Ableness to forgive those who wronged us

In the 18th chapter of Matthew we learn that we should humble ourselves. Jesus also tells us we should be open to welcome the ‘innocent” or “young ones’ or “children” and warns us for the dangers of following our temptations.

Woe to the world because of temptations! For it must be that temptations come, but woe to that man by whom the temptation comes! {Matthew 18:7 MEV}

We perhaps can not escape to receive many temptations, but we can avoid falling for them. In our life we shall encounter many times, we ourself doing wrong, but also others doing wrong against us. That shall put us often in a difficult position, having to take a certain attitude against the one who did wrong to us.

In Matthew 6:15, Jesus looked at that situation where we would meet people who did something we did not like or found wrong. Jesus then taught that if we would not forgive men their trespasses, how could we then expect God to be willing to forgive our trespasses?

We should know that others, like ourself, can do wrong. Such wrong doing should not always be done on purpose. And even when it would be, it is up to the follower of Christ to take the first step. Though forgiveness isn’t always easy, the follower of Christ should remember Jesus his example.

The Jews knew about Judaic teachings emphasizing forgiveness for those who have offended. In the Testament of Gad, for example, the writer says

“Love one another from the heart, therefore, and if anyone sins against you, speak to him in peace. Expel the venom of hatred, and do not harbor deceit in your heart. If anyone confesses and repents, forgive him” (T.Gad 6:3).

When speaking from the heart, others soon shall come to find out what sort of heart you have. A good Jew was required not to have a heart of stone. The example above is sufficient to demonstrate Jews in the first century were not proto-Puritans condemning everyone’s sin, nor were they standing on the street corners with signs damning everyone else to Hell. For the most part, the Judaism of Jesus’s day understood they had received great mercy and grace from God and that the “venom of hatred” does no one any good.

In Jewish teachings it was taught every Jew as a Chosen one of God had to respect any other human being, because each man is created in the image of Gdo and as such as creatures of the Most High Elohim should be respected by a child of God.

It is known that offering mercy and forgiveness is not easy. When Peter asked Jesus

“Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

he probably thought he was being gracious with forgiving 7 times.

Jesus his reply may be astonishing, what a number of times we should forgive: he says seventy times seven which is 490. Even so He means this figuratively. We are to forgive always.

We should look at our Creator Who had to endure the rebellion of man and Who saw man going astray so often, but always was willing to come close again and help man. On many occasions God showed His love for the sinful man. Man should come to see that the Kingdom we strive for is really built on forgiveness.

To be able to forgive there first has to be love. Without love there is no possibility to honestly take the right attitude against the one who did wrong to you. We may not forget that love wipes away many sins. (1 Peter 4:8) Forgiving is covering up. Having to face a multitude of sins in our life we shall have to disregard the offences of others many times. Each time the memories of the wrong resurface, we may need to forgive again and again.

The difficulty we may face is that our emotions do not agree with forgiveness, but then we should think of Christ Jesus who looked at the people around him and knew very well what he had to do to bring salvation over them. Would we do such a thing like Jesus did? Giving our life for an other?

Remember the unending forgiveness God has already given to the disciples, and by extension to all those who are in Christ in the present age. We should come to reflect the unending mercy of the heavenly Father who has already forgiven mankind of all of their sins.

Let’s not hold grudges today and let not our pride being stronger than our humbleness. In a way it requires to be humble to put our own grudges away. Let’s remember that bitterness only destroys the vessel that carries it. Let’s love in spite of our feelings.

Sometimes we have to start all over and forgive again and again. The bigger the hurt or wrong, the harder forgiveness can be. But if Jesus can forgive us of our greatest wrong, then we too should be able to forgive others who have wronged us.

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Preceding posts

Matthew 18:7-11 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Danger of Stumbling-blocks

Matthew 18:12-14 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Searching for Lost Sheep

Matthew 18:15-17 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Three Steps to Gaining a Brother

Matthew 18:21-22 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Forgive 77 Times!

The Golden rule not always as easy as its sounds

People who do not want to know what happens in Belgium, between the different Christadelphians, better do not read this article. This is mainly provided to give an overview of what is going on again this last few weeks and concerns events that are again hurting many Christadelphians living in this tiny country.

The previous weeks we and fellow brethren got sms-messages requesting money from us. Also other Christadelphian groups in Belgium got such messages. The CBM-connected ecclesia of Brussel-Leuven, after they went looking who was behind such messages, got to find Facebook accounts and websites of a few of them. Of those there were some who liked to make us and them afraid, that if we or they would not pay, we would end up in hell, being punished by God. Also some of those websites checked told their readers that the Christadelphian ecclesia of the CBM connected group in Leuven and the CBM would be racist and would not allow Iraqi and Iranian people in their ecclesia. Nothing of such sort, we know that ecclesia to be a very open one, even having tried to unite all the different Christadelphian groups in Belgium. Though when they tried to warn people on their (private) Facebook account, we too could notice, certain people who are befriended with the ‘Man of the North’ who seemed to spread again false sayings, and who made again a ridiculous accusation (a.o. at Mr. Ampe, the elder of that ecclesia) on their Facebook account, took side of that  man who tries to spread hate and division.

When we know as Christians we must “Do to others as we would want them do to us” and have tried to do that several times, even be willing to forgive all the faults they did and the damage they caused, there sometimes can come a point where one wonders what to do. Best is to leave it along and untouched. But in the case of the recent events, when certain Africans tried to bribe some of the ecclesia members, we can fairly well understand why the Christadelphian ecclesia of Brussel-Leuven on their ‘closed or limited access account’,  wanted to react and warn their own ecclesia members and the many so called “Facebook friends”.

