Comments for Best-selling 'God' author faces plagiarism claim »
Posted By MyWayOnNow 11 months, 2 weeks ago in ReligionNeale Donald Walsch, best-selling author of Conversations with God, said Tuesday he unwittingly passed off another writer's Christmas anecdote as his own in a recent blog post. As a result, Walsch's blog on the spirituality website Beliefnet.com has been shut down. The website said in a statement Walsch failed to properly credit and attribute material from another author.
Walsch had written about what he described as his son's holiday concert two decades ago in which children were to hold up letters spelling "Christmas Love." One of the children held the "m" upside down, so the audience got the message "Christwas Love."
Author Candy Chand said in an interview Tuesday she stumbled onto Walsch's post when she ran "Christmas Love" through an Internet search engine. She immediately recognized her own words, from her story based on her son's kindergarten Christmas pageant. She contacted Walsch and Beliefnet.
Walsch blamed the incident on a memory lapse. He had been telling the story for so many years, he argued, that he had "internalized" it. But Chand isn't buying. "It's pretty difficult for me to believe that someone has a memory lapse that is word for word my story," she said. (You can read Beliefnet's own statement on the incident, and some pro-Walsch comments from community members, here.)
Note: If you have reached this story via AOL, welcome to Propeller! Every story here, including this one, has been posted by the Propeller community--and the same thing goes for the comments below. If this kind of social news experience appeals to you, you can learn more about joining Propeller here.
Read Full Story at breitbart.com »
RSS Join the Discussion
+ Add CommentComments So Far: 169
-
-
100%
tadair91911 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Im actually sad that this happened. Conversations with God is probably the best book I've ever read in my life.
Reply
Seriously. It's not for the fundamentalist. It's for the philosopher. It's for the people who question the world around them.
a measly $10, you can download the audio here:
http://www.audible.com/adbl/entry/offers/productPr... -
100%
Dionys11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
" My goodness, a Godly Christian caught lying and cheating. I find this so common it hardly warrants comment."
Reply
My goodness, a Humanist Human caught lying and cheating...
It's human nature. Doesn't have much to do with him being a Christian.-
dibujohnkComment removed: Spam
-
-
dibujohnkComment removed: Spam
-
-
-
-
100%
memestryker11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
It does NOT say she "had to run it through a search engine to remember herself." It says she just did a search for the two words.
Reply
And yes, people want to get paid for their work. I would have contacted Walsch before contacting BeliefNet and closing him down.
-
-
80%
aspenrj11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Really? You people are ridiculous. Unless the guy made money on it, who really cares??? Everyone who is talking about God's temper ought to take a long look at their own heart because I guarantee over the past few years, they have had equally or worse sins.
Reply -
100%
mommdiana11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I think a discreet e-mail to the person exposing his error and his apology to her would have been the way to go here. We have become a society of people who focus on the mistakes of others and try to bring them to their knees for it. Forgive and move on!
Reply -
-
-
-
-
-
29%
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
To those of you wondering "who really cares?":
Reply
Those of us who believe that honesty and integrity matter care. Neale Donald Walsch is a thief and a fraud, and he needed to be exposed. Candy Chand may be a writer of simple-minded pablum, but good for her for blowing the whistle on this creep.-
-
-
-
33%
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Where did he acknowledge the theft? In this story, in the U.S.A. Today story, and in The New York Times story, he said he accidentally misremembered and thought that these events happened to him-- that's claiming that this was an accident, not an admission of wrongdoing.
Reply
To be honest, I think you're the one who needs to learn how to read, if you can't tell the difference.
-
-
75%
memestryker11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I don't think he set out to be a thief and a fraud. Anecdotes get around with people attending conferences and sermons over the years. It's hard to determine sometimes which statements might be copyrighted.
Reply
This wasn't handled well on either side, IMO, from the article posted.-
-
-
Neutral
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
No-- we DO know that he consciously plagiarized. Is is statistically impossible that he would choose the exact same language as someone else to describe this anecdote. As I keep saying, his explanation that it was an accident would only have been believable if his version of the story wasn't identical to hers. But he simply found her story online and copied and pasted it onto his own blog, cutting a sentence here or there, but otherwise using her exact words.
Reply
Honestly, I don't see why some of you continue to make excuses for him. You realize that it's still perfectly acceptable for you to enjoy his books, and to get something out of them, even though he's been revealed to be a fraud, don't you? If his books have had an impact on your life, great. A book can be meaningful even if the author turns out to be a bad person (just think of how many people have been moved by, say, Hemingway, who was not the nicest guy in real life). But this insistence-- "We must pretend like he didn't do what he's obviously done, because I've enjoyed his books" is, frankly, absurd.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
75%
lpjam111 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
You know Pokeydoke, there are bad people out there everywhere, from every religeon and every walk of life. Some of you people seem to take glee out of a christian doing a bad thing so you can laugh at christianity and religeon. At what point did it become the "in thing" to hate religeon? Are we a population that has become so infused with athiesm that we've come to this? I wouldn't point at an atheist and laugh at his fall from grace and say "hah, he deserved it", I would pretty much just say he was a bad person or a good person doing a bad thing. We have lost so much moral ground because we aren't allowed to bring religeon into the public arena and in our schools.
Reply-
100%
Newenglander11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
See Crabby O's comment below. Although I can't speak for Pokydoke this comment pretty much sums it up. You are correct when you say that there are bad people who represent all walks of life but I find many Christians to have a "I'm better than you" attitude when it comes to moral values and they all offer to pray for me. I find this particularly irksome. I am an Atheist and I do not use any form of organized religion. I do not care what anyone believes or doesn't believe but I strenuously object to people of religion trying to force their particular beliefs on me through legislation.
Reply-
83%
oneironaut42011 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
"Some of you people seem to take glee out of a christian doing a bad thing so you can laugh at christianity and religeon."
Reply
Heh...what we're actually laughing at is the hypocrisy of "do as I say, not as I do." Hypocrites deserve to be ridiculed.
"At what point did it become the "in thing" to hate religeon?"
Probably the moment religionists decided they had the right to force their beliefs on everyone via the voting process.
"Are we a population that has become so infused with athiesm that we've come to this?"
