Red Letter Christians?

Normally I respect Tony Campolo and his work, but his book excerpt in The Huffington Post, "Who Are Red Letter Christians?" really got my goat. For one thing, I think there is a danger in divvying up the Bible in to More Important and Less Important. I've heard too many people say disparaging things about Paul, and dismiss his letters as something they don't really have to follow. The book of James is in contention as well. The words of Jesus while He lived on earth are of course very important, and I certainly wouldn't want to minimize them. But God says the Bible is the Living Word of God. He calls Jesus The Word. (John 1:1 -- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:14 -- "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.")." He says all scripture is relevant for teaching and exhorting. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 - All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." ) He says it is all Truth and not to be added to or taken from. (Revelations 22:18-20, Deut. 4:2).

Putting Jesus' words in red is a man-made contrivance that can muddy the waters a bit, as can all things not directly from God. Already the gays who attend churches teach that since Jesus Himself never uttered words to the effect that homosexuality is wrong, that it must not be wrong. Anyone who wants to say Christians have no call to get involved in politics could well point to the fact that Jesus never mentions or advises that course of action. When He fed the multitudes, after all, He never began a campaign to get the government to begin feeding them. God says in John 1: 17 that the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. We must remember and teach that "what Jesus taught" is the Bible in its entirety. ALL of Jesus' teachings are valuable. And from what I can tell, we are taught to do things individually, or through churches, while praying for our elected and appointed government leaders.

We are indeed taught that visiting orphans and widows in their distress is pure religion, along with keeping ourselves unstained by the world. (James 1:27). We as Christians are exhorted to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison; we as individuals are told to do what God puts before us to do. Large lectures about all the problems in the world, and angry agreement that "other people" aren't doing their share, really don't solve much. We each must quietly do what inconveniences us personally, without fanfare or praise, usually without even the thanks of the person we helped, sometimes with persecution for our efforts. I could not get past the story about the starving Haitian children. All I could think was, "Why didn't you get up and go out and feed them?" Rather than turning this episode in your life in to a lecture about how other Christians "pull down the shades" on the needs of the world, why aren't you repenting of your own reaction? That would have made a powerful point. But saying that the government of America is not budgeting enough to help the world is disingenuous, because not only does America do far beyond what is budgeted whenever there is a crisis of any kind, but the individuals and churches that you mention do far beyond what the citizenry in those other countries mentioned do. If we agitate for the government to do more, we will simply be taxed more. This will lead to us being less able to help as individuals, and will also mean we have no say in what charitable projects are contributed to. There will also be no giving it in Jesus' name if the government is the one doing it.

As for the problems in places like Camden, they do not arise from physical poverty so much as from spiritual and family poverty. Universal health care and minimum wage reform will do little to help. The breakdown of the family, personified in such issues as gay rights and abortion, contribute more to the problems then slender paychecks do. Abortion preys on the weakest and most vulnerable, and if we won't do any thing about that, it's unlikely we'll do much to help those more able to help themselves. I do think we need to follow the words of Jesus - all of them. I do believe we are stewards of the earth, our brother's keeper, and servants to our fellow man. I even believe we need to remind each other of that when we get too comfortable inside our church buildings and begin to think it's all about us. But soapboxes just make the speaker feel self-righteous. We are the body of Christ, each with our own role to play. We should do what God calls us to do, while supporting others in what He calls them to do. That way we can better accomplish the things Jesus Christ, the Head, wants done in the world.

The Most Dangerous Man in America

Yes, It's Rush Limbaugh's moniker. But my question is, dangerous to whom? I cannot believe the ferociousness of the attack against John McCain by Rush and others in the conservative talk show circles. They are just hammering away at him in an obvious effort to derail his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate. I know that McCain has not been the darling of the Republican party. He tends to go his own way and that irritates the party faithful. But, if I was a pundit who favored the Democrats, then I would be waiting with glee at the prospect of McCain winning the Republican nomination, so that I could use all of the stuff that Rush is saying against McCain now. In their effort to undo McCain, the conservative pundits are giving the opposition ammunition for the future.

These pundits have gotten too big for their own britches. They think that we are sheep and that they need to shepherd us in the right direction. The American people are tired of the bickering and partisanship in Washington and want people who will work together for the good of the people. The Rush Limbaughs of talk radio have crowned themselves as the gatekeepers of the conservative point of view. Well, I say that anyone who is self appointed does not have the true welfare of the people at heart. "Lord High Muckety-Muck" as my friend GAH would say, is the title that I would give him.

