Tuesday, November 19, 2013

How do Westboro Baptist Church members justify their embrace and utilization of goods and technology?

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Clyde


Most of us dislike their approach in preaching their beliefs. However, let's say, theoretically, that what they say in interviews and demonstrations is true. I am curious as to how they would respond to a question about their use of the latest technology (Twitter, iPhones [some have them in demonstration footage]), their clothing (name brand [Nike], other textiles produced in mass quantity in China, sunglasses clearly not hand made), other tools they use to highlight their beliefs (Photoshop, Windows) and their own personal luxuries (leather couches, new appliances, entertainment centers with surround sound and flat screen televisions). I am not being facetious, but truly interested in what the online community thinks they would justify these utilizations.

They preach that their intent is to make all aware of God's will, and that if we are not showing others the way, we are enabling 'f**s' and the destruction of our own world. BUT, if they are contributing to this 'enabling' society through purchasing and utilizing all of the means listed above, are they not, themselves, enabling the enablers?

I, most likely, similar to many of you have spent some time researching the WBC and watching interviews and no one, not even Brick Stone as far as I can tell, brings up these seemingly obvious questions. There seems to be some serious double-standards occurring here.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks in advance...
For instance, just now I watched a clip of Brick Stone interviewing Steve Drain in February of this year, and Mr. Drain is wearing an Under Armour brand jacket. Under Armour, like most widespread, successful companies, has a non-discrimination policy. So, by purchasing these garments (and promoting them by wearing them) are they not supporting companies whose ideologies are in complete contrast to their own?



Answer
Not that I agree with WBC and how they do things, nowhere in the Bible does it forbid Christians to wear clothes that are of a brand name. The Bible basically just said to dress modestly...so whether the brand be Nike, Under Armor, etc... it's not forbidden.

As far as technology goes, the church utilizes those things to operate in today's world. Those things were created by humans to enhance life. They are not by themselves wrong, but the use of them that can be wrong. If you read the Bible, people back then were fishermen, carpenters, builders, clothing makers, shipbuilders, etc... They made stuff that helped people function in the world. "We are all sinners and come short of the glory of God" was as true then as it is now. Not every shipbuilder was a follower of Jesus, or lived a life that went along with the Gospel, but their boats were still used by the disciples to fish and travel from place to place.

Christians today are businessman, carpenters, mechanics, electricians, etc... and "We are all sinners..." still applies - christian or not. Whether or not the Christian does research or is enlightened by the brand name's company that may or may not agree or go against the policies of their church - and how they feel they should react - is between them and God. But nowhere in the Bible does it forbid the use of these things.

FYI, when you read the Bible it may seem as though it's full of conflicts, but that's because there are different "dispensations" (periods of time in English, or "ages"). The Old Testament, for example, was basically the dispensation of Law. Simply put - The people had to follow all the laws, or they were condemned. There was only one way to get out of or make right your sins, and that was to sacrifice a "clean" animal, such as a sheep. That animal's blood was put on the alter and burned. The sacrifice of the animal's blood caused God to forgive that person's sin -- but it only lasted a limited time.People had to sacrifice animals on the alter all the time to cover their since.

Today, we are in the dispensation, or age of Grace - why? Because God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for all of our sins. He is an everlasting sacrifice. His blood was shed to eternally cover all of our sins. So, we don't need to follow the law like the people in the Old Testament did. "Everything is permissible, but everything is not beneficial" according 1 Corinthians 10:23. so it is not wrong for a Christian to wear Under Armor, or use an iPhone. Now, if a Christian beat up an old lady and stole that iPhone, that's not beneficial....and is against what God would want them to do. But all they have to do is ask God's forgiveness, turn from that sin of stealing and beating up old ladies, and make things right with the old lady by apologizing....and God forgives them and restores them.

This is a simple explanation of what I'm talking about: http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/2wtlonline.html

Again, I am not a Fundamentalist like the WBC people. I am a Christian, but I don't agree with their practices of marching at funerals, being legalistic and downright hateful. But this particular thing that you're talking about is not wrong, so I wanted to explain why. Christians are taught to live as Christ did....loving, ministering, healing, praying for, and encouraging people - which is what I believe.