LOL...hardly. Theocracies are particularly known for their poor behavior towards the unbelieving minority...I think we're starting to see that minority fighting back against centuries of oppression. We've become infused with a sense of power, because for once, we don't have to worry about being tied to the stake and burned for not believing. 8)
"I wouldn't point at an atheist and laugh at his fall from grace and say "hah, he deserved it"
Maybe you wouldn't, but try visiting an atheist board and watch the Christians that troll through. They can get pretty hateful....and that's what non-Christians are fighting against. If you don't do that, you have no reason to be concerned.
"We have lost so much moral ground because we aren't allowed to bring religeon into the public arena and in our schools."
Utter and absolute nonsense.
Politicians are falling all over themselves to prove to the voters how religious they are. How in the WORLD is that not allowing it in the public arena??
As for schools, the decision to take religion out of schools was made in 1961. In the years BEFORE that, teachers and principals were already complaining about increased juvenile delinquency, increased disrespect for teachers, and a lack of proper parenting.
The fact is that if fully 80-85% of the American population considers themselves Christian, then it's absurd to suppose that ALL the ills of society are being caused by that small minority of non-Christians. For one, it assumes that ALL non-Christians are actively seeking to remove religion ENTIRELY from society, which is far from being true. For two, it assumes that the entire Christian population is abiding by ALL the rules of it's own religion, which is -definitely- not true.
The bottom line is that if Christians comprise the -huge- majority of our society, then Christians themselves are a large part of the problem. So please don't waste our time trying to blame all of society's troubles on the non-believer...you simply do not have the facts nor even the logic to back that up.-
-
100%
Jeboba11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
EXACTLY!
Reply
I don't laugh at Christianity and religion. I laugh at the hypocrites that teach dogma that is so far removed from what Jesus taught that it is an insult to 'thinking' intellects. The church, starting with the Great Holy Roman Empire bastardized the true teachings of Christ and turned it into a big business repleat with collecting wealth and power through fear, not faith!
I grew up in the fire and brimstone evangelical environment. I saw it for what it really was when I was about 16. I still have my faith but I don't need the phoney baloney religion that all too many so-called Christians use as a crutch to justify everything that goes wrong or right in their life!
Finally, religion needs to stay IN THE CHURCH and out of the schools and politics. -
50%
Dionys11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
" The bottom line is that if Christians comprise the -huge- majority of our society, then Christians themselves are a large part of the problem. So please don't waste our time trying to blame all of society's troubles on the non-believer..."
Reply
Humanity, whether Christian or non-believer, likely "offend" at the same rate. So therefore Christians are no larger a part of the problem than any other human that makes mistakes.
"The fact is that if fully 80-85% of the American population considers themselves Christian, then it's absurd to suppose that ALL the ills of society are being caused by that small minority of non-Christians."
If you don't think 15-20% of a population can cause a heck of a lot of problems or even the downfall and destruction of a country then you haven't been following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
-
-
100%
meowqat11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Why are you worried about anyone else? You do what you do...for your own reasons. We will all deal with our own fate... There are some highly publicized Christians that are perturbing, but I am willing to bet there are more good ones....
Reply -
0%
RedSoxLoversWB11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
No, you DON'T find this attitude with Christians: you simply refuse to believe what you DO find. You are simply imagining this "I'm better than you" attitude. While said attitude is certainly present in some members of ANY group of people (because we are all human and are all guilty of sin), that doesn't necessarily represent the entire group in question. If you and other atheists would spend less time looking for a speck of sand, and declaring the world to be a desert, you would have more time to actually listen to what Christians are saying: we are not better than you - we just have a different set of beliefs that we feel is better for us. Our instructions, as Christians, are to try our best to lead good lives, and to spread the Word, through example and witnessing. If you still choose to not believe, that is your choice, through the free will that God has given each of us. But we are still no better than you, just luckier, and our duty is to pray for you, not condemn you. We may have our strongly-held beliefs, but those are part of our religion, not because of it. Only God has the right and ability to judge each of us. I believe that I, personally, fall far short of His wishes for me - we all do. I hope others pray for me, as I pray for you.
Reply -
100%
cushi11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I am a Christian who understands what you are saying. Unfortunately, many Christians believe they have a mandate to convert everyone they meet, and they unwittingly set out to do just that in the worst possible ways! There are definitely some who feel superior to non-believers (in part because true conversion rarely takes place instaneously, but is a process that occurs in the same manner that we grow from childhood into adults). New Christians usually bring with them many of the same traits and habits they had before they accepted Christ, so it is difficult to believe that they are, indeed, Christians, other than the fact that they say they are. It is pretty much the same scenario as when a person claims to be a matured adult, but continues to exhibit childish behavior.
Reply
I am sure that early on in my Christian walk, I made the same or equally obnoxious mistakes in my zeal to "bring others" into the joy that I had found. Most Christians are not equipped to spread the good news in non-intrusive ways. We tend to stumble and bumble along until, by the grace of God, we reach a point of spiritual maturity wherein we instinctively get it right.
I have been approached, fairly often, actually, by people both Christian and non-Christian, who are undergoing some crisis or troubling experience in their lives. I have learned to listen patiently and with empathy, and I will gladly,willingly give counsel as well as pray with them and for them, but only after asking if that is what they would like, rather than assuming that it is. So far, I've never been told, "no." But, if that ever did happen, I would respect the person's wishes. Sometimes a person just wants a sympathetic ear, not a lecture or a counseling session. At any rate, the decision to believe or not to believe is a personal one, imho, and should be treated accordingly.
-
-
100%
acrasia03111 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
lpjam1, it seems like Christians love to masquerade their agenda as a defense. Religion is not the target in America; it is Christian essentialism, this idea that only one faith has any validity. Nearly every religion has some version of the Golden Rule, love thy neighbor, etc. Your morals are being taught without the exclusivity of your own faith, so you've decided they somehow don't count. Of course the perceived outsiders are going to have a bit of schadenfreude when Christians fall from grace because those are the ones preaching that nobody else can be good if they are not saved, bottom line.
Reply-
-
100%
acrasia03111 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
You couldn't have missed my point in a more telling way. Notice that I was trying to get it across that most religions share their moral values, not only that it's entirely possible to be moral without religion. Christian morals are being taught in schools outside the context of Christian doctrine, and that is why the above person would assume it doesn't count.
Reply
I'm being fair. You're being defensive.
