blog-maryBlog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 


Betrayal of Founders’ Ideals – 2 September 2006
By Mary T. Hoffman

It is hard to describe the disappointment and disgust I feel when I think of the betrayal of founders of organizations who espoused true kindness and morality in a fallen world and who attempted to lift humans out of the morass of ignorance that they keep wanting to return to and wallow in.

And if I feel this way, can you imagine how those betrayed founders must feel as they look down from Heaven and see the back-stabbing and greed that has replaced their ideals? Is this the thanks that those founders deserve for their hard, selfless work of going against the prevailing ignorance and hardness of heart?

Two betrayed ethical giants that come to mind at this moment are John Wesley and John Muir.

John Wesley was a kind, sensitive man who, in his lifetime, was opposed by the Church leaders for his vegetarianism. This founder of Methodism who wrote “A Plain Account of Christian Perfection” (written 1725-1777) would be appalled by modern-day Methodists’ denial of many of his teachings. Wesley’s opening statement of this work is as follows: “What I purpose in the following papers is to give a plain and distinct account of the steps by which I was led, during a course of many years, to embrace the doctrine of Christian perfection.”

Yet some Methodist clergy are opposed to even the mention of this work of Wesley’s and vociferously deny his doctrine of Christian perfection, even though their own Bible quotes Jesus as saying: (Matthew 5:48)

48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. ~ New American Standard Bible

John Muir, a man who was totally opposed to hunting, founded the Sierra Club which has sold out and turned against the founder’s ideals in the most extreme possible way by sponsoring a contest entitled, “Why I like to Hunt.” The first prize? A hunting trip to Alaska!

For more about John Muir, please read:
http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/cc2006-su-john.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/cc2006-su-inpraise.html 

For more about John Wesley, please read:
http://www.all-creatures.org/cspv/health-wesley.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/living/perf-intro.html
http://www.all-creatures.org/living/perf-1.html 

Go on to: Belonging – 3 September 2006
Return to: Shark Oil / Snake Oil: Hucksters Won’t Give Up! – 1 September 2006
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