Author: Frank

It was reported on Thursday that the abortion rate in the United States is continuing to decline. I’m not going to hit on the abortion debate or talk about candidate’s views or any of that. Instead I want to talk just a sec about an article from Newsweek that attempts to discern why the rates are going down. First of all, the rate is reported as a number per 1000 women. The article doesn’t say per 1000 pregnancies (for there’s really no way to count that) so the drop could be attributed to a rise in population alone. But that point is never brought up. Instead it brings up the reduced number of abortion clinics, more restrictive legislation, the increased use of RU486, and increased use of birth control; all of which have measurable statistics. But the article tries to reason if attitudes towards abortion in this country have changed from both the pro-choice and pro-life sides. But there’s only one quote and one three sentence long paragraph dedicated to the pro-life view. All in a two page article. Biased much? And as a number cruncher by trade, I don’t think it’s very hard to answer the question of whether more mothers are carrying their babies to full term. One you can compare the drop in the rate of abortions to the change in the rate of births. Next you consider the rate of miscarriages (assuming all are reported). Finally you look at the number of children being put up for adoption.

If the general public is agreeing more and more with the statement that, to paraphrase my least favorite presidential candidate, “abortion should be available, but rare,” it wouldn’t take much homework to figure out. If you assume that a pregnancy that is considered to be terminated but is carried to full term is still an unwanted pregnancy, the statistics would show up with numbers of children put up for adoption. If that number is increasing at a greater rate than the birthrate as a whole (and understanding that with modern pre-natal care there are fewer miscarriages) that would be all the evidence you need. Instead, the author gives the pro-life side a token quote and then expands on how much harder it is to get abortions these days. It’s shoddy reporting at best, blatant bias at worst. But then again, when it comes to this issue, do we expect any better? We should.

Like I said previously, I’ve recently returned from a family road trip over Christmas. We didn’t drive the Wagonqueen Family Truckster, but we did put over 3000 miles on our Mitsubishi Endeavor. Anway, after getting snowed in trying to drive on I-80 coming home, our schedule slipped a day and that meant getting stuck in the post-New-Year’s-Eve Las Vegas traffic. They say, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” except for the traffic that is. So I-15 was a total parking lot. While patiently (I wish!) waiting in traffic while our 3 month-old was crying at the top of her lungs and our now 3 year-old was kicking the back of my seat, it was awfully tempting to pull over to the shoulder and see how far I could get before getting ticketed. Actually it wasn’t. But that didn’t stop several others from trying, and watching them blatantly break the law ticked me off. I was rooting for them to get pulled over and reveled in the thought of how much the ticket would be.

But then I asked myself why that made me so upset? Sure they’d get to where they’re going faster, but really not by much because they couldn’t ride on the shoulder forever. And besides, it’s not like I never break the law driving. In fact, as soon as traffic started to thin I was back to driving my usual 9 mph over the speed limit. And that got me thinking about right and wrong. If I was as good a Christian as I try and proclaim, I should abide by Romans 13 and obey the law of the land no matter what. And that includes following the speed limit. But I’m confident I’m not the only Christian who speeds. Not only that, but I’ve probably cursed under my breath others whose convictions tell them to strictly follow the limit.

So it strikes me that while our convictions are black and white, we live in a world of grey, and that has a major influence on the decisions we make. This begs the question, what informs our morals? The Bible, the world, or some combination of both? If we were perfect like Jesus, we could say that we are only “do[ing] the will of Him who sent me.” (Jn 4:34) That’s not an excuse however for letting the world inform our morality. This is where the Christian Worldview comes into play. We need to be able to look at the world from a Christ-like perspective while at the same time recognizing that we are sinners and imperfect, so we strive to uphold God’s standards the best we can.

I wanted to list off some more examples of the “grey” world in which we live to illustrate why we can’t let the world define our morals. I was thinking of this when I got back to work, and a couple of contrasting examples came to mind. First, most companies will fire you on the spot if you’re looking at pornography on your computer during work-hours. But the same standard doesn’t apply if you’re checking sport scores, headlines, etc. Is there a practical difference? Not really, the only difference is in the social norm of pornography being a vice. I don’t disagree with that. But what about smoke-breaks? There are several co-workers in my building that take smoke breaks every couple of hours or so. That’s considered ok. But if I wanted to take a “drink break” and down a shot or have a bottle of beer every couple of hours, I’d probably have to start looking for another job. What’s the practical difference? There is none, but unlike with pornography, smoking is considered more of a vice than drinking yet that is the social norm.

