Human communities fixate on self-preservation, naturally forming traditions and customs that protect them from outside threats. The problem of protectionism is amplified when a group’s leaders benefit from it, turning the community against itself—even alienating children from parents—for self-gain. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why religious rules often devolve into an “us against them” paradigm. In human communities, self-preservation is wrongly elevated as virtue, enabling the very behaviors the Bible warns will lead to our destruction. It’s counterintuitive, but in the Torah, self-preservation works against the survival of the community. In seeking to keep the evil out, we neglect the evil within. Unfortunately, by turning away “the unclean” outsider, we cut ourselves off from the life revealed in Mark’s gospel, extended to us from the wilderness, by way of the very outsiders we fear. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 6:53-7:13.
Episode 165 Mark 6:53-7:13; “Sunday Dub” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/
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This is the episode where it was said in your podcast in minute 19), “Assume that if your parents were cruel, it was God’s judgment against you.” I believe that this is not a correct teaching. Your mentor and teacher Father Paul Nadim Tarazi (peace be upon him) said that a needy parent IS NO parent. So I would say that a cruel and “wicked” (your words from the podcast) parent who abuses and harms their children (for example a parent who sexually abuses their child) needs to abuse their child in order for them to feel superior. That abusive parent is NO parent and therefore should NOT be honored. I believe what your said on the podcast (“Assume that if your parents were cruel, it was God’s judgment against you.”) is not a proper teaching (according to Father Paul Nadim Tarazi (peace be upon him). If a parent is giving their child a snake instead of an egg is evil and NOT worthy of respect. I am surprised you have forgotten your own master’s teaching about parenthood.
This is the episode where it was said in your podcast in minute 19), “Assume that if your parents were cruel, it was God’s judgment against you.” I believe that this is not a correct teaching. Your mentor and teacher Father Paul Nadim Tarazi (peace be upon him) said that a needy parent IS NO parent. So I would say that a cruel and “wicked” (your words from the podcast) parent who abuses and harms their children (for example a parent who sexually abuses their child) needs to abuse their child in order for them to feel superior. That abusive parent is NO parent and therefore should NOT be honored. I believe what your said on the podcast (“Assume that if your parents were cruel, it was God’s judgment against you.”) is not a proper teaching (according to Father Paul Nadim Tarazi (peace be upon him). If a parent is giving their child a snake instead of an egg is evil and NOT worthy of respect. I am surprised you have forgotten your own master’s teaching about parenthood.
To sum up: A wicked and cruel parent IS NOT A PARENT. What father whose son asks for a piece of bread will give him a stone? What father whose daughter asks for an egg will give her a serpent? If you are giving your children stones and vipers, you are no parent. You are wicked and cruel and I’m pretty sure Jesus is tying a millstone around your neck and throwing you into the sea.