Tried With Fire

I normally don't read from my Kindle so I forget what books I've downloaded, usually ones that were free. As I was skimming the index, I found this book - Body Broken: Can Republicans and Democrats Sit in the Same Pew? by Charles Drew. I am not looking forward to the upcoming election cycle. If we are already this polarized, can it get any worse? So I started reading. Those who bemoan the moral and social disintegration of American culture are often right. But when they speak to us in such a way as to stir up fear and panic in our hearts, they are wrong. God reigns, and therefore we need not - we must not - be afraid as we exercise our civic responsibilities no matter what seems to be going on around us. Consider the damage panic can bring. First of all, panic impairs judgment. If we give in to the voice that cries "Act now, or our great country will the forever lost!" we will find ourselves demanding easy and quick solutions to our nation's problems, when in...

Do not act unjustly when deciding a case. Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly. Lev. 19:15 Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Deut. 16:19 I've been troubled with the partisan ethics that have come to the surface since the 2016 election cycle. Perhaps these were always in place, but they seem to be more prominent now and increasing rather than decreasing. "If my guy is under scrutiny, it must be a conspiracy. If it is someone on the other side, then throw the book at him." These things ought not to be. And yes, the president, Roy Moore, and Brett Kavanaugh come to mind. As Christians, we should have one standard regardless of whether a person is an ideological friend or foe. If others act partially, they will have to answer to God for their unjust scales. But that is no excuse for me to do the same....

In the light of President Trump's recent dinner with "evangelical" leaders , this quote from How the Nations Rage is remarkably prescient: "The [religious right] movement stood up for good things, but its language tended to be apocalyptic. It gave earthly political outcomes - a vote on a law, an election, or a Supreme Court case - an outsized importance. Too many exclamation points and all cap sentences tell our non-Christian fellow citizens that our policy agenda is more important than the gospel itself. It says THIS ELECTION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD! It communicates that we're really just a branch of this or that party. It says that God is not so big after all. That is why we have to scream." 1 And to quote another book, "Fear is the political language conservative evangelicals know best." 2 In contrast: Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scatter...

The following is a quote from How the Nations Rage: Rethinking Faith and Politics in a Divided Age by Jonathan Leeman (pg. 133-135). "Here's the larger point: Christians should listen to what Republicans and Democrats have to say on welfare policy, tax policy, racial reconciliation, the refugee crisis, and growing suicide rates. But our thinking shouldn't start or stop there. Our thinking should be more expansive, more complicated, more personal, more human. Our political instincts should develop by living inside the loving and difficult relationships that comprise a church. You might even say our political thinking should be pastoral..." "Inside the local church is where a Christian politics becomes complicated, authentic, credible, not ideologically enslaved, real. It's in these real-life situations where you're forced to think about what righteousness truly is, what justice truly requires, what obligations you possess toward your fellow God-imag...

This is an excerpt from Tempting Faith by David Kuo, quoted in Believe Me    by John Fea. Kuo served in George W. Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. As a conservative, pro-life Christian, he wanted to serve the poor and believed this political position would help him influence policy towards a more "compassionate conservatism." Kuo quickly learned that power and compassion do not mix very well. His efforts were largely ignored unless there was political gain to be had, and any influence from Christian leaders was token. "Making politically active Christians personally happy meant having to worry far less about the Christian political agenda." This involved inviting them to events as part of the crowd and giving them "little trinkets like cufflinks or pens or pads of paper" to take home and show "just how influential they were." For... the White House staff, evangelical leaders were people to be tolerated, not peo...

After many nights of working in the evening, I've had a break. It's been nice to be able to relax after the dishes are done and read "depressing books about where America has gone wrong." That is my daughter's opinion of some of my reading material. It's not that I like reading depressing books. I want to understand the mindsets and fears that led us to where we are today. My current "depressing" book is One Nation Under God by Kevin Kruse. "Grimly fascinating" would be a better descriptor, though. It's fascinating to learn how easily America was satisfied with civil religion. The generic nature of God didn't seem to bother many people as long as "God" was mentioned in some vague way. But this casual appropriation of God is rather grim and led to a syncretistic mishmash of outward practice minus any theological foundation. During Eisenhower's campaign for the presidency, he "vowed to take the vague religion ...

I tend to be careful about airing my political opinions because it can be so divisive. However, I need to get these thoughts out of my head or I will have trouble sleeping again tonight. These are my opinions. Feel free to form your own. The cognitive dissonance must be off the chart when professing Christians, who make a big show of being pro-family and pro-life: 1. Are instrumental in electing a sexual predator to the highest office in the land. 2. Feel torn between losing a senate seat and electing an alleged pedophile. This has flabbergasted me even prior to last year's election, and I continue to be astounded as self-appointed Court Evangelicals 1 make a trumpery (yes, I used that word intentionally) of Christianity. But I am also troubled that average professing Christians are more  willing to turn a blind eye to what would be condemned in someone of the opposing political party. At this point, being a "Christian" or an "Evangelical" is rapidly ...