Not only are our social norms inconsistent, they’re also ever-changing. Take slavery, the roles of women, and most recently homosexuality as examples. While in some cases the world’s morals have changed for the better (in the case of abolishing slavery for example) in many others they have been changes for the worse (the over-sexualization in our culture presently). This lends more weight to holding to the standards of the Bible over the world since, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” (Is 40:6-8/1 Pt 1:24-25) The Bible doesn’t change. God doesn’t change. But the standards of the world are always changing.

Now today was the New Hampshire Primary. I won’t go into winners and losers, but I want to apply this to politics. There are many who despise the fact that some candidates are so open about their faith. They point to the separation of Church and State and say that religion should have no role in politics. If that’s the case, then where do we expect our leaders to derive their morality? The present inconsistent and ever-changing social norms? Public opinion polls? History or philosophy? Personally, I’d prefer a leader whose convictions are built on rock and not on sand. Social norms, public opinion, history and philosophy are all important in informing political decision-making. But character and leadership aren’t the same as deal-making and power-broking. And this is what has been shown in the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary; voters are looking for leaders with character. Statesmen instead of politicians. And personal views on wedge-issues don’t seem to matter as much, evidenced by the widespread reporting of the cross appeal of McCain and Obama despite opposite positions on just about everything. (then again, it was just announced that Clinton edged out Obama, but I think my point is still valid)

Bottom line, we should all strive to attain, in our day to day living as well as our politics, the goal set forth in Ephesians. “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” (Eph 4:14)

I’ve added a couple of links and got rid of a couple of others. I was never really fond of having a link to the Moral Majority, but I thought it was the best representation of the Religious Right. But I never did find a “Religious Left” equivalent. And from all indications, the Unity ’08 effort has been a flop.

So I’ve added the “God-o-meter” from beliefnet. It’s a regular update of the religious rhetoric coming from the candidates and is a kick to read and keep up with, especially now that we’re in the think of primary season. Another bonus is that from there you can jump back to beliefnet where there are blogs from Jim Wallis and others. I’ve also added the Newsweek/Washington Post “On Faith” page. I really like the “conversations” they have on relevant topics and their blogs are also very insightful. So happy reading. I pray these links help inform your Christian Worldview and inform not only your politics, but also your daily life as a Public Christian.

I’ve just recently gotten back from a roadtrip over Christmas so I have a backlog of posts to put up. Hopefully I’ll get to those this weekend. In the meantime, listening to coverage of last night’s Iowa Caucus brought my attention to this. The God-o-meter at beliefnet.com which gauges how much religious rhetoric each candidate is using to pander for the “value voter”. While I don’t like their categorization of “theocrat” it’s pretty amusing nonetheless. It’s updated daily with related articles, so I might just have to add a permanent link to it.

On Thursday Major League Baseball released the results of “The Mitchell Report” detailing steroid use in baseball. Don’t worry, this isn’t another Barry Bonds rant. Instead, what catches my attention is how strongly and quickly the players deny every detail. Honestly, I don’t care who did or who didn’t use, I just want someone, anyone, to stand up and say, “I did it, and I take responsibility.” And I really don’t care about any records or asterisks, either. I just care about the “integrity of the game.” That phrase is tossed around a lot, but what does that mean, anyway?

Well, The American Heritage Dictionary defines integrity as “Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.” And dictionary.com follows that definition up with “honesty.” I like this definition from Proverbs myself, “A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies.” (Pr 12:17) To me, integrity is letting your “yes be yes and your no, no.” (Mt 5:37, Js 5:12)

In this case, it means that all those players who do the Sign of the Cross, thank God for their accomplishments, and face the world when a microphone is shoved in their faces tell the honest to God truth. And athletes aren’t the only ones I wish this for. How many religious leaders who claim to speak for God have been brought low by scandal that was denied for who knows how long before the truth could no longer be hidden. I think of the Catholic priests, the Ted Haggards, the Bob Jones Jrs, and on and on. Why is it so hard in this world to find someone who you can trust to tell the truth?

But instead we live in a fallen world being led by sinners just like you and me. I know I’m not honest all the time. We’ve all told that “white lie” to protect our self interest. But at the same time, I’m not thanking God for something I should really be thanking a chemist for. It’s one thing to lie to save face or to stay out of trouble (not that I’m excusing that either), but it’s another thing to credit God for your accomplishments that you attained by any and every means necessary.

So I’m still grappling with what happened in Colorado and what would motivate someone to do such a thing. And I think about the kid in Omaha too and many, many others who turned their personal demons into another’s hell. Quite common with nonsensical shootings like these are that the shooter is overwhelmed with a feeling of rejection.

