Daily Recap: 10/24/12: Change of Heart, Not Culture: President Obama Born In Topeka, KS

Daily Recap 10/24/12: Change of Heart, Not Culture: President Obama Born In Topeka KS.
Pleasant Day, but there there is a hint of change coming. Some trees leaves have turned, others are just letting their tips change so far. and The Rose of Sharon in the front yard, produced one last rose flower, after it appeared the 'last Rose of Summer' had already bloomed. its supposed to change to cooler weather next week.
Mail was only those wanting us to buy something.

PRESIDENT OBAMA BORN IN TOPEKA KS:
In writing about Aunt Pearl's family, this is from the perspective of what I know. many are still living and can be located on line. They would know more about their own immediate families. but when one searches for a family history then one starts with what they know first.
I've already found some conflicitnginfo in the US census records form the early part of the 20th century. so which is correct? one has the entire Hardy family living in Ottawa Ks in 1910, the other has only the parents in Philips County Colorado, the town named in Ks is not any town they would ever have lived in?, that I'm aware of. So something isn't right in these documents. As has been reported here, I'm witness to a lot of false documents or falsified documents over the last hundred years. One has to ask? what is the probability of my Mother marrying into a family where the mother, and two daughters have the exact same month and day for a birthday, and one of them the exact same month, day and year as my Mother? My Mother does have a delayed birth record, too, completed by her Mother. But I have early school records that agree with 6/18/1904. As well as a very three dimensional family history of her life as she shared many hurts as well as good times with me over the years. Much wasn't all that great, but lots of hard work at an early age.
I have kept repeating that Wilma was the oldest grandchild and child of Aunt Pearl. But the name Doris is also in the mix. On line are pictures on ancestry .com that I have available without charge and Doris is listed as the oldest. I have pictures, too and some mixing of the names.  Apparently my Mother always called her Wilma, but she is actually Doris? Some of her living siblings could help with this. But I have not met all of them..and several eyars, since I cmmunicated, either.
Yesterday, I told about meeting Ivan Vallier the Dr. of Sociology. He has written many studies on sociology and religion and spent time in South America. I could not locate any published report from his first visit when he was sent by the Church of England. maybe it was Incorporated into later writings.
He was sent to answer one question: Should the Church of England attempt to evangelize South America? I was age 14 when we visited and the evening conversation was asking my Dad's opinion on the matter.
What I am going to repeat is from a 14 year old with some stereotyped views of certain ethnic groups and cultures. That's always important in understanding ones respsonse to words that are said. Ivan was explaining some of what he was to do. Aunt Pearl and Uncle Tom didin't say anything,As I recall. Obviously they were ina   Church that would always be sending missionaries around the world. Reorganized Church of Later day Saints.
Ivan was being asked to do something as A Social Scientist and the resultant works have been widely footnoted in writings  of others, even to this day and  one of his book was used in our seminary at Eastern Baptist in evangelism classes.  One comment on line said that he was able to blend the social science field with religion One can buy his writings at the major online book sellers.
Since most people's actions and historical events are caused by ones beliefs, why did it take humanity so long to put all this together?  In a scientific format?
My Dad was listening to him talk and he just spoke up, with some assertion but in a way that no one would misunderstand and said : Sonny! you're not going to get  a bunch of Indians to read a prayer book and stand up and sit down as they follow it. I laughed at loud at what he was describing.
Why did I laugh? I was imagining a tee pee with Native AMERICANS IN FEATHER HEAD DRESSES BEING GIVEN SOME "BOOKS OF COMMON PRAYER" AND INSTRUCTED THAT TO WORSHIP THEY WERE TO REPEAT WORDS, SIT DOWN SOMEONE ESLE READS, STAND UP, SIT DOWN, STAND UP, AND ON AND  On. I did understand 'HIgh Church' worship..
What my Dad made so clear to me was that one does not walk into a culture where the methods of worship and expressing joy include more outward freedom of movement and expect them to change it all. When the change has nothing to do with faith or belief.
The mainline  Protestant  churches were struggling over whether one could have dances in the fellowship halls even if they were detached from the main building of the churches in the Presbyterian churches, and others.