Now that Mitt Romney has suspended his campaign, what is Rush going to do? Take it all back and now extol the virtues of John McCain? I hope not. McCain does not need the Rush crowd, he has the Republican voters to thank for his rise in political fortune and I hope that he remembers that all the way to the White House. McCain/Huckabee is the ticket I would like to see.

Clone Wars

So the FDA is telling us that cloned meat & milk is alright for human consumption. I wonder. "Dolly" the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult stem cell successfully, was cloned in 1996. That's only 12 years. I am sorry, but that is not a long enough time to determine that we can now eat her or her offspring. The American people don't agree with our government that this is a good way to go. Around 60% do not think that we should be cloning animals, especially for consumption. The FDA report that supports the further use of clones and the suggestion that it is ok for consumption, cites study after study where everything seems normal. But the FDA report is full of statements that hedge their bets. There are anomalies, but they fall within the accepted parameters of the scientific community and are therefore deemed safe. There seems to be a belief at the FDA, that if we can't find something wrong through our science, then it must be OK.

Economics is playing a large role in this. Corporate farmers and the scientific community that is associated with farming, see this as a way to increase profits. Not that I am opposed to profit, but not at the expense to the general welfare of the public. I understand that there is great pressure to produce more with less. If you can clone a cow that produces more milk, and its offspring also produce more milk, then you make more money. Are you willing to be the guinea pig to determine whether or not their profit comes at the expense of your health?

We need to stop. Just because we can do something, does not mean that we should. What happens when we have cloned ourselves a homogenous cow population and some new disease wipes them all out. Same with crops, we are genetically engineering plants at an amazing rate. Science has not yet proved to us that what they are doing is safe. It seems like the American people are taking a stand here. There is a growing number of people that are demanding to know the origin of their food. There are already companies that promote their products based on the fact that they are not being manipulated with genes, drugs, hormones, or anything unnatural. People seem to be buying these products more and more. Maybe the marketplace will slow this artificial manipulation process down.

Goodbye?

It seems that we have to say goodbye to some of the candidates already. After 1 caucus (IA), 1 convention (WY) and 1 primary (NH), we now have 3 less candidates to vote for. The amazing thing is that with less than 1 million people having voted, these men have left the contest. Now, I understand that it takes money to run a campaign, but why get in, if you are not even going to let the vast majority of voters have an opportunity to vote for you? What's the old saying, "in for a penny, in for a pound"? If these men want to be our leaders, they need to be able to discern whether they have enough determination to go the distance. They will certainly need determination if they do become President.

The media does not help the situation. If you listen to the pundits, then maybe more should have dropped out already. The endless polling and the constant drum beat of the media that a candidate must win in Iowa or New Hampshire or it's over, wears on both the candidates and the voters. Approximately one hundred twenty million voters turned out in the 2004 election. So, literally, tens of millions of voters have lost the chance to vote for the candidate of their choice. Those in the media need to reexamine how they report on campaigns. It does not serve our democracy to have the electorate become discouraged and stop voting. Report on all of the candidates. Stop polling and let the voters decide at the ballot box. Just report the news, do not try to predict the future. Leave that to God, He is much better at it.

In 2004, approximately 60% of the eligible voters voted. For various reasons, the remaining eligible voters stayed home. You hear many complaints about the election process. "It's already determined who is going to win." "The politicians just do whatever they want to anyway." "My vote doesn't count." They are RIGHT! The Republican and Democratic parties rely on the party faithful to keep them in power. It is a small number of moderates and independents that tip the balance back and forth. If that 40% of eligible voters would vote, they would turn the political establishments on their heads. Then, no one could determine who was going to win, politicians would listen and your vote would count. They fear the power that you have. So USE it!

The Search for Truth

I wanted to start this blog to create a dialog about politics, religion, science and social values. There seems to be very polarizing attitudes among the politicians. Very few seem to be willing to listen to the opposition. Not every Democratic or Republican idea is bad. The American people are ready for the bickering to stop. Those who are on opposite sides of an issue, need to respect the fact that the opposition just might have some valid points. There is nothing wrong with having a strong point of view. I do. I am a Conservative Christian with the view that the Bible is The Truth, period. But, I respect the views of those from other religions, political parties and world views. I am in search of people who are willing to articulate their position and respect those who disagree, so that we may all receive the benefit of the give and take of ideas.

Well, that's all for now. I look forward to finding those who want to explore the best ideas.