Sunday morning, before seeing the news, I taught Sunday School to a group of 3rd graders. My lesson juxtaposed the sinful woman caught in adultery in John 8 with the sinful woman who anointed Jesus in Luke 7. When I present lessons from the Bible to this age group, I need to emphasize why the story I’m telling them is important. In this case, the lesson was how Jesus accepts anyone and everyone despite their sin and despite what religious leaders might say about it. A lesson certainly applicable today. There are a lot of religious leaders, Pharisees of this day and age, who are quick to condemn, quick to judge. But not Jesus. Jesus accepts. Jesus forgives.

I think about the modern parable (an oft-forwarded email, actually) of a young man in ratty clothes, long hair, piercings and tattoos who walks late into a Catholic Mass. The church is full and he can’t find a seat and even where there is a seat available the looks from the parishioners made it clear he wasn’t welcome. So without any other seats, he sat down right in the middle of the center isle. Of course, the priest had yet to come down the isle himself and everyone in the church was breathless with anticipation to see what he would do when he came to the young man. The organ stated the opening hymn as the priest and altar boys began down the isle. But no one sang along. All eyes were on the priest to see what he would do next. Noticing everyone’s stares, the priest looked at the young man and…

sat down with him.

Maybe the young men involved in these shootings could relate to this young man. Maybe they could relate to the women described in the Gospels above. Maybe they never understood that Jesus would sit right down next to them, even if no one else would.

What makes this even more sad is that I know of ministries in and around Denver whose sole purpose is to reach out to the unaccepted, the rejected. The one that I think of first is Scum of the Earth. Yeah, you read that right. The name comes from 1 Corinthians 4:11-13, “To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.” They say Matthew Murray came from a very religious family, so maybe he had no interest in finding a community that would accept him. But sources also say that he was once part of Youth with a Mission and was looking at enrolling in Colorado Christian College. So somewhere in his heart and soul there was a desire to reach out to God.

Now some will say it’s arrogant for a Christian to say, “well, he just needed Jesus and this would’ve never happened.” To that I can respond based on experience in ministering to addicts, that while Jesus forgives us there’s no promise that he’ll heal us. No doubt he can, but there will always be scars. We need to face and deal with the baggage we carry and lay it at the foot of the cross. If he “had Jesus” would this have been prevented? There’s really no way of knowing. Did he “need Jesus”? Well, only Jesus knows the answer to that.

Instead of worrying about the arrogance of us Christians having all the answers, or of the eternal fate of the shooter, the focus should be on the victims. And to follow Jesus’ example and forgive.

So I turned in to tonight’s YouTube debate just in time to see the candidates questioned if they believe the words in the Bible. That’s a pretty loaded question, in fact it was prefaced with, “how you answer this question will tell us everything we need to know about you.” Not only is it loaded, but it’s also misleading. Many people wrongly equate believing that the Bible is the Word of God and believing that every word is true. At the same time, believing that the Bible is the Word of God also isn’t the same as believing that every word applies to you. But that’s a nuance that is often ignored in the public debate about the influence of Christianity on many political issues, namely evolution and homosexuality. The way the argument goes is that if you believe the Bible is the Word of God then therefore you believe every word is true and you are a strict creationist. At the same time, you also therefore believe that every word applies to us today and thus are homophobic based on the Levitical Law calling homosexuality an “abomination.” See how suddenly by being “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Pt 3:15) now has painted you into a corner on two very hot political topics? Like the questioner said, “how you answer this question will tell us everything you need to know about you.”

But that’s just not true. Just because I believe the Bible is the Word of God doesn’t mean I take every word literally. It’s obvious that some is poetry and some is allegorical. And I admit that my faith isn’t strong enough to take a literal view of creation. When it comes to homosexuality, unfortunately many christians (intentional little c) quote Leviticus to condemn homosexuality. I sure hope they don’t eat shrimp because that too, is an abomination according to Levitical Law. And since Jesus died “once for all” (Heb 10:10) and established a “new covenant” (Lk 22:20) and “fulfill[ed] them [the law]” (Mt 5:17) the Levitical Law no longer applies to us today. (After all, where’s our temple?)

But it’s intentional to not ask the specific questions regarding these issues. Instead the question is framed to require candidates to dance around their faith. So how did the candidates do tonight? Well, Mayor Giuliani answered the question pretty much like I did. Governor Romney answered it directly saying he believed the Bible is the Word of God but then tripped all over himself to expand on that. And Governor Huckabee hit it out of the park. I’ll paraphrase: “Yes, I believe the Bible is God’s revelation to his people. And there are parts that are up to interpretation that are the center of debates. But there are parts that are so clear that everyone can agree on them, ‘love your neighbor’ and ‘what you’ve done for the least of these, you’ve done to me’. I think we can all agree in these principles. But we get too distracted by the other debates that we don’t live out what we do agree on.” (for direct quote, go here) Of course, would we expect any less from a minister?