-
-
-
-
-
100%
newbaku11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
As a writer, my words are my bread and butter; intellectual property should not be "borrowed" this way, any more than my automobile should be "borrowed" by the kid down the street. Not without my express permission. He thought it was his own memory? Maybe its Alzheimers?
Reply -
100%
ritrdoc11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Did the original writer make money on this story before this incident? Could they have made money? I doubt it. Some might try to capitalize on this. I don't believe Walsch internalized it, forgot he had read it before. One thing for certain as a writer no matter if money were made or not, I would be angry my creation was stolen.
Reply-
Neutral
memestryker11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I don't know--anyone at mid-life starts forgetting more--it's part of the aging process. I suspect it was an anecdote he just picked up somewhere that was passed around and then the source finally gets wind of it. But now that the media have turned it into a firestorm, it will take on a life of its own.
Reply -
Neutral
cushi11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
When I was in jr. high (middle school is what they call it now, I believe), I penned our alma mater as part of a group project. We were all told to write it and then pick the one we liked best. It just so happened that mine was picked. However, the chairman of our committee was the one who presented it to the teacher, who assumed it was her work and she never corrected that. She was allowed to introduce it to the entire school and received the honor and the credit for the song I wrote. I was very hurt and very angry at the time, and I even went to my teacher and said, she didn't write that, I did. It's my song. She pretty much told me, I don't believe you, "so and so" wouldn't do that. The rest of my group shrugged it off because they didn't care one way or the other as they didn't want to do the project in the first place. So, I became very frustrated and bitter and decided I would stop writing because I didn't want my work stolen and other people taking credit for it. It was an immature and short-sighted decision, but one that I made and stuck with for many years thereafter. Also, this person, who I had considered my friend, I resented and our friendship soured as a result.
Reply
That was then, and this is now. Now, I realize that my "friend" did not gain anything in the long run but a guilty conscience. She never "wrote" anything else after that and her 15 minutes of fame faded. She had to live with the knowledge of what she did and what it cost her in the long run, not me. I no longer harbor the resentment of my immature mind over the incident, and until now, I had not even thought about it in recent years. If I were to encounter this person now, I would sincerely be able to smile and embrace her and be glad to see my old friend. No apology needed, I may have done the same exact thing if I had been in her place and the teacher had assumed somebody else's work to be mine. Everybody likes to be praised and well thought of...it's only human. -
-
-
-
100%
uvray1311 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
duhh...for one's own work, yes. Whether it be a sixth-grader reusing an older siblings book report, a college senior passing off a purchased term paper, or a respected professional writer "internalizing" someone else's maudlin little story, IT'S STEALING.
Reply -
50%
regan40011 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Satan loves this stuff...I'm sorry for the lady whom the "story" really happened and I'm sorry for the guy who, I guess, wanted people to respect or to look up to tried to pass it off as his own. But, we're all missing the point...Christwas love...Christ IS LOVE...where is the love? All this "stuff" without love is as a resounding gong.
Reply -
-
100%
meavh11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I submit that this story is not even original to author Candy Chand. It is an event that took place even BEFORE Candy's son was born and you will find that story recorded and dated on the internet on a variety of search engines. How do I know? I am a pastor and I've used that story as an illustration and have used sources that pre-date Candy Chand's account. There is a short Christmas program for children that churches have used for many years titled "Christmas is Love" and in many a church program a kindergarten or preschool child has indeed held the "M" in ChristMas upside down so it reads to the audience as "ChristWaslove". I believe Candy Chand when she writes about the event at her son's kindergarten pageant. I am also saying that this same event has taken place in several pageants that have used the same resource to put on the pageant.
Reply -
100%
pamelabritton2u11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Actually, Xzavier187, I frequently Google my *own* story titles to see where they might turn up. It's a pretty common practice amongst authors.
Reply
And Meavh, I believe the issue is that Candy's story--the story that she had taken the time to write down--was lifted word-for-word. If that is indeed the case, that's plagerism and has nothing to do with where the story originated from. I agree with you 100% that this is a common church practice and that it could have happened to *anybody*, but it's a moot point as far as the plagerism issue is concerned.
And now I shall go back to my hidey-hole. -
Neutral
pamelabritton2u11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Actually, Xzavier187, it's a pretty common practice for authors to Google the titles of their stories. It's fun to see if people are talking about one of your books/articles. I suspect this poor woman was horrified to discover she'd been plagerized. I know I would be!
Reply -
-
100%
CrabbyO11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Why are we always criticizing the religious right when they screw up? Because they hold themselves up higher than the rest of us. As an atheist I've been told many times by these people that define themselves by their religion that I have no morals, and no sense of right and wrong because I don't adhere to their bible. So every time they prove to me that they don't either I find this to be newsworthy.
Reply -
Neutral
Symbient11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Curiosity Question .... I'm not very religious but why would you suggest that Christ is no longer love? What happened to these people .. both authors to send such a subliminal message.
Reply
For many Good hearyed and Natures Christians - Christ is and always has been LOVE. Anyhoo .. just a thought on seeing the phase 'ChristWas Love' -
100%
Symbient11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Curiosity Question .... I'm not very religious but why would you suggest that Christ is no longer love? What happened to these people .. both authors to send such a subliminal message.
Reply
For many Good hearyed and Natures Christians - Christ is and always has been LOVE. Anyhoo .. just a thought on seeing the phase 'ChristWas Love' -
-
-
-
100%
wildmtnvixen211 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I am a writer of original short stories and Christian peotry. All of my work is copyrighted. Without that copyright in my hand I have no way to prove a work is mine. So unless the person who is doing the accusing has that copyright the point is mute. Now with that being said... I often send my poetry to those who ask or need to hear the words with which God gifted me. I was gifted with the ability to hear the whispered words God gives me to write down. These works are free. If someone uses them for profit the sin is on them. Yet the point you all are forgetting is God still reaches the ones who needed to hear the words. And Please. people, works are not published willy nilly. They are checked before publication against other copyrighted works.
Reply -
Neutral
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Actually, the author automatically owns the copyright. Registering makes it easier to prove that the work is one's own, but not registering a copyright doesn't give someone else permission to steal your work. And since Chand actually, y'know, published the essay years ago, that would be pretty sufficient proof that the essay is hers and not Walsch's .
