politics

Lunatic Fringe

Frank

A couple of weeks ago, Glenn Beck made a splash stating “social justice” is a codeword for communism and Nazism. While his words generated a flurry of responses from Christians, he was going somewhere with his train of thought even if it wasn’t articulated well. On the left extreme of the political spectrum is communism, where the government controls most everything. On the right extreme of the political spectrum is anarchism, where the government has no control. Interestingly, Nazism is towards the far right extreme, so Mr. Beck was self-contradictory. Obviously, most people fall somewhere in between.

Churches follow the same pattern. Many churches on the extreme of the Social Gospel feel it is the government’s responsibility to take care of the “alien, widow and orphan.” While most who subscribe to the Social Gospel stress that individuals and churches are responsible for this, falling left of center, but far from the extreme Glenn Beck describes. On the other side are anarchists, racists, and “Christian militias” like the one that made headlines yesterday.

The Muslim community is often criticised for not speaking out against radical Islam and terrorism. I would appreciate if Mr. Beck aimed his critical eye at radical Christianity also. Just like the argument that radical Islam does not represent the Muslim faith, Christian militias also do not represent the teachings of Christ.

The reality, which isn’t as attention grabbing as Glenn Beck’s comments, is that most churches are in between. We don’t get headlines for serving the poor, or leading others to Christ. Yet we are tempted to lean on our government to make the social changes we cannot (abortion, gay-marriage) instead of leaning on Christ and seeking his will. We’ll never get headlines that way, but I’d rather shine the light of Jesus to those immediately around me than bury that light by making the news doing something foolish.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3)

Counterintuitive

Frank

Today’s the big day. No, not the first day of spring (that was yesterday) or the last day of the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Today is the day we’ll know whether or not our Federal Government will overhaul health care. I’m not going to use this space to pontificate one side or the other, though I do have strong opinions about it. In fact, it’s important to note here that those strong opinions are are independent of my faith. I have yet to understand why there is such emphasis by some religious organizations (I call out the American Center for Law and Justice specifically because they have been polluting my airwaves on this issue for months now) that this debate is a religious issue.

Oh, wait. I do understand. It’s all about abortions, the prime religious wedge-issue in politics. Even this issue though, I struggle to get up in arms over. I’ve talked about this before, argue that it is not a political issue, and note how it breaks my heart how this issue can drive people to the worst extremes. But now this wedge has grown so large as to scuttle any health care reform whatsoever. Yet as Christians, we should worry about the root-causes of abortions and some argue that passing health care reform would actually reduce this demand, despite whether there is government funding or not. A compelling case that reflects what should be our Christian attitude towards abortion.

But that is not the ends of the health care reform means. This is a complex issue and is about much, much more than abortions. I have family members who would benefit from this reform just as I have family members who would be hurt. There is no winner in this debate, I fear. As such, the appropriate response as Christians is not to fret over abortion, but to offer up prayers of wisdom for our elected officials at this critical time and remember that our purpose on this earth as Christians is not politics, but to “do the will of him who sent me“.

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:1-4)

Counterintuitive

Frank

Today’s the big day. No, not the first day of spring (that was yesterday) or the last day of the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Today is the day we’ll know whether or not our Federal Government will overhaul health care. I’m not going to use this space to pontificate one side or the other, though I do have strong opinions about it. In fact, it’s important to note here that those strong opinions are are independent of my faith. I have yet to understand why there is such emphasis by some religious organizations (I call out the American Center for Law and Justice specifically because they have been polluting my airwaves on this issue for months now) that this debate is a religious issue.

Oh, wait. I do understand. It’s all about abortions, the prime religious wedge-issue in politics. Even this issue though, I struggle to get up in arms over. I’ve talked about this before, argue that it is not a political issue, and note how it breaks my heart how this issue can drive people to the worst extremes. But now this wedge has grown so large as to scuttle any health care reform whatsoever. Yet as Christians, we should worry about the root-causes of abortions and some argue that passing health care reform would actually reduce this demand, despite whether there is government funding or not. A compelling case that reflects what should be our Christian attitude towards abortion.