Strangely enough there were people who found certain things could not be said at that account, though it were sayings ‘between friends’ and not like they accused the ecclesia to bring it into the open or to have it generally viewable on the whole internet. We are aware that with this message it is brought into the open, what that ecclesia did not want to do and for which they were accused. So probably when the friends of that attacker of that ecclesia see this article, they also could come to have their say over here.

As with many rules, this time again we could see that “the golden rule” is not as simple as it seems at first glance. It might seem easy enough to think about what you want, but the proper use of this rule as a guide for conducting ourselves relies on empathy. We clearly saw that certain people reacting against the defender (the Christadelphian Ecclesia) showed no interest of looking what really happened now, or did not want to go to see what happened in the past. They also seem to forget that they were on the private account of the ecclesia, which has to be” considered as them being in the private house of that ecclesia. This is what many Facebook users seem to forget when they are on an account of a person or a private account of a group or organisation. They think they are part of a Discussion Group; Though also in a discussion group one has to behave and has to be respectful to the owners of the Group. But that does seem to be something very difficult on the net. But being allowed on a restricted viewing account, is like being allowed to enter a living of a person. Then it would not be appropriate to forbid the guest and his friends to warn each other of certain dangers and to discuss internal matters. But it looks like the friends of the attacker try to direct what can be said or done in that Private account. When they were welcome to enter the house it seems very strange that they are so against the host and try to limit his right of speaking.

Many also seem to forget that we are not in the position that the other might be or why and how somebody else may be hurt.

Often we are in different circumstances and we also might find people who can not come to see in what for circumstances they are. Before we are going to judge some one else we must know about the case in which the other reacted. We have to consider the circumstances that person or group might be in.

Let us not forget that if we are to act in a way that we would want to be treated, we must first consider how we would want to be treated if we were in the scenario of the other.

We should try to examine the case unbiased, looking at both parties  involved. Then we should try to understand what inspires, drives, and constitutes the counterparts and have to figure out where we fit in the picture.  We also should be aware that our own perceptions and experiences may cloud our ability to place ourselves, to use a cliche, in someone else’s shoes. We might be able to try them on, and they might hold our feet, but after walking a few miles in those shoes, wither our feet will feel the difference or those shoes will change to accommodate our feet. It will never be a perfect fit.

We also should constantly be aware that by silencing a person or a group one reaches not a solution but can endanger some people or allowing the wrongdoers to do even more damage. By putting up censor one takes away the freedom of speech and undermines the democratic system.

It is a shame the Christadelphians in Belgium are again facing such trouble. Though after the earlier case with Mr. D.H. also several Christadelphian members from our congregation or denomination also do not want to have any contact any more with that man, his organisation, but also not with the ecclesia, which by Mr. Ampe his trial to bring unity, seemed to have brought more division than ever before. We feel pity for this whole situation and the members of the ecclesiae of Brussels, Leuven, Nivelles and Mons. We wish them lots of strength and do hope the man from the North and his friends shall not be able to destroy them, what they clearly want to do.

The Golden Rule does not mean one has to stay silent. It was never the purpose to have such a restricting rule. At other places in the scriptures it is clearly said how the responsible of an ecclesia has to protect the flock and has to warn the members of the ecclesia for malicious people entering or attacking the community. In certain books of the Bible it is even shown that sometimes one has to decide to ban some one from the ecclesia or to dis-fellowship some one.
Mr. Ampe and his ecclesia have done a big effort to get, a by a different ecclesia in England disfellowshipped person, to be reinstated and to have a friendly relationship with him. And perhaps there lies his and that ecclesia their fault. They perhaps had better kept their hands far away from that person and would better have shunned him, though that is something they and we would never like to do. But sometimes it is better to keep away from certain people and to leave them for what they are and for what they do.

Once one has given a hand in friendship and it is refused and misused the Golden Rule does not mean one has to keep it happen and have to keep silent or has to keep covering up the bad things the other person does to one self. We think everybody should have the right to react to false accusation or when unrighteous things are written about them, and that is what that ecclesia had done in its closed circle, but because of it escalating coming again to our ears and we too finding that that man and his actions against the Belgian Christadelphians to be stopped. first everything was discussed between two people, then between them and an other elder, only afterwards to the ecclesia, and only now it comes more in the open, because we think it is something of which we all can learn and because we too want to warn for that dangerous person, who might be as shrewd as a fox.

This message also should be considered as a news message of what goes on in Belgium and should be taken as such and as a text to wonder or think about, how far people want to go to take away the democratic free speech. Because that last part is so much under treat these days, having there so many battles between several religious groups, not to say of having some religious wars going on in these times. But concerning those religious groups going against each other we have been warned in the Bible this to be one of the many signs of the coming of the end-times. And as such we still do have hope.

So let those who love God and who love Jesus share that love with each other and try to unite, even when they might be so different, and live together in peace as different members in the Body of Christ, but let us never close our eyes for what is going on.

God bless you all.

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Preceding post

Matthew 7:12 – The Nazarene’s Commentary: Summary on the Torah’s Fulfillment

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Additional reading

1. The ecclesia Facebook account from now on restricted access
2. Golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters obedience

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Further reading

1. Silence is Golden
2. The place of civility
3. Online with Facebook
4. Is Privacy Obsolete?
5. Muse of the Day
6. Thou Shalt Not Call Someone Empty-Headed
7. The Golden Rule and the secret of happiness
8. Proverbs 14:34: “Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
9. Faith Is Freedom
10. Sunday Glory
11. JudgementJuly 20 @ Proverbs 11-12
12. The Age of Entitlement and Backwards Expectations
13. Take a Hand & Take a Stand
14. Democracy, Kindness and the Fourth of July

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Not withholding the Good News

When on holiday probably you may meet different people on places where you have not been before and where you shall not come again soon. It are places where probably nobody knows you. When you are there it is with your attitude, your example, the way you treat others around you, how you act and speak that you shall give an impression of what and who you are.