For centuries , when Christians went to evangelism and take the Word and Bible to other places and cultures, the first thing they would do is try and change everything about their heritage and cultures. Even if it had nothing that would be considered worship in Christianity. So what if one likes to get up and dance. Didin't  King David dance?. And when Mary came to Elizabieth that she was carried  Christ, didn't they dance.? Just because one culture considers worship to be so organized and ritualized, does not meant they do not beleive, but it may not mean that another culture doesn't bleive if they adopt their expressions in a belief toward Chirst.  At this point in time; evangelizing was taking a major step to bring a beleif that would not change anything in the culture that was opposed to it. Few things in cultures of people do that. The things that do are going to change as the hearts of the people change to teaching s of Christ such as love and respect for one another. Christianity had forgot that for way too long. One came and di not respect and love those they were bringing  the word of Chirst to.Horrible things have been done in the name of Christ in that way. On the way, too many 'lost the way!'
Much of South America was already Christian. And had some knowledge of the Roman Catholic rituals. What would the Church of England add? What was needed to spread the teachings of Christ to all?
I grew up with Dad saying  very bluntly about the way Christianity had 'blown it' in trying to evangelize in China and few have ever written about this. All the denominations divided up the country. How arrogant?.(Same thing was done to the boundaries in the Middle East, ignoring the histroical ones and how has that worked out over the last hundred years?) Each denomination had an area and the others were to leave it alone. The Church of the Brethren got to go to a poorer hill people and you can imagine wealthier denominations and larger ones  got? Then there were groups like Jehovah's Witnesses and others that had no agreements and would sweep through areas, saying that the group that had the area was wrong and they were right and it was enough mass confusion that no wonder Mao and others got fed up and started doing things that were the oppeosite of what would have been the intent of the faithful in the first place. Basically, the church getting 'kicked out' was, in part, the mess they made of things. When arrogance and distrust gets involved in the Christian movement, then something worse can enter into the mix and everyone lost for a long time over it. The owrld is dealing with it now,but rumors are that left alone, the Chinese are becoming believers all on their own.
Ironically, it was the Church of the Brethren hat Mao left alone and applauded their communities for taking care of each other.. That in itself made some think that the  denomination was 'suspect' politically. When ones only creed is Chirst, then there is some leeway to have debate and differences of opinions among the group. Some denominations have  this and some have more strict traditions of interpretations. The Church in Peking for years was headed by a pastor that was the son of one of the original converts to the Church of the Brethren but considered itself a non denominational Church. Most of the world said it was a 'sell out; to the state. The 'Body of Christ' wasn;t even in agreement over that. As a Chrsitian, iIwas glad that some representation was present in a nation that had a large part of the world's population. Yes , at age 14, I had a lot of personal beleifs about things already.
When the church went into India, most denominations decided to have some basic truths to teach and formed a Church of Nothern India, A Church of the Brethren Convert was the head for many years.
Dad had had a pastorship in eastern Colorado as a Church of the Brethren pastor, but it was an inter denominational community church with those of various Christian faiths in a community worshiping together. Ministers from the different ones would come and baptize into their different faiths and other sacraments that each wanted to keep, but all worshiped together. My Dad once said: had to keep the Baptists and the Methodists out of each others hair.'  This is an era where Baptist and methodist might marry and never go to church at all as one wouldn;t give in to the other. I knew of many families like that growing up, whose children often got sent to the local sunday school without the parents..
He understood a lot about different cultures being under one 'head.' and  how one just can't expect everyone to change the way they were when their was no good reason to do so. He also  started something else with other denominations in having a county wide canvass. They had some handouts that listed all the churches and went and pairs went out to visit each home in the county to let them know where churches were and invite them if they didn;t have a Church home. The pairs were one from two different churches. In the 1930's some of these things were 'cutting edge' in evangelism and cooperation among different groups supposedly worshipping the same Deity. In our times, one forgets this kind of cooperation didn't happen!
Somehow, today,  the ecumenical movement has gone from celebrating our diversity to  a trend to everyone believing the same and even blending of different faiths. Dad would not be pleased! Its the opposite of what was originally intended. Institutions have gotten created and with any one of those comes 'politics' and human weaknesses and power grabs, etc. One has to be vigilant against that. In the USA we are to respect another's faith and right to practice it, but many don't blend well at all. In forgetting history , we are doomed to repeat it and some horrible things have happened in the name of on religon or another trying to force others to bleive the same, too often by force which only breeds hatred and defiance. The opposite of everything Christ represented.
Ivan has been quoted often in various media. He died in 1974 before he really had a chance to became as well known as he might have been. His one sentence sum up of evangelism in South America was: "let the Pentecostals have it." The Church of England did not make any strong evangelical move into South America. And the Pentecostal movement does have many members among Latino groups that are not Roman Catholic, even in the USA.  others in his family have much more to add. But he has made history in his own right.
Tomorrow: The Reputed Geologist Linda Joy Adams.10/24/12