Reply
Also, it's kind of a... ahem... "mute" point, as Chand also registered a copyright in 2003. -
Neutral
Iluvmygrandkids11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Oh my God, should I call Candi Chand a plagiarist also or myself. I have a picture of when I was in the second grade and we spelled out Christmas Love and it is spelled Christwas Love because Jeff in boy next to me swapped his m upside down. Now that is a strange one and I have the picture to go with the story!
Reply -
-
-
-
-
Neutral
bozinski11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Most conservative Christians would not even consider Walsch to be a Christian, let alone a conservative one. Why is it that every time there is a controversy surrounding someone who says the word "God" it automatically makes them a Christian, and usually a conservative one, in the eyes of the criticial masses?
Reply
I get tired of the endless prattle about "Christians this" and "Christians that" when in many cases, the person being criticized didn't mention Christ, or didn't profess faith in Christ, or is not a churchgoer, or is not recognized as a pillar (let alone spokesman) of the faith by other Christians. Often the criticisms of Christianity are being leveled at someone who is more likely a Deist, or a spiritualist, or could even be a Jew or Muslim or any number of faiths who believe in God and might refer to Jesus as a good example without actually recognizing him as a Savior of humanity, a part of the Holy Trinity, God incarnate, and the fulfillment of Holy Scripture.
-
-
100%
rozdek11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
ritrdoc - you asked if the original writer made money on the story and said you doubted it. But Chand's book "Christmas Love," telling the story, was first published in 1999 and you can still buy it on Amazon. I don't think there's much doubt she has the copyright on her words ... even if other pageants have done the same kind of thing.
Reply -
Neutral
marcyshamb11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
If someone writes a story as a child...doesn't publish it. Several decades later the child sees the same story in a movie...not exact, but enought that it had to be copied from the childs story.
Reply
She tries to find out how her story ended up in a movie but can only find out that it was based on a second rate book that had been stumbled upon, one that wasn't very good or popular.
Now, my question is if the child never published the story how did it end up in a book to then be made into a movie. The original writer isn't looking for credit or money. Just wants to understand how this all happends and what the acutal rights of the original writer are given the story was never published by the original author. This has puzzled me since seeing the movie.
The movie itself was OK. It was watched, liked, but not one of those block buster successes. It was made into a video though.
Anyway, it was originally written a good forty years ago, and appeared in film a couple decades ago. Don't know when it appeared as a book but I would guess somewhere between the two to have been taken from the book. -
-
-
Neutral
dcornwell61211 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I think its tragic that the story of the 2 year old is lost in this kind of argument. Christwas Love there is a message there and this woman seems to be missing the message. WWJD is the only thing I could say. I'm sure if you look in the bible Christ actually encourages people to pass on his message word for word. And for that matter, elementary school programs and holiday party often mimic one another. It is not uncommon to find that a child in Florida is doing some of the same activities as a child in Michigan. I'm sure her son isn't the only child to have made that mistake with the upside down M.
Reply -
Neutral
bozinski11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Pokydoke, Neale Donald Walsch may or may not claim Christianity as his faith. I don't know, I haven't read his work. But I do know his work is featured under "New Age" as opposed to the "Christianity" section of at least one major book retailer. I'm also quite sure that a pastor recommending Christian reading would probably not group him in with other highly regarded Christian authors like Billy Graham, R.C. Sproul, Lee Strobel, C.S. Lewis, St. Augustine, Oswald Chambers and others.
Reply
"New Age" puts Walsch in the same category Sandra Brown, another who tenuously claims Christian faith, but who could scarcely be called a "Godly Christian" compared to other pillars of the faith. As far as I know, Godly Christians don't converse with the spirits of Atlantis in her case. I'm not certain what exactly Walsch's "Conversations with God" entailed. -
-
-
Neutral
agfang3511 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Oneironaut420: How many people - do you suppose - notice that the most relevant, accurate, clear, concise, cohesive, well-informed and stylish posts are written by atheists? Your post made me smile, and for that, I thank you!
Reply
By the way, nice screen name. -
-
100%
tannervin11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
That hokey "Chistmas Love" story has been going around for ages. It's the internet equivalent of an urban legend. Candy Chand probably didn't write it, either, although maybe she saved it on her computer along with the Niemann-Marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe, and then forgot it wasn't original.
Reply -
Neutral
daffydbard-1011 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
A memory is not something carved in stone. It is constantly shifting - rearranging faces, dates, events and reactions. Two hours later you can get four different stories from four people who observed the same event.
Reply
If he said he remembered it as his own, without strong evidence to the contrary, I will believe that that is his memory.
I usually can not tell a memorized story "word for word" twice in ten minutes.
We might be wise to cast the first stone only if we have a perfect eternal memory, and then it might be better to consider most humans are fallible. -
Neutral
butterflyporsha11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
wow this country was built upon religion so no way is that comment right about "At what point did it become the "in thing" to hate religion?
Reply
Probably the moment religionists decided they had the right to force their beliefs on everyone via the voting process."
plus have any of you not heard a story that touched you and when someone was in need you tell them the same story to help them. if so did you began or end with this story belongs to "the original person who told you". no i am sure you probably just left that part off. the point at hand is we are all here to throw that stone at any and everybody we can. truth be told we should all duck cause i am sure them stones are gonna comeright back at us. we are not perfect and will never be. mistakes are made that is life. turn the other cheek. isnt that what we were taught in elementry. -
Neutral
jrehmke11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
wildmtnvixen2 - if you are an author, shouldn't you know that the expression is "the point is MOOT," not "the point is MUTE?"
Reply
Anyway, I believe Walsch. Haven't you all had the experience of hearing a story your parents told about you when you were 2-years-old so many times that you "remember" it? It might even have been about a sibling, but you think it was about yourself as you get older. Of course, that's only if the story was the same general plot. If it was word-for-word identical, then it is probably deliberate theft.-
Neutral
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
"If it was word-for-word identical, then it is probably deliberate theft."
Reply
Exactly. It's not that he misremembered an event-- he actually uses the same language Chand used to describe the event. That's how you can tell it's plagiarized.
Honestly, I wish those of you who are arguing that he might simply have made an honest mistake would take the thirty seconds to read her version and his version side-by-side. They're virtually identical. Those of us who are calling him a liar and a thief aren't doing it to be mean-- the guy has stolen someone else's work and tried to pass it off as his own. He's despicable.