Geographic features of Southern European countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea

When being a Christian it is very important that you give others the right impression. The last few weeks from the South of Europe we got a lot of images in the new of protestors against the many tourists who behave badly. Over the years we also have seen pictures of visitors to those places in the South of Europe behaving badly, which makes us understand why so many of the locals are fed up with those impolite visitors, drunkard and order disruptors. A big problem with the consumerism and growing tourist industry is that at many places some hotel-owners think they have to provide enough entertainment for their customers and provide all day long noise which may disturb the local inhabitants.

‘National embarrassment’: Ding Jinhao, from Nanjing in east China’s Jiangsu Province, wrote: ‘Ding Jinhao was here’ over hieroglyphics on the wall of an ancient Egyptian temple in Luxor

At the coasts of Europe we do find many places where there is a lot of noise going on until late at night, with all sorts of events which disturb not only locals but also several other people who came to have some rest.
Many tourist places also have problems with vandalism and litter from tourists. This not only a problem for Europe, as we can see how many cultural and important historic sites are damaged by visitors.

Banners reading ‘No tourism apartments’ hang from balconies in Barcelona. Photograph: Albert Gea / Reuters/Reuters

As Christians we should show our respect to the inhabitants of the places we are going to visit and should treat those places with respect, having eye for nature and keeping those places clean and not making unnecessary noise.

But at those places where we come it would not be bad to be a witness of our faith and to show others how when we all would come under Christ could be living in a peaceful world full of respect for all around us.

In the Holy scriptures we are counselled fair dealing with our fellow-men. When we are able to travel we should be pleased that we can belong to those who can afford it. In the Book of Proverbs we can find the precept that expresses the great Scriptural thought that the so-called possession of wealth is but a stewardship; that the true owners of what we call our own are those to whom, with it, we may do good. Not to relieve them is a breach of trust.

“Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.” (Proverbs 3:27 NIV)

Summer Visitors by Maurice Prendergast (1897) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At our holiday resort we should show the right attitude and may not withhold good from those to whom it is due. When it is in the power of your hand to do good, to help others, to give some extra, you should do it. But this is not only for material wealth. You also can contribute with spiritual help. You can use the occasion to talk about your believes and to show your faith to others. At those resorts, hotels, campings or places where you stay to relax you make take advantage of your free time to share your faith with others. Sharing is part of showing your love for others. Sharing the Good News of the coming Kingdom is a necessity. We do have to warn people of the coming dangers. We should make them aware of the coming Great War, a horrible situation wherefore we should prepare us, making sure that we shall be spiritually strong enough to stand the many temptations, dangers and horrors. “A warned man is worth two” you should think and out of love you should warn.

You should remember the sayings from the Bible, the Law of God. You should remember what you have heard in your ecclesia (or church) and faith community. You also should practise what you remember and let all obedience be from the heart.

“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.” (Proverbs 4:5 NIV)

“Let thy heart keep my commandments.”

“Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.” (Deuteronomy 4:23 NIV)

When we are there at those places of holiday making we should not forget God but be with Him and trust Him. All actions we undertake should be in praise of the Most Highest. And how can we not do it with spreading also His Words? There, for sure, there shall be moments to chat and to have little conversations also about what you believe, where you stand for, and how you have put your hope on the son of God and are looking forewards to his return.

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Preceding articles

Summer time to spend some more time at the growing process of your faith

Christians having the right heart to call others to go to God

Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses preach?

Glory of God appearing in our character

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Additional reading

1. Loving and having respect for the woman
2. Respect for all
3. Is being a humanitarian enough to convey the full love of Christ?
4. 7 Ways To Become A Better Christian
5. Crisis man needed in this world
6. Daring to speak in multicultural environment
7. How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice
8. Looking for True Spirituality 7 Preaching of the Good News
9. Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up
10. High time to go out telling the world about Jesus
11. Beautiful feet of those who announce the good news
12. Preaching by example
13. A Christian has to have eyes and ears and a tongue to use in good ways
14. Proclaiming: a task given to Christians
15. Go! Proclaim! Testify!
16. Go and make disciples of people of all the nations
17. Scriptures and Thoughts about: Proclaim
18. Preaching Christ Is Not Enough
19. To proclaim the day of vengeance
20. Witnesses of Christ and of his gospel
21. Witnessing because we love

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People walk past grafittis reading “Come on stand up great star hunters” written on the Sacre-Coeur Basilica in the Montmartre area in Paris on March 19, 2014. (AFP Photo / Martin Bureau) / AFP

Further reading

1. Fire in Greek refugee camp was intentional and will happen again: Eyewitnesses (Middle East Eye)
2. The Tinderbox That Is The Balkans
3. 7 cringe-worthy cases of tourists defacing natural and cultural landmarks around the world
4. ‘Ding Jihao was here’: Chinese tourist, 15, defaces 3,500-year-old Egyptian temple and his family issue national apology
5. Vandal tourist seen destroying pieces of Great Wall of China by kicking it Kung-Fu style
6. China instructs its citizens on how to behave abroad
7. Ancient Egypt Temple Vandalized by Chinese Tourist Graffiti
8. Barcelona anti-tourism activists vandalise bikes and bus
9. Damaging selfie: Student breaks 19th century statue in Milan while taking pic of himself
10. Gov’t slammed over reaction to Irianna verdict, Athens vandalism by protestors
11. “Go away!”, frustrated Venice locals tell tourists
12. ‘F**k tourism’: Vandals deface Paris’ Sacré Coeur basilica
13. Vandalism and tourism settings: An integrative review
14. Rome, Italy
15. 5 Things to do in Rome | Fariha Ansari Javed
16. When in Rome don’t sit, dip, eat, drink in fountains
17. A weekend in Venice
18. Abruzzo. The Italian region ready to be revealed
19. Discover Malta
20. Malta & Gozo
21. Portugal
22. How to mimic George Clooney’s motorcycle adventure through Spain
23. Visiting Lisbon last year
24. E28 Tram Lisbon: tourist jam
25. Meteora, Greece
26. Athens, Greece
27. A few hours to spare in… Athens
28. France and its Fantastic Summer Festivals!
29. 5 Ways To Travel Smarter In Vietnam, And Have Stories To Tell Back Home
30. A tourist in the U.K.
31. Touristing!
32. Volunteer Vs. Tourist
33. The (Not-So) Lonely Traveler
34. 20 tourist traps to avoid in Europe — and where to go instead
35. Three teens identified in Boston-area Jewish cemetery vandalism
36. FBI Reviewing Islamic Cemetery Vandalism In Castle Rock
37. Bucharest, Romania: A Sort of empty feeling
38. Regina cenotaph vandalized with graffiti
39. Graffartists are not people
40. What is Respect Nowadays? (1 min read)
41. Do to others…
42. Agape

