At first glance, you may think that the first four items on the list in the heading are unlike the last one.
The story of Don Quixote is hilarious. An old man with poor vision imagines that windmills are giants. Perceiving the imminent danger, he charges them on his steed, lunging forward with his lance, ready to do serious battle.
This story makes us laugh at the naivete and foolishness of the old man. However, do we engage in similar antics as Christians? Are we fighting imaginary enemies due to our poor spiritual vision, which is myopic and ill-informed?
As a former Armstrongite, I believed the teachings of Herbert Armstrong. In essence, Herbert Armstrong claimed that he was commissioned by God to restore "true Christianity" to the world. He denied the Christianity of anyone outside of his organization, declaring them to be a "counterfeit Christianity" preaching a "false gospel" and that its ministers were "ministers of Satan".
Some of the issues he claimed made organized Christianity false included non-observance of the Saturday Sabbath, festivals, and clean/unclean meat laws, their view of the nature of God (Trinitarianism), and observance of worldly holidays (Christmas and Easter).
His contempt for other Christians and attacks upon them were obvious, calling them "dumb sheep" headed to the slaughter on his television program.
I was 22 years old and wasn't brought up in a good environment to learn sound Christian doctrine (my mother was an Armstrongite), so I cut myself some slack on getting involved in it, and funding Armstrong's foolish attacks upon Christianity. I have since repented of my ignorance and intolerance of orthodox Christianity.
I have little doubt that some individuals who promote false teachings know that they are in error, but perpetuate their errors for financial gain or other reasons. They are destined for eternal punishment unless they repent.
For the rest, I encourage you to examine whether you, like Don Quixote, are fighting an imaginary enemy. It will be a sad thing if you spend the rest of your life following nonsense, and attacking brothers in Christ that you perceive as enemies, when you can spend it reaching others with the real gospel...about how the unique God-man came to die on a cross for our sins, and how others can be forgiven for their sins through his perfect sacrifice.
For anti-Trinitarians, I recommend the book "Forgotten Trinity" by James White.
For those who believe that observing Sabbath and Holy Days are a requirement of salvation, and that non-observers are not Christians, I recommend "Sabbath in Christ" by Dale Ratzlaff.
None of these remarks are meant for my friends who observe the Sabbath, annual festivals, or clean/unclean meat laws but don't claim observance is required for salvation in any way.
If one would do a historical study on how different Christmas observances are done around the world , you will see the birth Jesus as the reason most of the time.