But that is not the ends of the health care reform means. This is a complex issue and is about much, much more than abortions. I have family members who would benefit from this reform just as I have family members who would be hurt. There is no winner in this debate, I fear. As such, the appropriate response as Christians is not to fret over abortion, but to offer up prayers of wisdom for our elected officials at this critical time and remember that our purpose on this earth as Christians is not politics, but to “do the will of him who sent me“.

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:1-4)

Movements and Messiahs

Frank

The Tea Party movement has gotten a lot of press recently, from being credited for Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts to CNN doing a week-long look into the movement prior to its first “national conference” to the recent article in the New York Times. The biggest questions being asked are will this amount to a third party and/or how much influence will this group have on the Republican Party?

Sounds a lot like what was being asked about the fledgling Christian Coalition thirty years ago. Like the Tea Party, the Christian Coalition was initially focused on local involvement from people with little or no prior involvement in politics (at the time conservative Christians). Eventually their influence grew to such an extent that they are now blamed for everything wrong with the Republican Party. Egos, internal politics, and the idol-worship of fame eventually led to this movement’s downfall.

Another similarity is the lack of unity or homogeneity among the grass-roots supporters. There is no definition of a “Christian voter” that applies to all Christians as Jim Wallis so accurately pointed out in his book, God’s Politics, Why the Right Gets it Wrong and Why the Left Doesn’t Get It (the subtitle sums this up the best). At the same time, the media has been unable to nail down a universal platform that applies to each Tea Party other than the expected discontent with the current administration. Some want a new party, some want an overhaul of the Republican Party. All want a smaller government, but there is disagreement how. Again, sounds a lot like the “value voter” broad-brush the media tried to invent after the 2000 election.

Tea Party organizers would be wise to study the history of this group as it appears they are going down the same road. We, as Christians, would also be wise to remember our folly with the Christian Coalition and not be enticed by the promise of any political Messiah as there is only one true Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. (2 Timothy 2:4)

Our commanding officer is God, not country nor political party. And our battle is not political but moral and the prizes are not votes but souls. We will never be the salt that Jesus calls us to be as long as we are only striving to score political points.

Movements and Messiahs

Frank

The Tea Party movement has gotten a lot of press recently, from being credited for Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts to CNN doing a week-long look into the movement prior to its first “national conference” to the recent article in the New York Times. The biggest questions being asked are will this amount to a third party and/or how much influence will this group have on the Republican Party?

Sounds a lot like what was being asked about the fledgling Christian Coalition thirty years ago. Like the Tea Party, the Christian Coalition was initially focused on local involvement from people with little or no prior involvement in politics (at the time conservative Christians). Eventually their influence grew to such an extent that they are now blamed for everything wrong with the Republican Party. Egos, internal politics, and the idol-worship of fame eventually led to this movement’s downfall.

Another similarity is the lack of unity or homogeneity among the grass-roots supporters. There is no definition of a “Christian voter” that applies to all Christians as Jim Wallis so accurately pointed out in his book, God’s Politics, Why the Right Gets it Wrong and Why the Left Doesn’t Get It (the subtitle sums this up the best). At the same time, the media has been unable to nail down a universal platform that applies to each Tea Party other than the expected discontent with the current administration. Some want a new party, some want an overhaul of the Republican Party. All want a smaller government, but there is disagreement how. Again, sounds a lot like the “value voter” broad-brush the media tried to invent after the 2000 election.

Tea Party organizers would be wise to study the history of this group as it appears they are going down the same road. We, as Christians, would also be wise to remember our folly with the Christian Coalition and not be enticed by the promise of any political Messiah as there is only one true Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. (2 Timothy 2:4)

Our commanding officer is God, not country nor political party. And our battle is not political but moral and the prizes are not votes but souls. We will never be the salt that Jesus calls us to be as long as we are only striving to score political points.

Feeding The Political Stereotype of Christians

Frank

If it’s not clear by now, my politics are mostly conservative though I like to think of myself as a moderate. I don’t like extreme stances on any political topic, recognizing the political process is designed to force compromise. And few things make my blood boil as much as the mixing of politics and religion, as if voting a particular way makes me more Christ-like.

One issue that is always right in the center of the politics/religion debate is abortion. Another is… guns. Guns? Well, didn’t you know the Bible Belt holds a holster? (insert laugh track here) When either of these topics come up, the Left almost always overreacts, regardless of whether religion is involved. But if you mix both of these with religion, you can imagine the reaction in the Main Stream Media and even more so on teh internetz. And both issues have come front and center recently.