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Related articles

• Greek tourism hit by strike
• Priest condemns selfie-taking tourists disturbing worshippers
• On camera at pub street
• Forget Spain; try Menorca, the untouched gem of the Mediterranean
• Why it is okay to charge tourists more than locals for chips or Taj Mahal tickets
• Black water alarms visitors at Niagara Falls
• James Turrell installation at Grecian resort invites visitors to contemplate the sky
• Dramatic photos show how huge wildfires are ravaging France, forcing 10,000 people from their homes

Christians, secularism, morals and values

Our western society has been under much pressure lately. Many could see that humans are hard- and soft-wired towards co-operation as much as competition. One may wonder if there is such a thing as the common good of society, shared morals and values, and that individuals need common rules for living together and contributing to the overall health of their society. {A relentlessly upbeat take on citizenship: My Review of Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship}

After a long time that people had it very easy, they now come tested again. They once again have to become aware that

Nothing is easy, all goes slowly, we carry time as a very heavy burden, but little by little we see clearly and advance… Living spiritual life — as opposed to religious life — is very difficult because spiritual life happens within whereas religion comes from outside oneself. {Advancing in spiritual life}

Though today many seem to forget that the religious life, coming from outside, when forced to some some one has no value and is just an empty box. Religion has to be chosen by the person himself or herself. For adults it is the own choice to belong to a certain religion. For an adult it is also the own choice how they live that religion. The best can this be seen in West Europe were lots of people say they are Catholic but where the majority does not live up to Catholic rules, and where even more than 90% even does not belief all the Catholic dogma‘s and do not affirm to the Catholic sacraments. they have come to an age where they made themselves a religion for their own. But they also should come to see that there are others who sincerely belief in God and want to serve that God (Allah, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah) to their best efforts.

Several people have lots of questions of life and death and want to have something to hold an and look for some spirituality. This spirituality is different than the religiosity.

Spiritual life, although it has a unique goal throughout the world which is the Union of All that is the Creator and all creatures, takes place in a wide variation of form and thought, because there is a constant rapport between spiritual life which is unique with the variable environment of the moment. {Advancing in spiritual life}

People have looked for different ways to come to see, meet and have a relationship with each other and with that Creator of the universe. Thousands of forms have been found to bring themselves to higher spheres and to try to make contact with the inner self and with creation and Creator. Lots of techniques found day light for humans to find ways to bring their body and soul in unison.  Many techniques are daily used by people all over the world to keep their body and soul healthy and to become a human which is in balance.

That balance is brought in danger by many factors and mostly by the impacts from outside world.

Man and woman in swimsuits, ca. 1910; she is exiting a bathing machine

At the beginning of the 21st century man in the West clearly has a troubled mind about tohorah or ritual purity, modesty, personality, self-expression, freedom or liberty, morals and values. Living in a place where the population in previous years was brought up under Judeo Christian values, those values seem long forgotten, and some, like the French some have chosen to oblige totally different moral values.

France’s Burkini Ban

Under the pressure of Islamic terrorists, people in the West have gotten such a fear which seems to trouble their mind so much they can not think straight any more. So, many suddenly start looking to see danger everywhere, even in women wearing certain clothes.

Normally you would think we are living in a multicultural society where it should be possible that

We do not need to like or love our fellow citizens. But we have to respect them and engage with them. {A relentlessly upbeat take on citizenship: My Review of Belonging: The Paradox of Citizenship}

At the moment the world shows that respect is totally gone. There does seem to be no respect at all for people who have chosen an other way of thinking and living than theirs. It looks like today everybody has to agree with the same and has to be cut from the same cloth or has to be the same buffoon.

Lots of people are not willing any more to think about certain matters or to do some more research about certain things, to come to know more about it. Everything seems to be of the same cut and everybody is tarred with the same brush.

Take for example Islamic people living here in the West. Lots of people consider them a danger for our society because they hear a lot about those Islamic terrorists and have recently seen that those fundamentalist Muslims created havoc in our own regions killing many citizens.  Lots of people do forget they also killed many Muslims, Jews, atheists, Christians and other believers and that they really have nothing to do with the real Islam. They also do not seem to know that in the East even Sunni‘s came to fight against those so called Sunni Muslims of Daesh.

Women wearing hijab

In Europe we may find today a very big issue about Muslim faith, they way those people cloth, namely the hijab (headscarf) or turban, burka (full body cloak) or burqa and burkini or burqini becoming the symbol of Islam and all that there is about Islam. It has come so far that we see that a garment now defines Islam. But only a name could make them afraid to and have them saying a bukhara (Bukhoro or Bokhara) should be forbidden though then we shall not be able to eat any Bukhara Chutney (Plum Sauce) any more.