-
-
-
Neutral
princessdi0611 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Something similar happened within my own family. My two brothers and I told the story of a vacation gone bad so many times to family and friends that my sister who was not on the vacation thought that she was there. She knew the story so well that she thought she had lived it.
Reply -
-
-
Neutral
wshinu4sir1011 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Isn't there something in the Bible about pride and taking a fall? Haven't most of us had our 'thunder' stolen at one time or another? If C.Chand wasn't going to use the story, which evidently has happened a number of times, why not leave the guy alone and listen to the message.
Reply-
0%
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Under that logic, I'm going to claim THE FIRM or JURASSIC PARK as my own story-- obviously, John Grisham and Michael Crichton aren't "using" these stories anymore, so why shouldn't I just take them?
Reply
The only message here is "steal what you want, and lie when you get caught."
-
-
-
-
0%
fishstick1157211 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
how rediculouse my children do cristmas pagents and in just there class' alone there are 30 kids so that ads up to roughly 60 parents that atend these functions let alone all the others that are related to my kids and after these shows all of rush off to tell those or we write or blog about what we had seen and of course all of our storys are the same does that mean we have plagerized one another no it meens that we all saw the same thing if the guy isnt trying to make money off of the the same story that some one else published let it be it just meens that this mans child and yours attened the same school together and that the to of you have the same story to share lord forbid if people see the same thing and tell the same story there really isnt any thing in life that hasnt been done before so in a way that makes us all plagerists get over it
Reply-
100%
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Are you honestly trying to tell me that if you and I saw the same play, movie, or TV show, we would use the exact same language to describe what we saw? Somehow, judging by how you've expressed yourself here, I'm guessing that wouldn't happen.
Reply
-
-
0%
chosenbyjc11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
first of all, this guy ain't a true christian. If he read the Bible he'd soon find out his conversations with 'god' were no conversation at all, rather his own thoughts for they do not align with the written scripture. This is the danger of continued revelation...always leads to either error or heresy, the later being this guy.
Reply -
0%
chosenbyjc11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
acrasia031
Reply
You are correct that all other religions have a golden rule. Treat others as you would want to be treated....Christianity teaches that though this is the requirement God has for all of humanity, humanity, because of sin and the fall, cannot do this. That is why Jesus came. He lived a life of perfect obedience for His people. his obedience becomes our obedience. He took the penalty and so we, because of faith in him, are no longer under the penalty of the Law. He rose again proving that the Father accepted his subsitutionary sacrifice for all he died for.
It is the great exchange.
his obedience for my disobedience
his death for my life
His punishment for my justification.
THAT is true Christianity. We cannot do all the Law, so Jesus did it for us. Those who place their trust in His person and completed work on our behalf are those who are truly saved.
if you wish to discuss email: apologistnyc@yahoo.com
i promise just to keep it truthful and not bible bash. -
-
-
100%
ht01095511 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Ummm...wonder if they would have crucified Mr. Walsch if he had lived at the time of Christ and blogged in his local Roman Empire or Jewish community a parable about casting the first stone? Nawwwww...too sensational! Let's just live a lesser law of a stone for a stone. After all, aren't we all just a stone's throw from ignorance?
Reply
I see e-mails, posts, etc. all the time and have no idea where they actually originated. This lady should be flattered that a well-known author would share her story so that even I have read it. I guess I might be the only mother who had a son come home from kindergarten and ask me what sex was???
Hahahaha...have shared that story many times in e-mails, chatrooms and on webpages. I bet there will be other mothers who have had this same experience if their child had been reading since age 3.
Something told me to ask what he meant...
"You know where it says SEX M or F?
Maybe time to quit jumping all over one another and listen to the original message that the story was meant to convey.
Thanks for listening...
~Eeyore's Buddy Malauna~ -
-
100%
Compdreams11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
All human beings including Donald Walsch are admittedly capable of doing almost anyting. When we do something that "feels" like, "looks" like something "wrong", it is not always. I honestly don't believe Donald Walsch would do that intentionally to gain anything. What could be gain?? He has enough stories of his own and with his incredible books which has helped and assisted me for sure and the world for sure, I think we need be more accepting. Perhaps the woman could have called him personally and asked him about it. Perhaps they could have worked it out between them. Donald is needed on that site by so many people. I tell story after story and sometimes, I too get them mixed up. Yes, perhaps we need to be more careful. I just cannot see the benefit to Donald Neale Walsch who has money, fame, recognition and acceptance in the world. What would be the benefit??? What is her benefit for making this so public??? I wonder??? I now have decided to write some of the stories down so that I can refer to them and not get them mixed. I notice I even add to the stories sometime and I have wondered about that. Perhaps I really am a writer and I need to attend and intent that for myself. Perhaps I too desperately need to be a write!!!
Reply -
100%
Compdreams11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
What does this have to be with being a Christian? Do Christians have scripture for "Thou shall not make a mistake"?? "Thou shall remember everything perfectly"???
Reply
"Come On People" (The name of a wonderful book) you see, I just forgot the author's name (Black man had a wonderful comedy serious on tv)Oh, well, can't think of his name. Get Real! Donald Neale Walsch has nothing to gain from telling her story. -
-
-
Neutral
kennedyzoo11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Very well said...and I consider myself a Christian, a person who sees God in the person of Christ and do my best to live as he suggested and absolutely do not believe that a Christian agenda needs to be imposed on others. I love your statement about the majority of Christians in our country and how that reflects on the source of the problem. I cringe at the harm done in Christ's name throughout our world. Peace!
Reply -
Neutral
alphama33311 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
OMG!!!! I've had that store of 'Christmas Love' sent to me thru e-mails. I can't believe this guy would take someone else's story and tell it as if it were his own! Then, again, I'm not surprised. Wonder how many stories he's told that aren't really his.