First, a week ago ABC “broke” the news that a supplier of gun sights to the military has been encoding Bible versus in their serial numbers. I watched the news clip and I didn’t get it. An example serial number would look like AOOCX32JN8:12 (taken from this photo). So you’d have to actually look for the serial number, care enough to read it, and notice the scripture verse at the end. To a Christian, the reference would be obvious with the abbreviation-number:number format. But to a non-Christian, it would be gibberish. And I say “broke” the news because as was quickly pointed out, this really is old news. Though there are several concerns: one, if the weapon falls into the hand of an enemy (in this case, Islamic terrorists) it would send the message that yes, the Global War on Terror is a “Holy War” (which it is, by the way, on one side anyway); two, that this is offensive to the non-religious; and three, that this violates the Separation of Church and State .

One and two don’t hold water because they would first have to find and recognize the “code” and I highly doubt that would happen by accident. This did come to the media’s attention because of number two however. Not because someone noticed the Scripture, but because he heard others talking about it, which caused him to make the argument of number three. Yes, the Federal Government purchased the sights, but a company supplied serial number, logo, or anything else does not represent the government, only the company. It’s not as if there is a law that only Christians can use this weapon. Of course the media was quick to inflame the issue by noting the irony of using a gun with a Scripture reference to kill Islamic extremists. Of course, the point could be made without making pot-shots. (Funny, when I bookmarked this to use in my blog, there were only a few comments. As of this posting there are 168 while most posts on this particular blog average less than 10) And even if you legally prevented the company from putting whatever they want on their product, you cannot prevent a soldier from carving anything into his stock, painting the nose of a bomber, or writing a message on a bomb like “say hi to Allah for me”. And if you think that doesn’t happen, then you are willfully ignorant of the reality of war.

The other recent news is of an “anti-abortion” ad starring Tim Tebow for the Super Bowl. If you want to see an example of overreacting, just read the comments from the Women’s Media Center. I personally love this gem, “By offering one of the most coveted advertising spots of the year to an anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic organization, CBS is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage its reputation, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting its shows and advertisers.” I wonder if they consider the benign ads by “the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, you know, the Mormons” to be homophobic after the backlash against that church after California’s Prop 8? The National Organization of Women called the add “demeaning” even though the context given is actually celebratory of life. I wonder if they consider a baby shower, a christening, or infant baptism to be demeaning against someone who is pro-choice or has had an abortion, because it seems as though this ad is in the same context. Anyway, I appreciate CBS for sticking to their guns. But I don’t know if the can withstand another week and a half of political pressure. Of course, this news wouldn’t have even caught my eye if it wasn’t for the broad-brush headline “Women Oppose Super Bowl Ad”. You’d think if these organizations speak for all women, they would be just as outraged by GoDaddy ads. But that would be asking too much.

So what does this have to do with our personal walk as Public Christians? First, there are some whose devotion to the NRA is as strong, if not stronger, than their devotion to God. That is a real temptation that should be resisted. Second, we also have to resist the temptation to elevate celebrities to idol-like status as Tim Tebow has become. (This ad would have never been greenlit if not for his involvement) Yes, he’s a missionary. Yes, he’s pro-life. And as a football player, he has as much right to endorse his “product” as Payton Manning does DirectTV. But at the same time, we should pick our battles carefully and stand on our own convictions, not those of the Christian celebrity du jour.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16) The shrewd part we seem to have figured out. Now we just need to work on our innocence.

Feeding The Political Stereotype of Christians

Frank

If it’s not clear by now, my politics are mostly conservative though I like to think of myself as a moderate. I don’t like extreme stances on any political topic, recognizing the political process is designed to force compromise. And few things make my blood boil as much as the mixing of politics and religion, as if voting a particular way makes me more Christ-like.

One issue that is always right in the center of the politics/religion debate is abortion. Another is… guns. Guns? Well, didn’t you know the Bible Belt holds a holster? (insert laugh track here) When either of these topics come up, the Left almost always overreacts, regardless of whether religion is involved. But if you mix both of these with religion, you can imagine the reaction in the Main Stream Media and even more so on teh internetz. And both issues have come front and center recently.