A cloth, has become Islam. The issue is that modesty and virtue have been reduced to the abundance or lack of abundance of a garment. And that indeed is a shame. {Tell me I’m wrong about the hijab  + Maniza Naqvi is wrong on so many levels about the hijab}

For us still the idea exist that the Ummah or Muslim community is still much too silent and does not show enough the world that those terrorists are misusing the name of Allah and are not real Islam.

It does not help when we in the West hear about maltreated women in the East. A Saudi 17-year old teenager making the decision to leave her family during a vacation in Turkey this summer; a 20-year old Muslim woman ran away from her family in Saudi in 2014; Hind Al-Otaibi escaping her abusive father who raped and injured her; Sahar Al-Sharif, attempting to escape domestic violence and her abusive brothers by getting married; all Saudi women who are not criminals, but people who have simply made a conscious decision to live! Who can blame them and who can say they have caused any harm? But why should they, when coming to the West put their faith aside and come to cloth themselves like Western people, who in their eyes do have low morals and not good ethics?

Strangely enough it are on those aspects they and western Muslim women become judged, as so called being without good morals and without good values. Today those values in France seem of a totally different sort as the ones in the previous century when they made a fuss when a short or skirt was not long enough or when too much bare skin was visible. Today several French people want to see as much as naked skin as possible though they forbid full nudity because than the excitement is taken away. For them clothing has to be spicy and seducing, otherwise it is not acceptable. That seems to be the moral and ethic attitude of the majority of French people today.

That modesty and virtue have been reduced to the abundance or lack of abundance of a garment for many does not seem to be a problem, but they want to see in the way women prefer to cloth, their inability to make their own proper choice. When women are not clothed like some of the youngsters prefer today they are considered not old fashioned, but are considered to being oppressed.

People also have becoming very narrow-minded thinkers (or would we not better say non-thinkers) limiting their own thoughts not wanting to go against the mainstream.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when talking about Muslim women, rather than talking to Muslim women, is to assume that Muslim women are all the same, think the same, to ignore the diversity of thought, experience, opinion. {Tell me I’m Wrong About the Hijab by Maniza Naqvi}

All Muslims are lumped. For the majority of Europeans they are all the same, from the same wet jar. Many of French or other Europeans, even do not come to see the difference between hijab, burka and burkini. They condemn and reject it without logic thinking and without good fundamental thought.

In case those people, who call themselves Christian, but adhere a trinity, do not want to come up for those women who love God more than man, real Christians, who love only One True God, should speak for those other lovers of God (Allah) and who have chosen to cover their body for God.

Real Christians should show that world which thinks it has good morals, that her morals have become polluted and reprehensible. They should show the world that it are not such good morals when man wants to exploit women as a sex object.

We as Christians should show the world that lovers of God should follow the rules of God and should respect each others and their own body. In the same way we should know that we have to be careful not to tempt others or to bring others to wrong thoughts about our body. We also should consider our body to be holy, i.e. set apart for God and for the one who intensely love and want to share our life with. This means that we should have the right to keep our own body to that person or persons who we want to share our body with or would not mind being seen in our natural skin.

We also should respect those women who want to go so far to cover a lot of their body. We also should show the world that we ought to respect those women for their choice of reserving their bodies just for their beloved.

For some it may look like those women are oppressed by their husband, but did they ever thought it might be the strong women their own choice to believe in certain values which may be much higher than the present values of the world?

Jews, Christians and Muslims should be lovers of God and as such prefer to keep to the Law of God much more than to the preferences of the majority of the world, who have abandoned God. Real lovers of God should know that the world its secularism, does not have to mean they have to follow in all the world their liberties.

Real lovers of God should always have in mind that the Law of God should be on the first place. That Divine Law is part or should be part of the Judeo Christian values our Western world should be keeping to, but many have gotten wrong ideas about those values, because they do not know their Scriptures any more.

It is up to lovers of God to come up for other lovers of God and to show those who have gone astray or do not know God to show the Way to God.

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Preceding article: Secularism in France becoming dangerous for freedom of religion

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Find also to read about the burqini or burkini:

1. Women’s Groups Say Gender Equality is a Must for Sustainable Development
2. Gender connections
3. Gender equality and women’s rights in the post-2015 agenda
4. What is Racism??
5. Is Europe going to become a dictatorial bastion
6. On French beach French police forces woman to undress in public
7. Women in France running with naked bosom all right but with covered bosom penalised
8. France and the Burkini
9. French showing to the whole world their fear and weaknesses
10. Pew Research: How People in Muslim Countries Believe Women Should Dress
11. Allowing dress code according liberty of religion
12. The Dress Code for Women in the Quran
13. Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”
14. Coverings Worn by Muslim Women
15. Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?
16. Islamism Rises from Europe’s Secularism
17. You are what you wear
18. Where’s the Outrage Over Nun Beachwear? – The Daily Beast
19. Not limiting others but sharing peace with all
20. What we don’t say about the refugee crisis?
21. A charter for a truly free world and why we need it
22. When will it stop
23. ‘I try to keep my hate in check. If you can’t hate, you can’t love.’
24. Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”
25. Silence, devotion, Salafists, quietists, weaponry, bombings, books, writers and terrorists
26. Are people willing to take the responsibility for others
27. Colour-blindness and road code
28. Man’s own fault and the choice to flee from fear
29. Lovers of God, seekers and lovers of truth