Reply -
-
-
-
Neutral
itrademoney11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
his sounds typical of LOST Chriswtians My story is this: JOHN CASTIGNINI STOLE titles to Chapters in his series of books "THANK GOD I" from me and said OTHER people deserved to write the first story these books are like Chicken Soup For The Soul Books anyhow HE says his friend makes $300,000 a month selling Gochi Juice and he deserves to write HIS story IN MY TITLE THEME "Thank God I am an Entrepreneur" rather than let me I came u with the idea for that title of a chapter BUT expletive JOHN CASTIGNINI says he has no contract with me HE has NO INTEGRITY NO BALLS Then John Castignini thinks it is nice to say we love you! BS He wants my money and as much of anyone else's money he can suck out of them with his religious BS! Thank GOD I work for myself and NOT JOHN CASTIGNINI and THANK GOD JOHN IS NOT IN FRONT OF ME!
Reply
Let GOD and the world know that JOHN should avoid me like the plague!! -
-
-
Neutral
phoenixrising12411 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I can believe that Neale Donald Walsch could have mistakenly thought it was his story. I sometimes wonder if I am recalling a memory or if it was someone else's experience that I related so well to. My memory isn't all it used to be and I'm only 40.
Reply -
Neutral
ShanePinky11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
"Some of you people seem to take glee out of a christian doing a bad thing so you can laugh at christianity and religeon."
Reply
Heh...what we're actually laughing at is the hypocrisy of "do as I say, not as I do." Hypocrites deserve to be ridiculed.
"At what point did it become the "in thing" to hate religeon?"
Probably the moment religionists decided they had the right to force their beliefs on everyone via the voting process.
"Are we a population that has become so infused with athiesm that we've come to this?"
LOL...hardly. Theocracies are particularly known for their poor behavior towards the unbelieving minority...I think we're starting to see that minority fighting back against centuries of oppression. We've become infused with a sense of power, because for once, we don't have to worry about being tied to the stake and burned for not believing. 8)
"I wouldn't point at an atheist and laugh at his fall from grace and say "hah, he deserved it"
Maybe you wouldn't, but try visiting an atheist board and watch the Christians that troll through. They can get pretty hateful....and that's what non-Christians are fighting against. If you don't do that, you have no reason to be concerned.
"We have lost so much moral ground because we aren't allowed to bring religeon into the public arena and in our schools."
Utter and absolute nonsense.
Politicians are falling all over themselves to prove to the voters how religious they are. How in the WORLD is that not allowing it in the public arena??
As for schools, the decision to take religion out of schools was made in 1961. In the years BEFORE that, teachers and principals were already complaining about increased juvenile delinquency, increased disrespect for teachers, and a lack of proper parenting.
The fact is that if fully 80-85% of the American population considers themselves Christian, then it's absurd to suppose that ALL the ills of society are being caused by that small minority of non-Christians. For one, it assumes that ALL non-Christians are actively seeking to remove religion ENTIRELY from society, which is far from being true. For two, it assumes that the entire Christian population is abiding by ALL the rules of it's own religion, which is -definitely- not true.
The bottom line is that if Christians comprise the -huge- majority of our society, then Christians themselves are a large part of the problem. So please don't waste our time trying to blame all of society's troubles on the non-believer...you simply do not have the facts nor even the logic to back that up. - quote
Damn dude you RAPED lpjam1 anally. High five!
Reply -
-
Neutral
Wbradley11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Can I assume if someone stole something of yours, you wouldn't complain? If so, my hat's off to you-- you're a better person than I am. Although, to be sure, I think that's kind of a silly way to go through life.
Reply
Me, I could easily forgive someone stealing my wallet, or my bike, or even my car. But my idea? My creative expression? Something I poured so much of myself into? That I'd have some trouble with. Sure, I'd be able to forgive eventually, I'm sure, but I'd want to make sure people knew what the thief had done.
But perhaps you've never put that kind of effort into something... -
-
-
Neutral
kodycooper11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Religion(s)is man made. However, salvation is a free gift from the Living God. Also,a majority of that 80-85% are professing christians not real practicing christians if you line them up with the Bible. Also, according to the Bible there is only one pure religion and undefiled and that is" to visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions". That is in a physical as well as spiritual sense! Help others from a motive of true LOVE!!
Reply -
-
-
Neutral
lueruil11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
pokydoke, I hate to shatter your perception of what a Christian is, but we are just people too. We come with all the same failings and faults as any non-believer. Can you say that you have never once lied or cheated on anything in your entire life? So what makes you better? The saving grace a Christian has and non-believer lacks is that the Christian's sins will be forgiven through the blood of Jesus. One who walks in the word of Christ "should" strive to lead a morally clean life in service to others, but again, we are all human and therefore imperfect.
Reply -
Neutral
jenit11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
CrabbyO - as a Christian we hold ourselves to a higher standard of what WE would LIKE to be. Im sure there are some who think of themselves 'better' or more moral than a non believer as are there many non believers that think of themselves higher than someone who believes in something they can't see. The bigger feeling here as a Christian is that we probably care more when we do something stupid, because we are on a quest to become more in line with what God whould want us to be. HOWEVER, the issue here to me is this is not about a Christian doing something...its about a PERSON doing something. We are human, we make mistakes, hopefully we learn from them and hopefully we can be big enough to admit them when we do. He'll have to make his peace with God, literally and with her...but in the midst of this negativity one thing has come out of this....we have been able to discuss Gods love...and the most amazing thing is we already have His Grace.
Reply-
-
Neutral
jenit11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Hmm, I would not say I am a regular Bible reader as in sitting down and reading it daily, in fact I don't spend near enough time studying the Bible as I should. I spend time daily "in the Word" but via reference books, TV programs, seminars, etc. It is actually a goal of mine to begin working my way thru it book by book, which I have never done and am excited to do. I guess it would depend on how you define a regular reader..someone who sits down with a Bible daily, or someone who studies via other educational opportunities.
Reply-
Neutral
memestryker11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I've read most popular versions of the bible at least once, and some more (and some parts many more). And I'm an atheist. Studying secondary sources pushes one to accept another's interpretation. As it is, with the writings being written after Jesus' death, books lost or destroyed, old language obsolete, and language translations, it's almost comical when people fight over what it "actually says."
Reply-
Neutral
jenit11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Studying secondary sources pushes one to accept another's interpretation.