First, a week ago ABC “broke” the news that a supplier of gun sights to the military has been encoding Bible versus in their serial numbers. I watched the news clip and I didn’t get it. An example serial number would look like AOOCX32JN8:12 (taken from this photo). So you’d have to actually look for the serial number, care enough to read it, and notice the scripture verse at the end. To a Christian, the reference would be obvious with the abbreviation-number:number format. But to a non-Christian, it would be gibberish. And I say “broke” the news because as was quickly pointed out, this really is old news. Though there are several concerns: one, if the weapon falls into the hand of an enemy (in this case, Islamic terrorists) it would send the message that yes, the Global War on Terror is a “Holy War” (which it is, by the way, on one side anyway); two, that this is offensive to the non-religious; and three, that this violates the Separation of Church and State .

One and two don’t hold water because they would first have to find and recognize the “code” and I highly doubt that would happen by accident. This did come to the media’s attention because of number two however. Not because someone noticed the Scripture, but because he heard others talking about it, which caused him to make the argument of number three. Yes, the Federal Government purchased the sights, but a company supplied serial number, logo, or anything else does not represent the government, only the company. It’s not as if there is a law that only Christians can use this weapon. Of course the media was quick to inflame the issue by noting the irony of using a gun with a Scripture reference to kill Islamic extremists. Of course, the point could be made without making pot-shots. (Funny, when I bookmarked this to use in my blog, there were only a few comments. As of this posting there are 168 while most posts on this particular blog average less than 10) And even if you legally prevented the company from putting whatever they want on their product, you cannot prevent a soldier from carving anything into his stock, painting the nose of a bomber, or writing a message on a bomb like “say hi to Allah for me”. And if you think that doesn’t happen, then you are willfully ignorant of the reality of war.

The other recent news is of an “anti-abortion” ad starring Tim Tebow for the Super Bowl. If you want to see an example of overreacting, just read the comments from the Women’s Media Center. I personally love this gem, “By offering one of the most coveted advertising spots of the year to an anti-equality, anti-choice, homophobic organization, CBS is aligning itself with a political stance that will damage its reputation, alienate viewers, and discourage consumers from supporting its shows and advertisers.” I wonder if they consider the benign ads by “the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, you know, the Mormons” to be homophobic after the backlash against that church after California’s Prop 8? The National Organization of Women called the add “demeaning” even though the context given is actually celebratory of life. I wonder if they consider a baby shower, a christening, or infant baptism to be demeaning against someone who is pro-choice or has had an abortion, because it seems as though this ad is in the same context. Anyway, I appreciate CBS for sticking to their guns. But I don’t know if the can withstand another week and a half of political pressure. Of course, this news wouldn’t have even caught my eye if it wasn’t for the broad-brush headline “Women Oppose Super Bowl Ad”. You’d think if these organizations speak for all women, they would be just as outraged by GoDaddy ads. But that would be asking too much.

So what does this have to do with our personal walk as Public Christians? First, there are some whose devotion to the NRA is as strong, if not stronger, than their devotion to God. That is a real temptation that should be resisted. Second, we also have to resist the temptation to elevate celebrities to idol-like status as Tim Tebow has become. (This ad would have never been greenlit if not for his involvement) Yes, he’s a missionary. Yes, he’s pro-life. And as a football player, he has as much right to endorse his “product” as Payton Manning does DirectTV. But at the same time, we should pick our battles carefully and stand on our own convictions, not those of the Christian celebrity du jour.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16) The shrewd part we seem to have figured out. Now we just need to work on our innocence.

Does it Matter Where our Taxes Go?

Frank

The big political debate yesterday was over restricting federal funds for abortions in the latest iteration of the Health Care overhaul. Never mind that there is already a statute that prohibits federal funds from paying for abortions, though I agree with the argument that it’s only a shell game of moving lines on a ledger.

This morning coincidentally, I read Matthew 22:15-22 where the Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus by asking him about taxes. The question seemed to be a slam dunk for the Pharisees since any good Jew would agree that the Romans were oppressors and that these taxes went to a government that supported infanticide, homosexuality, and pagan worship. Jesus replied channeling Lee Corso, “not so fast, my friends! Who does this coin belong to? Then that’s who has a say of where it goes.” In other words, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Mt 22:21)

We let ourselves get into such a fuss over what our government does with our money, but we’ll gladly accept grants for our abstinence-only education program. Relating the two, the onus to reduce the number of abortions is not on the federal government, but on the individuals who choose to be irresponsible sexually. In our hyper-sexualized culture, we need to fight this front of the culture war not through politics, but by our own example of purity. The coin bore the image of Caesar, so it was his. We bear the image of God Almighty, and we are his.

