to the admiration of my classmates, who were not privy to what I had written in Chinese at the top of my paper: "Sorry! I didn't study!" It took me 30 minutes to complete the paper, and I spent another 15 minutes trying to remember all those things on it that had eluded me. Of course it didn't help that that one student who loves to ask questions of the teacher kept asking questions, only to be told by the teacher to shut up. I just couldn't concentrate. It's my own fault of course, for during the last month I had been so busy with my English Language Student's Exams, and so tired, that I had not really done anything to memorise characters and meanings. With that said and done, I left class and went home, having forgotten to get the telephone number of one of the 'rager' students. (I figured he and others would go celebrating, and I thought I might go with them). My fellow foreign teacher from Hong Hu, who was also studying at WuHan DaXue, is leaving at the end of July, and as I am to go away to teach for 3 weeks down south, I agreed to let her live in my flat until she goes. She moved in early; on my birthday! Having forgotten to organise anything with my classmates, I thought I would cook Judy and I a nice dinner, but Alas, her evening was already arranged. Then I thought I would go visit my brother (about 11 kilometers away), but he was not on line, and my phone, which is a pain at the best of time to say the least, would not allow me to contact him.
I figured that I could enjoy a swim in the river with the locals, walk in the park, eat a nice western meal, watch some American programs on TV, and finish the night with a great massage. So Off I went. I booked into the hotel, went to my room, stripped off the good clothes I was wearing, and was about to put on some leisure wear, when I looked out the window to see a solid downpour of rain. Great! I gave up the swimming idea, called room service, had a nice steak sandwich, and watched TV. A little later the rain stopped and I went for a walk and saw that the rain had not dampened the spirits of the locals, who crowded the riverbanks.
Despite the morality and modesty of China, males generally swim in anything that they happen to have on as underwear, which means, that once wet, their state of dress is something that would be considered 'rude' if not very close to obscene by western standards. Being a foreigner, I always draw a crowd, and so proceeded to an area with as few people as possible, there to enter the water wearing only a pair of shorts. If seeing a foreigner isn't noteworthy enough, watching him swim is a sheer spectacle. Now this is where that link in the Rev. Schenck's article has relevance, for both the photographs in that link, and living in China, disgust me to the extreme, when I see all these "Adonis type figures" running around with their fantastically slim figures. Not once in my life have I ever looked as fit and gorgeous as the average Chinese boy or the boys in the photos in that link.
I looked at that guy and thought, "how could you go out in public looking like that?" No, I don't mean wearing that 'thing', but wearing that huge gut. I think it was in one of Michael Heath's articles (Heterophobia), that it was mentioned that he was attacked for laughing at participants in a gay parade. Some paradesters are funny and some are just plain disgusting. If you want to see a funny photo take a look at this: http://tinyurl.com/p5kp. Well, yesterday I may have been a little more attired, but the sight or unsightliness of me, cannot be pleasant. I don't have to look at me of course, but when I saw the giant in the provided link, I just had to laugh, and wondered how many people were doing the same thing when they saw me at the River. Oh Well! That's life. By the way! While the Rev. Schenck advises that children should not see these photos, I disagree. I can't think of anything more likely to 'turn off' young impressionable children than these same photos. Rev. Schenck's article was not actually about the Gay Parade of course, that was just an end thought connected with Hilliary Clinton's appearance at it. His article was principally about his disgust at the Collusion between the Billy Graham Camp and the Clintons. Now I have never been to a big Christian crusade like this, although I have seen similar, and while I understand the Rev. Schenck's disgust at the Politico/Religious alliance, I am surprised that he finds it 'surprising'. I've listened to many Christian sermons in many Christian places, and am constantly amazed at how Scripture is twisted to suit the religious numbers game. I use the word 'numbers' literally here, for that it what it is all about. How many (numbers) people can we get into Heaven. How many people can we get on our church roll. How many dollars can we collect. How much are the Tithes worth. How many fine buildings can we build. I am highly critical of many aspects of Christianity - and I am theologically qualified to be so.
If one studies the Prophets of Israel, the principal theme is always the same: 'Woe unto the leaders who have been put in charge!" If you look at the ministry of Jesus, his was the same principal theme. Do you honestly believe that he was killed for preaching 'Love your neighbour as yourself?' How many times have I heard preaching or quoting from the Book of Malachi, about TITHING? The book however is principally about Leadership Abuse. The Book of Isaiah? 'Give up outward religious devotion, and live the life in your heart.
"Is this not the fast that I have chosen? to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, to clothe the naked, house the homeless, look after the poor, the widowed and the fatherless? Of course, if you listen to all the Tithing blather, then there would never have been the widow or the fatherless or the poor to be taken care of. All the prophets struck out at leadership, and Jesus was no different. I have no doubts that if Jesus came preaching his message today, there would be few Christian churches that would open their doors to him. I remember a Catholic friend who, as the parish secretary complained to the priest about his refusal to allow a 'protestant father' of a catholic household, to take communion, even though for years he had faithfully attended mass with his family.
Churches love to preach against sin in the world, and forget the sin in the Church. They like to talk about forgiveness, but show little toward those in the churches that do end up committing some grievous sin. There may be reasons, and then again there may be REASONS why Bill and Hilliary Clinton turned up at the Billy Graham campaign, but I hardly see it as surprising. Dare I say it: 'God waited until the last minute to show up the fault of the preacher?' Oh Well! That's human life! Full of weakness and error! Just remember: "To err is human! To get revenge is DIVINE!" R.P.Bendedek Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com Note: Because of the recent Server change, some links may not work. This file was amended September 2007.
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