+++

Further of interest

1. Religious Dress in Catholicism
2. ISIS is Islamic, but most of Islam is not ISIS
3. What if this existence is not real?
4. The Dark Side is Strong with this One
5. The More Things Change . . .
6. What not to wear
7. How Much Cover is Too Much, or Too Little? The French bathing suit controversy as represented in original source material
8. What Not To Wear: A Short History Of Regulating Female Dress From Ancient Sparta To The Burkini
9. Tell me what you wear
10. Burkini Ban: Nice
11. France’s Burkini Ban
12. The reason you aren’t succeeding as a woman? Thats because you bleed apparently.
13. Reviewing Channel 4’s Investigation into ISIS Sympathisers
14. Should France launch air strikes against ISIS after Friday’s attack?
15. The Islamic State responds to Pope Francis: “We are making a religious war, and we hate you
16. ISIS tells the Socialist Pope that the Islamic State is in a war against the infidels approved by Allah.
17. ISIS Responds to Pope Francis: This IS a Religious War and WE HATE YOU
18. I Stand with Humanity ! I Stand against Terrorism #PrayforParis
19. The Written Stuff vs.The Not Written Stuff: Sex Education From An Islamic Perspective Part I
20. Is the Woman in Hijab oppressed? Who is a free woman ?
21. What Hijab Means to me, Hashtag #Hijabtome
22. Why I never wore a Hijab so far?
23. At what point does a ban become a chance to publicly humiliate?
24. And the Debate about Burkini Ban continues #burkiniban
25. The Swimsuit Issue
26. Stripped Down Make-up and Full Cover Suits.
27. Nawaz: Both Sides Are Wrong in the Burkini Wars – The Daily Beast
28. Burkini ban overturned
29. What a lot of Berk(a)s
30. I got 99 problems and the burkini is one of them…really?
31. Bombs in a burkini?
32. Bretons bathe fully clothed as Muslim asked to leave beach
33. My Burkini and I
34. This is why.
35. The Story In A Rug
36. You’ve Got to BurKining Me!
37. Ramadan Kareem!
38. Requiem
39. What Can You Learn Through Someone Or Something Shivered? — Michael J. Fite
40. Finding yourself
41. Beauty Eclipsed: Day 8 – Focus inward
42. Beauty Eclipsed #9: Surface vs Core
43. A Journey From Being Alone To Alone
44. Own, Apologize, Repair: Coming Back to Integrity
45. Counter-Activism…or… Subverting Democracy
46. The world in trouble
47. i know why the caged bird shrieks…
48. Darkness
49. What do we do?
50. The New Testament Church Part 2
51. Peace
52. De-Stress Your Mind & Body
53. Let a young woman accept as a life companion only one who posseses pure,manly traits of character,one who is diligent,aspiring,one who loves and fear God.
54. Why I wear the iron maiden: One woman on dressing modestly in everyday life
55. Turn away from companions who will lead you in wrong paths.
56. How legitimate is Christian Head-covering?
57. Misnomer
58. Why We Are Not Meant To Live Our Lives Naked
59. There Is No Biblical Reason Why Women Can’t Go Topless?
60. Power Of Happiness
61. Being Grateful and Being Sorry—Are You Humble Enough To Do Both?
62. …make this gift count.

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Secularism in France becoming dangerous for freedom of religion

The Biblestudents encountered already many problems in France and were forbidden to teach or preach in public. The Catholic church did not have any problem because many in France consider themselves Catholics. Lots of those Catholics protested against the Muslim community growing in their country, never questioning why so many where leaving the Catholic faith and found themself disillusioned and cheated by that big organisation, which claims to be the true religion.

Examples of hijabs in different regions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last few weeks many of those French were calling blue murder and wanted a ban on everything that smelled to Islam. By doing so they got the clear thinking minds also in their back-garden, because lots of French want the burqini (burkini) banned in France. (Some other countries want to follow suit.) Though several people noticed also that the burqini was covering less of the body than certain habits of Catholic clergy. So why would the French police allow nuns to go in the sea with their habit but humiliate Muslim women dressed in a fashionable swimwear called burqini (burkini)?

Several French people shouted that burqini’s to be dangerous clothing (?!?) that should be forbidden. We wonder what could be so dangerous about that attire. The Catholic nuns and priests have much more space to hide dangerous weapons or to wear bomb belts than those women who wear a burqini.

Now it came to happen what hung already some time in the air. It was clear that the governement not only wanted to get the attention away from her inability to protect the French people, they also would love to get any form of religiosity out of their community.

As citizens of a country one would expect the interior ministry’s responsibility to guarantee security and to decide the severity of responses which however must never become provocations that could potentially attract attacks. The governement should do everything to have the different groups of people, from different origin and cultures, living together in unison. but now it looks like the governement does everything to put oil on the fire and to get as many people against each other.

Two Muslim women watching the sea in . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In name of secularism the French governement decided to abandon any religious sign/symbol or religious badges in public places, and as such does not want their citizens to show in their clothing what they believe. Christian youngsters who previously wore fishes or crosses, yarmulkes, scarves or any other religious clothing shall shall not allowed to enter the school because it is now prohibited in the schools, which started today.

What started off as an attack on the Muslim woman has now become a general attack on the freedom of religious thought.

Clearly there are many Europeans who, seemingly sincerely, think women are not strong enough to decide for themselves what for sort religion they want to belong to or what sort of clothing they want to wear.

Striking is it that mainly men have the greatest objection to those Muslim women wearing covering clothes. Though also several Western women do not want to accept that those European ex-Catholics can make up their mind for themselves and decide for themselves which religion to belong to and what to wear.

A woman’s swimsuit measured in the name of modesty (1925); woman forced to undress in the name of liberty (2016)…as seen in “Men Won’t Stop Controlling Women’s Dresscode” by Nuha ElZubeir, Identity Mag. 

Some decades ago women were penalised when they had clothing on, which showed some bare legs or arms. We ourselves knew our parents to wear covering swimwear and many of us had problems when they wanted to run outdoors with sleeveless shirts or short trousers. Now half a century later it looks it has to have come the opposite, when somebody wants the body covered he or she is looked at as doing something wrong. In France it has even become so far to call the covering of body parts indecent and against morals and French values.

Has it become that French morals today dictate that men and women should have as much as possible bare body parts, though not fully naked, because that would take the sensuality away and would make everybody the same. They prefer that the nudity is accentuated but not hidden. When hidden, it proofs today, then the French are getting uneasy.