Does it Matter Where our Taxes Go?

Frank

The big political debate yesterday was over restricting federal funds for abortions in the latest iteration of the Health Care overhaul. Never mind that there is already a statute that prohibits federal funds from paying for abortions, though I agree with the argument that it’s only a shell game of moving lines on a ledger.

This morning coincidentally, I read Matthew 22:15-22 where the Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus by asking him about taxes. The question seemed to be a slam dunk for the Pharisees since any good Jew would agree that the Romans were oppressors and that these taxes went to a government that supported infanticide, homosexuality, and pagan worship. Jesus replied channeling Lee Corso, “not so fast, my friends! Who does this coin belong to? Then that’s who has a say of where it goes.” In other words, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Mt 22:21)

We let ourselves get into such a fuss over what our government does with our money, but we’ll gladly accept grants for our abstinence-only education program. Relating the two, the onus to reduce the number of abortions is not on the federal government, but on the individuals who choose to be irresponsible sexually. In our hyper-sexualized culture, we need to fight this front of the culture war not through politics, but by our own example of purity. The coin bore the image of Caesar, so it was his. We bear the image of God Almighty, and we are his.

Not The Smallest Letter

Frank

The title is taken from Matthew 5:18 which reads, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (The smallest letter is a translation of “not one iota”, which is a figure in Hebrew that looks like an accent or apostrophe.) A lot of people point to wars, famine, natural disasters, and our increasing wickedness to claim that we are in the “end times”. I’m not one of those, but you could add all the hand-wringing over Bible translations to push personal agendas. I read about this before, but showing up in the headlines yesterday motivated me to write about it today: there is an effort to re-translate the Bible to remove “liberal bias”. As if the Main Stream Media wasn’t enough of a strawman enemy of the Right, you can now add “professors [who] are the most liberal group of people in the world, and… who are doing the popular modern translations of the Bible.” Riiight.

They want to remove, or at least re-translate such controversial passages as “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” from Luke 23:34 even though my Bible contains the footnote that “some early manuscripts do not have this sentence.” There’s no mention if they also want to take out the last several versus of Mark or the story of the woman caught in adultery which are also not found in the earliest manuscripts. If we’re not smart enough to make note of these footnotes, then maybe they should call this translation “The Bible for Dummies.” Oh wait, nevermind, that’s already taken.

There’s more to this though than trying to reflect the original intent of the Biblical authors. There is an admitted political agenda.”The phrase ‘theological conservative’ does not mean that someone is politically conservative,” says Andy Schlafy, the person behind this. I hate to break it to Andy, but Christian does not mean Republican either.

This is nothing new. There was a big fuss a while back over translations trying to make references to God more gender neutral. The Jesus Seminar color-codes quotes of Jesus by how likely they think it was he actually said it. Thomas Jefferson re-wrote his own version of the Gospels taking out anything “supernatural” like all of his miracles and the resurrection. And Martin Luther wanted to remove the entire book of James because it didn’t agree with his theology.

So I don’t take offense to this, but I would advise Mr. Schlafy and everyone else contributing to this (they’re editing it like a wiki) to consider the following passages (pick your favorite translation if you must, these are all NIV):

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19) While this specifically applies to John’s personal vision recorded in Revelation, it shows how serious God takes his Word.

“This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.” (John 21:24) A “testimony” is more than just writing a biography and is even more than being a witness in a legal case. The author, in this case John, was admitting here that if anything he wrote wasn’t true he should be put to death by being stoned. I wonder if Mr. Schlafy would take a similar stand for his truth?

“As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)

God’s Word has a purpose and I’ve already demonstrated how seriously he takes it. I would not want to be one who stands in the way of God’s Word not accomplishing what he desires.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17) The Bible is used for “teaching” making translators therefore “teachers.” And there’s specific warning against aspiring to teach: “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Ironically, taken from the book of James.