Reply
Well it does if you study as a "parrot" and take the first person you reads interpretatiuon as, well the Bible for lack of a better saying. My thinking is that if you read enough, look at all sides, and in my case (probably not yours) pray a lot about it and listent to the answers, you will see things that you might have missed based on your own interpretaions and biased opinions. So, to me, study is done in many ways, reading and interpretaing your own information and then also studying what others have seen and then making an informed decision not based on any set belief structure, or "tag", but in what you have discovered. I am never arrogant enough to think that I have the answers to all of this....good grief wouldnt that be nice. But I have a great source :)-
Neutral
memestryker11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Well, I do think "prayer" works, but I don't think it has anything to do with religion, or deities. I think it works to align one's own thinking with reality--it's a type of mental programming that agnostics or atheists can also use.
Reply
I do think reading a wide variety of different secondary sources is valuable, but I was referring to not reading a bible itself for oneself. I think that is essential for anyone seeking to really become attuned to the thinking, the history, and the folklore it contains. I think it's also useful to read books about it from scholars like Elaine Pagels, who discusses what the church leaders had to say about it as the books were selected several hundred years after the man Jesus probably lived.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Neutral
rrcfforhelp11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Jenit, if you are, would you please give me 1, or 2 areas to look in the Bible about people who consistently take everything you have? Meaning family, so called friends. I could really use some relief in this department. I have a St.James version. Thank you.... Refer to aol for emailing.
Reply -
-
Neutral
placebofanatic11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
This is just more proof to me that the supposedly Holier-than -thou Christians are just as easily succumbed to the temptations of the flesh (money, sex, drugs, etc) than us non-believers, which makes me wonder why they claim to have the market on morality in this backward Judeo-Christian Theocratic country
Reply -
Neutral
jbaer1031411 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Well, isn't this just great!? A bestselling writer fronts on the public and rips off someone else's story. Meanwhile, I bust my rump to write original and entertaining novels, AND I CAN'T EVEN IMPRESS ONE LOUSY AGENT!!
Reply
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -
Republicrat1844Comment removed: Retracted by user
-
-
Neutral
cilmed11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I've told lots of stories that I've repeated over the years, albeit just to friends, that I honestly can't remember which sibling or which cousin, but it never seemed to matter because I was making my point and a cute story. I believe him. I've even heard that upside down M story before. Plus, with the millions of people in America, it could have happened several times. Don't be so judgemental
Reply -
-
Neutral
iaanto11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
If I remember right, wasn't there a thief on the cross next to Jesus, and didn't that thief ask and receive forgivness from Jesus before he died. Seems as though it is easier for God to forgive than it is for our fellow humans. Lets all "crucify" Mr. Walsch for his lack of integrity and maybe next we can start judging the rest of our peers for their many faults. Heaven knows WE don't make mistakes. Who wants to pick up the first stone and nail Walsch a good one?
Reply -
Neutral
juau111 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
onierutnaut 420 you said christians make up a large percentage of the U.S. and most problems are caused by us. In world War 2 Hitler forced all the Jews into ghettos. He achieved this by using propaganda that often said "there are too many problems because there are too many of them"
Reply
I'm NOT by any means comparing thier suffering (God bless them for all they've endured) to the religious controversey in our country. I'm pointing out the fact that when people blame one group for all a nations problems things do NOT get better
It is unfortunate that some christians have a holier than thou attidude, but in general Christianity is all about humility. In God's eyes one person can't be 'better' than another person, because we all have imperfections.
Many of us recognize that not every one shares our belief and that there a proper way to pray for someone.
True christians don't pray or talk to athiests to be offensive or annoying. We do it because we truly care about the indvidual. -
Neutral
endure4eternity11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
When I first picked up "Conversations with God" I thought it was a bunch of phoo-ey.......much of what I read was very unbelieveable to me. I remember thinking that this guy should really be careful what he writes , saying that it was from God. I threw the book in the trash. Now that I read that what he wrote about "Christmas Love" was a lie, I think my instints were right on.......... I don't think that God just comes and sits on a couch with you in the middle of the night - night after night.... to converse with you about, well life in general. God is bigger than that. I've always felt like his books were just scams to make money.
Reply -
-
Neutral
mormel211 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Could it be possible that after 20 years, that this guy did get the story confused? I mean come on, this is ridiculous. People retell stories they hear over and over and get them confused.
Reply
And BTW, I am a Christian who knows plenty of other "christians" and no, they are not all honest good people. -
Neutral
bethlovestravel11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Obviously many of you have never been writers and done it for a living. I write for wedding magazines part time, even though the pay is small for articles, it is part of my earnings and I am proud of my work. And I don't like it when some one "borrows my words" and makes money off them.
Reply
They don't do this accidently, even if they are "nice" people or Christians. Is that supposed to make it all right, because they are "decent" people and it is just words. That is my job.
How would you like it, if you were a chef, and another chef passed off your famous recipe as his own and got a lot of publicity for it and made money off your fabulous recipe.
I had a neighbor years ago who was an excellent wedding photographer. That was his living. One day a couple came into his studio to discuss shooting their wedding.
All of a sudden the the bride to be said to him, did you take all the photos we see on your walls and in your albums. He said of course, my photos are my work, why would you ask such a question.
She replied, last week we interviewed another wedding photographer about our wedding and he had some of these same great wedding photographs on his wall and said he took them.
He sued the man, plus exposed him for the thief that he was. Many of you don't seem to see anything wrong in what this Neale Watsh did.
You need to pray and have a serious conversation with God -
Neutral
douttfire11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
These "glurge" stories get sent round and round the internet worldwide over and over. How many times have you read the story of the woman who had like 4 kids, needed a job 'cause the babies' daddy took off, so she gets a job waitressing at "The Wagon Wheel" and the truckers fill her car with stuff for the kids? Or the story of the car crash and Daddy from Heaven puts the 2 boys in the police car with an ice cream cone? How about the story of Teddy, the poor stinky kid who gives the teacher a half a bottle of perfume and a raggedy bracelet for Christmas, after the teacher was a total butt-head to him, then finds out his mother died of cancer and the teacher does this total 360? WHO really wrote this stuff, yet we all know the stories inside and out. I've read the stories a million times since I've had the internet and I can't remember who sent it or if someone told me that these things happened to someone they actually know. Oh, well. In 100 years, will we care? Will it matter?