The following are quotes from Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life by Christopher Lane, Yale University Press, 2016. I had gotten the book after reading this review at The Gospel Coalition. I was hoping it would give me some insight into the mind-meld between conservative Evangelicals and politics. The reviewer suspects there is a connection between Peale's teaching and President Trump. While that may be true, I am more interested in Peale's influence on the average professing Evangelical and the morphing of Christianity into "God, self, and country," which is civil religion in a nut shell. As to who "God" is, I think He is left conveniently vague enough to satisfy anyone's agenda. Amy Mantravadi just wrote a post on The Ascent of Trump and Impact on Evangelical Ethics.   It is spot on. Her post is the main reason, why I finally started reading about Peale.  As the Bible says, there is nothing new under the s...

This is a link to Kim Riddlebarger's article - Civil Religion: The Chief Rival to Biblical Christianity . Given the press about the "evangelical" vote in the last election and that many "evangelical leaders" vie for  political connections for the sake of "Christianity," I think Riddlebarger's warning is worth considering. It is very interesting that in his first paragraph, he argues that those who buy into the "Christian America" myth and those who are uncomfortable with exclusive Christian truth claims are both pursuing a form of civil religion. My first impression would be that the myth crowd would be on opposing sides from the non-exclusive truth claim group, but perhaps they have much more in common. While the myth crowd claims to be under the authority of God's Word (see 2nd paragraph quoted below), does one have to compromise the truth at some level to maintain the myth? Also are both groups looking for affirmation and power wi...

"They will know we are Christians by our love" doesn't seem to apply to social media these days. Rather "They will know we are Christians by how tenaciously we hold to our opinions and our unwillingness to listen to anyone who differs from us." If I was a sociologist, I would be collecting data for a book on this phenomena. But I am not, so I read what other people have researched to gain better insight. Here are a few excerpts from Disunity in Christ that may shed some light on why we circle the wagons. This is worth considering and may help us be more understanding and gracious toward one another. If we understand the world around us, we have a far greater chance of controlling it. Even if we can't control our world, understanding can help us make informed choices about what to do next... We have a strong need to know and a strong need to eliminate uncertainty... 1 Because we're uncomfortable with ambiguity, if we can find a concept to help us...

I enjoy watching the wildlife in my small backyard. I've scattered seed on the deck to attract the songbirds and squirrels. It makes a mess, but I'm glad to help them out when the weather turns cold. When there is construction in the area, I wonder what happens to the critters who lost homes. I am not going PETA and arguing for animal rights over people's, but someone or something always has to pay. Construction of a shopping center will give people jobs and bring income to the community, but the cost is borne by the environment. I don't know what development would have looked like before the fall, but I don't believe there would have been a conflict between human beings and the rest of God's creation. One side would not have to suffer for the sake of the other. But nothing is free since the fall. Someone has to pay. I am troubled by President Trump's executive order temporarily barring certain refugees. I am concerned over the constitutionality of it. But...

I didn't bother following the election returns on social media last night and fully expected to wake up to a Clinton presidency. I am stunned. I voted for an independent candidate rather than casting an anti-vote, so I'm not quite sure how to process my feelings. However, I will say this: America has become even more polarized in the last 8 years, and I fear it is will continue to head in that trajectory. This election has also amplified the fact that American "Christianity" sees itself as political force. Hence all the big names making sure we knew how to vote if we were to be "good evangelicals." Unjust laws should be changed but laws can't change people's hearts. If we put all our eggs in a political/high court basket, we will be sadly disappointed. Things will only change when the church begins to address issues like race, misogyny, poverty, and the sanctity for all life down at the local level. Absolutely preach the gospel, but the gospel app...

I'm posting at Out of the Ordinary today: My opinion of politics has been marred ever since President Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace. I may have only been a kid at the time, but even a kid knows cover-ups and lying aren't right. Any standard of "right" has undergone a slow deterioration from bad to worse over the years, so I am not encouraged by the state of my nation. It is also easy to become fearful and wonder what will happen to the church-at-large given the political and social climate. But the culture has never been a good metric of the progress of the Kingdom of God. History has shown time and time again that the gospel spreads and the church flourishes in the most adverse circumstances, proving once more that the foolishness of God is wiser than men. ( 1 Cor. 1:25 ) Read the rest of the post here.

To oppose one class perpetually to another - young against old, manual labour against brain-worker, rich against poor, woman against man - is to split the foundations of the State; and if the cleavage runs too deep, there remains no remedy but force and dictatorship. If you wish to preserve a free democracy, you must base it - not on classes and categories, for this will land you the totalitarian State, where no one may act or think except as the member of a category. You must base it upon the individual Tom, Dick and Harry, and the individual Jack and Jill - in fact, upon you and me. Dorothy L. Sayers from Are Women Human? pg. 36. I am not a very political person, but I will be voting in my first primary today because my conscience demands it. I feel like I am in the middle of a bad movie - a dystopian farce where an entire nation is adrift in the Bermuda Triangle. We've lost our common sense, integrity, and moral compass, and now we must choose between a crook, a communist, ...

It looks like they have declared a winner .