French men seem not to like it when a woman wear what she wants. They do not seem to believe a woman is capable of that. As soon as a woman prefers certain body parts covered they call it her being oppressed by some one else (her husband, her parents, her religious leader). They do not seem to see or to understand, that such woman perhaps can be much stronger than all those who follow the fashion magazines and always want to be by the time wearing the latest hype.

Well this time they also have a hype. All the smear campaign made that the sales of the burqini are booming.

Hopefully lots of women also dare to show that they are themselves able to decide what to wear, what to show or what to hide of their own body, that is their own property and not the property of the onlookers at the beach or on the street. For a woman to be in charge of her own body, that seems to be a big problem in the macho world of the so called land of liberty, freedom and equality.

Two young Muslim women in the heart of Istanbul are having “an Apple” for lunch. This photo was taken on a sunny day in April 2007.. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When women would be equal, why want they listen more to them who can speak for themselves? Why do they not want to believe them?

For those who are Catholic or for those who say they are Christian, they should be aware that Jesus had a loving spirit for all around him and did not show favouritism to those who would have been dressed in such or such a way.

In the Tanakh, Messianic Scriptures and in the Quran, the Divine Creator of everything, Allah, the God of gods, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah, demands of those who love Him, to love their neighbour as themselves. God demands those who love Him, to respect all creatures God allows here on earth. As such God demands from believers in the Almighty to respect other believers, even if they are heathen or do not want to know anything of God.

As Christians we should respect those who believe in Allah/God, but want to belong to an other religion than ours. We should respect also their choice of denomination or Islamic group, and if they want to follow the rules of a certain Islamic (or other) group we should respect that as well. This mean if they feel they should cover up their body, though we also know it is not explicitly so described in the Holy Writings, we should respect their choice.

We also should recognise that those shouting and saying their concerned about their values, are having the wrong values, because covering body parts is more ethical and respectful than to flaunt with naked body parts.

+

Find also to read about the burqini or burkini:

1. Women’s Groups Say Gender Equality is a Must for Sustainable Development
2. Gender connections
3. Gender equality and women’s rights in the post-2015 agenda
4. What is Racism??
5. Is Europe going to become a dictatorial bastion
6. On French beach French police forces woman to undress in public
7. Women in France running with naked bosom all right but with covered bosom penalised
8. France and the Burkini
9. French showing to the whole world their fear and weaknesses
10. Pew Research: How People in Muslim Countries Believe Women Should Dress
11. Allowing dress code according liberty of religion
12. The Dress Code for Women in the Quran
13. Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”
14. Coverings Worn by Muslim Women
15. Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?
16. Islamism Rises from Europe’s Secularism
17. You are what you wear
18. Where’s the Outrage Over Nun Beachwear? – The Daily Beast
19. Not limiting others but sharing peace with all
20. What we don’t say about the refugee crisis?
21. A charter for a truly free world and why we need it
22. When will it stop
23. ‘I try to keep my hate in check. If you can’t hate, you can’t love.’
24. Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

