Religion and politics make strange bedfellows. So the saying goes. And it’s so true.
In a theocracy, where the two are meant to be mixed, religion rules.
In a democratic (not the party but the type of govt.) country it’s not supposed to happen. It’s happening a lot lately. And religion suffers because of it.
What would happen to a modern-day Moses in America? A Moses who led people from Central America to the United States. To a land flowing with milk and honey. To a better life in a new land. Even better, to a new land populated with lots of Christians, rather than the pagans who didn’t know their God.
Do the ends justify the means with Donald Trump? … I’m asking that whenever we, as Christians, are in a situation where we don’t like something Jesus said, and we’re in danger of walking away from Him, that we remember that question. That we put ourselves in the place where Jesus is asking us that question.
The headline: Christian Pastor Claims Biden Surrounded By Demonic Hedge of Protection. Is it really true? Can it be true? Is it even possible? All these questions come to mind in a few short seconds.
The U.S. and Israel: Three Tragic Verses – One Unavoidable Conclusion. The U. S. will not help Israel at a critical time and … When presented with the facts, no matter how much we don’t like what they say, sometimes the conclusion is unavoidable. Just look at Ukraine and you get an idea of what’s coming.
Does the United States have the moral authority to comment on the Myanmar coup? In a word, No! We have a ways to go before we will have much moral authority at all when it comes to issues like this. For anyone who might have been living under a rock lately, let me explain why.
As I said, Christians can learn a lot from political parties. Oftentimes, maybe what to do, but certainly not the way to do them.
After all, it doesn’t matter if Christians are taking a “Biblical” approach to an issue. And yes, I put “Biblical” in quotes for a reason. It’s because when our solution is to go to the government, and / or to act in a way that isn’t loving – it’s also not truly Biblical.
We turn people off. They reject our solutions. But even worse, they reject Jesus’ offer of salvation because we failed to act in a manner consistent with what Jesus taught.
How do religion and society fit together? Should religion and society fit together? And if those weren’t already tough enough questions, who gets to decide the answers? Religious leaders? Social activists? The government? But hang on a minute. Just when it seems like it can’t possibly get worse, it does. What if religion, everything related to society in general, and the government are all controlled by the same people?
Do you think that’s impossible? It’s not. It’s happening. Right now. In China, they’re well on their way to making it happen. The Communist Party is continuing to strengthen its hold on pretty much everything about official religion and Chinese society. Here in the U.S., many would like it to happen. Who exactly will be in control isn’t officially decided yet. But it appears that the government is winning, with Christians bowing down to the President.
Would you make a deal with the devil if he promised to promote Christianity? The answer’s obvious, right? Wrong! It seems to me there are two answers right now. Most, hopefully, say “No way!” Sadly though, I believe many are pretty much doing that right now. It’s a sobering view of Christianity in the U.S. right now. It’s very sad. Scary even.
I dare say, anyone who even claims to be Christian says no to that question. My concern though is that we don’t all examine what we’re doing through lens of the Bible. What Jesus taught. The examples He gave us both through His own life and through His words. Not do we always pay attention to the letter written in the New Testament by Paul, James, Peter, Etc. If we did, I think we’d be shocked. Dismayed by what we’ve been doing.
Protecting laws from religion? Management of religious affairs is about protecting what is lawful. That last sentence is the English translation of something from China’s Religious Affairs Regulations. But does that even make sense? China claims their citizens have freedom of religious belief. So shouldn’t laws about religion be concerned with protecting those religions?
What’s this thing about protecting the law from religion? It sounds so backwards. And yet, is it even unusual? We claim to have religious freedom in the U.S. So do many countries. But are we really doing anything different than China? In other words, is the real issue that China isn’t hiding what they’re doing? Let’s find out.
Should Christians be concerned about healthcare for the poor? Of course, the answer is yes. Isn’t it? In theory, it’s hard to argue against the idea. However, in practice, it’s apparently very easy to just ignore it. Does that sound familiar? If you’re Christian, it should resonate, loud and clear. Even if you’re not Christian, chances are you know something about “the good Samaritan”. Even if you don’t know where it came from, that concept is known by all sorts of people.
So let’s look at the question of healthcare for the poor in that light. We’ll see what Jesus says on the topic. After all, Jesus was the One who first put forth the idea of the good Samaritan. And then we’ll see what happens today. How we went from what Jesus taught, to a scenario where that’s pretty much impossible for all but the extremely wealthy people in the world, and how too many Christians have done the unneighborly thing by, well, by doing what we do. We’ll look at that in a moment.
