Bush's Fondness For Fundamentalism Is Courting Disaster At Home and Abroad

Bush's Fondness For Fundamentalism Is Courting Disaster At Home and Abroad

Here is an excerpt from the whole article. It is well worth reading. If moderate Christians do not inform themselves we're are on the road to disaster.

Whatever Bush's personal beliefs, the ideology of the Christian right is both familiar and congenial to him. This strange amalgam of ideas can perhaps throw light on the behaviour of a president, who, it is said, believes that God chose him to lead the world to Rapture, who has little interest in social reform, and whose selective concern for life issues has now inspired him to veto important scientific research. It explains his unconditional and uncritical support for Israel, his willingness to use "Jewish End-time warriors" to fulfil a vision of his own - arguably against Israel's best interests - and to see Syria and Iran (who seem to be replacing Saddam as the "enemy of the north") as entirely responsible for the unfolding tragedy. Fundamentalists do not want a humanly constructed peace; many, indeed, regard the UN as the abode of the Antichrist. The willingness of the US to turn a blind eye to the suffering of innocent people in Lebanon will certainly fuel the rage of the extremists and lead to further acts of terror. We can only hope that it does not take us all the way to Armageddon. [italics added by me]

Some Evangelicals Get if Right Maybe?

Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock - New York Times

Maybe the tide is turning and more Evangelical pastor's will join this brother in denouncing the right wing religious agenda in favor of Christianity!

July 30, 2006
Disowning Conservative Politics, Evangelical Pastor Rattles Flock

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — Like most pastors who lead thriving evangelical megachurches, the Rev. Gregory A. Boyd was asked frequently to give his blessing — and the church’s — to conservative political candidates and causes.
The requests came from church members and visitors alike: Would he please announce a rally against gay marriage during services? Would he introduce a politician from the pulpit? Could members set up a table in the lobby promoting their anti-abortion work? Would the church distribute “voters’ guides” that all but endorsed Republican candidates? And with the country at war, please couldn’t the church hang an American flag in the sanctuary?
After refusing each time, Mr. Boyd finally became fed up, he said. Before the last presidential election, he preached six sermons called “The Cross and the Sword” in which he said the church should steer clear of politics, give up moralizing on sexual issues, stop claiming the United States as a “Christian nation” and stop glorifying American military campaigns.
“When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses,” Mr. Boyd preached. “When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross.”
Mr. Boyd says he is no liberal. He is opposed to abortion and thinks homosexuality is not God’s ideal. The response from his congregation at Woodland Hills Church here in suburban St. Paul — packed mostly with politically and theologically conservative, middle-class evangelicals — was passionate. Some members walked out of a sermon and never returned. By the time the dust had settled, Woodland Hills, which Mr. Boyd founded in 1992, had lost about 1,000 of its 5,000 members.

The Joy of Kitty Kats

This is our "grand-cat". Not ours by choice, but we have come to love her as one of our very own children.

This lovely Kat if Maya and she belongs to Annette and Wes Sutherland who presently abide in Hong Kong, PRC. They expect to get her back upon their return. That remains to be seen!

Christianity vs Christianism

kingdomcoming.com

Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism by Michelle Goldberg

This has been my 4th of July reading. An apt description of how we are losing our freedoms in America. This present administration is out to destroy as much of our inalienable rights as possible. So far this has been a chilling read. Ms. Goldberg makes a distinction between "Christians" and "Christian Nationalist" or Christianity vs. Christianism.

Excerpt from a Review of the book:

In Kingdom Coming, Goldberg demonstrates how an increasingly bellicose fundamentalism is gaining traction throughout our national life, taking us on a tour of the parallel right-wing evangelical culture that is buoyed by Republican political patronage. Deep within the red zones of a divided America, we meet military veterans pledging to seize the nation in ChristÂ’s name, perfidious congressmen courting the confidence of neo-confederates and proponents of theocracy, and leaders of federally funded programs offering Jesus as the solution to the countryÂ’s social problems.


With her trenchant interviews and the telling testimonies of the people behind this movement, Goldberg gains access into the hearts and minds of citizens who are striving to remake the secular Republic bequeathed by our founders into a Christian nation run according to their interpretation of scripture. In her examination of the ever-widening divide between believers and nonbelievers, Goldberg illustrates the subversive effect of this conservative stranglehold nationwide. In an age when faith rather than reason is heralded and the values of the Enlightenment are threatened by a mystical nationalism claiming divine sanction, Kingdom Coming brings us face to face with the irrational forces that are remaking much of America.

Marriage is safe in Alabama

Welcome to Ethics Daily.com!

Excellent article written by James L. Evans pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church in Auburn, Ala. Here are some excerpts.

The primaries are now over and the main races are set for November. Marriage is also safe. With the Marriage Protection amendment to the Alabama state constitution, marriages in our state are now secure from the ravages of the so-called "gay agenda." We haven't figured out yet how to save marriage from what actually threatens marriage—I guess that will require yet another amendment in some future campaign.

Vote for Jesus. Republicans have really learned how to play the Jesus card! Hosea reminds us: "They Sow the Wind, and Reap the Whirlwind". One day all of the chickens are going to come home to roost.

Incidentally, Jesus also weighed in on the issue of marriage, but not once did he mention homosexuality as the main threat. Jesus seemed to think that something he called "hardness of heart," was the main cause of marital failure. I'll leave you to do your own biblical research, but don't be surprised to learn
that hardness of heart basically means "commitment to bad habits."

"And it makes sense when we think about it. Marriages fail when people are committed to bad habits that wreak havoc in relationships." (From the article)