I just had an awesome afternoon down in NYC. On my way back to the train station, I encountered a group of men clad in laughable cardboard-and-foil knights-templar like get-ups complete with Stars of David. These guys were preaching the damnation of America, of the white man - calling all white people devils and saying God created us for a purpose the same way he created bees for a purpose. They started reading from their mini-Bibles and one of the first things they asked was "Leviticus 18:22 - one shall not lie with man as one lies with woman." They asked if I agreed that was abominable. I asked them if wearing clothes made of more than one material was abominable. I asked if they were wearing more than one material in their clothing - even though it is prohibited by the Bible. Three of them started shouting at the same time that they only broke that law because that was the society that the white man had set up. They called all the white people on the sidewalk usurpers - saying that we all were responsible for raping and pillaging America and that we had no right to be here - saying that my people were responsible for slavery [I tried pointing out that my family came here 75 years ago and could not have enslaved anybody, but that didn't phase them]. I'm still angry about this, not because I believe anything they said, but just because it shows me how truly ignorant people are. I asked them to follow their own logic. They were quoting the Bible left and right, yet claiming every white man was bound for hell for being a devil. I pointed out that the Bible states that every man can be saved if they believe in Christ (John 3:16). They started reading the passage, then stopped when it said the "whole world" can be saved. They started saying that we should look at the original meaning of the word world. That it was lost in the translation to English. While I agree the Bible is full of mis-translations and misunderstandings, they only pointed this out when it suited them. Other times they completely ignored that they were reading a 30X translated 3000 year old book. The meaning of the term "LOST IN TRANSLATION" is lost to them at their convenience. The crowd gathered on the sidewalk was egging me on, telling them to let me speak so we could debate. The man would just keep shouting his ignorance and then demand that his associate read more scripture to back up what he said. The only one nodding in agreement with the Knights Templar was the guy whose teeth show distinct signs of meth usage. I was the only person on the sidewalk who is versed in scripture - the only one who could debate them and they resorted to calling me faggot. They said St. Patrick was faggot (I asked how thye would know if he was a homosexual since that's what they implied they kept telling me to keep my lies to myself "white boy") They started calling God a man...I said that was foolish and ignorant. That to confine God to their severely limited range of understanding was an insult to God. I said God has no penis and no vagina, God is not limited by our tiny human brains. One woman threw up her hands and "AMEN'd" to that. It made me happy. Eventually I got so disgusted that I started walking way. I said to one of the Knight-Templar guys that his friend preaching should read the WHOLE Bible and not just the parts that suited him. They called me a faggot and told me they would punch me in my white boy face. How Christ-like of them.
"awesome afternoon" does not do your day justice. Haha... It usually is like that, though; they only focus on certain parts of the book - the parts they need to bible-bash you with. Meh. Ignorant fools. It's a good thing that you kept your cool throughout this sidewalk debate, too. Lol, I can only imagine how it must have gone down. :lol:
I've been going to school and work in Manhattan since August of last year and I can honestly say I've never seen anything like that, but I have run into religious zealots like those a time or two on campus. It reminds me of two things: there's nothing worse than a recovering addict and the verses from Matthew 7:15 to 7:23. On the first part, I present you my uncle on my mom's side. Hard drinker, womanizer, piss-poor father, can't hold on to any sort of job for any length of time. He returned to church and became an absolute horrible person to be around. Extremely judgmental and very angry. He once went off about Spongebob being the devil while in the middle of a restaurant. I'm honestly surprised we weren't thrown out with all his raving. He's toned down some since, but that hasn't stopped any of his vices. I once saw him as a very good uncle and a close friend to my father. Not so much any now. He's just a user and a leech like everyone else in that family. The second part which I'll paste here is: That's probably more in line with one you came across the other. Probably a little bit from both examples. In the end, you really can't pay them any attention. As you said, they cherry pick what they want to rant on and attack any who oppose them. They're falsely condemning where they have no right or authority to do so. At least you know enough to properly pick holes in their flawed way of thinking, but sadly, all it does is encourage them hence the shouting and name calling. People like that really give good Christians a bad name. The really sad thing is they tend to be the most vocal, while those Christians that actually do the most good tend to be the quietest, most unassuming people you know. Maybe one day they'll come around to fully understanding what being a Christian is all about. Ranting and raving on a street corner does not make one good with God.
They were breaking so many rules of the Bible by what they did it is not even funny. What happened to loving everyone? I'm sorry you had to deal with idiots but idiocy seems to be running rampant these days
what do they have against albinos... it is not the albinos fault that they were born without pigmentation... THAT IS JUST WRONG, SUBJUGATING A WHOLE GROUP BECAUSE THEIR SKIN LACKS PIGMENT TO PROVIDE COLOR!!!!! I am against anti-albinoisem. They should not be treated lesser than me simply because they are white, and I am off-white. Some people should take vows of silence and celibacy... unfornutnately, idiots and racists breed like rabbits on viagra.
Sounds fun. I'm just waiting for one of the Assassin's order to take them out. You did say they were Templars after all Hehe Assassin's Creed ftw