Reply -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Neutral
denmarsh6411 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I agree, but I also understand. There are many Christians who use faith as a means of controlling and abusing others. Trust me, I avoided religion for that very reason and it took me many years to discover the differences between God and the ways in which many represent God. Yes, Christians are human and make mistakes just like the rest of the population, but there are A LOT who need to re-read the verse, "Remove the plank from your own eye".
Reply -
Neutral
karen81111 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Neale Donald Walsch was a nutso talk radio person going by the name of Bob White in Medford, Oregon before writing his books. He'd been married at least twice that I know of before his current wife (if they are still together) and had many kids - his last wife and he had triplets before he dumped her. He was kicked off the board of a private school for child molestation. Really great person to have had "conversations with God". Anyone who believes what he has to say in his books had better take a better look at his past. He may be a great talker and creative writer, but is certainly not a great person.
Reply -
Neutral
karen81111 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Neale Donald Walsch is a fraud. He was a nutso radio talk show person in Medford, Oregon using the name Bob White and has been married several times - had triplets with the "love of his life" (as he often professed on air) wife before he dumped her (or maybe she dumped him if she was smart). He was ousted from a position with the Waldorf School, a private school in Medford, for child molestation accusations. How people like this can continuously take advantage of the public is beyond me!
Reply -
Neutral
klangsmithtoo11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Uh, I'm not sure how familiar you are with Neale Donald Walsch and his work but he has about as much in common with "traditional" Christianity (Catholocism, Anglicanism, Protestantism, Etc.) as, oh, Ozzy Osborne has with the Vienna Boys Choir. He is basically a new age guru who uses the terminology of Christianity to sell books and pack lecture halls. I work in a book store and his multiple "Conversations With God" are shelved in world religions, not the Christian section. Besides, illustrations like the one Walsch used (and which are mainstays of sermons and published church material) are more akin to urban legends where this thing happened to a kid of a friend of a neighbor of a co-worker, etc. etc. The original source of these stories are about as hard to track down as determining who told the first "Chicken crossed the road" joke. I would think Walsch would be smarter than to claim a commonly told story as his own. Or, maybe God told it to him during one of their conversations and he thought nobody else had heard it yet.
Reply -
-
Neutral
abeyasha11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
This incident is a case of a pot calling the kettle black. Neale Donand,if he had borrowed Chandy Chand's "expressed" words should have told her so. As for Chandy Chand she should understand that "Words" are no body's personal pocession. This is the case of two people(christians) fighting with each other for their own personal pride/ego/benefits. Eventually Christianity feels the burnt of this issue for no fault of it.
Reply
If one were to understand , from history ,thus has been the case from the beginning. Take the case of the Crusaders from Europe who fought in the Christian name & the whole issue eventually ended on a racial basis.(racial issues are the cause for most of the wars/problems of yesteryears & even today) Christianity is eventually blamed & made the scrape goat.
The truth is that historically, Jerusalem could never be "really" conquered by war & violence & this is the case even today. This indeed is a "Truth of Christianity", & not the way's of Neale Donand or Candy Chand. -
Neutral
diagd111 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Those of you who think Christians live by the philosophy of "do what I say, not what I do" obviously do not understand the tenants of Christianity. Yes, we are to hold a high standard - just because it is hard to hold up, doesn't mean it isn't worth keeping as a standard. We should encourage the best behavior in society. Just because Christians are just as human and make mistakes like everyone else, doesn't mean they think the rules don't apply to them. Although many non-Christians feel guilty about their behavior and believe the Christians are judging them, they are not. The Christians would tell you that they make the same mistakes, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to stop making them. We are big on repentance, forgiveness and love.
Reply -
Neutral
skyflier0611 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Crabby O...I hear and understand your complaint, but I would say this to you: at our worst, we Christians may seem to "hold ourselves up higher than the rest", but at our best, we are merely pointing the way to the One who is higher than all of us.
Reply-
Neutral
memestryker11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
As long as believers are going to point to their belief, I feel free to point out there is no evidence of any of the gods, goddesses, totems, etc. of any people at any time of the world other than what's recorded in folklore, and my concern is that those who believe folklore as true are brainwashed and attempting to spread their brainwash to others. And they all are human and make mistakes, whether they believe folklore as fact or not.
Reply-
Neutral
jenit11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
Now see...you had good solid, intelligent and yes even respectful opinions and then resort to this? You may point out your belief all day long, I have no problem with that, heck its taught in our schools, but to say we are brainwashed is ignorant. And who exactly accompolished this amazing feat of brainwashing millions of people? Now that is a feat!
Reply
-
-
-
50%
tm114687411 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
I'm 60 yrs. old now. The memory loss started 20 yrs. ago. Small things and big things. How do you forget that you rode on the back of an elephant? Then they dig out a photograph and there you are on the back of an elephant. You think you drew this picture, and then you find out your brother did. How does that happen? You buy a coat and return it, and then you find the coat in your closet. Where did the memory of returning it come from? It's scary and it doesn't happen to everyone. Since this man is older than I am it could be happening to him. I researched Mr. Walsch before writing this, he appears to be an intellgent man who has helped a lot of people with his writing. There's a part of me that hopes this is a simple case of plagiarism for him, because losing your memories is so much worse.
Reply -
100%
zanedy11 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
People seem to be forgetting the point. It isn't about religion. It is about the fact that this man STOLE intellectual property from someone else, and claimed it as his own! That is FRAUD. It was her story. She had written it PRIOR to his book. And when finally confronted, he had to admit that it wasn't his, but instead of admitting he STOLE the material, he came up with a lame excuse. And to say that it is ok, as long as people enjoyed it, or it did some good for GOD, is WRONG. If he had stolen her car, but someone else enjoyed it, or it did some good for GOD, would that be acceptable? What if he were Muslim, then would that be different?
Reply -
dibujohnkComment removed: Spam
-
dibujohnkComment removed: Spam
-
dibujohnkComment removed: Spam
-
Neutral
dibujohnk6 months, 1 week ago
This comment is below the standard viewing threshold View It »
“Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me”
Reply
- Psalm 27:7
Dear friend,
Now we have a new web site, all about Divine Mercy Devotion, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Divine Mercy Novena, about Saint Faustina.
Please visit http://www.mercifuljesus.info and download prayers, images of MERCIFUL JESUS.
With Prayer & Love.
loading ...
Add a Comment
Sign In With Your Propeller Account
Please keep your comments relevant to this story.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.