Says President Obama --- no ... says a professor of theology, jesus freak, and all-round religious myth believer at Duke University. his delusions are many.
On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 11:22:29 AM UTC-6, KeithInTampa wrote: > > "Why we can now declare the end of ‘Christian America’ " > > Says President Obama, and his Marxist peeps as their march on the road to > Utopia comes abruptly to a screeching halt! > > > > > On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 11:40 AM, plainolamerican <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> >> An Indian worker wears an American flag before it is hoisted up a flag >> pole in New Delhi, India, on Jan. 23, 2015. (Tsering Topgyal/AP) >> >> Political elections are as much about those doing the electing as it is >> about those eventually elected. If each vote represents what a voter >> believes and hopes for, then the person elected is really a magnification >> of the desires voters happen to have. >> >> This is why national elections are so fascinating. Every four years, >> Americans collectively paint and present to the world a picture that >> communicates their aspirations and fears. It is a picture that enables us >> to see the character of a nation. >> >> When I first moved from Canada to the United States 30 years ago, I was >> told repeatedly that America is a Christian nation. It isn’t simply that >> America has many self-professing Christians living within its borders. The >> identity of America as a whole, its history and its destiny, are somehow >> tied to Christianity. >> >> Political leaders feel the need to appear Christian, say >> Christian-sounding things, show up at Christian institutions, and end their >> speeches with “God bless America!” American money proclaims “In God we >> trust.” What could be more Christian than that? >> >> The current election cycle is demonstrating (once again) that the >> rhetoric and mythology of a uniquely Christian America should come to an >> end. Why? Because the votes don’t lie. >> >> Though voters may speak piously and rather vaguely about Christian values >> and ideals, polls and election results communicate clearly that this is a >> nation consumed by fear, anger and suspicion, none of which are Christian >> virtues. >> >> *[‘I’d like to punch him in the face': The incredible shrill of this >> election season >> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/24/id-like-to-punch-him-in-the-face-the-incredible-shrill-of-this-election-season/>]* >> >> If voters were serious about presenting to the world a picture of a >> Christian America, they would need to be painting with the colors of love, >> joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, gentleness and >> self-control, because these are the colors that, as the Apostle Paul said >> (in Galatians 5), witness to Jesus Christ and the power of God at work in >> their lives. >> >> Of course, Americans and their leaders will continue to speak in the name >> of God, even profess grand things about God, as they make their case for >> American Exceptionalism and the righteousness of the American Way. But from >> a scriptural point of view, it is all rubbish. What matters is not what you >> say but how you live. And from a Christian point of view, nothing matters >> more than living a life that is inspired by God’s love for everyone. >> >> In Matthew’s gospel (chapter 25) readers are taken to the time when God >> judges all the nations of the world. It is a rather terrifying scene >> because many of the people present are convinced that they are the >> legitimate inheritors of the Kingdom of God. >> >> But God is not fooled. God simply asks: Did you feed the hungry, offer >> drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the >> sick and visit those in prison? >> >> How will America fare in this time of judgment, especially when we admit >> as evidence the millions of Americans (many of them children and the >> elderly) who do not have enough good food to eat, or the millions of >> Americans who have to drink water polluted with lead and >> industrial/agricultural pollutants? >> >> What about the refugees and immigrants who are being refused at our >> borders and made to feel unwelcome in our land, or the homeless (many of >> them ill) who do not have a home and proper protection from the elements, >> or the prison inmates (many of them African American) who are treated like >> the garbage of society? >> >> God is asking the nations about their public policy, not their verbal >> piety, because the true test of Christianity has only ever been the test of >> love. >> >> *[Before Donald Trump, the sad history of when Christians anointed >> another political bully >> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/22/before-donald-trump-the-sad-history-of-when-christians-anointed-another-political-bully/>]* >> >> Imagine a political leader saying, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals >> and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging >> cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and >> all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do >> not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-2). >> >> Love or noise? Love or nothing? Christianity hinges on how people choose >> between them. If Americans were serious about being a Christian country, >> they would call forth and elect leaders who are patient and kind, and never >> boastful or rude. They would demand a political process much less >> characterized by vitriol and noise. >> >> In calling for an end to the rhetoric of a “Christian America,” I am not >> calling for an end to Christianity in America. The violence and hate, and >> the greed and the lack of sympathy for those deemed dangerously other, >> indicate that now is precisely the time for a sustained infusion of God’s >> love in our political deliberation. >> >> But for that love to be genuinely Christian, and not a projection of our >> own fear, anxiety or arrogance, citizens are going to have to separate >> once and for all the false identification of American and Christian ideals. >> They may overlap from time to time, but they are not the same. >> >> *Norman Wirzba is a professor of theology at Duke Divinity School and >> author most recently of “Way of Love: Recovering the Heart of >> Christianity.”* >> >> -- >> -- >> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. >> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum >> >> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ >> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. >> * Read the latest breaking news, and more. >> >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "PoliticalForum" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
