Christian Mengele

Hello and Happy Saturday!

I wish to thank Kristine Mckee for her wonderful interview last week. I enjoyed reading your answers and I thank you for sharing with us Kristine!

Today we have a new interview so please welcome Christian Mengele. Christian is a Christian and I know you'll enjoy his interview as well!

Here Is Christian Mengele's Introduction:


My name is Christian Mengele and I'm a self-taught contemporary artist in Hollywood, California.

http://www.christianmengele.com



1) What religion do you practice?
I'm a Christian but the only way I really "practice" it is in my daily interaction with the Lord.

2) Are you a convert/revert or were you raised within this religion? If you converted, what did you need to do to convert? And what did you practice prior to converting?
I come from a mostly Catholic part of the world and my mother was raised Catholic. But in her life she experienced a moment of crisis and in that time period, she visited every faith imaginable, usually dragging me along, praying to whatever it took to solve her crisis. So I got to see a lot of different religious views in my teens. At one point I even found myself immersed in Christliche Wissenschaft, what is known here in America as "Christian Science". I don't agree with it. I never really liked organised religion. I consider myself an independent Christian. I suppose that God has always communicated with me one way or another but it has never really been through a church of any kind. In fact I grew closer to Him away from church. ;-)

3)Within your religion are there degrees of observance (ie. Orthodox,conservative, moderate, liberal)? What are the defining differences between the degrees of observance?
I'm pretty sure someone made up a lot of stuff somewhere about how to be a Christian but I don't follow any organised method. I have God in my life. Anything else is human invention.

4)Within your religion what degree of observance are you ((ie. Orthodox,conservative, moderate, liberal) ? Why did you choose this degree of observance?
I could say I didn't choose it, but I do believe in free will, so a better way to put it was that I chose to stick with God and leave religion for those who need it.

5)What is the Afterlife within your religion? For example: what happens when a person dies? Are there places for reward/punishment? (such as a Heaven/Hell concept)
I don't know exactly. Nobody knows. This is because if you look at the Bible's many different books and study them in their original languages you'll see different meanings and interpretations, as well as how difficult it is to separate allegories from fact. I only know that you can't reach the Father without the Son, and they were one. Even experts can't get to a consensus. I was taught that the dead go to a place named Sheol where they hybernate until the Judgement Day. Other people believe Heaven and Hell are populated right now. I don't think it is important. I do have visions of Heaven as a floating, glowing, golden city in the night sky when I dream, some times. It could be a glimpse into Heaven, or it could just be a dream. Feels wonderful being there, though. Everything looks so beautiful.

6) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?
Well I get a lot of e-mails from people saying such nice things as "I hope your grandfather is in Hell!". This is funny because if you believe in Hell, you shouldn't be wishing people would go there. ;-) And if you don't, you're talking nonsense. Either way I believe the way to Heaven is through Jesus and so I think their hopes are wasted, he was a Christian.

7) What makes your religion a good fit for you?
I don't know how many people actually KNOW God is there. I consider myself lucky. I used to think I was probably special because it seemed He didn't talk to others the way He does to me. Now I know they're just unable to listen. It fits me because I do see what He wants me to see and I witness His signs, usually just saying "I'm here".

8) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?
All days are Holy. Life is sacred, every day is special. I celebrate them by pursuing happiness.

9) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?
If they're not my enemies, sure. An overwhelming number of my friends are atheists or agnostics. There's probably one or two Christians out there....I just can't think of any at the moment.

10) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?
If the food was good or the music enjoyable, I don't see why not.


11) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?
I don't think the burka is sexy at all. All I can say about Sharia law is that I don't believe in it. Allah is a moon god that somehow got mixed up with Jehova, which is why Islam uses the crescent moon as a symbol.

12) Are women allowed to hold religious office (priest, minister, rabbi, iman etc) in your religion and how do you feel about it?
Anyone can talk to God. I don't know how many can see His signs but I doubt it depends on gender.

13) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?
My heart is my place of worship and I only segregate against stupidity and ill will.

14) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?
Other people's personal lives can't possibly affect me. How am I affected if someone I don't know has an abortion? I'm not the one who is going to pay to support the child if it is born so I have no right to impose my opinion over something I'm not interested in becoming involved with. I'm not sure gay marriage is possible. Having a religious person perform a ceremony doesn't mean it's accepted in the Bible or their own religion, I don't know. But if it is possible, again, it doesn't affect me, in fact I don't care at all. In Uganda, a Pastor named Martin Ssempa is constantly preaching hatred against homosexuality and says he weeps every time he talks about sodomy. I think his hate speech is worse than two people of the same sex getting "married" because he is inciting persecution. It hurts others. Gay people getting married would be a good thing. Monogamy would help contain HIV and AIDS in the gay community. Ssempa likes to say that if this is ever allowed, in ten years 80% of the population would be gay. That would be a good thing, reproductive rates would go down and the lines in the supermarket would be shorter. I would also face less traffic on the freeway. I leave it in God's hands. People should be allowed to do anything they want, ANYTHING as long as it didn't violate other people's individual rights.

15) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion?
It's in God's hands. My children are individuals with their own rights to choose. I just hope they choose well.

16) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?
I think the way to Heaven is by Salvation through Jesus Christ. How they get to Him is probably not important.


17) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?
I don't understand the question very well, but I'm not here to speak for others. ;-)

18) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.
I get insulted a lot on the internet for being related to someone they "hate''. But actual crimes? Well someone knifed the hatchback of my Jeep and stabbed my spare tire the other day. I think that qualifies as a hate crime since there was no gain to the perpetrator.

19) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?
If it did it would be stupid for me to believe in it. ;-)

20) Does your religion give you peace of mind?
Knowing that God is there gives me peace of mind. Not always being able to interpret what He is saying is a bit of a bother.

21) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?
No. I think we are each unique individuals, as unique as our fingerprints. That, and it's not in the Bible.