+++

Further of interest

1. Bombs in a burkini?
2. I got 99 problems and the burkini is one of them…really?
3. 99 Word Blog (#024) Banned Burkinis
4. Fleeing The Hijab
5. Current Events Corner 8/16/2016
6. “France is at War with its own Citizens” – Yasser Louati on the Cannes “Burkini” Ban
7. Uproar in France over ‘burkini ban’ at Cannes beaches
8. #62 French police force Muslim woman to remove her Burkini on Nice beach (photos)
9. Undress for safety
10. Nudism/Naturism and burkini madness: Why not ban all clothes at the beach?
11. Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?
12. Why are the burqa and burkini being banned?
13. Fashion vs the Government: The Burkini Debate
14. The scandal of women’s bodies in secular Europe
15. French burkini ban exposes the myth of neutral secularism
16. Burkini and French Secularism
17. Ban of burkini: theresult ofmalechauvinism or secularism
18. France’s Burkini Ban: Identity politics go to the beach
19. Forcing a Muslim Woman To Undress is Not Fighting Oppression. That IS Oppression!
20. Banning The Burqa And Burkini Is Not The Correct Liberal Response To Conservative Islam
21. The Hypocrisy of the Burkini Ban
22. A Burqini is not Equivalent to a Burqa
23. Corsican town becomes third in France to ban the burkini after #Islamics riot
24. France’s Burkini BigotryBurkinis in the land of Liberté, égalité, fraternité
25. To Burkini Or Not To Burkini: The Ages Of Men Deciding What Women Should Wear
26. French Burkini Bans Face Legal Challenge as Tension Mounts
27. France has for its name, the contrary of Liberty and Fraternity practice.
28. A cover story
29. Does France have a problem with racism?
30. Everyone everywhere wants to tell women what to wear
31. The Day The News Made My Blood Boil
32. Beachwear bull
33. Women protest French burkini ban outside French Embassy in London
34. Show us your bits..
35. It’s Always the Cover Up
36. Thoughts of the Day: Burkini Ban
37. Doing something for something’s sake is a dangerous strategy
38. Burkini Ban : French Farce
39. Burkini beach
40. Islam, France, Burkini: A chit chat on FB
41. Facebook 45 – Suorkini
42. The burqa-One mermaid’s opinion
43. burkinis or bikinis?
44. Burkini vs Bikini
45. The Burkini
46. Burquini – How It Happened
47. Burkini Ban: Nice
48. Cannes Ban
49. Why the Burkini ban poses a threat to Muslims and Non-Muslims alike
50. #Burkiniban – the problem is veiled ideology
51. 24 August 2016 – All Lives Matter (or Overly Clad Women)
52. Why the French burkini ban is damaging feminism
53. Dear French PM, The Burkini Ban Is Abhorrent
54. Burkini being a threat
55. The Burkini ban
56. Liberty, Equality, Bigotry?
57. From Bloomers to Burkinis: The Same Old Story? by Sarah Ansari
58. Modern feminism makes no sense at all
59. Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the Burkini : “C’est une provocation”.
60. And the Debate about Burkini Ban continues #burkiniban
61. Can’t we just put all the cards on the table?
62. The folly of the #Burkiniban
63. Bitches, Puhleeeeze….
64. Ban the Burkini.
65. The Burkini Ban
66. Everything under the sun
67. Very simple solution RE: Olympics and Burkini
68. Next time I go to swim I might wear a good burkini
69. Saudi Arabia Bans Stripy Fisherman Shirts and Berets
70. Another Attack on Western Civilization from Muslim Women
71. The Burkini Ban Is Pointless And Racist
72. The Burkini Ban is good. Not to let your Country turn into Saudi Arabia – without Oil – in a couple of Decades, we must defend it. The right that our countries remain western.
73. So! (en) | Islamic veil across Europe
74. Pope urged to wear swimming trunks
75. Where’s the Outrage Over Nun Beachwear? – The Daily Beast
76. the decomposition of logic and democratic values
77. Freedom of choice. It’s not so simple.
78. Europe has been awash with racial tension this summer
79. France’s ‘burkini ban’, one step too far?
80. In hiding
81. #BurkiniBan
82. France has ‘misunderstood’ burkini, Australian designer says
83. “Burkini” Ban Accomplishes Nothing Positive
84. The Hijab and MeIslamophobia or nah?Islam and the downfall of European culture
85. The Islamisation of my Country – 1
86. So let me get this straight…
87. At what point does a ban become a chance to publicly humiliate?
88. New Feminism – via Unapologetics
89. Ban the Burqa, Allow the Burkini :: Middle East Forum
90. If you ever had any doubt that Bill O’Reilly of FOX News wasn’t actually a Muslim-sympathizing liberal, this will remove it
91. Quebec opposition MNAs reopen divisive debate over religious attire with call for ban on burkinis
92. Salafist fuckin’ la revanche
93. The best tweets showing the absurdity of the #BurkiniBan on French beaches
94. Australian burkini designer profits from French ban
95. Burkini, Bikini. Potato, potarto.
96. New Feminism
97. “Burkini”ban in Quebec: Samer Majzoub interview on CJAD by Aaron Rand.
98. Why an Italian atheist should thank France for the burkini affair
99. Kini Miney Mot
100. More French towns spread ban on the burkini
101. How Western is the Bikini?
102. A Burqini is not Equivalent to a Burqa
103. Nudism/Naturism and burkini madness: Why not ban all clothes at the beach?
104. The scandal of women’s bodies in secular Europe
105. Everyone everywhere wants to tell women what to wear
106. Forcing a Muslim Woman To Undress is Not Fighting Oppression. That IS Oppression!
107. Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?
108. You may find this offensive The Burqini Ban
109. Burkini and French Secularism
110. Islam and the downfall of European culture
111. Why the French burkini ban is damaging feminism
112. At what point does a ban become a chance to publicly humiliate?
113. the decomposition of logic and democratic values
114. The Burkini Ban is good. Not to let your Country turn into Saudi Arabia – without Oil – in a couple of Decades, we must defend it. The right that our countries remain western.
115. How “Modern” are We? Religion, Secularism, and Multiple Modernities in Europe
116. Another Attack on Western Civilization from Muslim Women
117. Does France have a problem with racism?
118. Burkinis in the land of Liberté, égalité, fraternité
119. Burkini Ban : French Farce
120. The Day The News Made My Blood Boil
121. French burkini ban exposes the myth of neutral secularism
122. Bretons bathe fully clothed as Muslim asked to leave beach
123. French mayors dismiss suspended burqini ban
124. United Nations Strongly Condemns French Authorities Decision to Ban Burkani
125. What Not To Wear: A Short History Of Regulating Female Dress From Ancient Sparta To The Burkini
126. You’ve Got to BurKining Me!
127. To bare or not to bare
128. French city Nice suspends its ban on burkinis
129. Young Muslim Americans say discrimination is ‘worse now than after 9/11’
130. US Muslim Women Debate Safety of Hijab amid Backlash
131. Lifting Veil off Attitudes about Niqab, Hijab
132. The niqab ban: 2011-2015 – The new Liberal government officially puts an end to the former Conservative government’s attempt to ban the niqab during the citizenship oath
133. June 24, 2015: Under the Niqab
134. The Niqab Debate
135. Niqab issue is thinly veiled racism
136. Niqab issue is about fear of the unknown
137. Niqab issue being ‘pushed on the populace’
138. Is Muslim female face covering nothing more than sharia Bolshevism?
139. The Niqab Time Bomb
140. Worse than niqab issue: pajamas worn in public
141. The ‘enemies of reason’ are inside the gates
142. Islamism, Feminism & Defiance
143. Why we stopped wearing the Hijab
144. The “Racist” Man at Target
145. Video: Pregnant Muslim Woman Verbally Abused On London Bus
146. Muslim Woman Allegedly Abused In Hospital Maternity Ward
147. Assault On Niqab Wearing Women Shows The Male Violence Many Suffer
148. Muslim Girl Punched In face In Birmingham For ‘Wearing A Hijab’
149. Man Attacked Muslim Woman And Stabbed Boy In The Face Outside Melbourne State Library
150. Muslim Woman Abused In Tesco Store For Wearing Face Veil Urges Victims To Report Hate Crime
151. Middle East Lifestyles – What about the ladies?
152. Bigotry veiled as liberation
153. YSL or “Shut Up and Run”
154. Unveiling the reality
155. Advice to the Muslim Women by Sheikh Saalih al Fawzan
156. My Thoughts On Religious Headscarves

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