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3:04:00 AM EDT
Politics and Religion, Bad Combination, Whether from Extreme Right or Extreme Left (Reply)
Misskean Writes: As to the IRS investigating Obama's church, I hope you might think about it pretty carefully in spite of your feelings about him. Are you aware of how many right wing Christian churches had their preachers advocating for the Bush-Cheney ticket four years ago? Churches are non-profit organizations and as such are not permitted to endorse or support any political candidate. Senator Obama gave a talk a year ago in his church about faith and public life. It was scheduled long before he declared for the presidency, and no politicking was done inside the church. Patti, four years ago the President of the Southern Baptist Convention hosted a huge reception for Bush and Cheney, not in a church building, but his views went out to thousands of pastors and then to millions of parishioners. Churches have been turned into PACS by the Republicans. What hypocrisy to now turn around and investigate the church of a contender for the Democratic nomination for President! Please think about who the real villain is in this scenario.
Reply: Two wrongs don't add up to a right.
What you say about certain Christian churches being turned into pacs for the far right is absolutely true and something needs to be done about it. Their tax exemptions should be taken away.
But, the church that Obama supports and in which he and his wife were married is also not your average (non political) Christian church.
Pastor Wright (the inspiration for Obama' book, "The Audacity of Hope") is quite political and activist with a motto: "Unabashedly Black. Unashamedly Christian."
The church issued a lifetime achivement award to Louis Farakhen, of Nation of Islam fame and known for his Anti-Semetic and sometimes racist comments.
You will recall in the last debate, Obama was asked about Louis Farakhen's endorsement of him for President. At first, Obama attempted to skirt the question by saying he did not appeal for such endorsement and "denounced" some of Farakhen's controversial positions. Only when further pressed by Tim Russet and Hillary Clinton did Obama reluctantly agree to "reject" the endorsment.
Bottom line: Too many churches are mixing political agendas with so-called, "religion" these days. Whether from the far right or the far left, it is just as bad. The IRS should investigate all and when found to be guilty of mixing politics with religion the churchs' tax exempt status should be revoked. -- PCA
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Agreement or disagreement aside, I was under the (naive, assuredly!) impression that the original government's framers' writings expressly stipulated separation of church and state, as well as the right to freedom of worship (extending, I again naively hope, to those of us who are other than Christian!). Yes, it is abundantly clear that the right wing fundamentalist Christians have a disproportionate influence in current government, media, and elsewhere. How to undo that, I'm not sure, as these folks seem to have a long history of empowerment out of all proportion to their actual numbers domestically. From what I gather, historically speaking, these are the people who held power in the southern portion of the country and who made up the slaveowning plantocracy. They have now morphed into the ruling class nationwide and apparently they have no problem holding onto their power base with their "family values" rhetoric and their paranoia-inducing xenophobic tactics. It all adds up to being all bad for most of the world, but what to do about it? Ideas, anyone?
5/25/08 4:23 PM
Addendum to Commandment 2
The oppressed also include blacks, minorities, people of color, gays, the disabled and people of different religions. Give them all equal rights.
Posted by scott at 12:58 PM 0 comments
New Commandments
New Commandments
Here are some more commandments that we can ignore:
1. Heal the sick. All over the world. Not just America.
2. Free the oppressed. In Tibet, Burma, Palestine, America and all over the world. Free women too. Give them equal rights.
3. Help the poor. All over the world and in America too.
4. Protect the unborn.
5. Take care of the earth. All of God's art.
6. Have mercy on all. Including prisoners and criminals. No more torture or inhumane treatment of any kind. No capital punishment. We are all murderers and criminals. For example, most Americans killed 600,000 Iraqis over a lie.
7. Do justice to all. Including the weak and powerless. Including the victims of crime.
8. Try to be fair. Find the correct balance between mercy and justice.
9. Try to find the correct balance. In all things.
10. Be nonviolent. Violence should be the very last resort. Currently it is not and never has been. Maybe it was a last resort in World War II. But it was the harsh reparations after World War I that eventually led to World War II. Follow the examples of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Aung Sung Su Chi and Corozone Aquino.