What is patriotism?
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Meta
Plymothian 
WOW, i think i could write an eight page paper on just one of these questions. . . . .i guess with starting out. .it all depends upon how you define ‘freedom’. . .with everything there is freedom. . .as you said ealier that even if your tied up in a box you may see yourself as “enslaved” but you are still free from whatever is outside of the box. . .. . America..American freedom- i know i will make some people mad by saying this, but -can someones freedom really be built upon taking another persons freedom away. . .this is shaky foundation.
There is a whole bigger picture that we have to look at. Looking back in time at all the people searching for new land, new gold, new people(s), new religious freedom. . .everyone was looking for something. .and when they thought they found it they disrupted the world of others’ who they were content and settled within their freedom. . .but then as time went on we grew very greedy and searched for even more new things. we played God and forgot who He truly was, and what we truly were looking for..in the end He will be excluded from all, and we will TRY to play His part. . . but then there will be those- those few who stand up and say truly no matter what the consequence what they believe. . . .God forgive us if we do not have the courage to stand. . .
Does a missionary have to go “ethnic”? does this help…i am native american and i might have a different veiw on this subject than others might have but i know from past that it would be wise to go along (bones in lip, ear. . .etc.) with ethnic/ cultural things. . i see nothing wrong in tatooes or anything in this nature…i grew up in Hawaii and if you were offered a tatooe…being a white person this would be considered a great honor and refusing it would be an assult that might cause no one to listen to what you have to say after you refuse their gift. in history when missionaries have tried to take away the culture instead of embrassing it and bringing Jesus into the picture it has caused 500 years (among the native americans) to even begin to listen to the gospel message because of this past experienec of what missionaries tried to do.
God convicts- we bring the message….now i know that you can not blame the messenger for the message but not all know this and it would confuse them….”i have to give up being indian to become a Christian”….this is not how it has to be God made me this way …”I am first a Christian and then native American. .”
oh peter, so provocative.but in seriousness, nationality is a strange thing… a legitimized gang? an engorged highschool clique? in Vonnegut’s terms, a granfalloon?too bad history is written by those who win the wars; I think there have been some pretty magnificent losers.
I remember your asking these same questions to my Teaching the Bible in the Classroom class two years ago… or was it Methods and Management? …either way, they are very thought provoking.
Thanks for always challenging us and causing us to think critically. I really enjoyed your classes and have learned a lot from you.
Should missionaries “go ethinc?” Should they contextualize themselves into the culture of the people group they are attempting to win to the kingdom of God, or should they impose their traditions and values on them and in the process make them “more civilized”? This has been an issue among missionaries for many years. It is common to read accounts of missionaries who went to different cultures in the nineteenth centuries and tried to change the people group by imposing their customs and culture on them. They “civilized” these barbaric people by implementing their western ideas and ways of life and completly wiping out the way of life of the native people. Entire cultures and ways of life were wiped out as these Christians completly ignored the traditions and customs of the people. It is important when doing missionary work to realize that it is God who transforms culture, not missionaries. You have to “go ethnic” to a certain degree to be able to relate to the people you are trying to reach and to authenticate yourself and your motives in coming to their country. After all, you are the outsider invading their turf, so you must adapt to their way of life without compromising the gospel and Bible.