Hope this explained things.

Im giving myself a computer for the holidays. What should I keep in mind when making a purchase?




gr8_smyll


I don't plan to use it for work. Only for games and fun stuff--movies,music, etc.


Answer
Your question is relatively broad, as the level of your gaming, music, and movie usage isn't defined. Will you simply be watching movies or editing them? When you say games, do you mean online Yahoo! poker or do you want to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion on the highest graphic settings? The answers to these questions change my recommendations greatly, but I will give a quick, sweeping overview of components anybody should look for with a PC.

If you are going to buy the PC from a major company such as Dell, Gateway, etc. you will find that they offer different level computers for different levels of needs. As somebody suggested, a desktop will typically give you more performance for the price if you plan on using it at home. But, there is something very nice about being able to e-mail from your couch and surfing the net wireless.

Still, you listed movies as one of your concerns, and this typically calls for a large screen and robust sound system. You can get a large screen for a laptop, but then it ceases to be all that portable and you'd still have to hook it up to stationary speakers or headphones to get any kind of audio enjoyment from your music/media. In this regards, do no skimp on the monitor. Look for an LCD monitor with a high refresh rate (for gaming purposes) and make sure it is big enough for your purposes. 17" is a good starting size, but you'll thank yourself if you go 19" or larger. Widescreen is a luxury you can choose if you wish, but I wouldn't say it's required to any degree.

As for the guts of the computer, you're going to want to look at CPU, memory, graphics card, and hard drive space. There are, of course, other components, but these are your core essentials when judging what type of machine you're looking at.

How much CPU power will be completely dependent upon what types of applications you wish to run. If you see yourself doing movie editing, every ounce of horsepower counts. But if you don't plan on doing editing or extremely high end gaming, basically anything that is a 64 bit processor will suffice. It is important you get the 64 bit processor, as this technology will be taking over soon and you don't want to be lagging too far behind after only a year. There are two major brands of CPU: Intel and AMD. Both are good choices and you will find people that swear by one or the other. I've used both, and can say it's hard to make a bad choice.

Memory (RAM) is simple. The more you have, the better. A year ago I would have said 512mb would get most people by, but that's swiftly changing. I'd recommend at least 1gb of ram. If you plan on doing any sort of 3D gaming, put the most in you can afford. RAM is probably the cheapest and easiest way to notice an improvement in your computers performance.

Graphics cards can get more complicated. I wrote another suggestion on graphics card I will link for you here if you wish to read more:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=As7hHFFE_Y86a_2VkUktXL3sy6IX?qid=20061130225304AA7j0co&show=7#profile-info-fa45dee379360ef00b1118481e6ba8c0aa
If you plan on doing extensive 3D gaming and movie watching, you will want a nice graphics card. Get at least 256mb of memory on it. This would be the minimum now for gaming, so if you can upgrade, do it. However for most people, a graphics card with 256mb is going to do the trick for awhile.

Finally, the hard drive. This is just how much stuff you'll be fitting onto your computer. Again, the more the better. If you're downloading music, games, and movies 100gb (gigabytes) gets small really quick. Look for something with over 150gb, and upgrade as you see fit to your needs.

In short: Get a nice monitor! This is something you'll be looking at for hours, so make it pretty. When getting a CPU, make it a 64 bit processor. The best graphics card you can afford is future proofing you to be able to do games for at least 2 years. The more RAM the better, at least 1 gigabyte (But you probably wouldn't need more than 2gb). And the more hard drive space the better: you want to be able to store all your videos, movies, music, and games.

There are other features to look for, but by follow these basic standards you'll be sure to find a PC to suit your needs and price!

A quick word on Apple computers:
These are a great alternative to the PC, especially now that they come with an intel processor. However, they are going to typically cost more than a PC and not every piece of software/hardware will work for it. Still, they are beautiful machines and if you can afford the price tag I wouldn't think twice about recommending a purchase.




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Title Post: How do Westboro Baptist Church members justify their embrace and utilization of goods and technology?
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