Ek wil graag hierdie met julle deel en julle respekvolle opinie oor hierdie aksie verneem. Ek is nog nuut en wil graag leer maar wil ook terselfdetyd dinge wat ek bevraagteken met jul deel. Ongelukkig is dit in Engels.
Pastor Troy excels in leadership development and is well known for his extreme creativity in designing unexpected worship experiences. A few of those unique worship experiences have been captured in such creative series as: "ivescrewedup.com," "MyNakedPastor.com," "The Bed," "RationaLies," "ivemissed.com" and "TheGiftRevolution.com." Pastor Troy’s vision is fueled by his passion and his burden to partner with people so they can reach their God potential.
A church in Florida has garnered a lot of attention for using a caged lion on stage as a symbol for Satan.
The church, Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City, Fla., is featuring a series of sermons called "Wild". The pastor of the church, Troy Gramling, arranged for the display of a lion in a cage as a prop for his sermon focusing around verses from the book of 1 Peter. The verses in question use the image of a "roaring lion" as a simile for the devil.
Despite the best efforts of groups like The Christian Vegetarian Association, the faith as a whole has never been particularly receptive to animal rights ideologies. Dedicated theologians and scholars would debate about the meaning of verses in the book of Genesis that explicitly name plants and trees as the food for humans. Others would argue the same book gives humanity "dominion" over the animals which could be interpreted as permission to eat them.
These kinds of debates are fruitless and serve only that small segment of any religious group that reads their respective scriptures in any depth. I would argue the real reason Christianity is not receptive to veganism is a simple matter of demographics. It's not a matter of conflicting ideologies, it's simply that for the majority of Americans, Christianity is seen as the "default" religion, and eating meat is seen as the "default" diet.
Christianity is by far the most populous religious group in the US, and in addition, the majority of people in the US eat meat. To think there wouldn't be a large overlap seems silly.
Pastor Gramling utilizes the lion to inspire fear, and reiterates as many times as he can that the lion wants nothing more than to kill you. As if humanity didn't have enough ill-will toward wild animals, Gramling wants to draw a mental connection between a majestic and beautiful animal and the cause of all evil in the world.
Gramling, speaking from a theatrical stage covered with a tree canopy, plants, and what appear to be taxidermied animals, tries to characterize the lion as blood-thirsty and malevolent. The simile of lion for satan depends on us fearing the lion. But the lion has much more to fear from humans who possess guns (a gun is also featured in Gramling's sermon), and the ability to eliminate their habitat, than humanity has to fear from a lion.
Behind all the theological narrative, the metaphor, and the fear-mongering, the same fact remains that is always present when we display animals: we are using a sentient being as entertainment. The lion paced the cage nervously the whole time the pastor was speaking. It doesn't take a zoologist to spot frustration and confusion in an enormous animal trapped in a tiny cage.
the Flamingo Road Church in Cooper City, Florida, launched a new "Wild" series of sermons. As part of these sermons, live animals are being used to teach lessons from the Bible. In the first sermon, a caged lion was on stage as a stand-in for Satan. The lion was pacing and clearly stressed by the situation. While animals play a role in the Bible, they are represented in their natural environment; their lessons are analogies, not literal. Rather than teaching respect for other living things, Flamingo Road Church reduced this lion to being a mere prop.
Using a captive wild animal may have added shock value to the sermon about Satan, but what about teaching compassion?
Animals like lions belong in the wild. They do not belong in cages. Lions certainly do not belong on stage in a church being used as a prop to inspire fear and hatred of animals. They shouldn't be supervised by a man who sees an accidental attack by a lion as a possible source of greater profit.
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Originally Posted by knipmes
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