Huckabee’s answer was honest and direct. And unlike either Giuliani or Romney, you could tell from his body language, his tone, and the words themselves, that he really meant it. And I have to respect that. I saw him on “Real Time with Bill Maher” and he held up pretty well against attacks on his creationist stance. He said point blank that it doesn’t matter what he thinks about that issue because it doesn’t affect how he would govern. And Bill Maher couldn’t say anything against that, other than going off on a rant against Christianity as a whole.

While this entry might look like a political endorsement, it’s not. Instead, it’s a lesson on exactly how we, as Ambassadors of Christ, should “be prepared to give an answer… with gentleness and respect.”

And I can say that with a clear conscience without fear of the PC police… for now anyway.

Thanksgiving is easily my favorite holiday. I grew up in retail so Christmas wasn’t the least bit fun. But Thanksgiving (with Black Friday after of course) was a chance to close shop for a day and spend the time with family. We would often host a big feast at our church with family from out of town, our employees, our neighbors, and the close friends of the family that were, really, family. The advantage of growing up in a small town, I guess. I can’t imagine doing something like that today. But I do pray that someday my family can host a Thanksgiving like I remember growing up.

Thanksgiving, to me, isn’t the least bit religious. There’s no doctrine behind it like the birth or resurrection of my Savior. It’s simply a time to stop the world for a moment and enjoy the blessings in our lives, wherever we believe they originated from. And even though the folklore is rooted in Puritan religious tradition, the symbols of the holiday are turkeys, cornucopias, gourds, and leaves in all the fall colors. Anyone can celebrate this holiday. And it’s not just Christians who celebrate it.

But yet, there are some who feel that there is a War on Thanksgiving like there is a War on Christmas, with bumper stickers that say “remember to thank HIM”. If it was me, I’d play off the slogan of “Keep Christ in Christmas” with something like “Keep the Thanks in Thanksgiving.” I don’t think there’s a reason for the Christian Right to be paranoid about the religious roots of Thanksgiving eroding in the name of Political Correctness. But I do think it’s right to remind everyone why we celebrate this holiday. We are blessed in this country. The poorest among us are rich compared to much of the world. We celebrate freedoms that few others share. And despite how screwed up our country can seem at times, thousands still come to this country regularly to seek a better life.

Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863. It is worth it to look to his words to remind us why we celebrate this holiday today.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great
things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with
us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set
apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving
and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. (full text here)

And while we are called to give thanks for our blessings, we are also called to remember those less fortunate:

And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to
him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble
penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender
care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers…

Today, let’s remember to Keep the Thanks in Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday, the Governor of Georgia held an all-faith rally to pray for rain. If you haven’t heard, Georgia is suffering an unprecedented drought and a call for everyone in the state to pray for relief wouldn’t be unheard of. But to hold it on the capitol steps? Is that going too far? Like my title says, if there really is a separation of Church and State, where’s the line? Was it crossed when Congressmen and women sang God Bless America on the steps of the US Capitol following September 11? Is it crossed when the president suggests we pray for the victims of a natural disaster?

There were a few protesters, but not as substantial as I would’ve expected. But there was an online debate on one of the message boards I frequent over whether this sets a bad precedent (of course, in order for that to be the case this would have to be the first time something like this has ever happened). The person who started the thread, about halfway through the debate, stated that he was afraid of what this country will look like in 20 years if such violations of the First Amendment are allowed to continue. I hate to break it to him, but there was a nationwide vigil when the Apollo 13 mission failed. And that was more than 20 years ago. Have we been sliding down the slippery slope ever since? Of course not. That wasn’t the first such event and it certainly wasn’t the last. I already mentioned 9/11. And while that spike of patriotism and religion might have alarmed the most paranoid Church/State activists, a majority of those who rushed to their churches to pray, hold vigil, donate blood, or just take communion for the first time in years have since dropped back out into the world of sleeping in on Sundays or staying home to watch football.

But were the prayers effective? Well, it did rain believe it or not. Although the weather service did predict rain. But this whole event reminds me of a common anecdote of the girl who, when her town gathered to pray for rain to end a drought, was the only one who brought an umbrella. Relate this to Mark 11:24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” So I wonder, of all the people who showed up, did anyone think to bring an umbrella?