Absolutes?

what do you think about this:

"The Absolute, the Holy-itself, transcends and judges every religion. The ultimate in being and meaning cannot be limited, cannot be caught in any particular religion, in any particular sacred place or by any particular sacred action.But even this statement, that God cannot be caught in any particular religion, could have been made only on the basis of a particular religion, a religion able to transcend its own particularity and, because it can do this, having perhaps a critical power in relation to other religions." -Paul Tillich

Can Christianity be such a religion? (keep in mind 'critical' is a used in a neutral sense here)

continued

"Two staff at a university in the United Arab Emirates were sacked after one of them, an American, made copies of the cartoons (the ones depicting Mohommad) in an attempt to spur debate among her students. Her colleague, a British man, was fired when he defended her. " msnbc.com

God Help Us. How are we to overcome ignorance and hate if we cannot discuss them using specific examples? and in the classroom no less, hardly a mass-media outlet.

cartoons = guns

check out this article. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11097877/

i think this is a good response by the muslim community.
next time there is a depiction of Jesus in a major newpaper. I say we show up with a tank and ruin some lives, just like Jesus would....

(I respect their belief concerning images, but i think militant action is an unreasonable response.)

21st Century Jesus

If Jesus were to live and minister today, what institutions and ideologies in our culture would he embrace, and what would he oppose? (would he care about oil usage, global warming, deforestation- and if so would he drive an SUV, ride a bike? What about poverty? would he give money to panhandlers or would he direct them toward charitable organizations that can help them?)

It isnt always obvious to me based on the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Gospels how he would react, what he would say and do with contemporary issues. This is evidenced by the emphasis or de-emphasis of certain social issues within the church today- some give alot of attention to the issues from the pulpit and in activism, some withdrawal from social issues altogether, and others meet the issues with the gospel alone. this is not a new division- beginning in the late 19th century with the Social Gospel- the church has had to decide if they are responsible to reform society structurally via institutional change, or to reform society by the spiritual/moral conversion of the individual. so we see two different interpretations of following Christ, but one Christ, with a closed collection of teachings. are we reading our own cause into Jesus' teaching, or is his teaching supportive of both in their extremes and in a synthesis?